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Can John Kerry sue the Smear Boat Liars?

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The Night Owl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 05:12 PM
Original message
Can John Kerry sue the Smear Boat Liars?
If I were Kerry, I would sue Smear Boat bastards for all they're worth.
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BlueEyedSon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 05:14 PM
Response to Original message
1. Hell, _I_ want to sue them! They helped my country fall into the hands of
the christo-fascists!
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noel711 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 05:16 PM
Response to Reply #1
4. PLEEZE!
Don't use Jesus' name in relation to those scum bags!
He had nothing to do with it./ Just because his name is invoked by all the self-righteous wingnuts.....
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BlueEyedSon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 05:26 PM
Response to Reply #4
9. Hey, it's THEIR claim that they're Christian, not mine
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Kire Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 05:53 PM
Response to Reply #4
12. i didn't see jesus' name in that post
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still_one Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 05:15 PM
Response to Original message
2. He should, but I bet he doesn't
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DoBotherMe Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 05:15 PM
Response to Original message
3. Let's sue them! I'm in!
:yourock:
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graywarrior Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 05:18 PM
Response to Original message
5. That was one of my suggestions to the DNC
when McCauliff sent that poll around.

I'd love to see each of their lives dissected and put up in front of the world. They are scum of the earth. Lower than scum.
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Padraig18 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 05:18 PM
Response to Original message
6. Can he sue? Yes. Can he win? No.
You can sue anyone for anything; whether or not you can collect a judgment is an entirely different question.
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sangh0 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 05:19 PM
Response to Original message
7. Yes, he can.
Anybody can sue for most any reason. Of course, their case might get thrown out as frivolous and fines imposed.

Int his case, I think Kerry does have a case even though he is a public figure. The evidence that they malisciously lied about him is overwhelming.
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rowire Donating Member (84 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 05:19 PM
Response to Original message
8. Toady O'Neill Asked For It
Literally. He was on tv daring Kerry to sue him. Can we start a legal fund to persue this? How I would love to see that fat toad on the witness stand having to explain an x-ray of Kerry's leg with the shrapnel still in it.
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Crispus Attucks Donating Member (34 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 05:48 PM
Response to Reply #8
10. O'Neill is so full of it.
He hasn't got over Kerry kicking his *ss on the Cavett show debate.

Reminds me of today's Young Reptardicons. when asked if they were gonna enlist and go to Iraq: "No, I think I can do more for my country if I stay here."

Give me a Break.
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The Night Owl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 06:25 PM
Response to Reply #10
15. Welcome to DU! (NT)
:hi:
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LisaL Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 05:55 PM
Response to Reply #8
14. One would think Kerry has more than enough money
to persue this. LOL.
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LittleClarkie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 07:14 PM
Response to Reply #8
16. I doubt he will
I think he just wants to move on.

But damn, I'd love it. Slandering a veteran for political gain is just so damn low. And to have my freeper friends going along with it, making Purple Heart jokes.

Especially since the Bush win, people have been acting as if that validates the Swiftees and turns their lies into truth. I end up in tears every time I encounter this. It just makes me sick.

I'm just hoping they get hit with the karmic boomerang at some point. What goes around, comes around baby.
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democratreformed Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 05:52 PM
Response to Original message
11. If he does, I would like to add to the evidence.
There was a terrible write-up in a tiny little paper that was absolutely slanderous. I saved it for evidence.
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LisaL Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 05:54 PM
Response to Original message
13. I would think so. For slander.
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NVMojo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 08:42 PM
Response to Reply #13
25. written slander is called "libel" and you can sue for it
Edited on Fri Nov-12-04 08:43 PM by NVwriter
if you can prove the information was not true and caused you loss. I think Kerry has a case one way or the other but I've wondered if he would do anything ...
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ThoughtCriminal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 07:17 PM
Response to Original message
17. I was thinking maybe some of the other crewmen could sue
They seem to be slandering more than Senator Kerry.
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LittleClarkie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 08:11 PM
Response to Reply #17
22. Indeed, for the Swift Liars to be considered truthful
assumes that the Band of Brothers lied, every single one of them.

Why is it the Swift liars seemed to get more benefit of the doubt, as if the Brothers were tainted because they were standing up for Kerry. Pissed me off no end.
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Egalitariat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 07:19 PM
Response to Original message
18. John Kerry's a public figure....
his burden of proof in a slander or libel case would be tremendously more difficult than if they had said the same thing about me or you.
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sweetheart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 10:35 PM
Response to Reply #18
32. yes
American liabel law is crap. There is no protection either way,
as only someone who takes a public profile is worth slandering in
the republican eyes, and once profile taken, the burden of proof
can be suggested that one's character is important.

In britain, kerry could take them to court, gain huge damages and
put the television stations that aired the material in to bankruptcy.
But no justice in the US...
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mtnsnake Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 07:41 PM
Response to Original message
19. He should sue them and then some. Staying silent is not good
Kerry should teach those bastards a lesson they'll never forget.

I mean, if someone slandered my name like what they did to him, I'd wouldn't sleep until my name was cleared. If I had the financial resources that Kerry had, I'd exact a little vengeance to boot. Nothing violent of course, hehe. Maybe write a book about O'Neill and slander his lying ass.
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theboss Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 07:46 PM
Response to Original message
20. Would be damn near impossible to prove "malice"
And I'm not quite sure what the damages would be? His salary as President?
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NVMojo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 08:45 PM
Response to Reply #20
26. you can sue for a retraction if you can prove their info was incorrect
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johnfunk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 08:02 PM
Response to Original message
21. The DNC should sue the Smear Boat Liars...
... and yes, they'd lose. And it would take time.

