Once again, the liberal media proves it hasn’t met a double standard it doesn’t love. After spending months–no years–demanding steps be taken to prevent foreign interference in our elections, it is having a hissy fit over yesterday’s ruling from the Department of Justice. Specifically, the DOJ has ordered AJ+, a subsidiary of Al Jazeera, to register as a foreign agent. And oh how the cries of outrage began.

AJ+ is a digital news outlet “owned by Al Jazeera, the media company backed by the royal family of Qatar.” In other words, owned by the mouthpiece of a foreign government. But the liberal media is quick to dismiss that connection.

Instead, they claim the move to force AJ+ to register as a foreign agent comes at the behest of the United Arab Emirates, which the NYT claims is a “rival” of Qatar. Mother Jones, that bastion of journalistic ethics (sorry, I really can’t type that with a straight face) goes one further. “The designation follows a years-long push by lobbyists hired by the autocratic government of the United Arab Emirates, which has long resented the critical coverage it receives from Al Jazeera.”

Cutting through all the yellow journalism at both sites, their complaint against the order boils down to this: UAE demanded that our government require AJ+ to register as a foreign agent as a show of good faith before the UAE would agree to normalize relations with Israel.

Now, UAE might have made such a request. But there are still legal requirements that must be met before such an order can be issued. Those requirements can be found in the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Included are the following provisions:

An “agent of a foreign principal” is any person who acts as an agent, representative, employee, or servant, or otherwise acts at the order, request, or under the direction or control of a “foreign principal” and does any of the following:

• Engages within the United States in political activities, such as intending to influence any U.S. Government official or the American public regarding U.S. domestic or foreign policy or the political or public interests of a foreign government or foreign political party. . .

So, does AJ+ meet this or any of the other requirements listed in FARA?

According to The Foundation for Defense of  Democracies, AJ+ has a great deal in common with Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, which has already been forced to register as a foreign agent. But, more specific to AJ+, FDD states, “The Qatari network, which broadcasts in Arabic, English, and other languages, launched in 1996 with seed funding from Qatar’s ruler and continues to be owned by the Qatari royal family. The network’s top brass are all royal family members, and while exact figures are hard to come by since the station does not publish financial statements, Qatar’s ruling family reportedly continues to fund Al Jazeera.”

That sounds to me like AJ+ has a very close relationship to Qatar’s government and a vested interest in influencing not only our government but public sentiment in their favor. But let’s look at a couple of things AJ+ had posted recently.

Less than a month ago, they posted this video. In less than a minute, it states that racism has been a problem within the Republican Party for decades and, basically, that Trump is the first racist president ever elected.

If that isn’t trying to influence “the American public regarding U.S. domestic or foreign policy,” I don’t know what is. That’s especially true when you consider this was posted less than a month ago, as both parties began their final push leading up to the November elections.

But let’s not stop there.

According to this, we’re selfish and too individualistic. We’re going to be the end of the world as we know it. (Or something like that. I’ll admit I couldn’t stomach more than a few minutes of the tripe–and I’m being nice.)

Again, it isn’t difficult to make an argument that the above video meets the requirements of FARA.

No one expected AJ+ to admit to being a foreign agent. I doubt there are many who are surprised by the response from certain media outlets and the twits  Tweeters condemning the DOJ’s ruling. After all, we’ve had almost four years of seeing the media double standard when it comes to the Trump administration. Orange man evil. Anything that can even remotely be construed as helping him is evil. But don’t you dare touch anything that progresses the Left’s agenda.

And let’s face it, nothing progresses that agenda more than undermining the public’s confidence in the foundations of our society, our basic rights and our individualism.

Journalism designed to influence American perceptions of a domestic policy issue or a foreign nation’s activities or its leadership qualifies as ‘political activities’ under the statutory definition,” said the letter, which was signed by Jay I. Bratt, the chief of the Justice Department’s counterintelligence division, “even,” the letter added, “if it views itself as ‘balanced.’”

Simply looking through the listings of AJ+’s videos on Youtube and it’s easy to see that it fits this definition. It is about time the DOJ acted. How long will we have to wait before we hear cries of outrage from Pelosi, Chuckie Schumer and company?

This is not a freedom of the press issue. This is a case of doing what the Dems have wanted since Trump took office: making sure a foreign government isn’t interfering with our government. Somehow, I don’t think the Dems will see it that what.

Of course, some of our national media outlets might be worried the DOJ will start taking a closer look at their own activities. I have no doubt there are some sweating bullets and, to be honest, I won’t lose any sleep over it. Those who are worried have long since abandoned being journalists in exchange for being “newsmakers”. What they really mean is they are now propaganda arms for the DNC.

Hmm, I wonder if there’s a way to require the DNC and its media mouthpieces to register as a foreign agent. After all, they are working against the best interests of our country and our government. (I know, I know. They don’t qualify. But a girl can hope, can’t she?)

Featured Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay. Creative Commons license.