Palin's Lawyer Threatens Bloggers, Media--UPDATED
During her now 10 month-long media victimization campaign, Sarah Palin has time and again revealed her fundamental misunderstanding of the First Amendment and Americans' free speech rights. Now as she prepares to exit the Alaska Governor's mansion, her confusion - and thin skin - is again on display.
On the Fourth of July of all days, Palin's lawyer Thomas Van Flein issued a warning that his client would bring defamation claims against bloggers and media alike speculating on rumors of a criminal investigation involving the Governor:
To the extent several websites, most notably liberal Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore, are now claiming as "fact" that Governor Palin resigned because she is "under federal investigation" for embezzlement or other criminal wrongdoing, we will be exploring legal options this week to address such defamation. This is to provide notice to Ms. Moore, and those who re-publish the defamation, such as Huffington Post, MSNBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post, that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law. The Alaska Constitution protects the right of free speech, while simultaneously holding those "responsible for the abuse of that right." Alaska Constitution Art. I, Sec. 5. http://ltgov.state.ak.us/... These falsehoods abuse the right to free speech; continuing to publish these falsehoods of criminal activity is reckless, done without any regard for the truth, and is actionable.
As Moore herself noted regarding her reference on MSNBC to the lingering questions surrounding the construction of the Palin home and the Wasilla sports complex (a story first raised last year by the Wayne Barrett in The Village Voice):
"I haven't defamed the governor, I reported on speculation and rumor in Alaska. ... It's not my rumor; it's been out there for 10 months and the First Amendment protects me," Moore said. "Even if I didn't say it's 'rumors and speculation,' I'm still protected -- I would just lose credibility, which I'm not willing to do."
UPDATE: For its part, as the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday, "the FBI's Alaska spokesman said the bureau had no investigation into Palin for her activities as governor, as mayor or in any other capacity."
Which is exactly right. While Van Flein cited the Alaska Constitution's statement that "every person may freely speak, write, and publish on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right," the United States Constitution is another matter altogether. As Anchorage attorney Peter Maassen seemed to suggest, Sarah Palin's thin skin is no basis for a credible defamation suit:
"If (Palin) is actually a public figure, which clearly she is, there has to be actual malice involved, in my understanding of defamation law. That would be very hard to prove...It's a very, very high bar if it is a public figure," he said.
And regardless of what her supposed "higher calling" may be, Sarah Palin will remain a public figure. Soon, she will be unencumbered by the duties of the Governor's office, just as she is unencumbered by any apparent familiarity with the Constitution of the United States.
In the meantime, as she faces growing press scrutiny over her bizarre decision to step down, Sara Palin can follow her own advice to Hillary Clinton last year and just "plow through."
"You got me I left because if i didn't they were going to press charges"
Seriously why not just come out and admit you were forced out? Doing something like this is basiclly the same thing. This just makes her look silly and stupid(not hard I know).
Could actions like this Void the deal they made with the state. I can't help but think she's out because she was forced under some sort of deal.
What about the bridge to nowhere? Who's going to mind the bridge?
Think of the children, for God's sake!
Also.
if the news media crucified you like they did palin, hilary and mccain and idolized the lying, non citizen, non president thing that is in the whitehouse illegally and your private legal cost was 1/2 million i woud say to you go to hell my family and my private life is far more important and you deserve the trash you will get. open yopur eyes all the good ones are going or gone they are tired of this BS
this country is in shambles because of the current administration and it is going to get worse, much worse! so all of you get out of your coma and see what is really happening!
are discussed on fair and balanced Fox News everyday.
Tinfoil hat feeling a little too snug today?
but I do think that the FBI saying they are not investigating Sarah is a whole lot different than the IRS saying the same thing. If she did nothing illegal on the house deal, there could still be some tax consequences for some of the things she did when that arena was built in Wasilla, or in charging the state for using her own home as the governor's mansion. Just thinking out loud here.
alaska constitution?
no state can grant less rights than the fed, and the us constitution protects speech
and as noted, the allegations about the hockey rink and home were made during the campaign...i remember them being made, but thought little of it at the time, especially seeing how hard it was to convict stevens (and then seeing his conviction overturned)
if i was sarah, i would muzzle her atty and be happy with the millions that are coming my way, and even happier that i wouldnt have to be spending next winter in alaska, as she will be on a book tour through the lower 48
oh, and read the washington posts take on the matter....poor, poor sarah
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31745445/ns/polit...
I thought she was all about freedoms? Now she wants to take them away? Poor wittle Sarah. Please tell me this announcement means her 15 minutes of fame are at 14:59.
is intended to be a factual statement
this bitch palin is going to make money
suing everyone (the bloggers) for exposing
all the crimes she is committing.
