[mumblypeg]

If the “actual malice” standard were thrown out, the burden of proof is reversed. The accuser is no longer required to prove you’re guilty of lying with **intent** to defame.
Nor does the accuser need to prove he or she suffered actual loss or harm as a direct result of your “reckless disregard” for the truth.
Instead, you must now prove you’re innocent, that you misspoke, you really didn’t mean any harm, and anyway your comments were true! You’re sure of it!

With this in mind, let’s all take a moment to review our comments on various threads pertaining to the various politicians and candidates, as well as various activists, actors, celebrities, and public figures about whom we have posted derogatory comments.

Every single one of them would now be more likely to sue Free Republic, due to an increased likelihood of winning.

[patlin]

And that is why we should be careful what we write and say, we should choose our words carefully, that they would withstand such scrutiny. It is called ‘integrity’, a virtue lost in this electronic age where ones fingers more often than not, run faster than ones conscience would otherwise have them run so to hold them back from writing or saying that which ought to have been left unsaid.