Showing posts with label Sports (General News and Events - Professional and College). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sports (General News and Events - Professional and College). Show all posts
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
I am not a baseball freak, but I must support those who are.
...this week marked the start of Spring Training for Major League Baseball. As most of you know, I am a die hard baseball fanatic. In honor of my favorite sport, I wanted to focus Saturday Tuneage on my favorite baseball movie…Major League.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Monday, December 14, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Tiger Woods Paid for Orgies...
Can I say he will become the pariah of Gold because he has tarnished it for years.
CHEATING Tiger Woods splashed out £25,000 a weekend partying with high-class hookers, a notorious Hollywood madam told a US website last night.
(Loredana Jolie, left, reportedly was Woods favorite.) Michelle Braun said that she sometimes provided Woods with ten to 15 girls at one time.
Braun told E! News the golf star would call her to arrange meetings with girls as he left wife Elin Nordegren, 29, at home.
And she told a US newspaper his favourite was stunning Playboy model Loredana Jolie.
Braun claimed Woods would spend £10,000 a time to meet Loredana, 26, in Manhattan.
But Loredana said only that she received "a ring, a pair of diamond studs and a watch" from Woods.
She added: "He came off as being a really nice person. He had manners."
Braun also alleged two of the other women to have romped with Woods - porn star Holly Sampson and lingerie model Jamie Jungers - were on her books. ....
She said: "He had a pretty big appetite for girls. Never just one girl. He would want to set up a whole weekend of partying and have ten or 15 girls 24/7.
"Mostly young, college cuties. In an average weekend in Las Vegas he'd probably spend $30,000 or $40,000."....
...[more]...
The orgies were set up on his yacht according to The Sun's story.
Monday, December 07, 2009
[Update] 11 Under par for Tiger Woods -- AP: Tiger Woods Is Racist - He Only Cheats With White Women (Political Correctness in Bed) (SNL Skit Added)
UPDATE -- TIGER’S RUMORED WOMEN
1.) Rachel Uchitel. The club hostess was the first of the women to be linked to Woods after the National Enquirer reported that she traveled to Australia to be with Woods during a golf tournament there. So far, she has denied the affair.
2.) Jamie Grubbs. The 24-year-old reality show contestant and cocktail waitress claims she carried on a 31-month-long affair with Woods until his crash last month. She offered a Woods voicemail to prove it.
3.) Kalika Moquin. The 27-year-old club manager from Las Vegas is reported to have had a brief sexual relationship with Woods. She would neither confirm nor deny the report.
4.) Cori Rist. The 31-year-old swimsuit model reportedly met Woods at a Manhattan club last year before they began a sexual relationship that led to Woods flying her out to various secret locations for hook-ups, and her introducing the golfer to her 7-year-old son.
5.) Jamie Jungers. The 26-year-old, who sold her story to a British newspaper, is a former employee of Trashy Girls Lingerie. She said she met Woods in Las Vegas.
6.) Mindy Lawton. The 33-year-old pancake house waitress from Orlando claims she was dumped by Woods in 2007. According to the Post, it was her affair with Woods that was caught on camera by the National Enquirer, when he was snapped dropping her off at her trailer park. The threatening news later led to a Woods Men’s Fitness cover in exchange for the magazine’s silence about the alleged affair, the New York Post reports.
7.) Holly Sampson. The 36-year-old from Los Angeles is a former porn star, who has starred in such films as “OMG, Stop Tickling Me” and “Flying Solo 2.” According to the Sun, she has neither confirmed nor denied her affair with Woods.
8.) Unidentified Alleged Mistress No. 8. A former cocktail waitress from Orlando, Fla. does want to reveal her identity yet, according to her attorney Michael O’Quinn. But this she has said: at the time the affair allegedly began, she was 20 years old and met Woods at the Roxy in Orlando, where she was a VIP server.
9.) Unidentified Alleged Mistress No. 9 is reported to be a “sexy” British TV presenter who was single at the time, but is now married.
10.) Unidentified Alleged Mistress No. 10. is reported in a UK paper to be a “sex-addicted cougar.”
