by James Murphy, The New American:
Writer and conservative television and radio personality Mark Steyn has filed an appeal of the controversial decision against him in a defamation case brought by Michael Mann, the creator of the widely discredited “hockey stick” graph that featured so prominently in Al Gore’s fantasy film An Inconvenient Truth.
The DC court, helmed by Judge Alfred Irving, ruled in favor of Mann, awarding the scientist $1 in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages from Steyn. Fellow defendant Rand Simberg was also found to have defamed the climate scientist, but his penalty was far smaller, only $1 in compensatory damages and $1,000 in punitive damages.
In 2021, the entities who published the alleged defamation — the Competitive Enterprise Institute and National Review — were found not liable for any defamation.
The exchanges yesterday between Biden and Trump — Biden in his SOTU, and Trump’s Tweets in response — offered a bad foretaste of what to expect in the 2024 presidential campaign. One of the dangerous themes was, Which candidate can stand up to Putin? Which candidate is more pro-Israel? What is needed instead is a vigorous dialogue on what is necessary to avoid a tragic outcome in the defense of the collapsing Unipolar Order, and how can the West participate in building a new fair and just security and economic development architecture.
