Fake News Day

Trump to Congress:
"You're fired."

   Sorry, Don-Don, it doesn't work that way. You're not the boss of everybody. That power play may have worked well in the realty biz and on a faux-reality show, but this is real reality.
   And in this reality, the alternative fact is true: Congress can fire you.

   Reports are piling up every day recounting many episodes of misfeasance, malfeasance and nonfeasance that cross the boundary lines of ethical, if not criminal, behavior.
   Underlings at the Whine House may complain loudly that the reports are false, fake, biased and perpetrated by incompetent journalists, but the final verdict can only be whether the reports are true. Objects of criticism may threaten to sue for libel, but anyone familiar with basic legal concepts will say that if the report is true, it's not libel. This principle was established in a case brought by the colonial governor against a New York City editor more than 250 years ago.
   Ever since, editors have relied on that ruling, as well as other major rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, in guiding their handling of stories. If the story is true, if it's provably true and printed without malice, it's not libel. Otherwise, journalists use terms like allegation or accusation, sometimes adding the words unproven, groundless, or without evidence.
   This is how they handle rantings via Twitter about whatever annoyed the presidential sensitivities on any given day.
   As for whether reporters and editors may be malicious in their handling of news that reflects poorly on a politician, or anyone else, consider this: There are extremists on either end of a political or philosophical spectrum, but mainstream journalists are neutral. They care only about chasing down a good story, and providing solid information to the public.
   And if that means taking down a political leader who thinks the rules of a civil society don't apply to him, all the more reason to chase down the evidence and show him up for what he is.
   That's not malice. It's good journalism.

Treason doth never prosper.
What's the reason?
Why, if it prosper,
None dare call it treason.
-- John Harington, 16th Century