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Some things about this particular December feel overwhelming, and I’m not talking about the holidays. I feel it too as my wife and I discuss this post-election transition with a mixture of horror, resignation, and exhaustion. But sometimes, there is an obvious, relatively easy, and valuable thing that you can do. Make a statement. Stand up for the rights enshrined in the Constitution.

What Happened

On Tuesday, the President-elect sunk still further into his world of power-grabbing nonsense and bruised ego. Trump sued respected pollster Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register because he didn’t like a poll published shortly before the election that suggested that Harris could win Iowa. She didn’t, of course, but that didn’t keep the Trump team from making accusations of fraud and election interference.

In case you are not aware of the details, I quote below from the Wednesday, December 18, 2024 edition of the Des Moines Register:

President-elect Donald Trump sued the Des Moines Register and its parent company, Gannett Co. Inc., over its publication of a poll before the election that he called “fraud and election interference” for saying he trailed his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, in Iowa.

The lawsuit filed on Monday in Polk County District Court asks for unspecified damages under the state’s Consumer Fraud Act. It seeks “accountability for brazen election interference committed by” the newspaper and pollster J. Ann Selzer over the poll published Nov. 2 – three days before the voting was completed – that showed Harris leading Trump by 3 percentage points in Iowa.

Have you ever seen anyone who was a WORSE WINNER? As Joe Biden might say, “My God, man!”

The Real Issue

This is not about Ann Selzer’s poll. It isn’t about the Des Moines Register or “election interference”. This is about intimidation of the free press. This is one of several attempts to scare those who own media outlets away from reporting the news in favor of becoming another mouthpiece for Donald Trump’s new, terrifying, regime.

Starting the week, ABC News, owned by Disney, capitulated to a suit Trump brought over an on-air mistake made by George Stephanopoulos during his interview with South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace. Rather than using the term sexual abuse when describing the crime for which Trump was held liable in the E. Jean Carroll case, Stephanopoulos referred to it as rape. Despite the language used by the judge that describes Trump’s offense as essentially the same thing as rape, it still seems to me an error for ABC to avoid a simple on-air correction to be technically accurate. Of course, Trump sued — or rather, he blustered something about suing the bastards. Some aid passed that along to a lawyer somewhere who sent a text to some other lawyer instructing them to sue. However it started, it ended this week.

For Disney, $15,000,000 to make a problem go away probably seemed like a smart business decision. It may not be much money for a company like ABC/Disney, but it hardly ends the problem. This decision will almost certainly come back to haunt the executives who made it, the larger media industry, and, especially the American people.

Americans are divided politically largely because of the failure of the American media to tell the truth without fear or favor. Worse, blatant attempts are made daily to deceive Americans, turning them against their government, their best interests, and the future of their children living in what could become a completely non-democratic country. ABC News was one of the sources of information that was still guided by some sense of journalistic integrity. Stephanopoulos himself has a reputation as a solid anchor worthy of respect.

Supporting Free Speech

When the Washington Post, owned by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, declined to publish its planned endorsement of Kamala Harris last fall, thousands of Americans canceled their subscriptions as an act of protest. I chose not to do that. The Post is going to need financial support as long as it remains a source of truth, even after the decision not to endorse Harris.

The Des Moines Register stands as one of the few such sources in the Midwest. I reached out to the publisher of the Register this past week and have subscribed to a two-year digital access for only $25.00.

It’s a good newspaper and may well be an editorial voice that you don’t otherwise read. Click here to take advantage of this special opportunity to stand for the 1st Amendment and against the petty tyrant about to become President of the United States.

If you want to make your voice heard even more directly, send a brief note to the Publisher, Carol Hunter. Her address is chunter@registermedia.com In my e-mail to her I let her know that I support the Register in their defense of freedom of the press and that I would be encouraging my Substack readers to subscribe as their own small act of support for the Register and the Constitution.

Do it now while you’re thinking of it. Subscribe now.

Best Wishes to all for a very happy Holiday week!