20-Year-Old Republican Website Owner Sued by Former Democrat Senator

Talon News / GOP USA ^ | July 31, 2003 | Jeff Gannon

[prairiebreeze]

WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- In May, former Sen. James Abourezk (D-SD) filed a $5 million lawsuit against a website operator who included him among a group of "traitors." The website, www.ProBush.com, lampoons liberals from the entertainment industry and politics who have been vocal in their opposition to the war in Iraq or critical of President George W. Bush.

Some of the others on the list are Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as well as actors George Clooney, Susan Sarandon, and Janeane Garafalo and the country music group, the Dixie Chicks.

While the website disclaimer states that the list is a parody and is not to be taken seriously, Abourezk claims that he has been defamed. In his lawsuit he states that ProBush.com's statement "is intended to injure" his standing in the community.

The operator of the website is Mike Marino, a 20-year-old web designer from suburban Philadelphia. He believes that Abourezk's lawsuit against ProBush.com is without merit.

"This is clearly a first amendment issue," Marino told Talon News.

While Marino is concerned about the legal ramifications of the lawsuit, he feels the need to stand up for the constitutional principle of free speech.

"The Internet is a new medium, where ordinary individuals have the greatest opportunity to make their voices heard," Marino said. "Lawsuits like this will have a chilling effect on free expression."

The ProBush.com president said he created the website, because he "disagreed with the protestors and celebrities who were voicing opposition to the war in Iraq," and wanted "to make sport of their arguments."

"I also thought President Bush deserved to be defended against such criticism," Marino added.

When asked how Abourezk came to be on the "traitor" list, Marino explained, "These are the signers of the famous 'Not in Our Name' petition against the war. He was alphabetically at the top of the list."

ProBush.com also has a "patriot" list that includes actor James Woods, comedian Dennis Miller, and musician Toby Keith as well as talk show hosts Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and Bill O'Reilly.

This week, ProBush.com filed a motion in U.S. District Court to dismiss Abourezk's lawsuit. The motion cites a long line of federal court rulings protecting free speech.

Both Congress and the courts have affirmatively recognized the unique and growing importance of Internet speech.

In the Communications Decency Act, Congress recognized the "threat that tort-based lawsuits pose to freedom of speech in the new and burgeoning Internet medium" and sought to protect the "vast democratic forums of the Internet."

The argument to dismiss is based on first amendment precedents beginning with Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes' dissent in Abrams v. United States in which he objected to the imprisonment of individuals protesting American involvement in World War I.

Additionally, the Supreme Court has already held that use of words like "traitor" are "merely rhetorical hyperbole" and therefore not actionable.

Abourezk's libel suit brings more attention to the controversial former Senator.

"I don't care what they say about me as long as they spell my name right," Abourezk told a South Dakota newspaper.

Abourezk served only one term in the 1970s, but gained distinction for calling then-President Jimmy Carter a "liar" on the Senate floor in 1977. The Washington Post reported that after Vice President Walter Mondale broke a tie on a piece of legislation, the South Dakota senator, feeling betrayed, "immediately cried treason."

Abourezk left the Senate and later founded the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. He recently called on Arabs to "intensify their move to explain their points of view to the American public which is dominated by the Israeli media machine."

Abourezk holds himself out as a champion of free speech. In 1988, Abourezk criticized a member of a Washington, DC transit board for advocating removal of political advertising from the Metro system.

In his book, "Advise & Dissent: Memoirs of South Dakota and the U.S. Senate," Abourezk relates a controversy over attempts to disinvite him to a speech in Denver because he was not sufficiently pro-Israel. In his speech, according to Abourezk's book, he made a "blistering attack on the Israeli lobby for its efforts to stifle free speech."

Abourezk told the Denver press: "Well, I can see that there are some supporters of Israel out there. Now let's see if anybody in Denver supports the right of free speech."

The second-generation Lebanese-American seemingly has no problem exercising his first amendment rights. In 2002, Abourezk praised the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah and the "positive role it was playing in Lebanon."