The one word answer as to why they should sue?

Depositions.

Let's get O'Neill, Corsi, Karl Rove, the Smear Boat Liars' financial backers, and their friends on the Internet -- including arch-thug Jim "Lookit My Cool RV" Robinson -- all under oath. No holds barred. EVERY subject up for grabs.

Believe me, it would be a pyrrhic victory for the Smearies -- and dollars to doughnuts Rove and Robinson are exposed as felons.

Bring it on!
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tsuki Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 08:24 PM
Response to Original message
23. If I were a Vet, I would sue them.
I was talking to a person today who is sooooooooooooo sick of hearing about "Nam" and the "Nam" Vets that he wishes they would all drop dead. He said he felt like they were pandered to, when he is out there every day trying to make it.

I lived through Viet-Nam. I saw what it did to my generation. It was not pretty.

What this person sees is a lot of whining old men. Whining old men with the face of John O'Neill.

Don't let this lying sucker slink away.
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DoYouEverWonder Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 08:39 PM
Response to Original message
24. Yes, they should be sued
for collaborating with the Bush/Cheney campaign, which was a clear violation of their 527 status.

I know for a fact that the Kerry campaign has prima facia evidence of collaboration between the two groups. I know because I gave them the evidence and it will hold up in a court of law.
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tenncohee Donating Member (4 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 09:01 PM
Response to Reply #24
27. Swifties
Not a lawyer, but a civil case needs a preponderance of evidence, meaning a majority to get a judegement.

If there is Kerry and his crew on one side, and two hundred and fifty people on the other side willing to swear under oath that kerry was or was not whatever, it seems to me that the sheer numbers militate against Kerry.

The will of a jury is quite different from public opinion.
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DoYouEverWonder Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 09:36 PM
Response to Reply #27
29. I'm not talking about opinions
I'm talking about legal agreements, signed documents. Tangible evidence.
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tenncohee Donating Member (4 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 10:52 PM
Response to Reply #29
34. swifties
The only evidence that counts is the recollections of events that transpired thirty five years ago. It's still 250 to 5. There are no legal agreements and there are no signed documents that can't be disputed by the same ratio.

Plus Kerry's refusal to release all his military records would not set well with a jury of older middle class folks. If he released his records it might hurt him, and if he continued to refuse it would damn his case. Whatever your opinion is, the rarefied atmosphere of a civil trial would not be the same as a court of popular opinion.
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DoYouEverWonder Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 11:23 PM
Response to Reply #34
36. There are very clear rules regarding political campaigns
and 527's.

Under no circumstances are 527's allowed to have any contact with either the Kerry campaign or the Bush campaign.

The documents that I have prove that the SBVFT and the Bush/Cheney campaign not only had contact with each other, they entered into legal contracts with each other.
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American Tragedy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 09:25 PM
Response to Original message
28. John Dean thinks so. He wrote an article about it, in fact.
Edited on Fri Nov-12-04 09:26 PM by End of all Hope
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20040831.html

While you're there, you should check out the former Nixon White House Counsel's other articles.

Personally though, I think it would be a mistake.
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MirrorAshes Donating Member (942 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 10:06 PM
Response to Original message
30. Kerry should just make a statement- "John O'Neill needs to get a life."
Edited on Fri Nov-12-04 10:08 PM by MirrorAshes
They want a legal fight. Just humiliate him and move on :evilgrin:
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highplainsdem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 10:32 PM
Response to Original message
31. John Dean says he should -- quoting him here:
How should Kerry deal with the attacks? He should take a page from the playbook of the last U.S. Senator to receive his party's presidential nomination: Barry Goldwater, in 1964. Goldwater suffered the same type of attack, and set a precedent as to how to counter it: Sue.

Never has a book been more deserving of a defamation lawsuit. And Kerry has several reasons to sue. One is to put these false claims to rest forever. The other is to deter future, similar claims.

Recall the absurd 1992 charges that Bill Clinton was running drugs and murdering people. Most people laughed, and Clinton chose to do nothing about the claims, during the election or after. But the Clintons paid a cost for not suing: Even more ridiculous charges - claiming Vince Foster's suicide was a murder, and so on - followed, and critics were emboldened to say anything they wanted about the Clintons, regardless of veracity.

Kerry should take a stand not only for himself, but for future candidates and elected officials. Factually baseless attacks knowingly designed to destroy political opponents should be culled from our system: Defamation law is meant to serve that purpose, and so it is time for Kerry to file suit.

That's from Dean's article at http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20040831.html . Dean also says that this would be "the rare case where actual malice may be easy to prove."

If Kerry is planning to run for office again, he really should sue the Swift Liars before they defame him in another campaign. And I agree with Dean that this should also be done so other candidates, future candidates, won't be quite as likely to be smeared this way.
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0007 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 11:00 PM
Response to Reply #31
35. John Dean is so right on! But very few will read what this man
has to say. His book, "Worse Than Watergate" was absolutely a great source of information. Richard Clark & John Dean are tops. Kerry should sue and hold press conferences as often as he can if he plans on running again.
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Isere Donating Member (920 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-12-04 10:39 PM
Response to Original message
33. He should sue their a***s off !
Malice would surely be easy to prove! Hell, they were trying to prevent him from being elected president! They made up all kinds of sh*t and peddled it as the truth.
I love John Kerry, but I'd love him even more if he fought back!
It would be a good deterrent for other fabricators who try to derail a candidate by spreading lies.
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