BITCH ! BITCH ! BITCH !!!!!
Apparently you are upset that Palin might sue those that spread false rumors about her persona. What would you do in her place? Paint yourself black so people will be charitable when dealing with you and yourshortcomings?
Pitbulls don't call the SPCA when their feelings are hurt.
This from the same people who worship/grovel to old Limpnuts, who says s*%t 1,000 worse every day about the president or any Dem or "liberal". F*%!ing hypocrites.
Of course, she wants to silence the press. She's a Republicanista, isn't she? That's what they do-- trample on people's constitutional rights. All in the name of FREEDOM, of course.
Word.
Did she get a hefty advance to pay this attorney with? She is beyond belief.
you betcha
media whore she is
why give her anymore press?
Go ahead take me to court.
Make My DAY
I second that!
NOBODY 2012
...in any form is one of the salient traits of a malignant personality disorder.
Speculation of misdeeds is reasonable given her history. Her lawyer has no grounds. This is just another instance of her tendancy to exalt self to the status of supreme reality.
don't step into the fire!
If you can't take criticism your NO LEADER.
Drama Queens Don't Work!
The erratic drama queen strikes again. Her latest gem ... let's just break a little compact with the people of Alaska because it's hard work and I'm bad at it ... work.
Governing a state, even Alaska, means understanding a little something about sociology, culture, history, the mechanics of power, the constitution ... the list goes on. It also means getting up early and going to bed late to enact an agenda for the state. It means making a whole host of sacrifices for other people. Sarah is certainly not about other people. Her apparent lack of interest in the day to day grind and political nitty gritty is exceeded only by an appalling lack of intellectual curiosity and a singular incompetence.
For Sarah, life is all some bizarre American Idol competition. Well, get the hell off the stage lady ... your act has worn thin, really thin.
beeryblog
Fighting a War on Ignorance
She's well aware I'm sure that the law can be used as a club to threaten and intimidate regardless of the merits of the case. It costs her nothing to threaten, it increases her sympathy with her base, and you never know a blogger or reporter might blink.
ROFLMAO!!
By threatening to sue anyone who makes such allegations, Palin and her attorney have created or intensified the uproar over these allegations, ensuring that the uproar over the allegations will be reported EVEN MORE!!
Either they are fools .. or they REALLY WANT more media attention to the uproar about the allegations!!
I read the story on MSNBC - one of the media they specifically warned not to print these allegations ..
ROFLMAO!!!
What a Circus!
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
The bar is exceptionally high. One must prove damage to the individul involved and one must prove malice.
A non-starter all the way.
... the bar on damage is that it must SIGNIFICANTLY affect a person's reputation and/or ability to conduct their daily business.
For a public official, that's almost impossible to prove.
And, just like libel/slander, the only real defense you have is: TRUTH.
call a crook a crook, and they turn out to be a crook, can that crook sue me?
Way to go, Sarah. You sure scared us, you betcha.
NOBODY 2012
the fbi is denying that any investigation is occuring
there...that should take care of any possible lawsuit
rofl
Palin is without sin and has cast the first stone, or something.
i look forward to seeing you out in public without your state trooper protection detail (like THEY would take a bullet for you)(HA) and having a word with your children and 'first dude' todd about your character. lets see if his mouth is as big as yours is.
it should be interesting seeing you try to explain to your children why EVERYBODY in the world is lying about what a horrible lying stealing person their mother is at the same time.
It's clear that Palin is a loser.
IF she can't take the heat in the spotlight she tries to create for herself and then threatens the 'perpetrators' with action in a court - ooops, time to see a shrink....
The ultimate loose cannon.....
Hope, the terrorist loving whore, just goes to Hell.
She can't handle the situation so she blames everyone else.
The party of personal responsibility my ass.
"Someday somebody related to some of these sufferers, these victims, these collaterally damaged souls, may try to kill you. And I have to tell you, I think you’ll have it coming." - Christopher Cooper
OK, it's obvious now that Palin got a 7 figure book deal as the usual parasites are now swarming around her addled brain. Lawyer makes a "statement" - ka-ching! - out goes another bill for $400/hour. Welcome to Michael Jackson sycophant land Sarah!
Poor, poor Sarah, she'll always be a second placer...
Palin's lawyer Thomas Van Flein issued a warning
Ka-ching!
most notably liberal Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore
Ka-ching!
provide notice to Ms. Moore
Ka-ching!
Huffington Post
Ka-ching! Ka-ching!