11.) Joslyn James. The star of many, many porn videos was named on the sports blog Deadspin.com as a Tiger regular, but did not respond to the site's call for comment.
....The article that followed labeled the golfer racist not only for "declin[ing] to identify himself as black," but also because of "the race of the women" he's involved with.
On top of this, the AP made the case that America's fascination with Woods's philandering is only because he's cheating with white women (h/t NB reader Matthew Noll):
Amid all the headlines generated by Tiger Woods' troubles — the puzzling car accident, the suggestions of marital turmoil and multiple mistresses — little attention has been given to the race of the women linked with the world's greatest golfer.
Except in the black community.
When three white women were said to be romantically involved with Woods in addition to his blonde, Swedish wife, blogs, airwaves and barbershops started humming, and Woods' already tenuous standing among many blacks took a beating.
The article continued with this theme:
As one blogger, Robert Paul Reyes, wrote: "If Tiger Woods had cheated on his gorgeous white wife with black women, the golfing great's accident would have been barely a blip in the blogosphere."
Wow! So America is also racist because we're only interested in this story due to the color of Woods's mistresses.
But it gets worse:
The darts reflect blacks' resistance to interracial romance. They also are a reflection of discomfort with a man who has smashed barriers in one of America's whitest sports and assumed the mantle of the world's most famous athlete, once worn by Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan.
But Woods has declined to identify himself as black, and famously chose the term "Cablinasian" (Caucasian, black, Indian and Asian) to describe the racial mixture he inherited from his African-American father and Thai mother.
So Woods is wrong for not considering himself black even though he is one quarter Chinese, one quarter Thai, one quarter African-American, one eighth American Indian, and one eighth Dutch?
But there was yet more racial absurdity in this piece:This vexed some blacks, but it hasn't stopped them from claiming Woods as one of their own. Or from disapproving of his marriage to Elin Nordegren, despite blacks' historical fight against white racist opponents of mixed marriage.
So, blacks have historically fought against "white racist opponents of mixed marriage":
"But at the same time we still see him as a black man with a white woman, and it makes a difference," said Johnson Cooper, a 26-year-old African-American from New York City. "There's just this preservation thing we have among one another. We like to see each other with each other."
Wow! So, on the one hand, blacks have fought against "white racist opponents of mixed marriage." BUT, they're against black men marrying white women.
Not only did the AP miss this hypocrisy, it actually defended it:
This tendency may be more prominent due to a relative lack of interracial marriages among average blacks. Although a recent Pew poll showed that 94 percent of blacks say it's all right for blacks and whites to date, a study published this year in Sociological Quarterly showed that blacks are less likely to actually date outside their race than are other groups.
"There is a call for loyalty that is stronger in some ways than in other racial communities," said the author of the study, George Yancey, a sociology professor at the University of North Texas and author of the book "Just Don't Marry One."
The color of one's companion has long been a major measure of "blackness" — which is a big reason why the biracial Barack Obama was able to fend off early questions about his black authenticity.
"Had Barack had a white wife, I would have thought twice about voting for him," Johnson Cooper said.
Wow!So do Woods' women say something about the intensely private golfer's views on race?
"I would like to say no, but I think it garners a bit of a yes," Johnson Cooper said.
So if Michelle Obama was white, blacks wouldn't have voted for her husband?
Somehow the AP missed this racist hypocrisy as well.
Add it all up, and Woods is racist for cheating with white women, Americans are racist because they wouldn't be interested in this story if his mistresses were black, and it's okay for blacks to resent black men that are involved with white women.
Any questions?
PORN star Holly Sampson last night became the seventh woman alleged to be a mistress of golf star Tiger Woods.
The 36-year-old from Los Angeles is the star of such films as "OMG, Stop Tickling Me" and "Flying Solo 2".
She has not yet spoken about her involvement with Tiger, 33.
It follows the emergence of 'mistress number six' Cori Rist, 31, who is said to have met Tiger in a New York club last year.
They allegedly had regular romps and he would secretly fly her around the world.
A source said: "Tiger would get a large suite at a hotel and someone would book Cori an adjacent room."
Meanwhile married Tiger's string of alleged lovers are busy cashing in. At least two have signed big-money deals.
