GANGSTA NEWS NETWORK

CNN's case of Trump Derangement Syndrome has become so monstrously acute the network is now hunting down and extorting those who mock it online. And if there is one thing mendacious, entitled, left-wing journalists hate, it's being ridiculed in public. So the network, whose anti-Trump stories outdo even the Soviet echo chamber that is MSNBC, threatened to "dox" the mocker. "Doxing" is putting a person's private information such as a home address, telephone number, or Social Security Number online for the world to see. This, the latest in a long line of CNN intrigues, began Sunday when President Trump tweeted a modified 10-year-old video of his guest-star appearance at a wrestling match. What apparently earned CNN's ire was the fact that its corporate logo was superimposed over the face of the person Trump is shown pretending to rough up. After Trump finishes with "CNN," a graphic for a made-up "FNN: Fraud News Network" is conspicuously displayed.

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CNN's KFile investigative squad, run by world-class sleaze and character assassin Andrew Kaczynski, then claimed to have found the Reddit user who created the now-wildly popular animated meme – in Internet parlance, a GIF file – showing a hands-on Trump making America great again by putting the hurt on the Atlanta-based fake news network whose singular mission at the moment is to take down the nation's democratically-elected 45th president. CNN's Kaczynski declared the network would not reveal the true identity of Reddit user, HannAssholeSolo, who generated the meme, "because he is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology, showed his remorse by saying he has taken down all his offending posts, and because he said he is not going to repeat this ugly behavior on social media again." But then Kaczynski offered what certainly seems like prima facie evidence of extortion against the Reddit user: "CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change." Later the network added this lame explanation to the public record:

CNN decided not to publish the name of the Reddit user out of concern for his safety. Any assertion that the network blackmailed or coerced him is false. The user, who is an adult male, not a 15-year-old boy, apologized and deleted his account before ever speaking with our reporter. CNN never made any deal, of any kind, with the user. In fact, CNN included its decision to withhold the user's identity in an effort to be completely transparent that there was no deal.

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CNN's actions are clearly grossly unethical and, as suggested above, are likely criminal

Sometimes CNN and Kaczynski don't know when to stop digging. "It's unclear what the person did that would necessitate an apology or why the GIF constitutes 'ugly behavior, but in any case CNN threatened "to publish his identity should any of that change," Mark Tapson writes. "Now #CNNBlackmail is a top trend on Twitter." CNN's actions are clearly grossly unethical and, as suggested above, are likely criminal. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) wrote that the media outlet's behavior was "[t]roubling." "I assume CNN's lawyers are examining GA § 16-8-16 Theft by extortion. If CNN constructively obtained the gif-maker's IP... it's a GA crime if they threatened to 'Disseminate any information tending to subject any person to hatred, contempt, or ridicule....'" he wrote. German Lopez of the left-wing website Vox wrote "I can't emphasize how bad this is on CNN's part. This is basically 'don't post stuff we don't like or we'll dox you.' Extremely unethical."

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What CNN did is "essentially blackmail"

What CNN did is "essentially blackmail," according to conservative radio host Ben Shapiro. "That's CNN stating that it will out the guy if he dares to defy their political perspective or offends them sufficiently. The whole story is frightening, and obviously an attempt to both nail Trump and discourage people from smacking CNN." Added nationally-syndicated radio host Dana Loesch: "The optics of going after people on Independence Day simply for making memes. And some wonder why people are frustrated with media." WikiLeaks tweeted, "Trump was bad. CNN is worse: CNN threatens amateur satirist behind Trump video: make fun of us again and we dox you." CNN's extreme reaction to being ridiculed shouldn't come as much of a surprise. After all, politically correct leftists have no sense of humor. And to make matters worse, CNN may have identified the wrong person as the pro-Trump GIF-maker, according to Kaczynski's former employer, cat-video and gossip website BuzzFeed. (Kaczynski quit BuzzFeed to join CNN in October.) Again, this shouldn't come as a surprise to those who follow college dropout Kaczynski's work.

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Kaczynski has also taken on the role of grand plagiarism inquisitor at CNN

As Jon Gabriel writes at Ricochet:

This isn't Kaczynski's first attempt at destroying a private citizen's life. As a BuzzFeed reporter, he gained notoriety for publicizing a lame joke Tweeted by a 30-year-old PR director named Justine Sacco. As Sacco was boarding a plane from London to Cape Town, South Africa, she poked fun at many people's poor understanding of the continent. Kaczynski decided the joke was racist and helped gin up a digital lynch mob while she was in the air for 11 hours sans internet. By the time Sacco landed, she was mobbed by reporters, was fired from her job, and had to go into hiding.

Kaczynski has also taken on the role of grand plagiarism inquisitor at CNN. He accused Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke of plagiarism because his punctuation was bad in an academic paper. He also accused commentator Monica Crowley of plagiarism in connection with her 2012 book, What The (Bleep) Just Happened. Publishing law attorney Lynn Chu examined Crowley's work and said she "found CNN's splashy 'plagiarism' accusation to be ill-supported—a heavily exaggerated, political hit job."

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Needless to say, CNN is in big trouble that is entirely of its own making

Gabriel also writes that

Kaczynski's insanity was just the latest in CNN's string of horrible decisions related to Trump. Last week, CNN accepted the resignations of three star journalists over their retracted story falsely connecting a Trump associate to a Russian bank. Before that, CNN's parent company helped fund a performance of Julius Caesar, in which a Trump stand-in is assassinated. In the past month, the network retracted another anti-Trump story proved false by James Comey's testimony, fired Kathy Griffin for posing with an effigy of Trump's decapitated head, and censured host Reza Aslan for wishing rape on a Republican congressman. Not to mention the Project Veritas videos catching CNN employees mocking Americans and admitting that the endless Russia allegations are a big nothing-burger.

Needless to say, CNN is in big trouble that is entirely of its own making. "Considering all of the network's recent journalistic embarrassments and its ratings slide into near-oblivion, perhaps CNN should be on a suicide watch," Mark Tapson concludes.

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