Today is Tuesday, April 18, 2023. The case is over! Today Dominion Voting Systems settled its $1.6 billion lawsuit against the largest peddler of misinformation under the guise of “news,” Fox News . Thus Fox News will now pay Dominion Voting Systems an eye-popping $787.5 million after both sides hammered out a last-minute settlement today in the explosive defamation case launched against the right-wing network. This development is covered in an online article for CNN Business by Catherine Thorbecke, Mike Hayes, Maureen Chowdhury, Marshall Cohen, Oliver Darcy, Jon Passantino, and Elsie Hammond entitled “Settlement reached in Dominion defamation lawsuit against Fox News.”

In the settlement, Fox did acknowledge the court’s rulings finding “certain claims about Dominion to be false.” To me, this is a weak admittance of fraud on the part of Fox News against the company that sued it for defamation. As an additional proviso of the settlement, the network will not have to acknowledge on air that it told election lies, a representative for Dominion said. By settling now, influential Fox News executives and prominent on-air personalities will be spared from testifying about their 2020 election coverage, which was filled with lies about voter fraud.

And here everyone had expected for this case to go to trial in Wilmington, Delaware, this morning. I was looking forward to hearing that explosive testimony from such anchors as “Fucker” Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham. I wanted Fox News to be punished with a settlement of $1.6 billion – the maximum requested.

Dominion Voting Systems’ lead counsel Justin Nelson intimated that other lawsuits are still pending, such as lawsuits against other right-wing networks Newsmax and OAN, as well as against Dumpf allies Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and Mike Lindell, the Pillow Guy.

Even though I was disappointed in hearing about the settlement, this development can be viewed as a victory for the voting systems company in its scuffle with the behemoth right-wing network.

In a major pretrial ruling on March 31, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis ruled in Dominion’s favor, saying that it was “CRYSTAL” clear” that none of the allegations about Dominion aired on Fox by Trump allies were true.

The deal was announced hours after the jury was sworn in at the Delaware Supreme Court. Rumors of a settlement swirled in the courthouse when, after a lunch break, the proceedings dramatically ground to a halt for nearly three hours with no explanation, while the parties apparently reached an agreement.

In an interview with CNN’s Alex Marqaurdt, Justin Nelson, the lead counsel for Dominion, said that “the case was always about accountability” and “trying to make Dominion whole again.” Outside the courthouse following the announcement of the settlement, Nelson said, “The truth matters. Lies have consequences.”

The wrong power of the gun was in full view somewhere in Kansas City last Thursday, to be exact, when an 84-year-old homeowner was so spooked by the Black teenager at his door that he shot him through a locked glass door, almost killing him. The teenager, Ralph Yarl, had the wrong door, as he was trying to gather his siblings from an address in the neighborhood. His punishment for ringing the wrong doorbell was getting shot by a fearful white, senior citizen. Today that homeowner, Andrew Lester, faces two felony charges – assault in the first degree and armed criminal action. The age of the victim was 16. He was shot in the head and arm after he went to the wrong address to pick up his siblings.

This situation is so emblematic of the racial animus in this country and the obsession with guns that is rampant here that it cries for some sort of justice. The senior homeowner thought the young stranger was going to burglarize his house, so he shot him without asking him any questions as to who he was and what he was doing there.

The shooting fueled protests in Kansas City and stirred memories of Trayvon Martin and Ahmaud Arbery – two young Black men who were gunned down by assailants who later claimed self-defense. Demonstrators have marched through Kansas City chanting, “Justice for Ralph,” and calling for the shooter’s arrest. Today Lester turned himself in at a detention center, then was released on bail hours later.

The mayor of Kansas City, Quinton Lucas, didn’t mince words when he said the incident only occurred because Yarl was Black. Lucas said, “This boy was shot because he was existing while Black.” Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson has said, “There was a racial component to this case,” but did not elaborate.

Luckily, the young victim, Ralph Yarl, has recovered enough to leave his hospital bed today, but his family said he still faces an arduous road to full recovery. What is peculiarly characteristic of this case is that Missouri had its own “stand your ground” law which allows people to respond to threats of death, serious bodily injury, rape, and some other serious crimes with deadly force. How could anyone believe that this homeowner was justified for shooting an unarmed Black teenager for no other reason other than thinking he was in danger? He never confronted Yarl to ask him for the reason he was ringing his doorbell. This young man might recover from his physical wounds within time, but it will take a much longer time to recover psychologically from this traumatic event. This tragic incident also calls for renewed demands for adopting sensible gun reform legislation in Congress. How many people will be shot before this country’s “leaders” do anything about it?

Tomorrow Elliot and I are seeing a Broadway play The Life of Pi with our good friend “Deborah.” We do have tickets for a 2 p.m. matinee, but we are having dinner out after the performance. So I might not be here in this space tomorrow night.

Stay safe and be well.