MSNBC
Ka-ching!
the New York Times
Ka-ching!
The Washington Post
Ka-ching!
The Alaska Constitution protects blah blah blah
Ka-ching! Ka-ching! Ka-ching!
How come she didn't sue Letterman?
Sarah no sue,
There for, it must be true!
Your a shell of the trailer trash POS you used to be... sue me!
had sex with her father in an outhouse?
but its damn hard for a public figure to prove defamation
and this woman was running around the country screaming that obama pals around with terrorists
she is a real piece of work
Yea damages are usually based on defamation of character.
Nothing left there. Case dismissed.
What about definition of character?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
They kicked the goat out. Campari time!
;)
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that expressly prohibits the United States Congress from making laws "respecting an establishment of religion" or that prohibit the free exercise of religion, infringe the freedom of speech, infringe the freedom of the press, limit the right to peaceably assemble, or limit the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Although the First Amendment only explicitly applies to the Congress, the Supreme Court has interpreted it as applying to the executive and judicial branches. Additionally, in the 20th century, the Supreme Court held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applies the limitations of the First Amendment to each state, including any local government within a state.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_...
That's Falwell v Hustler.
The Rehnquist court said that jerry falwell made himself a public figure, and as such the burden of proof becomes higher,and particularly since the piece in question was a satire of a popular booze ad at the time asking, "When was your first time?" This was labelled satire on the page it appeared, as well as the index of the magazine.
Fortuituously, this was pre-Clarence Thomas, or the justices may not have gotten their copy back.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
me too! sue me you converter! I want to take your sworn deposition. It's like, um permanent and stuff, sarah. It means you, like, swear to God you ain't lyin'**((wink))** Sure you wanna do that? Please?
The Right never changes the game plan. They love to work the refs. It makes for great entertainment, but the dead-enders will eat it up as they always do.
Next stop for the Sarah Express? Hopefully somewhere the cameras can't reach.
Estamos hasta la madre, no mas sangre...
her respect for the first amendment is like her love for this country -- fake and subject to termination when it suits her.
and her lawyers yaps about what the *alaskan* constitution says about free speech. he must be one of those aip secessionists...
http://blahgblog.wordpress.com/2009/07/04/sar...
that the Wassila Wacko has become. She pimps her kids on tour, then cries wah they get written up in the press.
Alaska.Is.Free
"Let's talk dirty to the animals"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXw1JK2tATY
You quit...again.
Now shut up and go away.
Quit issuing statements, ignore the bloggers.
If you say nothing, there is nothing to blog about.
Shut up and go away.
No one ever talks about me on blogs or in news columns ever.
I don't seek attention and I don't get it. Simple formula.
Shut up and go away.
Leaving aside the entertainment value, she is the epitomy of the perpetual political gift!
Maybe we should have a campaign to send her some preparation h or other similar ointment for her butthurtedness.
Poor poor butthurt repubs.
Why does Todd keep sticking it there when the world needs more Trigs?
KY Jelly?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Easy enough to prove. Produce all the receipts from the building expenses. Most people keep those for tax purposes.
That woman is so crazy on so many levels.
She needs the media to further her agenda. She needs to be the topic of discussion. She needs to be in the spot light.
If the media ignores her, she'll simply fade away.
Her playing the victim is getting old. WATB.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
Where are all the "birthers" who are still clamoring for Obama's REAL birth certificate? ALL Failin' Palin has to do is show the contracts with the contractor who built her house, receipts for material and 1099's for the labor. THAT will answer all the questions. WHAT IS SHE AFRAID OF?
She may be bugfeck loony, but at least she's a wimp...
When the going gets tough, she goes bananas.
mind set is their brazen ability to take risks and turn it into action.
Unfortunately they always leave a disaster-wreck in their wake.
This bimbo has shown throughout that she is clueless. How did the good people of Alaska ever vote her ito a governorship? beats me. maybe they have an affinity to trailer park bimbos. the only thing this bimbo ever had going for her was her looks. pretty, beautiful, without a doubt, stupid, without a doubt. she needs to crawl back into her hole of obsurity and not open her mouth ever again.
she is due to be enthroned as the Emperoress of Antarctica.
I was just watching a South Park episode where terrorists put a nuclear device up Senator Clinton's vagina and it got me thinking about all the countless sexist jokes that have been made against Mrs. Clinton and her family over the years. And Palin has the audacity to complain about a few mild jokes.
"put up with. Exactly. Where I was not a 'die-hard' Hillary fan, I do admire her greatly for sticking it out in face of all the really nasty stuff that's been thrown her and Chelsea's way for years. Now, in my opinion, Hillary is a 'true lady'....and she has my respect for dealing with all the ugliness, and remaining the cool woman she is.
i was so glad to hear that again this morning on ABC, by Cynthia Tucker...
thank you.
