Oh Snap! Enquirer responds to McCain law-suit threat with full Snark. (for real, not a joke)

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

ENQURIER RESPONDS TO MCCAIN/PALIN
Wed Sep 03 2008 18:19:21 ET

"The National Enquirer's coverage of a vicious war within Sarah Palin's extended family includes several newsworthy revelations, including the resulting incredible charge of an affair plus details of family strife when the Governor's daughter revealed her pregnancy. Following our John Edwards' exclusives, our political reporting has obviously proven to be more detail-oriented than the McCain campaign's vetting process. Despite the McCain camp's attempts to control press coverage they find unfavorable, The Enquirer will continue to pursue news on both sides of the political spectrum."

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3ne.htm


It's a Drudge Exclusive right now, so no non-Drudge Link. Sorry. (But that's all there is anyway.)

__________

BACKGROUND:
1) The new Enquirer alleges or insinuates Palin had an affair with her husband's business associate.
2) The McCain camp wanted it played up and had a statement today saying they will sue the Enquirer
3) The Enquirer reaction

[DemocratSinceBirth]

1. Don't Get In A Pissing Match With Someone Who Buys Ink By The Barrel

~

[maseman]

5. THAT is a great line!

:rofl:

[grasswire]

33. it's also an old line. Mark Twain. (nt)

[skooooo]

2. God bless the National Enquirer!!

The last bastion against the assault on the 1st amendment!

[TheDebbieDee]

12. The National Enquirer AND Larry Flynt are the only

ones brave enough to print the INFO that's JUICY!

I love seeing the hypocritical repukes dragged through the mud!

[skooooo]

22. No kidding!!!

I haven't even read the article yet. IT's so hard to keep up with everything!

[MindMatter]

73. C'mon Larry Flynt. You aren't going to let the Enquirer show you up, are you?

[maseman]

3. And that is a big FUCK YOU too McCain

[my2sense]

4. This is better than a soap opera

:popcorn:

[WCGreen]

20. No Shit....

Sarah and John, the new Luke and Laura...

[tridim]

6. Thanks for the "for real" qualifier, in this scandal-a-minute atmosphere it should be required.

[Kdillard]

7. If the Mccain camp is dumb enough to get into a pissing match

with the National Enquirer they deserve what they get in return. The Enquirer will bury them.

[ebdarcy]

8. If all this turns out to be true, then I am so sorry for everything

negative that I have ever said or thought about the tabloids. This is just beyond funny.

[The Stranger]

9. McCain and Palin would have to prove actual malice to sue for defamation.

The Enquirer probably has some formidable counsel vetting their statements.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

13. Is Malice The Standard Or A Reckless Disregard For The Truth

I think it's the latter...

That being said, public figures, especially political ones have a huge burden in defamation cases...

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

21. Yes, with political figures it's hard to even imagine what could be reckless enough.

[The Stranger]

32. Reckless disregard connotes actual malice.

"A rule compelling the critic of official conduct to guarantee the truth of all his factual assertions -- and to do so on pain of libel judgments virtually unlimited in amount -- leads to a comparable "self-censorship." . . . Under such a rule, would-be critics of official conduct may be deterred from voicing their criticism, even though it is believed to be true and even though it is, in fact, true, because of doubt whether it can be proved in court or fear of the expense of having to do so. . . . The rule thus dampens the vigor and limits the variety of public debate. It is inconsistent with the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The constitutional guarantees require, we think, a federal rule that prohibits a public official from recovering damages for a defamatory falsehood relating to his official conduct unless he proves that the statement was made with "actual malice" -- that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not."

http://supreme.justia.com/us/376/254/case.html

[CitizenPatriot]

39. does that mean o'reilly could be sued

since he says things he KNOWS to be untrue about Obama all of the time?

[depakid]

36. Here's the standard:

Actual Malice

In a legal sense, "actual malice" has nothing to do with ill will or disliking someone and wishing him harm. Rather, courts have defined "actual malice" in the defamation context as publishing a statement while either

* knowing that it is false; or

* acting with reckless disregard for the statement's truth or falsity.

