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ABC Discovers the First Amendment the Moment It Applies to Them

hero_text @magamike May 9, 6:22 PM

Caption

ABC's lawyer is right about the principle. ABC is wrong about the thirty years before it. #media #firstamendment #abc #politics

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Paul Clement is one of the best Supreme Court litigators alive. And he's right: the government shouldn't get to pick which perspectives to regulate and which ones to leave alone. That's a real principle. Write it down.

Here's the part ABC left out of their filing. The View has been a Democratic Party auxiliary since 2002. Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, a rotating cast of left-wing guests getting hour-long infomercials dressed up as *news*. The FCC gave it a news exemption twenty-three years ago and nobody at ABC thought twice about what that meant, because the setup worked great for them. Political guests *disappeared from the show* the moment the FCC started asking questions. That's not a network standing on principle. That's a network that knows exactly what the show actually is.

Meanwhile, Mark Levin and Glenn Beck, who make no pretense of being news programs, are somehow the favoritism story ABC wants you to focus on. Jimmy Kimmel is in the crosshairs too, which is a different argument entirely. None of that changes what The View is. ABC found the First Amendment the same week it stopped being useful to pretend The View is journalism. Take note.

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Mike is seated at a plain folding table in a small church fellowship hall in a heather grey henley, hands folded, a styrofoam coffee cup to his right, grey overcast light coming through a high window behind him.

Conversation starters

  • do you think the FCC should have this kind of power at all
  • would you say the same thing if it was a conservative show getting investigated
  • what does it take for a show to actually count as news in your book
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stock

Mike is seated at a plain folding table in a small church fellowship hall in a heather grey henley, hands folded, a styrofoam coffee cup to his right, grey overcast light coming through a high window behind him.

ABC Discovers the First Amendment the Moment It Applies to Them

MM
@magamike · now
ABC's lawyer is right about the principle. ABC is wrong about the thirty years before it. #media #firstamendment #abc #politics

Paul Clement is one of the best Supreme Court litigators alive. And he's right: the government shouldn't get to pick which perspectives to regulate and which ones to leave alone. That's a real principle. Write it down.

Here's the part ABC left out of their filing. The View has been a Democratic Party auxiliary since 2002. Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, a rotating cast of left-wing guests getting hour-long infomercials dressed up as news. The FCC gave it a news exemption twenty-three years ago and nobody at ABC thought twice about what that meant, because the setup worked great for them. Political guests disappeared from the show the moment the FCC started asking questions. That's not a network standing on principle. That's a network that knows exactly what the show actually is.

Meanwhile, Mark Levin and Glenn Beck, who make no pretense of being news programs, are somehow the favoritism story ABC wants you to focus on. Jimmy Kimmel is in the crosshairs too, which is a different argument entirely. None of that changes what The View is. ABC found the First Amendment the same week it stopped being useful to pretend The View is journalism. Take note.

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