Two more were revealed yesterday. One, curvy Jamie Jungers, 26, was said to have been the girlfriend of an unsuspecting golf fan who wanted her to get Tiger's AUTOGRAPH.
Florida waitress Mindy Lawton, 33, emerged as another of the dad of two's conquests.
Some reports said the total was at least eight.
Mindy said she romped with Tiger under the nose of his blonde wife Elin, 29, who was pregnant. Mindy said: "All he wanted me for was sex."
Another alleged lover, New York socialite Rachel Uchitel, 34, is reported to have sealed a million-dollar to keep quiet.
And Jaimee Grubbs, 24, who claims to have had 20 sex romps with Tiger, is in talks to pose naked for Playboy.
Nightclub hostess Kalika Moquin, 27, is also said to have had a fling with Tiger.
He was injured in a car crash after a 2am row with Elin in Florida ten days ago.
Ace of Spades UPDATE/Import:
December 08, 2009
Tiger Woods Voicemail: The Director's Cut
With lots of bonus footage previously unseen. Link Problem: For some reason this link leads to a sketch about Tetris. Skp that and click on the next clip, the one about Tiger Woods.
Oh My: Confirmed Racial Huckster/Sub-Moron Eugene Robinson: Tiger Woods' Infidelities and Betrayals Did Not Demonstrate Sufficient Fidelity to the Principles of Diversity
Really, really damn funny.
Via AllahPundit's Twitter feed.
Where Are The Minority Women At? It's come to this.
As Ed says, you knew it was coming, but you expected it to come from an unhinged blogger with not a damn thing to do all day but contrive outrage.
Not from the Washington Post.
Here’s my real question, though: What’s with the whole Barbie thing?
No offense to anyone who actually looks like Barbie, but it really is striking how much the women who’ve been linked to Woods resemble one another. I’m talking about the long hair, the specific body type, even the facial features. Mattel could sue for trademark infringement.
This may be the most interesting aspect of the whole Tiger Woods story — and one of the most disappointing. He seems to have been bent on proving to himself that he could have any woman he wanted. But from the evidence, his aim wasn’t variety but some kind of validation.
I’m making a big assumption here that the attraction for Woods was mostly physical, but there’s no evidence thus far that he had a lot of time for deep conversation. If adultery is really about the power and satisfaction of conquest, Woods’s self-esteem was apparently only boosted by bedding the kind of woman he thought other men lusted after — the “Playmate of the Month” type that Hugh Hefner turned into the American gold standard.
But the world is full of beautiful women of all colors, shapes and sizes — some with short hair or almond eyes, some with broad noses, some with yellow or brown skin. Woods appears to have bought into an “official” standard of beauty that is so conventional as to be almost oppressive.Oppressive to whom? The perfectly-qualified minority Denny's-Parking-Lot quick-slams that Tiger overlooked to have unsafe condom-free sex with?
Oppressive to them? Do they have a spokesman and a lobby? Have careers been cut short due to this failure of Tiger to broaden his strumpet candidate search?
Is ten minutes of sex with Tiger Woods a career? Well, you get paid; we know that. But is it a career?
His taste in mistresses leaves the impression of a man who is, deep down, both insecure and image-conscious — a control freak even when he’s committing “transgressions.”Why does Eugene Robinson hate white women?
Gee, a guy has a type he's attracted to. I'm just curious -- how many professional athletes are married to ugly women? Like, um, zero?
How come they don't sample the rich diversity in differing standards of female beauty?
I'm not saying black women are unattractive. I'm saying if a guy likes a type, he likes a type.
I can't believe this nonsense. It's now come to the point where there's a quota system for your skankwhores and pincushions. It's not that you violated your marital vows with so many women, Tiger: It's that you failed to implement a trained Diversity Outreach manager to select your nightcrawling guttertrollops and ensure you were drawing from a racially-conscious pool of talent.
One knock on bloggers -- and it's a valid one -- is that we sit around all day contriving nonsense to talk about, and aren't sufficiently "serious" about stuff, choosing to avoid the serious in favor of the quick, easy, and provocative.
Again: A knock on bloggers which is valid. A knock on myself which is valid.
