The New York Times accused John McCain of having an affair with a lobbyist for whom he did special favors, thus dishonoring his office. If the Times was wrong, and imperiled both his marriage and his run for the presidency, why didn't McCain file a libel lawsuit?
Yet another botched job of getting our priorities straight. The media focuses on the potential for a lurid affair, which McCain can flat out deny, while missing the issue of Mr. Straight Talk doing special favors for a lobbyist he was close to (corruption of democracy and a blow to his credibility)..which McCain does not have to address at all.
ReplyDeleteLush Rumball then puffs off that "the story isn't the story...the story is that the NY Times knew about this and endorsed him anyway"...because this is the kind of crap that Mr. Rumball puffs about routinely, thus amplifying the trivialization of the REAL issue as well.
Convolution everywhere. If this were a democrat, the lobbyist would have already charged that McCain is lying and did have an affair with her. . .because we all know which side that behavior falls onto most.
In my mind, Bill Cunningham and Lush Rumball ought to have a finger cut off for every time they convolute Obama's name with Saddam or Bin Laden.
This is all deliberately silly.
Can a politician while still in office sue for libel? I thought there was a 1st Amendment restriction on that. Otherwise Bush and Cheney would have lawsuits out the yin-yang.
ReplyDeleteSince Times v. Sullivan, standing law has been that a public figure, or a limited public figure for purposes of a matter of public importance and controversy, has no tort for defamatory and false statements UNLESS that figure can demonstrate "actual malice" which falls generally into two categories: One is being reliably informed beforehand that the defamatory accusation was false; the other is a persistent reckless disregard of the truth - the defamer refused to check for countervailing evidence even when it was readily available.
ReplyDeleteAnother point to keep in mind is that artistic expressions such as romans a clef and parodies or satires have a much higher bar. Also a particular defamation loses culpability if it's already being broadly disseminated.
If the presidency is a way for you enrich yourself and your friends, then hurting someones bid for presidency, with print, is libel.
ReplyDeleteTed,
ReplyDeleteMcCain's arm can't go that high!
This smells like the "straw man" that was used to defuse the problem of Bush43 being AWOL during Viet Nam.
ReplyDeleteRemember? Someone fed Dan Rather a document that seemed to prove Bush missed formations. Then when the document was shown to be bogus, most people thought that meant Bush wasn't AWOL.
Well, what if they knew McCain had a real weakness -- his relations with lobbyists vs. his rhetoric? Showing the sex angle gets attention, showing it's unsupported tends to disarm the whole question.
Just a thought.
the cartoon doesn't convey any clear idea. the 2nd and 3rd panel conflict.
ReplyDelete-p0s1tr4kd
This smells like the "straw man" that was used to defuse the problem of Bush43 being AWOL during Viet Nam.
ReplyDeletegood eye!
As far as I know, Rush has never convoluted Obama's name. I know Ted Kennedy has.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know, Rush has never convoluted Obama's name. I know Ted Kennedy has.
ReplyDeleteEven I have. The difference is that I am not the media.
K aggie, you accused Rush of convoluting Obama's name and he ought to have a finger cut off each time. Your proof is that you've said it, therefore he must have said it? How many fingers have you removed?
ReplyDeleteI believe the word you're looking for is "conflate", not "convolute".
ReplyDeleteEdward, here is a link to audio and dates where Rush conflates the names. You know about this, right?
ReplyDeletesnip snip
The diff between Rush saying it and anyone else saying it is that he is repeating it on national radio, over and over again. This is what the dems get for ditching Kucinich and Edwards, though. Dumb asses. ! I saw this a mile a way.
update:
ReplyDeleteA random person just told me Obama was Muslim.