Patrick Hughes in his commentary (“Lawsuit against Des Moines Register is about holding media groups accountable,” Jan. 9) suggests that his group’s lawsuit against The Des Moines Register and pollster J. Ann Selzer is about “holding media organizations accountable.” Hughes states that Selzer’s outlier poll was “reckless journalism that influenced the election’s final days.” This is after saying that, contrary to the poll results, the president-elect won Iowa “by a landslide”! Aren’t we all shocked that a poll could be wrong?
Perhaps a more honest appraisal of the lawsuits Hughes described would show that he and his firm are attempting to use the courts to hassle, defame and/or financially burden the president-elect’s political opponents. The Orwellian-named Center for American Rights seems more interested in retribution and censorship of the First Amendment-protected free press.
The courts should quickly dismiss all of these frivolous efforts to silence journalists and degrade journalism.
— Christopher Johnson, Winnetka
Smelling blood in the water
In his Jan. 9 op-ed, Center for American Rights founder Patrick Hughes promises that “this is just the beginning.” This “beginning” apparently is a rash of lawsuits to intimidate the press, particularly the part of the press referred to as the legacy media, i.e., newspapers and long-established TV networks often perceived in this Trumpian era as displaying a liberal bias.
Hughes highlights the CAR’s lawsuit against a prominent Iowa pollster who badly missed the mark shortly before the November election in which she predicted, as reported by The Des Moines Register, that Democrat Kamala Harris was leading Republican former President Donald Trump by a few percentage points in Iowa despite the state’s strong Republican leanings in recent years. Trump won Iowa handily.
Now the CAR and Trump himself are going after her and the newspaper. CAR incredibly is alleging violations of consumer fraud laws and election interference. Hughes also clucks about CAR’s other lawsuits against media organizations, some over editing issues and, in a complaint against NBC, even faulting that network for supposedly violating “equal time” rules because Harris appeared on “Saturday Night Live.”
With newspapers weakened by massive losses of subscribers and advertisers and broadcast networks suffering from reduced viewership, sharks like Hughes sense there are fees and settlements to be gained by challenging supposedly liberal media companies that don’t have the financial wherewithal they once did to fight such spurious lawsuits.
While Hughes says his goal is “holding media organizations accountable for abandoning professional and ethical standards,” he doesn’t mention the grave missteps of the right-wing media, most notably Fox News, which paid a $787 million settlement to Dominion Voting Systems for its misleading reporting about the accuracy of Dominion’s voting machines in the 2020 election.
Notice that “Rights” is in CAR’s name. If the courts agree with CAR’s claims, then the public’s right to a free press will be greatly diminished.
— Jim Daly, Mount Prospect
Error in relying on polls
I can’t believe that people are still clutching their pearls and filing lawsuits over The Des Moines Register’s November Iowa poll.
The very nature of political campaign polls is that they are mercurial, changing constantly, and dependent upon who is being polled.
The real problem is the lack of civic engagement and voters relying on poll numbers, rather than important issues, in deciding on who gets their vote.
I guess we’d all like to say we voted for the “winner.” How sad, how short-sighted.
— Linda Burke, Indian Head Park
Group is nonpartisan?
Patrick Hughes, founder of the Center for American Rights, defends his organization’s lawsuit against The Des Moines Register, writing, “This lawsuit is about ensuring that media organizations are held accountable when they abandon professional standards and undermine public trust.” Since the organization he created is described as nonpartisan, I was curious to see whom it is actually suing. The “cases” section of CAR’s website indicates suits against the Federal Communications Commission, Hunter Biden, NBC, The Washington Post, CBS and ABC. Where are the suits against Fox or other conservative media? Nonpartisan?
Perhaps Hughes should consider changing the name of his organization to the Center for the American Right.
— Richard Badger, Chicago
Biden’s energy ignorance
President Joe Biden’s decision to issue a very broad ban on oil leasing will, I believe, go down in history as one of the most short-sighted, reckless and irresponsible acts by a president. Along with his cancellation of the Keystone pipeline project and last year’s pause on expanding liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, it shows he and his White House handlers haven’t the slightest idea about the energy demands of the U.S. and the rest of the world.
I think most people can agree that we need to make the transition away from fossil fuels toward renewables and lower-carbon-emitting sources. But even if we could wave a magic wand and transform all of our cars, trucks and other modes of transportation, as well as the heating and cooling of our homes, to carbon-free sources overnight, the rest of the world is going to need fossil fuels for decades to come.
