Posted on 03/05/2012 10:38:29 AM PST by Scoutmaster
And he used somewhat generic terms. I doubt somebody could successfully sue if, for instance, somebody called you or me an “idiot” in the media.
She was on some (at least one) MSNBC progressive opinion shows because I saw her there before Rush said any of this. I know I posted a comment here about it at the time. She was playing the 'Boo-hoo-hoo they wont let me testify act' almost weeping about her friend with nthe health problem.
That was after the Religous rights House committee rejected her, but before Pelosi’s women's health committee put her on TV/CSPAN. I watch those shows pretty regularly,
Would that be enough to count?
No, she is not.
I'm not certain you realize how steep the test is to be a pubic figure under Times v. Sullivan. A public figure is like a celebrity or politician. You have to be pervasively involved in public affairs to be a public figure. Did you know who Sandra Fluke was when she was speaking before those Democrats? Had she pervasively appeared in the public eye, involved in public affairs, before then? Nope. She isn't a public figure.
There is a category of persons, for the purposes of defamation, called limited public figures. You can become a limited public figure in a number of ways. When it comes to seeking publicity, the U.S. Supreme Court adopted a Federal Court of Appeals' definition for that. It's someone who has:
thrust themselves to the forefront of particular public controversies in order to influence the resolution of the issues involved."
But even that's not a slam dunk that says Fluke is a limited public figure. Federal law says you have to conduct a 'particularized determination.' It's factual.
And federal law says you can't take into account any of the notoriety that Fluke got as a result of Limbaugh's comments - not his comments, or the publicity she got as a result of his comments. So you have to consider whether, when she finished reading her statement before the Democrats, and before Rush said a word, was she well-enough known to be considered a limited public figure? Someone so public that people could and should freely talk about her without worrying about adhering to normal standard of professionalism or fact-checking?
She’s eating up the publicity...So how do you prove you’re not a Dem Operative aka Dem Prostitute when you are just that.
Fluke is a Flake, with a phony undergrad degree, and a left wing activist. I say she disappears.
WeL Right out of Hillary’s valedictorian speech!! The torch has been passed.
WE: Right out of Hillary’s valedictorian speech.
No. First, that 'pervasively' in the news standard is really, really high. If, for example, you're the attorney representing a celebrity on some murder charge and you've been appearing nightly on five talk shows for a couple of months, you're probably not a public figure. You're a limited public figure. You have to be a celebrity or politician, or a high-power businessman to be a public figure.
So the question is whether she is a limited public figure. Even then, you can't take those shows into account because you're judging it from the time that Limbaugh talked about her, not now. You can't take into about any notoriety she got because of Limbaugh's comments, or any press she got because of Limbaugh's comments, or any shows she's been on since she spoke to the Democrats.
I believe the test is . . . when Limbaugh called her a slut and claimed she said these things about her sex life, was she a limited public figure. The precise moment before Rush first mentioned her, would the American public would have recognized her face or name? If you mentioned "contraception', what percentage of the American public would have had her face or name come to mind?
Of course Fluke will sue - he is an attention whore who has become a media darling and there are plenty of third parties who would love to use her as a pretext to sue Rush
The big joke here is that a few weeks ago she was an unknown nobody and now she is suddenly a celebrity.
Rush gave her a huge career boost so even if she were to sue and win a slander suit she would be hard pressed to claim any damages - its been a net positive for her.
” I’m not certain you realize how steep the test is to be a pubic figure under Times v. Sullivan”
No I don’t, and to me, it is the least important thing to stop her from suing.
1) She has a flake undergrad degree.
2) She is a left wing activist, who probably has a checkered past.....most left wing activists do.
Worse than that. It's not only phony, but it is training in the techniques of the greedy lying Left, which too many lawyers and judges take seriously. And apparently she will be another one.
I say she disappears.
I hope so. In a just would she would.
It’ll go all the way to SCOTUS!
People need to realize, that when you sue somebody with deep pockets, whatever you have said or done in the past(as well as political affiliations) will be there for the world to see. Rush can spend plenty on background checks, and private investigators : )
Is that the test to win such a lawsuit, or just to file one, or both? Thanks.
Wow. Shoot the messenger. She wouldn't have all of this publicity if Rush Limbaugh hadn't blown it by making up all of this stuff he claimed she said but she didn't say, and then called her names based on stuff he made up.
And if some of my fellow conservatives hadn't bought his lies hook, line, and sinker, and then repeated them over and over on FR (where I've been a member since February 1998), and added to them, even in response to people telling them to stop and read Fluke's statement.
Do you feel proud when conservatives lie or are misinformed? I don't. I thought hoped that separated us from liberals.
She would have to take that into consideration. But if she did sue, and Rush's investigators found out some embarrassing things that came out in public, guess how that would play in the media? "Rich right winger uses his power to continue to torment concerned citizen."
If she wants to be a Kamikaze, that may not stop her.
It's all about circles. Just because she's not known to ALL, doesn't mean she's an unknown. Valerie Plame would be another good example of an "unknown".
I'm having a heck of a time finding out anything about Fluke before 1999.
I hope the word "you" is not referring to Scoutmaster, who is obviously not a "Dem Operative?" I am hoping you are making some kind of argument about Fluke.
No....Not referring to scoutmaster...Good grief...
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