It should be noted that the actual malice standard focuses on the defendant's actual state of mind at the time of publication. Unlike the negligence standard discussed later in this section, the actual malice standard is not measured by what a reasonable person would have published or investigated prior to publication.

Instead, the plaintiff must produce clear and convincing evidence that the defendant actually knew the information was false or entertained serious doubts as to the truth of his publication. In making this determination, a court will look for evidence of the defendant's state of mind at the time of publication and will likely examine the steps he took in researching, editing, and fact checking his work. It is generally not sufficient, however, for a plaintiff to merely show that the defendant didn't like her, failed to contact her for comment, knew she had denied the information, relied on a single biased source, or failed to correct the statement after publication.

Not surprisingly, this is a very difficult standard for a plaintiff to establish. Indeed, in only a handful of cases over the last decades have plaintiffs been successful in establishing the requisite actual malice to prove defamation.

The actual malice standard applies when a defamatory statement concerns three general categories of individuals: public officials, all-purpose public figures, and limited-purpose public figures. Private figures, which are discussed later in this section, do not need to prove actual malice.

http://www.citmedialaw.org/legal-guide/proving-fault-actual-malice-and-negligence

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

18. Notice that they said in the statement the affair story is "incredible"

In public that means amazing or sensational.

But it also means not credible or difficult to believe.

A good vague word to use.

Lawyers...

[Shakespeare]

58. Actual malice doesn't enter into this. They would have to demonstrate it's a false story.

If it's true, there's no libel. Note that very, very few people have taken on the Enquirer and prevailed on the issue of libel; there's a reason for that.

[Erin Elizabeth]

10. I choked on my drink when I read that line.

Good one!

[tinrobot]

11. The only newspaper that cares about selling newspapers...

...and nothing else.

They have no political agenda -- all they care about is printing stories no one else will print so they can sell lots of papers and getting those stories right so they don't get sued.

[Scooter24]

14. Good to hear they won't be scared away!

[City Lights]

15. Sweeeet.

:rofl:

[demobabe]

16. Can't wait to see more on this

[GoesTo11]

35. More like

[PCIntern]

50. DUzy!!!!

[BrklynLiberal]

66. cool. Separated at birth....

[yourguide]

17. BWAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAH!

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[yourguide]

19. BWAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAH!

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[NorthCarolina]

30. LOL

You made me chuckle.:rofl:

[RagAss]

23. They Lit Up McFester !!!!!!

[Greg K]

24. This is AWESOME timing

Everybody'll be watching the talking heads regarding her speech, and they'll be talking about this for sure.

[progressivebydesign]

25. That's it! I"m buying one of those newspapers tomorrow!! LOL! n/t

[crazylikafox]

29. I'm not buying one. Leaving copies up on the checkout line for all to see.

I'm sure I can get the details here on DU. :-)

[leftstreet]

I can't keep up with all this. Hope someone's planning a movie

:rofl:

[kwolf68]

26. Is there something wrong with America

When the most objective news source is the same news that talks of someone seeing a 3-headed martian on their front yard?

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

28. Hey, it's better than the AP

[BronxBoy]

54. Didn't you see Men in Black? n/t

[the Sundance Kid]

27. National Enquirer, the Last Bastion of American Journalism

[damndude]

31. affairs, baby switches and underage pregnancies. the only thing missing is a gay tryst

i guess the mccain campaign is rally after the womens vote. this is better than all my children

[theothersnippywshrub]

38. It's still early in the vetting process. Give it a little more time. n/t

[glitch]

34. With this "new reality" the pukes have created, National Enquirer doesn't even have to make stuff up

Neither does the Onion really, but at least what they create is funny.

[Ichingcarpenter]

37. Game, Set, Match....... I really think its over even if they keep her or not

and its not true or not.

The genie is out of the bottle.

