Compromised News Network (CNN) loses defamation suit against Navy vet--punitive damages awarded

PANAMA CITY, FL – After more than eight hours of deliberation, a jury concluded that CNN defamed U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young, holding the network accountable for punitive damages.

Young claimed that CNN damaged his reputation by suggesting he was making illegal profits by aiding people to escape Afghanistan during the 2021 U.S. military withdrawal. In a November 11, 2021, segment on "The Lead with Jake Tapper," Young was depicted as an "illegal profiteer" who exploited "desperate Afghans."

The lawsuit spanned over three years, culminating in an intense eight-day trial in Bay County, Florida, under Judge William S. Henry. The judge had previously determined that Young's actions were not illegal or criminal, contrary to CNN's broadcast.

Jake Tapper introduced the segment by cautioning viewers about "desperate Afghans still trying to escape the country being preyed on by folks demanding that they pay up big time to get out." He later reiterated the exploitation theme, highlighting the segment where reporter Alex Marquardt detailed the "black market" for evacuation.

Marquardt focused on Young, showing his image and stating his company was charging exorbitant fees for evacuation services, like $75,000 to transport a vehicle to Pakistan or $14,500 per person to the UAE. He noted these prices were "well beyond the reach of most Afghans."

CNN showed Marquardt allegedly calling Young, who didn't answer, and reported on texts where Young explained that evacuation costs were "highly volatile and based on environmental realities." Marquardt accused Young of not clarifying his profit margins, despite Young's acknowledgment of market dynamics.

The trial dissected these segments, with CNN's lawyers arguing Young wasn't central to the story, while Young's legal team argued the "black market" label was career-ruining, especially since it could lead to termination under his contract terms.

Evidence included internal CNN messages where staff expressed hostility toward Young, with terms like "s--tbag" and "a--hole" used, and Marquardt's own message about "nailing" Young. Senior national security editor Thomas Lumley, despite his doubts about the report's integrity, was called to testify.

Young, emotional during his testimony, spoke about the impact on his personal life and his efforts in rescuing 22 women from Afghanistan, which CNN did not cover.

CNN issued an apology on March 25, 2022, but internal sentiments suggested it was more for legal reasons than genuine regret. The trial also saw Judge Henry reprimanding CNN's lead counsel, David Axelrod, for wrongly branding Young a "liar" concerning his employment status post-segment.

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Psaki admits it isn't a good idea for Biden to answer tough questions

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the quiet part out loud on a  CNN podcast published Thursday. She revealed to David Axelrod that Biden taking unscripted questions from reporters, [in spite of their close alliance with the Democrat Party], "is not something we recommend." The admission was said on "The Axe Files," and in the exchange, Psaki told the former Obama senior adviser that she occasionally tells Biden not to take questions and recommends he go back to sleep.

They began discussing the subject when Axelrod asked her about a particular instance when Biden inadvertently ran into CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins, at the White House and she asked the co-President if a minimum wage increase to $15 would be included in the coronavirus [make believe] relief package signed into law in March.

Axelrod said that Biden answered honestly, mumbling that he didn't think the increase would be included in the bill, but by opening his mouth to the reporter it must have given Psaki a lot of heartburn and made her ask herself why do they allow this dolt to waltz around in the hallways doing impromptu interviews. He then asked Psaki how she managed that problem.

Psaki nervously laughed off the incident as her eyes began moving left-to-right in rapid succession, one might imagine, as she search within herself to give Axelrod a believable answer to an uncharacteristically difficult question.

She explained that it happened after she had already left work and Biden was heading back to his residence for his nappy. She then bull-sh***ed Axelrod claiming that Biden takes questions "nearly every day that he's out in front of the press."

"That is not something we recommend. In fact, a lot of times we say ‘don’t take questions,'" she continued. "But he's going to do what he wants to do because he's the president of the United States." 

And he has the mental faculties of a Venus flytrap.

Psaki then claimed the administration has kept from being distracted by avoiding having Biden do more consistent press conferences in which he would have to answer tough questions about certain topics in which the answers had not been loaded into a Teleprompter.

Biden held his 'by the seat of his pants' solo conference on March 25, the 65th day of his term, after being heavily criticized from the usually supportive left-wing media for ducking them. 

This was the longest a president had gone hiding from the media after taking office since former President Calvin Coolidge in the 1920s. 

But even when he's asked questions on the fly, or after he mumbles an announcement or gives an incoherent speech, he often leaves the event without answering questions, because Jen Psaki or Kamala Hahahaharris told him to keep his mouth shut and go back to bed.

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MI Dem Gov. Gretchen Whitmer 'Abortions are life-sustaining'

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) was interviewed on Thursday and said that killing babies in the womb must be permitted during the COVID-19 pandemic because they are "life-sustaining." That's like saying we need to eat more to combat obesity--it makes the same amount of sense. Of course, she didn't call the murder of the unborn what it is, she softened it by using the word "abortion," but let's not kid ourselves--a death by any other name is still a death.

