The article <a href="https://reason.com/2024/12/16/given-george-stephanopoulos-carelessness-abcs-defamation-settlement-with-trump-seems-prudent/" author="Jacob Sullum" source="Reason">Given George Stephanopoulos' Carelessness, ABC's Defamation Settlement With Trump Seems Prudent</a> writes, <bq>In an interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R–S.C.) on ABC's This Week last March, host George Stephanopoulos repeatedly and inaccurately asserted that Donald Trump, now the president-elect, had been "found liable for rape." A week later, Trump sued ABC and Stephanopoulos for defamation in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, noting that a jury had deemed Trump civilly liable for "sexual abuse," not "rape." Over the weekend, <b>ABC News announced that it had reached a $15 million settlement with Trump in the form of a $15 million contribution to Trump's presidential library. ABC also agreed to cover $1 million in Trump's legal expenses.</b></bq> <img attachment="sleazy_stephanopoulos.jpg" align="right" caption="Sleazy Stephanopoulos: what's he thinking about?">Words matter. Stop spreading disinformation. You can't just willy-nilly change the names of the crimes for which people have been convicted to suit your personal preferences. If you don't know the difference, then stop talking about it, or learn. It's not like George Stephanopoulos isn't a repeat offender on being fast and loose with facts. It's basically been part of his job description as long as I can remember hearing his name---when he was policy advisor to Bill Clinton for most of Billy boy's first term.<fn> The rest of the article explains that NYS had changed the definition of the word "rape" in 2023 so people now feel free to retroactively apply the new definition. This kind of thing just screams 1984 to me, even though the new definition of rape seems quite appropriate, "nonconsensual vaginal, oral and anal sexual contact," which would have included Trump's having forcibly fingered his victim in a clothing outlet's changing room in the 90s.<fn> The thing I find myself in the awkward position of reminding people is that, as traumatizing as the experience was for the victim, it was 30 years ago and did not have geopolitical or national impact. It's not even in the top ten of terrible, far-reaching, damaging things that Trump has done that has degraded or eliminated lives. Can we focus on hitting Trump for depraved acts that continue to cause harm, rather than pettily calling him names for things that don't matter in the grand scheme of things? Stephanopoulos's "journalism" is pure bullshit, just swatting at what he imagines to be low-hanging fruit for ratings. He's not actually going after Trump for real shit---he and his cronies in the so-called left-wing media approve of all the more horrible things that Trump has done, is doing, and will do. Trump gave a huge tax break to the rich. That caused and causes a lot more damage in many more people's lives. He assassinated a top Iranian general after fooling him into coming to Iraq for high-level talks. He let Israel have the Golan Heights. He let them have Jerusalem. These things that he does are more far-reaching and relevant. We have to stop him from doing things like that. Focus. Obviously, he has to stop sexually assaulting people <i>too</i> but he's actually already stopped doing that. All of the charges against him stem from decades in the past. It's not at the top of the list for most of the world's population affected by the bull in the china shop that is the U.S. empire. Focus. Calling him out for sexual abuse from the 90s---for which he's already been convicted and sentenced---is a distraction and actually plays into his hands. People who tune in to that shit and ignore the real machinations of empire are complicit. ABC ended up buying a wing of his presidential library (God help us.) He's the f@&king president now. Again. Calling him a rapist just because it makes you feel like a hero---and gets you ratings---won't make him less the president. <hr> <ft>What I didn't know---and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Stephanopoulos">Wikipedia</a> just taught me---is that he was preceded in that role by <i>Rahm Emmanuel</i>, who I had no idea had been involved in the Clinton administration. I only started hearing about his crazy ass when Obama made him chief of staff for a while in 2009--2010, from which he failed upward to Mayor of Chicago and, most recently, Biden's ambassador to Japan. Some people just can't lose, ammirite?</ft> <ft>It's not quite as glamorous as a blowjob in the Oval Office.</ft>