Nick Sandmann, You Rang Their Bell

You have to wonder what a journalism degree is worth nowadays, or if it's even worth bothering to get one. Seeing as how most liberal journalists seem to have forgotten what was taught in their legal ethics courses, or if they even took them, I suspect toilet paper has better value than a degree in journalism. I certainly know which one I'd trust more.

In a surprising turn of events, the first large media plaintiff to settle with Nick Sandmann was CNN. If the name Nick Sandmann doesn't ring a bell, it should. He was libeled and defamed by a substantial number of liberal media outlets when he was confronted last year on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. A native American Vietnam veteran decided to bang a drum in front of him. I'm not sure what message he was trying to send, but Sandmann stood there wearing a MAGA hat, said nothing and smiled. He was all of 16 years old at the time.

Another group that supposedly has religious ties started yelling racial epithets (makes you wonder about that religion) and the whole thing was caught by multiple cameras as they captured the event.

Sandmann was there to attend a right-to-life rally, and as rallies go, this one took a bizarre turn: The liberal media selectively edited the video and blamed him for the racial epithets that others were responsible for. Somehow, standing still and smiling became some sort of shameful behavior to engage in when somebody beats a drum in your face.

The reason the liberals viciously went after him?  Wearing a MAGA hat in public, probably. In spite of the taunts being hurled all around him, he stood silent and smiled. No hateful words came out of his mouth, no threatening motions were made. He just stood there and smiled.

The liberal media wasted no time in labeling Sandmann as a racist and one of the CNN personalities said words to the effect that he'd like to punch him in the face. Other liberal media outlets piled on and said things far worse.

Then a video surfaced that covered the whole story from its start to its finish, and it clearly shows what happened. Sandmann was innocent; the things said about him were utter lies and fabrications. How did Sandmann react to being defamed? He sued a whole slew of media outlets, the first and main one being CNN. The amount the suit demanded was $276 million; 76 mil in damages and 200 mil in punitive damages.

CNN ate dirt on this one. Figuring the legal expenses, the embarrassment of things found during discovery, the hit on their name brand (as if it could get worse at this point) and the fact that ordinary people who sit on juries likely have little sympathy for large media outlets, they wisely decided to settle. The amount has not been disclosed, nor will it probably ever be. Most legal scholars who have commented on it agree it probably is at least a 7-figure number. I'm taking bets it's at least an 8-figure number. Unless somebody blabs, we'll never know.

So I raise my glass and toast you, Nick Sandmann. Well done, well done. You took on Goliath and won. I await the outcome of your other pendente lite (latin for pending litigation), and I see the list is pretty long. I see your lawyers have sent letters or filed lawsuits demanding preservation of evidence against the following people or entities, which tells me they might be seeing yet another process server sometime this year:

The Washington Post

• The New York Times

• Cable News Network, Inc. (CNN) (settled as mentioned)

• The Guardian

• National Public Radio

• TMZ

• Atlantic Media Inc.

• Capitol Hill Publishing Corp.

• Diocese of Covington

• Diocese of Lexington

• Archdiocese of Louisville

• Diocese of Baltimore

• Ana Cabrera (CNN)

• Sara Sidner (CNN)

• Erin Burnett (CNN)

• S.E. Cupp (CNN)

• Elliot C. McLaughlin (CNN)

• Amanda Watts (CNN)

• Emanuella Grinberg (CNN)

• Michelle Boorstein (Washington Post)

• Cleve R. Wootson Jr. (Washington Post)

• Antonio Olivo (Washington Post)

• Joe Heim (Washington Post)

• Michael E. Miller (Washington Post)

• Eli Rosenberg (Washington Post)

• Isaac Stanley-Becker (Washington Post)

• Kristine Phillips (Washington Post)

• Sarah Mervosh (New York Times)

• Emily S. Rueb (New York Times)

• Maggie Haberman (New York Times)

• David Brooks (New York Times)

• Shannon Doyne

• Kurt Eichenwald

• Andrea Mitchell (NBC/MSNBC)

• Savannah Guthrie (NBC)

• Joy Reid (MSNBC)

• Chuck Todd (NBC)

• Noah Berlatsky

• Elisha Fieldstadt (NBC)

• Eun Kyung Kim

• HBO

• Bill Maher

• Warner Media

• Conde Nast

• GQ

• Heavy.com

• The Hill

• The Atlantic

• Bustle.com

• Ilhan Omar

• Elizabeth Warren

• Kathy Griffin

• Alyssa Milano

• Jim Carrey

Now go finish the job, Nick. I hope you extract a settlement from anybody and everybody that opened their big mouth and decided smearing your name was worth some media coverage. It is high time some of them learned that not everybody takes their lies sitting down.

PS: Not to meddle in your future plans, but may I suggest you take some of the settlement and go to law school when you graduate? That way, you can pay it forward and help others when they find themselves in a similar situation.