How can we miss her if she won't go away?
LOL. We got into a war shivering about "mushroom clouds". Now we have the North Koreans launching mushroom cloud tipped missiles in Hawaii's general direction, and all we can talk about are Sarah, Micheal, et all.
Palin and her lawyers will also file suits against Pop Rocks, Coke, and every alligator ever found in a sewer! No rumor is safe!
Palin/Paul 2012, woot. I speculate she was selling babys, and pimping her own children. Sue this, ho.
Palin Paul/Paul? Aw come'on. It's Paul /Kucinich 2012. New and improved change with 20% more more.
Actually Obama/Biden 2012, CIA for the win.
Go ahead, sue everyone who thinks you're a bimbo with no intellectual curiousity. That's a shitload of people, including many people on the right.
The internet will be our true savior. "The origins of the Internet reach back to the 1960s when the United States funded research projects of its military agencies to build robust, fault-tolerant and distributed computer networks."
If we're not eliminated**, humanity will continue to evolve... beyond [BELIEF], that's a fact!
Burn the e-books! :-o
**See Iran
PS. Willard Mitt Romney, will be their guy in 2012.
Study the symptoms not the virus...
But he belong's to the Morons!
Oops! Missing a letter, or am I.........????
If I were a psychopath, I would join the republican party, and get in on the gravy train taking the Teabircher morons to the cleaners.
It's become quite obvious she was never ready for any of this. Thinking back to McCain getting downright emotional (for him) with an emphatic "yes!" on answering the question (posed by Letterman, among others) of whether Palin was the best choice to be his V.P. just made me wince.
Palin should have answered to him the same way as that ridiculous old campaign canard on the bridge to nowhere: Thanks but no thanks! I've got to learn how to govern first!
Radix Omnium Malorum Avaritia
. . . she'll be suing John McCain's campaign people, the ones who trashed her in emails?
Just wondering.
A deserter married to a secessionist will restore American values and such as?
BTW Sarah, did you ever prove your slanderous claim that "Obama palled around with terrorists"? What a weak bitch.
and mainstream media alike, that "we don't know Obama's not a Muslim."
Or how about that he wants to create a fascist socialist state?
There are hundreds of them, every day.
This isn't even done, so why would the LAT back a statement about something they know the FBI won't make on the record? They called the agent in Alaska? And he goes on record as saying there is nothing going on? Not "no comment" as required by law, but exoneration by statement? No one in the US Attorney's office available for a no comment?
The LAT prints something that they can't follow up on? How scandalous. How journalistic. How many days before we get a page 82 apology?
My first thought after reading about the FBI 'disclaimer' re any investigation of alleged wrongdoings over contractural agreements regarding the Palins' house/sports arena building fiasco was "Why NOT investigate?" It stinks to high heaven.
Whasshe gonna do
Spank us?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I haven't researched but I'm guessing she was against frivolous lawsuits. Was she against it when individuals tried to sue the medical or corporate establishment? It's amusing how quickly they threaten to bog down our legal system when it is about them.
Good. Maybe now a tutor and a speech therapist are coming soon?
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
You know, every unscripted syllable this woman utters will be comedy gold. I'm shadenfreuding my ass off. I think people should just step back and watch. This is going to be one hysterical slowmotion trainwreck/titanic ramming an iceberg. Every time her advocate who ever it is, complains about the raw deal she has gotten in the media, bash 'em with 'Hillary/the Clintons/Chelsea' and top it with STFU.
Maybe Palin will host a new extremist radio program out of Seattle?
Maybe she has a new hour long show on the FOX fascist propaganda station?
Maybe she will join the secessionists movement?
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
that Sarah, Queen of Wasilla, is off the hook for the whole hockey rink/house thing. What made her leave her office 18 months early, giving up the bully pulpit and giving fodder to her political opponents (this makes her officially, a quitter)? If it was people making fun of her children, as highlighted by her feud with Letterman, then she is obviously unqualified for public office. And she shouldn't have paraded those children around like other politicians parade around political accomplishments; rather, kept them out of the spotlight (or did she miss Obama keeping the kids out of the public spotlight for years?).
OxyRush will have an explanation tomorrow morning, probably something along the lines of "brilliant!" for its thumbing-of-her-nose at the media. Now, she can devote all of her time to lowering the public discourse, and we all know that since there is a double-standard for Mrs. Palin, she can -- and will -- go around saying pretty much anything with impunity.