The demand for oil and affordable energy is on the rise. Europe and the developing nations of the world are going to be purchasing oil, natural gas and LNG from someone. Do we really want to cede this market to Iran, Russia, Venezuela and bad actors in the Middle East that will use the proceeds to fund terrorism, wage war on their neighbors or suppress their people?
Japan has a multibillion-dollar agreement with Qatar to purchase LNG. That could have been money coming to us if we had more terminals.
The deal between Japan and Qatar is just one small example of the worldwide market for energy. The United States has the chance to be the world leader in the energy supply business. By building LNG terminals and expanding oil production offshore and in Alaska, we could produce thousands of high-paying jobs. Between the taxes paid by the workers and the oil and gas companies, we could start putting a dent in our massive federal debt.
As I said, the rest of the world is going to need oil, gas and LNG for many decades to come. They are going to buy it from someone. Why would we send them to someone else?
— John C. Fawcett, Burr Ridge
Action on Panama Canal
President-elect Donald Trump is proposing the U.S. take over the Panama Canal by military force, if necessary. While I certainly do not condone such a thing (all we need is another war), I do remember at the time when then-President Jimmy Carter in 1977 signed off on giving up the canal to Panama, I did not think it was a good idea to give up our sovereignty over the canal, for the same reasons that Trump is now offering — namely, security and access.
— Mario Caruso, Chicago
US should attack 2 allies?
We have a president-elect who is contemplating military action against two allies, Denmark and Panama, while we speculate on the cognitive abilities of the current resident of the White House.
To quote Ebenezer Scrooge: “I’ll retire to Bedlam!”
— Jack Lieberman, Morton Grove
Noting peaceful transition
The headline on the Jan. 7 front page, “Trump’s victory peacefully certified,” made me very sad.
Before Donald Trump, this was never an issue that required discussion and was certainly not a subject for a headline.
— Patricia Biron, Chicago
Priorities for Americans
Many Americans are so very weary of political discourse right now. But we cannot turn away from the news and bury our heads in the sand. The MAGA movement has scored a victory with the election of Donald Trump, but we must stay strong and focused on what is truly important for the American people — equal opportunity for all, education, housing, food, justice and compassion — and not what is important for the billionaire class that surrounds the incoming president.
There are 80 million voters who did not cast a ballot for Trump. We have a loud voice and a strong heart. Democracy dies in darkness, but it also dies in apathy.
Let’s keep our eyes on the prize. We can do this!
— Judy Weik, Oak Park
Aid for California victims
We are calling on all involved in the inauguration celebration to donate all inauguration funds to help the fire victims in California. If Elon Musk can donate $250 million to Donald Trump’s campaign, he and other well-to-do people can donate to help. They can show off and compete with each other on how much they are willing to help.
Also, President George W. Bush should take over where former President Jimmy Carter left off at Habitat for humanity.
— Ray and Alena Gust, Deer Park
Why I admire Carter
I voted for Jimmy Carter for president in 1976, when I was 18 years old, because of the Watergate scandal. Many Americans were opposed to President Gerald Ford because he pardoned Richard Nixon. I realize that Carter lost the 1980 election because of the Iranian hostage crisis. Carter let the former leader of Iran into the United States so that he could get medical treatment. After that, Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy and took Americans hostage. Carter tried to rescue the hostages, but U.S. aircraft crashed in the desert, and the mission failed. The hostages were not released until Carter’s final day in office as president.
Even though Carter made mistakes in office, he had many excellent achievements as president. In the area of foreign policy, he oversaw the Camp David Accords, a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. His signing of the Panama Canal agreement improved our relationship with Latin America. In the area of domestic policy, he was a pro-environment president; he created the Department of Energy. The creation of the Department of Education helped many students afford a college education.
In 1986, I visited Washington for the first time, and I was able to visit the Holocaust Museum. The reason there is a Holocaust Museum is because of the actions of Carter’s administration.
I had an opportunity one time to hear Carter speak at a hotel on Michigan Avenue. Even though Carter was only a one-term president, it is my opinion that he was one of our smartest presidents because of his knowledge of the Middle East.
After Carter left the White House, he was involved with Habitat for Humanity, which provides housing for low-income Americans. This is an example of a person who is a true Christian.
— Glen Katoll, Orland Park
An exceptional person
There is no one way to describe Jimmy Carter except to say he was a great human being. And considering everything that he accomplished before, during and especially after his presidency, he was the most exceptional person in this country and other parts of the world during his lifetime.
— Ed Stone, Northbrook
Editor’s note: We’d like to hear from you about your hopes for the new year — whether for our country, our state, your community or your family. Submit a letter of no more than 400 words to letters@chicagotribune.com. Be sure to include your full name and city/town.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
