Truth? Every thinking person I know with whom I’ve discussed lying “Fox NOT-News'” settlement for repeatedly lying to it’s viewers is a bit disappointed that they got away without having to admit on air to their oh-so-gullible viewers they were lying all the time. Thinking Americans wanted each of the lying Fox talkers to have to confess their sins during their shows, where they had so comfortably spread the lies in the first place. It really sucks that didn’t happen. No one was particularly surprised, just disappointed. Me, too.

In today’s Guardian, there’s a story about how they haven’t said nearly word one about the settlement. (There was a brief mention in their hard “news” segment, apparently.) No surprise. Then I saw, at the end of the article, that Bill O’Reilly used the opportunity to try and polish his turd-like image by claiming that when HE was at Fox, their standard was ‘Fair and Balanced’ and has, since his departure, become, ‘Tell the audience only what it wants to hear.’ Uh-huh.

I remember when his was a relevant voice, thinking people used to regularly refer to him a Bill O’LIEly. He didn’t earn that moniker by being dedicated to truth. Al Franken wrote a book called ‘Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them’ in 2003! O’Reilly started HIS lying show at Fox in 2001 and was “purged” in 2017 after a sexual harassment scandal. So NOW Fox hosts are lying about the lying and who the lying liars are, might be, and used to be.

“Fox Not-News” viewers don’t care. They’re the physical embodiment of Sheryl Crow’s ‘Strong Enough’ lyric: “Lie to me. I promise, I’ll believe. Lie to me. But please, don’t leave.”

It should be noted, however, that MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell may have spilled MSNBC’s beans with his “analysis.” He said they had to pay out because they were stupid and smugly pointed out that Fox couldn’t have been sued if their talking heads had simply uttered three words at the end of each lie, “if that’s true.” He said, “Those are safe legal words that save you $787 Million…” Quick question: does Lawrence O’Donnell knowing how to tell a legally bulletproof lie on television reflect something he just casually picked up along the way? Or is he telling everyone how MSNBC lies to their viewers with impunity? Either way, he has now told lying Fox Not-News how to do it better.

I’ll tell you this: If I was an MSNBC viewer, I’d be watching for those weasel words – “if that’s true” – from now on. Better yet, turn of broadcast news entirely. READ an actual newspaper. Take your time. THINK about what you’re reading. Don’t let them blast some b.s. into your head and swiftly move past it, eh?