By Ray Cardello for July 11, 2021 Season 2 / Post 27

There is only one version of the truth. Truth is black and white. There is no gray in the truth. There are not two versions of the truth. There should not be one truth for the right and another for the Left. Truth is absolute. Let’s look at the Michael Avinatti story from this week and see how truth can be manipulated into anything but absolute.

Michael Avinatti was riding high in 2018. He was possibly running for President in 2020, and he was the media darling of every network except FOX News. He was on top of the world, and the Left hoped that he was the man who held the kryptonite to bring down Donald J. Trump. Michael Avinatti was the man. Fast forward three short years. Michael Avinatti is not the President of the United States. Michael Avinatti is no longer the attorney for Stormy Daniels. Michael Avinatti is now a broken man and going to spend the next 30 months in prison. Michael Avinatti is no longer the man.

Avinatti burst upon the national scene when he represented former porn star and stripper Stormy Daniels to bring down Donald Trump. That case does not matter, but in representing Daniels, Avinatti became a celebrity with nightly appearances on every show that CNN and MSNBC could book for him. He appeared on nightly talk shows and afternoon magazine shows. His face was everywhere. Main Stream Media and left-leaning cable outlets fawned over Avinatti to the point of embarrassment. Here is a sampling of the exchanges:

And the madness begins when CNN commentator Ana Navarro likened Avenatti to the Holy Spirit. Yes, you read that right.

• “Lately, to me, you’re like the Holy Spirit. You are all places at all times. Right. I mean, I do — I see you all over cable news, I see — there’s a seat available if you want to be a co-host at ‘The View.’ There’s people here you can pitch. He’d be a great lady around the table” Navarro ranted.
• In 2018, Avenatti made countless television appearances where he bashed then-President Donald Trump, who had an affair with Daniels. As a result of his TV hits, Avenatti became something of a liberal folk hero, and was even considered a viable 2020 presidential candidate by some. One of those appearances came on CNN’s Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter, who told the Avenatti that he was “taking him seriously” as a presidential contender
• Chris Cuomo…..Michael Avinatti is a main player in 2020 election
• Joy Behar…..He’s out there saving the country.
• Gayle King….He’s a rock star

Avinatti was on over 200 appearances on cable news the year before being indicted. All 200 plus were gushing accolades except one- Tucker Carlson on FOXNews…”You exploited Stormy Daniels. You are making millions and she is working in strip clubs”

Yes, over 200 appearances, and only one got it right. Not a very good batting average but you won’t hear about the media getting it wrong. They will remain silent as the story drifts away, gobbled up by the next big story. 

Michael Avinatti was sentenced this week to 30 months in Federal Prison for attempting to defraud Nike of millions. He also has two more trials to survive, or there will be additional time to be served or fines to payout. You will not hear much about his plight on any of the networks or shows who lauded him as the second coming. They will bury this story like Jimmy Hoffa. Them telling of the current Michael Avinatti, the one that Tucker Carlson so accurately described, means they would have to admit they were hoodwinked. That will never happen and just like a wrongly accused individual, the one whose name and face is plastered on page 1, the retraction is always buried under the fold in section 2. People that watch these “news” feeds will only know the original “truth”-not the real one.

This is part of the problem with our divisive country. There are two sides to every story but only one truth. That is not the case when the news is involved. In reporting the news, all is fair game and the truth be damned. Fake News, the term invented by Donald Trump, is a tool of the power that wants to take down this country from within. The ratings, however, show that maybe Americans are smarter than anyone gives them credit for. It appears that the falling ratings of CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and NBC are the price these entities will pay for dancing with the devil and trying to sell a lie, their truth, to the world.