But, darnit, that professional credentialed media is so, so much smarter and more serious. They exhibit such better judgment.
Don't they?
Don't they?
Am I, Too, Oppressed? How come all these women were willing to have semi-anonymous unprotected "frantic" and "desperate" sex with the same type of dude -- young, fairly handsome, professional athlete with a billion dollars?
Aren't I oppressed, too?
Why aren't these sorts of conventionally-attractive women more dedicated to the principles of diversity? When do they broaden their search criteria to include Ewok-looking bloggers with three cents in their bank accounts?
Four Words: Skankcrumpet. Diversity. Beer summit.
Alternate Headline: A commenter suggests the following:
WaPo: Tiger Woods Exposed as Serial Philanderer; Women, Minorities Least-Hardest Hit
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Get Me Out of Detroit ~ 7MM Magnum (Plus: Prust over Stewart)
Get me out of Detroit!
7MM Magnum
by, Jake Swiftarrow, Sports Slayer
11-27-09
7MM Magnum
by, Jake Swiftarrow, Sports Slayer
11-27-09
Marion Hossa made his season debut for the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night and scored 2 two goals against the San Jose Sharks. The Hawks signed the winger in the off season to a $62.8 million dollar, 600 year deal so he can play on a line that includes Noah (950 years old) and Methusaleh (969 years old). These ridiculous long term deals that ba
ck load the money reveal that sports is not exempt from boneheaded economics. One might think that these sports franchises are government run. Shhh don’t tell the Obama administration. They might nationalize the White Sox for S’s and G’s.
ck load the money reveal that sports is not exempt from boneheaded economics. One might think that these sports franchises are government run. Shhh don’t tell the Obama administration. They might nationalize the White Sox for S’s and G’s. I am so over my Sarah Palin crush. I have moved on to a much more attractive, errrr, intelligent lady in former White House Press Secretary, Dana Perino. She can give me a briefing anytime.
Real Salt Lake defeated the LA Galaxy on penalty kicks to win the MLS Cup. The game was in hand when MLS MVP, Landon Donovan missed his turn at the spot leaving the door open for Real to take home the title. That is a tough pill for a player that many consider to be the best American soccer player ever. I am a big fan of Donavan and what he has done for the sport. He conducts himself like a gentleman off the field and a fierce competitor on the field. I hope there are many more victories for Donavan in his soccer future.
Obama pardoned a turkey and officially put it in the “Jobs Saved” column.
As a sports fan we get so used to focusing on wins and losses and all the statistics associated with our favorite sports. It’s easy to forget the human element and sometimes we want to forget it when all the news stories seem to focus on the negative actions of our athletes and role models. We need more of these: Shaq Pays for N.C. Girl’s Funeral. NBA star, Shaquille O’Neal was touched by a story of a five year old girl who was murdered and whose mother was arrested on human trafficking charges. Shaq covered the costs of the funeral. In this incredibly sad story that no doubt touched many people, here is an example of a person who can give, giving. Shaq is not alone in his charitable and thoughtful contributions in the world of sports and I hope at some point, we will begin highlighting the big hearts that some athletes have to go along with their big talent.
Listen to The Gaslight Anthem. Thank me later.
So people are up in arms over a socialite couple crashing a White House Party and posting pictures on Facebook. I’m torn on this one. I find it both hilarious and frightening. If I’m Obama, I’m furious. But I’m not, and the first thing that comes to mind is that these people have eggs for trying this. In some ways I’m proud of them. It’s kind of like when my buddies and I used to pay for one Shakey’s buffet and get food for five us on one plate. Then, the owner would get angry and chase us around the salad bar. Good times! As a tax payer, I’m glad some of my money paid for the regular folks to have a bit of fun instead of funding global warming junk science. I’m sure the wine and dinner menu were outstanding. An attorney for the couple states simply, “They love a good party.” Perfect! However, I feel bad for the Secret Service who I’m sure is undergoing a thorough arse chewing. Some of them may be adding to unemployment numbers this week.
