Will Obama sue Washington Times for Libel?
January 23, 2007 2:29 PM Subscribe
Will Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama sue Insight Magazine for libel? The Washington Times-owned Insight Magazine ran a hit piece Jan. 17 that claimed Barack Obama attended a Muslim Madrassah in Indonesia while growing up there as a child. The story has proved categorically incorrect (CNN vid courtesy of C&L). But it cost both Hillary Clinton (who Insight claimed pushed the allegation) and Obama a lot of grief. Should Sens. Clinton and Obama seek libel damage against Insight, or is this just more mud-slinging?
This post was deleted for the following reason: this is not a good post for metafilter. the washington times is an OMG moonie paper. No, they will not sue.
Wait, is anybody but you suggesting legal action? I don't see it in your links. I call LeadingQuestionsFilter.
posted by wemayfreeze at 2:35 PM on January 23, 2007
posted by wemayfreeze at 2:35 PM on January 23, 2007
The media would doubtless present them as arrogant egotistic pols fighting a crusading media organ, but I think they should definitely sue for libel, with punitive damages if possible. Mud-slinging is one (bad) thing, blatant lies and race-baiting are quite another.
posted by athenian at 2:36 PM on January 23, 2007
posted by athenian at 2:36 PM on January 23, 2007
I wonder what Barack had for lunch today.
posted by boo_radley at 2:39 PM on January 23, 2007
posted by boo_radley at 2:39 PM on January 23, 2007
!
Oh, wait a minute; I thought I was reading ThinkProgress for a second there...
No, really, I did!
posted by The Confessor at 2:39 PM on January 23, 2007
Oh, wait a minute; I thought I was reading ThinkProgress for a second there...
No, really, I did!
posted by The Confessor at 2:39 PM on January 23, 2007
Will Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama sue Insight Magazine for libel?
No.
Does anyone anywhere predict otherwise?
posted by ibmcginty at 2:46 PM on January 23, 2007
No.
Does anyone anywhere predict otherwise?
posted by ibmcginty at 2:46 PM on January 23, 2007
Candidates almost never sue for slander, it's considered poor form
If Obama did sue, wouldn't he be insulting every Muslim who did attend a Madrassah as a child? I mean, would he somehow be less fit to be president if he did attend?
I mean the guy admitted to doing coke earlier in his life, if this was true we would have known about it long ago, and it wouldn't have had any impact. The only thing remarkable about it is that it's a lie.
It's an incredibly insulting lie, but it's only a "bad" thing in the mind of xenophobes, and if he did sue he would be joining their ranks. Frankly I don't see the positives on this.
On the other hand, Hillary wouldn't come out a xenophobe if she sued, but she would certainly come across as thin skinned.
Also, isn't Insight owned by the Moonies?
btw, the purpose of this is to start a 'whisper' campaign, like the one against McCain having a black baby (who was actually an adopted Bangladeshi girl). Totally disgusting, but if you were to sue, you would be insulting the ethnic group you were associated with. Most well informed people will know it's false, but less intelligent people will pass the information around and a lot of people will believe it
posted by delmoi at 2:51 PM on January 23, 2007 [1 favorite]
If Obama did sue, wouldn't he be insulting every Muslim who did attend a Madrassah as a child? I mean, would he somehow be less fit to be president if he did attend?
I mean the guy admitted to doing coke earlier in his life, if this was true we would have known about it long ago, and it wouldn't have had any impact. The only thing remarkable about it is that it's a lie.
It's an incredibly insulting lie, but it's only a "bad" thing in the mind of xenophobes, and if he did sue he would be joining their ranks. Frankly I don't see the positives on this.
On the other hand, Hillary wouldn't come out a xenophobe if she sued, but she would certainly come across as thin skinned.
Also, isn't Insight owned by the Moonies?
btw, the purpose of this is to start a 'whisper' campaign, like the one against McCain having a black baby (who was actually an adopted Bangladeshi girl). Totally disgusting, but if you were to sue, you would be insulting the ethnic group you were associated with. Most well informed people will know it's false, but less intelligent people will pass the information around and a lot of people will believe it
posted by delmoi at 2:51 PM on January 23, 2007 [1 favorite]
Will Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama sue Insight Magazine for libel?
No, they won't, especially not Obama, because they don't want to draw any more attention to it.
Suppose I go before a large audience and say, "So-and-so says I am a murderer. That is entirely untrue, and he does not have a shred of evidence to back it up." Suppose I even get So-and-so to go up there with me and say, "yes, I said he was a murderer, but I just plain made that up, without the slightest bit of evidence. It's not true." Some people in that audience will still come away believing I'm a murderer, even if there's no one there who believed it before.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:54 PM on January 23, 2007
No, they won't, especially not Obama, because they don't want to draw any more attention to it.
Suppose I go before a large audience and say, "So-and-so says I am a murderer. That is entirely untrue, and he does not have a shred of evidence to back it up." Suppose I even get So-and-so to go up there with me and say, "yes, I said he was a murderer, but I just plain made that up, without the slightest bit of evidence. It's not true." Some people in that audience will still come away believing I'm a murderer, even if there's no one there who believed it before.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:54 PM on January 23, 2007
Obama = Rockstar
Hillary = I'd hit it
I'm gonna vote for one of these knuckleheads.
I can't imagine who would try to mess up the campaigns of these two leading Dems.
On Prev: what delmoi said too.
posted by snsranch at 2:55 PM on January 23, 2007
Hillary = I'd hit it
I'm gonna vote for one of these knuckleheads.
I can't imagine who would try to mess up the campaigns of these two leading Dems.
On Prev: what delmoi said too.
posted by snsranch at 2:55 PM on January 23, 2007
The smear landed in my inbox a couple of days ago along with a request for more info. Thanks for the link and for doing my research.
posted by Cranberry at 2:58 PM on January 23, 2007
posted by Cranberry at 2:58 PM on January 23, 2007
Whoa, I never heard that Barack Obama attended a Muslim Madrassah in Indonesia while growing up. Thanks for bringing this fact to my attention parmanparman! Time to update my republican blog about how he's a terrorist!
(comment above best read when you read DevilsAdvocate's comment first)
posted by banished at 3:15 PM on January 23, 2007
(comment above best read when you read DevilsAdvocate's comment first)
posted by banished at 3:15 PM on January 23, 2007
I don't know what a Madrassah is.
posted by Faint of Butt at 3:18 PM on January 23, 2007
posted by Faint of Butt at 3:18 PM on January 23, 2007
Snopey McSnopes. It's right up there with 'Mama Cass choked to death on a ham sandwich.'
posted by fixedgear at 3:19 PM on January 23, 2007
posted by fixedgear at 3:19 PM on January 23, 2007
Didn't Dan Rather step into some kind of poo reguarding "going" with un-corraborated stories?
I hope someone at fox rolls. Won't happen, tho.
posted by Balisong at 3:21 PM on January 23, 2007
I hope someone at fox rolls. Won't happen, tho.
posted by Balisong at 3:21 PM on January 23, 2007
I don't know what a Madrassah is.
It's a lot like "Jesus Camp" with hummus.
posted by tkchrist at 3:23 PM on January 23, 2007
It's a lot like "Jesus Camp" with hummus.
posted by tkchrist at 3:23 PM on January 23, 2007
Meaning I saw this on FOX News. I can see it's from the Insight. What kind of spin are they known for?
posted by Balisong at 3:23 PM on January 23, 2007
posted by Balisong at 3:23 PM on January 23, 2007
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