[WinkyDink]

40. Oh, John-Boy, PLEEEEEEASE SUE the NE!!

[KathieG]

41. Sorry McCain camp...not everyone can be silenced. This is great!

[Bennyboy]

42. Wait a MINUTE...Nothing in the NE about an affair......

here si the link to their website and there is not one word about an affair. this is very strange. http://www.nationalenquirer.com/

[Hamlette]

43. Is there a back story anywhere?

You know there is some family fued going when Sarah would not support her step m-i-l for mayor.

Oh, this could be REAL fun.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

56. a link

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/09/03/politics/fromtheroad/entry4413030.shtml

[blondeatlast]

44. I love the two lines that follow the snark, too. I don't like how the McCain camp is threatening

the press; oh no, not at all.

[theothersnippywshrub]

45. The RNC has always employed the greatest semen sleuths in the world.

They should be able to get to the bottom of this quite easily.

[Marsala]

46. Those vicious left-wing tabloid bastards!

They'd never go after a Democrat like, oh, John Edwards.

[eshfemme]

47. Seriously, it's not the Enquirer's fault that McCain picked someone who's such a source of news

Don't blame the National Enquirer for taking advantage of a natural resource McCain. Man, McCain sure looks like a clown-- he can't win arguments against first Paris Hilton and now the National Enquirer.

[BumRushDaShow]

48. !!!

:rofl:

[DerekJ]

Is this a cover page story?, I Can't find it anywhere!!! Link anybody?!

[msallied]

51. Tomorrow. Tomorrow.

[anigbrowl]

52. On the newsstands tomorrow, apparently. Great timing for McCain...not.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

53. The link is the link. It's a Drudge exclusive. (NE presumably gave it to him to further boost sales)

[JimDandy]

65. Very odd, because yesterday the NE

said their Palin story would be about Levi and Bristol being pressured by her parents to marry. What's going on?

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

70. The statement alludes to both

[msallied]

49. Oh SNAP!! LMAO!

[NoodleyAppendage]

55. KICK. Would anyone doubt that a self-righteous Xtian having an affair? FUCK YOU SCARBOROUGH.

Sorry. Had to add the last bit after throwing a shoe at the MSNBC Nazi just now...

J

[sellitman]

57. An affair?

Palin is the gift that keeps on giving.

[ourbluenation]

59. OMG - What if Trig is not The First Dude's????

[msallied]

60. Thank you.

Thank you for making me nearly fall out of my chair. Am I being punk'd? Seriously!! LMAOOOOOOOOOOOO

[ourbluenation]

62. happy to help.

carry on.

[vanderBeth]

61. Oh Snap

:rofl:

[Egnever]

63. LOL

made me spit my soda too funny!

[workinclasszero]

64. Bring it McBush!!!

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Sarah Palin and her nutcase family are one hell of a soap opera!:popcorn:

[vaberella]

67. Wow. Just wow. n/t

[DCBob]

68. They sound pretty confident. This could be for real.

Yikes!

[MANative]

69. Poor widdle Sarah... gets more pathetic by the hour.

:nopity:

[L0oniX]

71. FLASH: Palin daughter's baby DNA part alien ...thought abduction was a dream.

Enquirer alleges or insinuates Palin had an affair with aliens according to a first hand account from the alien who previously endorsed Bill Clinton. A second witness to the affair, Bat Boy confirms the event.

[Major Hogwash]

72. Palin is trailer park trash - she deserves to be exposed in the Enquirer!!!!

Palin actually said that we are at war in Iraq now because of god!!
She thinks that god talked Bush into it.

I can't believe this hypocrite!!

[Giant Robot]

74. Believe it or not

I think the NE is a credible source for this. They show a lot of crap, like who knows how many aliens have visited the White House by now according to them, but when it comes to celebrities, they know their business. And they know how much they can get away with, as I believe they must have an army of lawyers on call for a moment's notice. I think they know their stuff about this better than CNN/MSNBC/Fox et al.

[CampDem]

75. K & R

:9