If you have even the mildest case of TDS this hasn’t been a good week for you.  On top of the theatrics and hysterics being played out in all-nighters in Washington, we got this breaking news late last night.  NBC NEWS’ Rudy Chinchilla did about as fair and balanced a reporting as one could reasonably expect:

Paramount has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump that had alleged an interview that aired on CBS’s “60 Minutes” last year with Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent for the presidency, was deceptively edited.

The agreement in principle, proposed by a mediator, includes plaintiffs’ fees and costs and — except for fees and costs — will be allocated to Trump’s future presidential library, Paramount Global said in a statement late Tuesday. Paramount is the parent company of CBS.

“The settlement will include a release of all claims regarding any CBS reporting through the date of the settlement, including the Texas action and the threatened defamation action,” the statement read.  Paramount also said it agreed that in the future “60 Minutes” will release transcripts of interviews with eligible U.S. presidential candidates after the interviews have aired, “subject to redactions as required for legal or national security concerns.”

The settlement does not include a statement of apology or regret,” the company said. The proposed settlement comes as Paramount seeks to complete an $8 billion merger with media production group Skydance Media.

Paramount on Tuesday pointed to a previous statement regarding the Skydance merger. “This lawsuit is completely separate from, and unrelated to, the Skydance transaction and the FCC approval process,” it said. “We will abide by the legal process to defend our case.”

This nuanced report stands in direct contrast to the chest-thumping version that FOX NEWS’ Brian Flood and Joseph A. Wulfsohn dropped, with a particularly incendiary headline:

Paramount, CBS forced to pay eight-figures, change editorial policy in settlement with President Trump

Paramount Global and CBS agreed on Tuesday to pay President Donald Trump a sum that could reach north of $30 million to settle the president’s election interference lawsuit against the network. 

Trump will receive $16 million upfront. This will cover legal fees, costs of the case, and contributions to his library or charitable causes, to be determined at Trump’s discretion. There is an expectation that there will be another allocation in the mid-eight figures set aside for advertisements, public service announcements, or other similar transmissions, in support of conservative causes by the network, Fox News Digital has learned.  Sources close to the situation told Fox News Digital that CBS has agreed to update its editorial standards to install a mandatory new rule. Going forward, the network will promptly release full, unedited transcripts of future presidential candidates’ interviews. People involved in the settlement talks have referred to this as the “Trump Rule.” 

Yep, the malignant narcissist with horrid taste in headgear triumphed again.  Life truly does suck.

For journalists with a sense of purpose, it’s a particularly dark moment.  The level-headed Rick Ellis of Too Much TV was prompted to drop a far later newsletter than usual around midnight with this wailed lament:

I understand the business reasons for the settlement as well as Skydance head David Ellison’s apparent desire to work with the Trump camp in order to move forward with the merger as well as whatever post-merger plans might be coming. But it’s ludicrous to pretend there wasn’t a connection between this settlement and the proposed merger.

So I would to hear one of the intrepid reporters at CNBC ask Redstone or Ellison the next time they make an appearance on the network to answer these questions. “Do you think CBS and 60 Minutes were at fault with this story? If not, why did you settle the lawsuit other than as a way to push the merger forward?”

The truth is they can’t provide an answer to that. Because it’s not believable that there isn’t a connection. But they can’t admit there is a connection without opening themselves up to corruption charges brought by shareholders.

Perhaps the worst part of this is that the “corruption of CBS” will become an ongoing talking point by Trump and his supporters. It will also likely open up other parts of the media to similar charges. In fact, President Trump suggested on Tuesday that he is considering a lawsuit against CNN for its reporting on the U.S. bombing of Iran.

I kinda doubt Redstone will be making that appearance, or any other one where journalists will have access to her, any time soon.  Keep in mind this nepobaby never really wanted to run a media company in the first place, let alone a news organization.  From her standpoint as a business-adjacent “executive”, she “settled” for paying less than 1 per cent of the initial asking price to accelerate her ticket out of this unnecessary drama and back to the life that an heiress was raised by her filandering absentee daddy to live.

And her lawyers sure did figure out some extremely creative ways to dance around the obvious conclusions and connections.  The attention to detail in crafting this mediation essentially diffuses any sparks that were ignited by the letter writing of senators Warren, Wyden and Sanders.  Amazing that Democrats seem to be united about the belief that sternly worded letters actually matter any more.

But if you’re looking for a ray of hope, let me offer you this from my own experience.

I’ve known plenty of people who were willing to throw money at any problem just to make it go away.  One in particular just happened to be a malignant narcissist of the first order.  And the person who effectively cajoled and wheedled hundreds of thousands of dollars out of it wasn’t far from that description themself.   An unapologetic addict and drifter who never could hold an actual job in their adult lifetime–and knew exactly how to manipulate the malignant narcissist to bail them out time and time again, if for no other reason that it saved them the trouble of actually attending to the problem.

In many ways, it was a symbiotic and transactional relationship between two equally damaged people–much like Redstone and Trump.

The malignant narcissist who threw money at their problems has terminal cancer.  The recipient–very much a Trump booster–is dead.

So take heart, journalists and democracy lovers.  There’s a precedence out there for you to hold on in these troubled times.

Until next time...