"[Hezbollah] was like the tool that forced the 'Israelis' to withdraw," Abourezk said.

Also last year, Abourezk suggested that the solution to Israel's terrorism problem would be to "get the hell out of the occupied territories."

"It's not a wonder there are suicide bombers, it's a wonder there aren't many more," Abourezk said.

The former senator made a trip to Baghdad in September 2002 to meet Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. Abourezk said that a U.S. attack on Iraq would be "immoral."

Abourezk maintains a friendly relationship with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, whom he describes as "a very smart, charming guy." He also represented Ayatollah Khomeni's Islamic Republic of Iran in a $56 billion lawsuit against the deposed Shah.

Abourezk sued National Geographic magazine claiming they improperly acquired his original photographs. He also filed a suit against the Reagan administration to allow the Sandanista Interior Minister into the United States. Abourezk took New York Air to court for false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress for not letting him off a plane that was delayed three hours on the tarmac.

[prairiebreeze]

This Dim is a trial lawyers dream. And he publically supports Hezbollah too. What a guy that represented us in the Senate!

[MEG33]

I would not have known about this Hezbollah lover if not for the lawsuit.

[Noumenon]

Abourezk - Liar. Traitor. Communist.

So now he can sue me, too.

[prairiebreeze]

Did you catch this: Abourezk left the Senate and later founded the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. He recently called on Arabs to "intensify their move to explain their points of view to the American public which is dominated by the Israeli media machine."

and this: Abourezk maintains a friendly relationship with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, whom he describes as "a very smart, charming guy." He also represented Ayatollah Khomeni's Islamic Republic of Iran in a $56 billion lawsuit against the deposed Shah.

MM, do you know about this guy?

Prairie

[MEG33]

He really represents everything I despise!

[Steve_Seattle]

Can anyone remind me of the name of the book that came out a couple of years ago in which the author advocated government regulations requiring that people visiting political websites be exposed to alternate views? The book had an endorsement from Ted Kennedy.

[Miss Marple]

I know nothing. I will see what I can find out.

[eyespysomething]

Bill O'reilly would agree. This freedom on the internet is bad!!

[boris]

I predict he can't make it stick. As a 'public figure' he needs extraordinary proof for claims of slander or libel.

Plus he is a traitor.

I think the defendant and one other person should present formal testimony and have him brought up on charges of treason. Think about it.

--Boris

[blackdog]

For a kid not old enough to drink, he sure can think. The internet is the fear of politicians and gas-bags everywhere. Good kid! I'm sure he'll get it dismissed on first amendment rights. The only catch could be ISP's who are in effect making a profit from individual's speech. But I see that much like the phone company being sued for what you say on the phone.

[pgyanke]

THIS is why every leftist interviewer of Ann Coulter pushes her to name names. As soon as she does, the legal paperwork will fly...

[blackdog]

C'mon now, the former senator is not all wrong. He did call Jimmy Carter a liar on the senate floor. I'm surprized nobody flushed the toilet on this guy long ago.

More important to me, is just how or who has been paying his way for 30 years? Former senators are really not too inclined to work for a living.........

[JPJones]

www.probush.com bump

[marvlus]

Bill O'reilly would agree. This freedom on the internet is bad!! I would not agree with your characterization of Bill O'Reilly's opinion of the Internet. He feels that people can lie and defame (via the Internet) without consequences, and that's what his beef is. You cannot do that in the media. O'Reilly feels that there is a lot of good in the Internet, but also (as I do) that there is a lot of bad that has been spawned off the Internet.

[eyespysomething]

There are already laws governing that. Defamation, etc. No new laws are needed, although O'Reilly would like to form an internet police.

Sorry, I don't agree with that. Enforce the laws on the books.

[Constitution Day]

[Dark Wing]

FYI

[robowombat]

Aberjerk is one of the biggest jackasses ever to bloviate in the Senate Chamber. I witnessed him become apoplectic with rage when asked why anyone raising the issue of a right of return for Sudenten Germans would be considered a neo-Nazi sap but the right of return for paliwogs was regularly demanded by the good Senator.

