Posted on 03/06/2012 6:46:17 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Given the insane mileage Democrats are getting from this story, he could probably get David Boies to represent her pro bono. Anything to keep the headlines coming.
Someone, I forget who, tweeted a few days ago that they’d happily bet ten grand that Fluke will get a cameo speaking appearance on one of the first nights of the Democratic convention. Anyone want to take that bet? Bear in mind, Obama’s already dialing up women’s colleges and inviting himself to speak at commencement in hopes of squeezing every last drop of war-on-women goodness out of this fiasco. At the rate we’re going, Fluke might introduce him at his acceptance speech.
“I’d like to see her take him to court,” said Hoyer, who was in Selma for the annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee. “She is not a public figure and, for that reason, she should be able to sue for slander, libel or whatever else might be involved.”…
Joseph Lowery, former president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said he is familiar with “vintage Rush Limbaugh.”
“(Fluke) has ample room to sue him and I hope she does because he’s gotten rich off the mess he causes,” said Lowery, who joined Hoyer and other national leaders in condemnation of Limbaugh.
She’s got two problems trying to beat him on a defamation claim. One: Hoyer’s probably wrong when he says she’s not a “public figure” for First Amendment purposes. Courts will treat someone as a “limited-purpose public figure” under certain circumstances; according to the EFF’s summary of the law, typically that applies to someone who “(a) voluntarily participates in a discussion about a public controversy, and (b) has access to the media to get his or her own view across.” Fluke voluntarily testified before Congress and, lord knows, she has all the access to the media she could ever want. Assuming she’s a “limited-purpose public figure,” that means she’d have to show that Rush was more than just negligent in calling her a “slut” but acted with reckless disregard for whether it was true. Not an impossible standard to meet but more difficult, and his extended apology today may affect the calculus. The other problem is that, at bottom, he was making a crude joke more than a sincere accusation of fact. His point was that if you want someone else paying for your birth control then you’re kinda sorta being paid to have sex, in which case you’re kinda sorta a prostitute. That analogy is obviously different from claiming earnestly that someone’s promiscuous, but Rush did go on and on and on with it, especially in riffing on the absurdity of the $3,000 figure, so who knows how a jury would disentangle it. Would the line, “She’s having so much sex it’s amazing she can still walk, but she made it up there,” be viewed in the larger context of the point he was making or would it be viewed as a bona fide assertion of fact? I don’t know. Defamation lawyers, any insights?
You’ll be pleased to know that Bill Maher, the chief villain in Kirsten Powers’s j’accuse of liberal men this weekend, has a nifty new HuffPo post up talking about what it’s like to grow up a poor man and then donate $1 million to Obama’s Super PAC, Priorities USA. Among the people circulating his post on Twitter: Bill Burton, senior strategist and co-founder of … Priorities USA. You know, I’m starting to think they might not give back the money.
Is truth still an absolute defense?
DO IT! We want everyone to hear the answers to your testimony about why you went to school there in the first place and all your progressive evil ideas for this country.
Wonder if the Maher cancelled check is as real as Zero’s birth certificate?
Yes, and we get to find who, and how many who’s cannot help her buy her 5 dollar a month pills.
Someone needs to sue DIMocRAT voters in the Freak state of Maryland for electing this fool.
Someone needs to sue DIMocRAT voters in the Freak state of Maryland for electing this fool.
RE: how many who’s cannot help her buy her 5 dollar a month pills.
So, now it’s $5/month? I thought it was $9/month at a Target near Georgetown.
These numbers keep changing.
First, Fluke was said to be 23 years old, then 30,then someone said she’s 33.
These numbers are all over the place.
Fluke would have to prove that Limbaugh knew it was false at the time he said it.
And? Fluke’s entire history would be available, through “discovery”.
My guess is she will not do this. Or, if she does do something in court, she will drop it when the discovery phase comes up.
If Fluke wins it will set a precedent, then Sarah Palin can sue the pants off of every late night talk show host and comedian.
She can get in line behind Palin!
RE: Lady called Rush, said hers was 5 bucks at walmart.
Well good news. Now that Target knows what the competition is charging, maybe they might lower their price too.
So what’s Fluke complaining about? Don’t tell me she can’t afford to pay $5 for a month’s supply? What’s she going to do mow -— Panhandle for pills?
She’s a partisan polticial activist, who voluntarily went before a (sham) democrat publicity stunt, created to publicly take a partisan political position, solely for public exposure.
That seems like the very definition of “public figure” to this poster.
She’s got no case.
She’s been darn effective publicity for El Rushbo though.
:D
I am sure Gloria ALLred has already contacted the Designated Slut of the DNC.
Please keep pushing this Steny....you are overplaying your hand.
This woman participated in a media event put forth by leftist democrats in congress, as well as multiple media outlets.
Basically, she participated in a press conference, demanding to be heard by the American public. THAT MAKES HER A PUBLIC FIGURE.
And given the fact that Rush used her own statements as well as dictionary definitions of her reported (by herself) actions, in a just legal system, any case brought forth by her SHOULD be laughed out of court. But because it's political, and Rush is rich and he was mean to her, I have no doubt that she'll win a huge jury award.
Mark
RE: I am sure Gloria ALLred has already contacted the Designated Slut of the DNC.
Fluke’s ambition is to be Gloria’s heir apparent ( and/or rival ).
You are going down hard azzhat.
Gee. I wonder if Rush can afford a good private detective...