So we had our traditional dose of the NFL on Thanksgiving with 3 pro games. However, the only game that mattered was the college game between traditional rivals, Texas and Texas A & M. This was by far the best game of the day with Texas trying to hold on to their number 3 ranking for a shot at the National Championship. The Longhorns defeated the Aggies 49 – 39 in the highest scoring Lone Star Showdown game on record. This was a fabulously entertaining game of back and forth offense and special teams play. I’ll take the college game over the pro game anytime.
As far as the NFL tradition of having the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys each play home games on Thanksgiving goes, I am not a fan. Don’t get me wrong, I consider myself mostly a traditionalist when it comes to sports with the exceptions of the Designated Hitter and Wild Card teams making the playoffs which I do like, but here is why I don’t want to see the Lions and Cowboys anymore on Thanksgiving. It has nothing to do with the fact that the Lions are horrible and have been since the Clinton administration (Sorry Sean G). It has more to do with unfair preparation afforded the Lions and Cowboys who are used to preparing on short rest for this game and then getting 10 days off to ready themselves for their next opponent. I also like what the NHL is doing with their new tradition of playing one outdoor game a year on New Year’s Day and alternating venues and teams. This is an exciting new tradition and I hope to see my LA Kings play in that game one day. I would not be as interested if every outdoor game was played in Buffalo with the Sabres hosting.
Prust over Stewart
Friday, November 20, 2009
The Stimulus is Working ~ 7MM Magnum (Plus: Thornton over Erskine)
The Stimulus is Working
by, Jake Swiftarrow, Sports Slayer
11-20-09
Free agency begins today in Major League Baseball. This is the best time of year to be a Yankee fan. It’s like Ivanka Trump in the mall with daddy’s credit card. Although it’s a thin crop of players, Matt Holliday, Jason Bay and John Lackey will help some ball clubs. The question is, “at what price?” Unless, of course, you’re a Yankee fan, then you never ask yourself that question. “The Stimulus is working.”
The new Health Care bill is over 2000 pages long. Raise your hand if you think your government representatives will actually read it. They admittedly didn’t read the Stimulus bill because they weren’t given enough time. Most had aides skim through it. And it really didn’t matter because they crossed stuff out and wrote in new material in the margins. Give them some napkins and crayons to write on next time. This is government at its finest. The Goth Girl down the street would have trouble finishing a 2000 page Twilight book and digesting it, let alone understand it well enough to legislate in every American home. Of course, under the proposed bill, all Americans refusing to purchase health care will be considered criminals. I guess this will benefit the prison industry. “The Stimulus is working.”
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Promoter of Pacquiao-Mayweather Fight Wanted It In Ny or New Jersey... Taxes Were Too High
(HotAir h/t-import)
You don’t have to be a boxing fan to understand the uppercut that high state taxes gave to an opportunity for a big sports event in New York and New Jersey. Newsday reports on the decision by promoter Bob Arum to pursue a highly-sought bout between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather in Jerry Jones’ new football stadium in Texas instead of Yankee Stadium or the Meadowlands. What KO’d the East Coast? High state taxes:
It appears the Tax Man is about to do to Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. what Oscar de la Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto could not.
Namely, knock both of them out.
Out of New York, that is. And New Jersey, too. …
But last night, Arum dropped the hammer on the fight taking place anywhere east of the Mississippi River.
“No chance,” Arum said. “Nothing would please me more than to have it at Yankee Stadium, but the way the tax structure in New York is set up, it’s impossible.”
But that’s not the worst news. The front-runner to host the bout, proposed for early May or June 2010, is – gulp! – Cowboys Stadium, Jerry Jones’ $1 billion-plus, retractable-roof football palace that makes Yankee Stadium look like a sandlot.
Friday, November 13, 2009
LeBron a Little Hazy on History? ~ 7MM Magnum (Plus: Rypien over Stortini)
Only 29% of the news stories about Major Hasan mention that he is a Muslim. Are you freaken kidding me? It’s not important? It doesn’t help explain this act of terrorism, errrrr, man-caused disaster? I’ll tell you what is a man-caused disaster, the Obama administration. This little tidbit of information is not a piece of this nightmarish puzzle? So, in the interest of political correctness should we shake down the 65 year old Morman lady at the airport as to not offend the 30 year old Muslim male in line behind her? Put out an APB on common sense. It has gone missing. It is so sad that so many more Americans will have to die before we deal with problems head on and call them as they are. Charles Krauthammer put it best on Special Report this week when said, “Political correctness is not only a moral aberration, it’s dangerous.” By the way, for my money, Krauthammer is the smartest guy in the room.