[TheDon]

There's a chill wind blowing...

[mhking]

"A hit dog WILL holler..."

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[Monty22]

The truth is an absolute defense against libel/slander lawsuits. The web site owner should have no problems getting this thrown out.

[E.G.C.]

Here are my observations on this subject.

This is just another case of the liberal/progressive/moderate crowd acting so hypersensitive over what appears to be a parody that's been put on for no profit whatsoever.

I did read the article and I know for a fact based on what I've been researching here in Oklahoma there's no liability for defamation unless you're making money for these things. Now, I may be wrong on that because that was a portion of law on Libel and Slander but there was a section where you could be sued for defamation if you made money for doing so.

One of the good things about message boards like this is you can pretty discuss things without having your name revealed. The only people know you is by your screename and any other info you volunteer to give out.

The left is really going to have to get a grip on itself and realize that by continuing to act like this in a childish immature that it is they and not we who being looked upon as wanting to quelch free speech.

The idiot filing this frivilous lawsuit is clearly doing so to try to bankrupt this young man simply because he doesn't like what was said about him.
Regards.

[Timesink]

The truth is an absolute defense against libel/slander lawsuits. The web site owner should have no problems getting this thrown out.

Even more importantly, public political figures automatically cede practically all of their rights not to be publicly ridiculed by others. Unless the web site creator was committing true, classic libel (creating a site that looked like an actual MSNBC.com page saying the senator beat his wife or somesuch lie), the RAT has no case whatsoever.

Not only will this suit be thrown out, a number of people will start hosting mirrors of the parody site just to piss off Abourezk and ensure far more people see it. (Though not nearly as many as would host mirrors if it were a Republican doing the suing, of course.)

[marvlus]

That's precisely the problem. The laws are not being enforced on the wrongdoers of the Internet.

[Abundy]

Typical liberal/fascist. For these types, "Free Speech" = approved speech. i.e., as long as they are speaking they can say anything they want, but if someone else is speaking they must approve the content...

[prairiebreeze]

Thankfully I don't know of the book. So if this were to ever come to fruition, DU would have to have a link to FR and vice versa.

Sounds like a lib "idea".

Prairie

[prairiebreeze]

Yes. The lawsuit is the minor story here, the BIG NEWS (at least to me) is this obviously anti-Semitic, very pro-Arab, Hezbollah/Aziz/Castro fan who used to be a US Senator! To borrow Michael's phrase: JUST DAMN!! Prairie

[jonalvy44]

I posted about this a month ago or so and the admin here removed it simply because I said I was gonna donate to his cause...good grief.

We could've been helping this kid out a while back...

[King Prout]

I've never even heard of him before. From his own CV, he stands self-condemned as, at the very least, a traitor-wannabe and disgusting hypocrite.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Jimmy Abourezk was the worst Senator ever to come out of South Dakota, bar none. He made McGovern and Daschle look sane and well-adjusted. He quit after one term because he was likely to lose in a landslide.

[thegreatbeast]

I thought it was just another dim gone around the bend until I came across the real story: "Abourezk left the Senate and later founded the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. He recently called on Arabs to "intensify their move to explain their points of view to the American public which is dominated by the Israeli media machine."
One thing, you got to hand it to the Arabs, they do stick together, even if it is to the detriment of our country.

[Experiment 6-2-6]

But, AS ALWAYS, you have to read to the bitter end to get to the best part:

Abourezk took New York Air to court for false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress for not letting him off a plane that was delayed three hours on the tarmac.

[fella]

What's the matter? Cann't he take a joke?

[prairiebreeze]

One thing, you got to hand it to the Arabs, they do stick together,

Except for governing themselves of course. Then you are either fighting and bickering on the side of your war lord against your fellow countrymen or you are lounging around on the dole of your monarchy, dictator or cleric.

