As many have said, the political world is spinning crazily. What had been accepted behavior, regardless of political point of view, is simply gone.
Now, anything goes. There is no sense of decency, truthfulness or personal privacy – to say nothing of legality.
The worse culprits are the media. All of them! It doesn't matter whether it's print, radio, TV or all types of the Internet. Any journalistic standards they might have had have been tossed out in the name of headlines, with the goal being the personal destruction of "the enemy" – regardless of who that might be.
While these tactics have been used by politicians for decades, they too have sunk to even lower levels and their goals are helped enormously by the depths to which media are willing to sink.
It makes me wonder what they teach in journalism schools about ethics and indeed about obeying the law and the right to privacy of American citizens – whether they're in the public eye or not.
The latest attack on an American by a major media outlet is the one by the New York Times. I learned of it one afternoon while I was driving and heard a newscast on the radio.
The lead blared that Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law – despite being worth billions with his real estate holdings – paid no income taxes for years, as reported by the New York Times. The story was repeated every hour on the hour in all newscasts.
When I checked the print versions of this "story," it was clear that over a couple of days, the Times hedged its bet.
First, it was that Kushner paid "no income taxes between 2009 and 2016;" then it was that he paid "almost no federal income taxes"; then it was that he "likely paid little or no income taxes."
OK guys, which is it. Hedging your bet any?
The "news" spread to many news outlets, with more than one reporting that Kushner legally dodged paying income taxes.
The Times said it got their information from "confidential financial records" which were reviewed by more than a dozen tax accountants and lawyers.
Let's see – confidential records. How did the Times get them?
According to the Times, the records involved a review of Kushner's business activities and were originally drafted by Kushner and his advisors for company business activities and contain information from his federal tax filings.
One headline said Kushner "reportedly used paper losses to minimize taxes."
And? It's perfectly legal and is done by businesses across the country.
But wait a minute! The Tiimes also said that "nothing in the documents indicate that Kushner or his company broke the law."
If that's the case, then just exactly was the point of the blaring headline on the story that implied Kushner is a crook?
We know, don't we?
The man is related to Donald Trump. He is bright, ambitious and rich. According to The Times and the progressive media, that is a mortal sin and therefore he's a target.
And speaking of mortal sins, the Times reported the records were given to the newspaper by "A person who has had financial dealings with Kushner and his family."
Oh yes, more sins: breaking confidentiality agreements, stealing confidential records, giving them to a media outlet and using them to create a false impression of what took place.
I'll bet Jared Kushner wants to know who did that!
I don't know what Jared Kushner is doing about this and it's possible it may just be ignored because he and his family are constant targets of such media slime.
But if it were me, I would sue the New York Times for very dime I could and also find out who leaked those private papers to them and see that that individual spends many long years in the big house.
On top of that, I'd find out the identity of the tax accountants and lawyers who reviewed the material and do everything I could do to see they lose their licenses to be in business.
They're all a bunch of crooks and need to be punished.
The New York Times – "the paper of record" – now has even more to be ashamed of, but the New York Times has no shame.
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