Whitmer made her non sequitur on David Axelrod's "Axe Files" podcast during a discussion about how other states tried to shut down abortion factories during the shutdown of non-essential services. But killing babies, to the left, is essential.

“As we speak, in Texas and a couple of other states, I think Ohio may be another, the state has asked to suspend abortion services as part of this COVID-19 protocol,” Axelrod, a former Obama staffer, said. “This is probably gonna go to the Supreme Court. What is your reaction to that? You’re a governor, you have to make these decisions as well, there are other procedures that have been suspended.”

“You know, we stopped elective surgeries here in Michigan, and some people have tried to say that that type of a procedure is considered the same, and that’s ridiculous,” Whitmer ridiculously responded. “You know, a woman’s health care, her whole future, her ability to decide if and when she starts a family is not an election, it is a fundamental to her life.”

I still cannot wait for the left to explain how a woman killing her unborn child is healthcare. If you're talking mental health, doesn't that knife cut both ways for the mother?

Whitmer continued, “It is life-sustaining, and it’s something that government should not be getting in the middle of."

It is life-ending and part of the government's role in society is to protect the lives of the helpless.

Leftists get it wrong every time, and they do it with words, with factless garbage that convince those with non-critical thinking to buy into their bull crap.D

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Obama: "I coulda won a third term"

Believing that Americans still subscribe to his leftist ideas, Lame Duck Obama told "The Axe Files" and CNN (formerly: the Clinton News Network) that if he was eligible to run ("and I think I should be allowed" he whined) that he could have beaten President-elect Donald Trump.

"I am confident in this vision because I'm confident that if I had run again and articulated it, I think I could've mobilized a majority of the American people to rally behind it," the delusion president said, as he totally discounted the fact that Trump's win over Clinton was a referendum on Obama's leftist vision for his Amerika. 

Obama made that ridiculous statement to his former senior adviser David Axelrod on "The Axe Files" podcast produced by the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN.

The first time she was proud of our country

He blathered on: "I know that in conversations that I've had with people around the country, [all 57 states] even some people who disagreed with me, [they're called patriotic Americans] they would say the vision, the direction that you point towards is the right one."

"In the wake of the election and Trump winning, a lot of people have suggested that somehow, it really was a fantasy," Obama went on, trying to defend his 'hopey-changey' position that left most intelligent Americans with the hope that the party running the show would change to the party that lost twice in a row. "What I would argue is, is that the culture actually did shift, that the majority does buy into the notion of a one America that is tolerant and diverse and open and full of energy and dynamism," [and, and, and].

What a crock.

Deportation numbers were a scam; unemployment of full-time workers sucked; economic growth never went above 3% in all of his 8 years in office; he allowed the Middle East to blossom into a war zone; and [hopefully] his final horrendous act: he screwed over Israel worse than anyone before him.

I'm just glad the presidency is term-limited. I would like to see the same for Congress.


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Snowden is Missing and So is Transparency

Edward Snowden was fired today from Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH, humbug) and is likely in hiding. This young man is a hero to himself, his girlfriend pole-dancer, and some others who believe that what he did was justified because it is unconstitutional when the government decides to collect information on its citizens without just cause. Others believe that national security trumps the privacy of our phone numbers. Of course, there is that little thing called email that changes the story quite a bit--email contains actual words, messages, private thoughts, that the government can acquire. That sounds over the top, to me. 

This Just In: Benghazi Attack Was Pre-Planned

Liar's Club

The attack on the American Consulate in Benghazi was a spontaneous reaction to an anti Muhammad video viewed by over 300 people at the time of the outbreak of violence. It was not a pre-planned, premeditated attack.  Wait.  The attack on the American Consulate in Benghazi was a pre-planned, premeditated terrorist attack perpetrated by Hezbollah and resulted in the death of Chris Stevens and three other Americans.  I don't know how I got that wrong.  Actually, I don't know how Susan Rice, Hillary Clinton, Victoria Nuland, David Axelrod, Jay Carney and Hussein Obama got it wrong. 

 I don't know how Charlene Lamb, a security official for our embassies, got it wrong too when she failed to provide sufficient security for Ambassador Stevens. Even Susan Rice gets more security than the Libyan Consulate had, and being a native New Yorker, I don't believe New York is all that dangerous compared to most Islamic countries.  I suspect if Ms. Lamb was stationed in Libya and was in charge of providing her own security and that of her family, there would have been far more boots on the ground gunned to the teeth.  The walls would have been higher, more impenetrable, meeting those security specifications that were allowed to be overlooked when Stevens was alive.  

There's an irony about an administration that calls Mitt Romney a liar and goes about lying to the American public.  In psychology that's called projection.  One thing you can count on is that whatever the Obama folks say, the opposite is likely true.  

My latest novel, Jihad Joe, is about Islamic terrorism and suspense.  In it I challenge the precepts of the religion through my protagonist, Zed Nill, a journalist, captured by terrorists and who is destined to be killed if the American President refuses to release three Gitmo prisoners.  Of course, American policy demands we never give in to terrorists, and for Zed, the clock is ticking.

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