Prairie

[prairiebreeze]

He made McGovern and Daschle look sane and well-adjusted.

Good grief! An apt and chilling description. Brrrrr!

Prairie

[Capitalism2003]

any lawyers here? Let's give this guy some help!

[Impy]

Wow, he must be really bad to beat those two.

I think I will add Jim Abourezk is a TRAITOR to my about page.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Abourezk was also responsible for helping sink the man that succeeded him, Sen. Larry Pressler. For years he went around making smears of Pressler with the leftist media in the state (I believe including one of Pressler being gay). The guy is a lunatic.

You might also add one-term (1965-67) NE Congressman Clair Callan, also perhaps one of the most leftist individuals the state ever sent to Congress (namely due to the loss by Goldwater in '64, Callan couldn't survive reelection). This 83-year old nitwit put himself firmly on the side of Anti-Americanism with the recent Iraqi action in asking a federal court if Dubya was guilty of "war crimes."

[Impy]

Were nutcases like him the reason the GOP gained more seats in 1966 than it had prior to 1964?

[fieldmarshaldj]

"Were nutcases like him the reason the GOP gained more seats in 1966 than it had prior to 1964?"

That was one, also the 'Rats winning a number of traditionally GOP seats that they shouldn't have, and the 6-year curse of a 'Rat administration (if you count JFK-LBJ as one). The GOP, ironically, would've had at least 8 or so fewer seats going into 1966 had it not been for them winning ultra-'Rat Southern seats in '64 (in AL, for example, the all-'Rat delegation in 1962 (as it had been since 1901) became majority GOP (5-3) in one fell swoop, but then dropped to 3-5 'Rat in '66, and the GOP would not regain a majority there until 1997). Some of these, of course, were temporary gains, and wouldn't be solidified for, as with AL, until the '90s.

[Jeff Gannon]

Free Speech Foundation to Aid 20 year-old Website Owner Defend Against $5 Million Libel Lawsuit

Washington, DC - The Free Speech Foundation, a Washington, DC-based First Amendment watchdog group announced Thursday that it would assist a Pennsylvania website owner hit with a libel lawsuit. Michael Marino, a 20 year-old website designer who owns ProBush.com is being sued by former Democratic South Dakota Senator James Abourezk for $5 million.

Abourezk’s lawsuit claims that his reputation has been damaged by his inclusion on the site’s parody list of “traitors”. The list is made up of Hollywood celebrities, musicians, writers, reporters and politicians who have been critical of President George W. Bush or the war in Iraq. Similarly, a roster of “Patriots” also appears on the website, composed of public figures who are outspoken in favor of the President and the U. S. -led war in Iraq.

Marino maintains the First Amendment protects the free speech rights of ProBush.com and that the list was not to be taken seriously, as a disclaimer on the website suggests. Facing the threat of a multi-million dollar judgment against him by the former U. S. Senator, Marino has been forced to retain a law firm in South Dakota to defend him.

Marino is scheduled to begin night school in the fall, but those plans are now in jeopardy due to the lawsuit. A legal fund has been established by the Free Speech Foundation to assist with the legal costs of a trial that could last for several months.

The outcome of the case could have a significant impact on Internet speech, which has become the most important medium for individual expression. A victory by Abourezk would undoubtedly have a chilling effect on the bourgeoning "blogosphere".

[Mannaggia l'America]

What the heck is wrong with the voters in South Dakota? First they gave us this guy and now Daschole!

[fieldmarshaldj]

In the early '70s, the state was trending towards the 'Rats (namely because of an old and complacent GOP). They replaced elderly Republicans with people like Abourezk, et al. There was a bit of a backlash and the state went back the other direction again by the end of the decade, but thanks to the looming presence of Wild Bill Janklow who couldn't stand sharing the spotlight with other Republicans, he helped bring about a 'Rat Renaissance in the state, sabotaging the Republicans that vanquished these nutty 'Rats in the '80s.