CNN’s Jake Tapper laughed, and so did most others who saw the statement issued by a Fox News lawyer after Dominion Voting Systems settled its defamation suit against the network:

We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects FOX’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards.

No admission of lying. No apology for pretending to report the news while dispensing propaganda meant to help overturn the 2020 election results. Just Fox giving the finger to the courts, the journalism profession and the public.

Swamp Rabbit shrugged. “Being a corporate scumbag means never having to say you’re sorry.”

I tried to play devil’s advocate. “They’re sorry, in a way. Having to pay out three-quarters of a billion dollars isn’t exactly a slap on the wrist. More like a massive punch in the face.”

“But it ain’t gonna slow Fox down,” Swamp Rabbit replied. “It’ll just make that pampered sissy boy Tucker Carlson and them other talking heads more careful of what they say when they ain’t on TV.”

“So where’s the justice?” I said, trying to sound serious. “Where’s the accountability that decent people everywhere were looking forward to in a trial?”

Swamp Rabbit almost choked on the beer he was guzzling. “You been watching too many movies, Odd Man. In this country, justice takes a back seat to big money. Sometimes it don’t get no seat at all.”

I couldn’t argue with that. The Murdoch family and their odious underlings at FOX remain free to make big money every year by spreading and endorsing anti-democratic lies. As Robert Reich noted in a recent post, “‘Accountability’ is just another cost of doing business.”

Clarification: I’m not forgetting that CNN and the other news media giants aren’t beacons of truth, but Fox is in a league of its own. So is our so-called justice system.