CNN talking head Jake Tapper has done at least one good thing: his book “The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor” was made into a movie. Both are compelling examples of American bravery against military/political stupidity and overwhelming odds. Other than that, Tapper has proven himself a stereotypical Democrat/socialist/communist (D/s/c) media shill.

Normally, the media is pretty much invulnerable to lawsuits for their reckless, D/s/c opinions badly disguised as news, but amazingly, Tapper and CNN face a defamation suit brought by Navy veteran Zachary young. Tapper’s false claims about Young and his efforts to rescue innocents from Joe Biden’s Afghanistan debacle obliterated Young’s private security career. The suit has been allowed to proceed, and is in the deposition stage. Tapper and CNN are stonewalling: 

Graphic: CNN Screenshot

Tapper sat for a sworn deposition on Wednesday with lawyers for the veteran, Zachary Young, according to court documentsobtained by the Media Research Center. While a transcript of the deposition itself is redacted, a description of the ordeal from Young's attorneys states that, over the course of "less than two hours," CNN "directed Tapper not to answer more than thirty questions." As a result, Young's attorneys could not gather "basic financial information" about Tapper's salary and "the finances of CNN and his show."

Tapper had earlier claimed to have no knowledge about any of CNN’s finances. The judge in the case, William Scott Henry didn’t believe Tapper, nor should anyone else. Highly paid media personalities like Tapper, and their agents, know precisely that kind of information, which is necessary for them to negotiate salaries and benefits. CNN is in deep financial trouble as already declining viewership plummeted as least 30% more after Trump’s victory. 

Young is looking for a billion or more in damages and isn’t willing to settle, which means the trial scheduled for January will likely happen. We can be certain CNN absolutely doesn’t want that. The issues in the case are clear:

That segment named Young's security company, Nemex Enterprises, and detailed its work evacuating people from Afghanistan during the Biden-Harris administration's chaotic 2021 withdrawal. It implied Young was operating within an illegal "black market" and exploiting "desperate Afghans." Before the segment aired, CNN national security correspondent Alex Marquardt expressed his desire to "nail this Zachary Young mf–er," while senior editor Fuzz Hogan called Young "a s—t," according to internal messages released as part of the case.

CNN has issued a tepid apology and has tried to cover its tracks:

CNN has already removed the term "black market" from the online version of the segment and issued an on-air apology acknowledging Young had not broken any laws. For Young, that's not enough. Attorneys for the veteran say the segment irreparably damaged his reputation and caused tens of millions of dollars in business losses.

The D/s/c propaganda media arm is in increasing trouble. Mika and Joe crawled to Mar A Lago to kiss Donald Trump’s ring, which caused an instant 16% drop in ratings. Comcast is dumping MSNBC, CNBC and USA, and D/s/c talking heads like Rachel Maddow, receiving princely sums for a single weekly program are panicking. Maddow and others are facing their own lawsuits:

Earlier this year, Maddow and her colleagues faced a setback of their own in a defamation suit brought by Georgia doctor Mahendra Amin, a gynecologist who treated detainees at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the Peach State. A judge ruled in July that Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, and Chris Hayes made "verifiably false" statements about the doctor, who they accused of performing "mass hysterectomies" on women inmates and called the "uterus collector." Amin sued NBCUniversal for $30 million.

It couldn’t happen to worse people. There used to be a rational journalistic standard that required at least two independent sources confirming any story before it could run. That at least ensured a reasonable probability the story was true and wouldn’t damage innocents. That rule was discarded decades ago when “journalists” decided their job was no longer reporting the facts so Americans could make informed decisions. Their job was enlarging their egos and attacking their political enemies, telling Deplorables what they ought to think. The result is a divided nation on the verge of secession, even civil war, though that may be delayed for four years.

To be sure, the media isn’t entirely responsible for the sad state of our representative republic, but their contribution to our current tribulations is enormous and destructive. 

Perhaps the media and D/s/cs in general will take the time necessary for introspection, for reflecting on the fact that when they abandon American values and try to tear down what far better men and women have built, they destroy themselves as well. Maybe they might rediscover humility and our common humanity…nah.

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.