My own personal view is that the 2020 election was generally fair, and President Joe Biden was properly elected. But I am not so sure about the widespread use of machines in counting votes. My general concern about all machines is underlined by the apparent refusal of the voting machine companies to allow experts to examine their inner workings to determine if they are susceptible to hacking in future elections. When the government delegates a governmental function like vote counting to private companies, these companies must be transparent: they should not be permitted to hide behind claims of private business secrets. And the media should be allowed to challenge and criticize them without fear of being subjected to expensive lawsuits by giant corporations.

Moreover, the media should be free to challenge the results of any elections—even if the claims turn out to be false. I am convinced that the 2020 election was fair, but millions of voters believe—or claim to believe—otherwise. The open marketplace of ideas permits the media to give voice to dissenting views, even if they themselves disagree with them.

[I have a ton of respect for Dersh, and I’m not an attorney, but this seems a bit like misdirection. Dominion isn’t suing Fox for criticizing them for not allowing access to their systems by “experts.” They’re suing Fox for knowingly and recklessly publishing false and defamatory information about them and individuals who work for them as part of their attempt to promote a false narrative about the election and their company. The First Amendment is very broad, but it doesn’t cover willful defamation through libel or slander for anyone — not even media companies, who have a massive carve-out in the Sullivan precedent to further defend themselves in these actions.

Dersh is always worth a read, though. And I’d love to sit down with him and debate this, or debate pretty much anything he’d want to debate. — Ed]