This woman would be so drug through the mud and, frankly, if she is a typical 30ish lesbian in twenty first century western civilization that has reached a point where the democrats desperately wanted a press conference with her in the first place, he could prove she really IS a slut 20 times over.
And they know it.
There will be no lawsuit. It is why Rush apologized for his choice of words, rather than the generic accusation itself. In a court of law, the evidence would be clear that the choice of words fit. Of that I have absolutely NO doubt.
Yep, DO IT!
Rush has deep pockets and lots of powerful friends. The lefties won’t win this battle.
This is about an Assault by the Left on All Christians, Jews and some other faiths. An Assault to the very bedrock of our nation, the Freedom of Religion. You know, the Freedom of Religion granted by God and written into the 1st Amendment of our Constitution.
Doubt Ms. Fluke will want to participate in her own destruction.
FUBO!
RE: . I wonder if Rush can afford a good private detective...
Errr... Rush paid Elton John a million bucks to sing for a few hours at his wedding.
—RE: . I wonder if Rush can afford a good private detective...
Errr... Rush paid Elton John a million bucks to sing for a few hours at his wedding.—
So. Maybe he could get two! ;-)
It’s kinda comical when you think about it: Suing someone for calling you a slut.
I mean, although so many have pointed out by simply using the word “discover” it doesn’t really emphasise this enough: When you sue someone for calling you a slut, you are giving them permission to prove, in a court of law, that they were justified.
And all that that implies.
It really is comical. I would like to see her do it for the entertainment value, if nothing else.
Given her exploits and being a brain-dead liberal, there ought to be enough pictures on the web of Ms. Fluke (rhymes with) in compromising positions and in various states of undress to make the slut label stick.
Nope, she’s long since lost her “Private” Status, when she put herself out there to take on Georgetown and Conservatism... sorry Sandra, you’re Fluked.
Sue for what? Being called a slut?
Show the clips of the View when Laura Ingraham was on, with all the yentas yukking it up about how they call each other slut all the time, it’s no big deal, Laura, lighten up.
Then show the clip of the show when Sandra Fluke is on, and oh, how horrible, you poor deal, Rush is horrible, blah, blah, blah.
Move for dismissal.
probably well under ware, I mean way...
Rush has the ability to hire the very best counsel and investigators. Plus there’s that little thing called discovery in litigation.
Ms Fluke will be in the news for another 7 days, and then she’ll be a trivia question. Rush will continue to make tens of millions per year. The world will move on.
The truth doesn’t matter when liberals are out there, making their political statements and scoring their debate points.
Only conservatives are held to any standards.
The truth doesn’t matter when liberals are out there, making their political statements and scoring their debate points.
Only conservatives are held to any standards.
I hope everyone on FR will read Andrew Breitbart’s book, “Righteous Indignation,” and will then get to work. Andrew died trying to open the eyes of this nation to the corruption which will take us down. It has ratcheted up to unbelievable heights in the days since his death..
I am amazed how elected officials involve themselves in dustups between private citizens.
her parents need to be exposed so we know what kind of background she came from...has to be LIBERAL, political.
The term “slut” has no precise meaning. So proving it as defamation would be pretty tough.
I believe Rush also referred to her as “a prostitute.” Unless he can prove she has accepted money for sexual services, Rush would not have truth available as a defense for that one.
Rush's good friend Mark Levin was licking his chops over discovery on his show yesterday. I imagine he'd be more than happy to help out his good friend.
I almost wish she had testified under oath to Congress because perhaps then you could get her for perjury as she misrepresented the price of the pills.
If you can get them for under $100/year, you don’t have to pay $1000/year or $3000/3years.
She would have been corrected and made to look the idiot fool she is IMO for whining that she needs someone else to pay $100/yr for pills while her tuition (if she’s full time in the law school) is $46,865.00.
IMO she already sounded like a moron when she said she saw the concern over lack of free contraception on faces of the women there.
If you see concern on someone’s face, how do you know it’s over contraception and why would you assume contraception as opposed to a breakup with a boy friend, death of a friend or relative, bad medical news, bad grades... How far down that list comes contraception.
IMO she made herself (and this campaign) look ridiculous and I’ve got to wonder if Georgetown’s reputation can be damaged by having this level of intellect represented as part of its student body.
yesssssssss.... sue him
Let’s see how she stands up to some LEGAL scrutiny
Sue on what grounds?
And is anyone else concerned that a sitting member of Congress is advising lapdogs to go after private citizens?
—The term “slut” has no precise meaning. So proving it as defamation would be pretty tough.—
Yeah. That thought was in the back of my mind while I was posting. Regarding the “prostitute” remark, if he can demonstrate that she took money for ANYTHING sex related from the government, it proves the point he was trying to make - that us paying for anything she uses in the sex act equated to her being a prostitute in a backhanded way.
And to be fair, the way he said it was to imply that she was admitting to stuff that would technically make her the equivalent of a prostitute. His words there would be hard to either attack or defend in a court of law. It is solely an opinion about the global meaning of what another person was saying.
That would open a line of discovery as to whether Ms. Fluke qualified as a public figure under libel law. I really don’t think she wants to go there.
Hoyer’s wrong.
Limbaugh never said “Fluke’s a slut.”
He asked if getting others to pay for your sex doesn’t make you a slut or a prostitute. I think the transcript will bear me out on that one. I heard it.
Very excellent point. This is absolutely a thug administration and the Democrat party has now been taken over and run by THUGS!
Given the insane mileage Democrats are getting from this story is proof that reporters are still in the bar this week.
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