My belief is that she realized she was the Democrats' best hope and greatest wish for 2012, and given everything -- from the free McMansion, to the son who got out of going to prison for arson due to her connections, to her unwedded-mother daughter becoming the national spokesperson for abstinence, to the first dude conducting state affairs from the Governor's office, to the endless litany of ethics violations -- she cut her losses.
Well, that and the FBI comin' a-knockin'.
Sarah shut the !@#$%^ up already.God why have you forsaken us???--hee
Nutballs,these folks emanate waves of kookiness and are never normal, ever.
She will just be another religious nutball (with the mind of a rodent) starved for attention.
P.S. I meant no disrespect to rodents....apologies
LuLu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRR6VSaaryo
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
We can revel in the ratings spin or we quietly maintain our attention on the shiny object. Two choices. That's it.
The one thing we need to remember about leadership is that rats are always the first to jump ship. They are selling us short to IMF policies, like privatizing water policy, and helping the truth lie.
The art of misunderstanding is a gift of humanity that keeps giving and giving, but it's a simple thing to over come. Kind of like realizing the band M83 really really sucks. It stands; the hip acquire.
[Figure it out! These people are professional liars, hell bent on contracting and securitizing the lives and patents on every last pebble, all while rendering small scale agriculture helpless to their far reaching GMO lawsuits.]
Or, without explanation,
they suck.We can't explain this level of stupid: a statement not related to this war on truth for which everyone keeps referring.
If they win, that sets a precedent. That precedent can be used to DESTROY Fox "News" and Fat Druggie Limbaugh once-and-for-all. They do what Palin and her ambulance-chasing lawyer are whining about 24/7...and a few thousand lawsuits against all the talking pods on Fox and "Boy-Island" Viaga Man would be highly entertaining.
"Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous Communist plot we have ever had to face?" - General Jack D. Ripper
...in her blog, but she has a strange idea of what credibility is if she thinks "reporting" about "speculation and rumor" is what makes someone credible.
I agree that she shouldn't be sued, but it seems to me that she'd be a lot more useful (and responsible) if she "reported" about facts and left the speculation and rumor to Howie Kurtz and Dana Millbank.
FAUX network is an editorial/propagandist arm of today's Republican Party. If it were strickly about "reporting", none of the media outlets Rupert Murdoch owns would be in business. Republicans and their transparently ridiculous hypocrisies are a huge part of why fewer and fewer former Republicans are willing to still call themselves Republicans. To put it bluntly, they're ashamed of the Republican Party and or themselves for being duped into supporting wing-nut liars, con-artists and incompetent pretenders who have nothing to offer but deliberate lies and the self-protecting revisionist history they keep trying to sell by acting like snake oil salesman at a tent revival meeting. If what's left of today's Republican Party sincerely wanted genuine "reporting", why are they so enamored with the inflammatory fictional rantings of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly? Hardcore "news reporting" would leave the Republican Party adrift in a sea of incrimination without obfuscation or confabulation to hide behind. Bringing down Republicans would only require that news outlets report the true facts accurately. Something no one at FAUX news does.
This case holds that an elected official can sue in an american court for libel only if she proves actual malice or reckless disregard for the truth. This is the reason that politicians don't sue in American courts for defamation. Maybe she could sue in a more liberal jurisdiction like Britain's. here's the case:
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_sp...
...he wouldn't have THREATENED to sue, he would have presented the papers. Obviously has NO CASE.
But if they were to do this, it would actually open a door to pursuing those that are flat out lying like Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck. Though it may also put sources at risk of being subpoena'd, it will allow us to hold those in positions to spew whatever they want on the air to take accountability for what they say. It may even create an ethics code ;-)
when i read the i'm going to sue all i could think of was QBVII by leon uris. even the lawyer is dumber than dirt! are they so stupid as to not realize that THEY have to prove the house wasn't built by this company and that the materials were free?
really now. this dead fish has been flowing down the river since BEFORE mccain tapped her for v.p.
i am starting to think besides the need for greed and ambition, she realized she had to start taking care of trig. that kid is huge. he is no longer a baby and willow, bristol and piper can't be lugging him around and taking care of him any more. he is a large non ambulatory entity who cannot care for himself in anyway and really does have special needs. he is profoundly retarded.
the hell yeah was from trig if he could talk.
http://community.adn.com/mini_apps/vmix/playe...
Shannyn Moore responds to Palin's lawyer's threat to sue her
It's an "Awww she's so pathetically stupid" kind of funny but it's still funny.
Why does Palin's actions and her freakishly bizarre family all remind me of Scientology?
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