I use the word "cheap," because if the media reports gossip, innuendo, and defamation, without presenting evidence, that is cheap. Is it not? It is imperative that our free press be fair and giving any kind of exposure to allegations that smear a person, any person, is wrong.
It doesn't matter if those allegations are in a report or anywhere else. If there is no back up, no facts to indicate the allegations may have some credibility, they should not be published. I hope we all understand that. Now, onto what happened to Donald Trump. In September of 2015, someone hired a Washington political research firm, fusion GPS, to dig up dirt on Mr. Trump. Taking the money, the company began its sordid quest.
A few months later, some Democrats who supported Hillary Clinton also began to pay Fusion for dirt. In June, 2016, Fusion hired a retired British intelligence officer, Christopher Steele, to get that dirt. Apparently, Steele talked to some Russian operatives and began issuing a series of memos based on the gossip that he heard. In August of 2016, ABC's Brian Ross reported yesterday, those salacious memos written by Steele found their way to the FBI. Then on Halloween, appropriately enough, far left magazine ran a story about the anti-Trump operation.
National Media did not pick it up to its credit. One week ago, January 5th, President Obama was briefed on Russia's effort to influence the U.S. election. And the anti-Trump garbage was included and that Intel briefing. Vice President Biden said today that the President questioned why the gossip was even included in the briefing and he was not pleased. That is to Mr. Obama's credit.
The next day, Donald Trump received the same intelligence from four senior U.S. Intel chiefs, that is when all hell broke loss. Also, receiving information, eight Congress people. Paul Ryan, Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, Devin Nunez, Adam Schiff, Richard Burke, and Mark Warner. A short time later, CNN received a leak that the salacious anti- Trump stuff was presented to Obama and Trump. Then, BuzzFeed printed the salacious stuff.
Now, a bunch of the allegations have already been discredited. None confirmed. None. Yet, some argue that the public should be allowed to see all the garbage even though it certainly hurts the Trump administration and the President-elect himself. So, you, as an honest American, must decide, do you want to salacious trash in the public square distributed by the media? Do you? There are no rules anymore.
Allegations become convictions. Gossip and innuendo become fact. Standards on the internet and for much of the established media no longer exist. Donald Trump has denied all of the accusations, is angry, as we saw yesterday. But in the long run, it America that should be angry. This kind of stuff is harming the fabric of our society, our political structure, and our ability to evaluate information in a fair way. Facts should be reported. Baseless allegations paid for by political assassins should not. Unless credible evidence is presented to back them up. Period. And that is "The Memo".
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