Cincinnati Bengal wide receiver, Chad Ochocino, was fined $20,000 by the NFL for jokingly bribing an official with a $1 bill during last Sunday’s game. I, personally, would have fined him $20K for his teeth or for changing his last name from Johnson to Ochocinco, but whatever. The NFL (No Fun League) has to take a stand against this guy’s antics at some point. He may be a distraction, but at least he’s not part of the 400+ football players who were arrested last season for various crimes, and more importantly in the eyes of the NFL, he’s not Rush Limbaugh. Now that is a crime.
Obama and Attorney General, Eric Holder, have decided to try the 911 conspirators in Federal Court in New York City. If this goes bad, if one of these guys walks on a technicality, this will end the Obama administration and be his long lasting legacy. If there is one terrorist that Obama “creates or saves” from the hammer of justice that is coming to them, he will not be able to show his face in middle America or anywhere else where common sense still has a foothold.The officiating in the SEC this year has been awful. The LSU interception during the Alabama game was reviewed using television replay and even though the defender got both (only one is required) feet in, they ruled no interception on the play. Conspiracy theories are in on the SEC wanting Alabama and Florida in the SEC title game. I’m not much for conspiracy theories, but that was an embarrassing call. They should let those good ol’ boys dip during the game to keep their focus laser sharp. I’m thinking Texas and Florida for the National Championship. Bama is good and I love the RB Ingram, but their QB threw his first TD in 8 games last Saturday. That’s not going to get it done. Hook em!
Rosie O’ Donnell… never-mind… nobody cares.
(Rypien over Stortini)
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Capitalism Hurts ~ 7 MM Magnum (Plus: Ivanans over Bissonnette)
Capitalism Hurts
7 MM Magnum
by, Jake Swiftarrow, Sports Slayer
11-05-09
by, Jake Swiftarrow, Sports Slayer
11-05-09
I hate the Yankees! I love Capitalism. Therein lays the quandary. I love that Yankees can outspend every other team in Major League Baseball in dramatic fashion because they have the means to do it, but it also disgusts me. Fulldisclosure: Angel fan here. Nevertheless, as Larry Kudlow would proudly declare, “free market capitalism is the best road to prosperity.” Besides, rooting against a team is as much fan as rooting for a team. I love it when the Yankees lose. Go underdog! Unless, of course, the underdog is playing my beloved Angels who have the 6th highest payroll in the league. Too bad for the other 20+ teams that don’t spend as much as the Angels! Sell more hot dogs. Again, capitalism carries the day. Congrats to the roid taking, Dom drinking, Madonna humping Yankees and their rude, obnoxious, subway riding, homeless cursing, thin pizza making, go @#$% yourself fans on their 27 World Championship. See you next year fat cats.
Gay Marriage lost a crucial vote in Maine yesterday. Wow! The Moose, who outnumber the people in Maine, must have turned out for the vote. I thought this was a no brainer victory for same sexers. I guess people are worried how many doors must open under the pretense of “We love each other. Give us the same rights.” People, and moose, might be afraid that if you green light certain forms of marriage because of “love and equality” that many alternative forms of marriage must then become acceptable. Can you say a human and a moose?
David Beckham is going back to Real Madrid on loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy. Does anybody care? Give me football not a freak show. Give me football players, nothipster prima donnas. And if you read Victoria Beckham’s diet book, you sir or ma’am, are the reason the psychiatry business is so lucrative.
Barbara Boxer and the Dems passed a Global Warming, errrr Climate Change bill without any Republicans present. Those dam Republicans wanted a cost-benefit analysis to gauge costs to taxpayers. Those fiscally conservative punks should just drop their brains and step away from the legislative table before anyone gains knowledge. Look for skyrocketing energy costs and business closures. Another day in office for the Dems, another day closer to disaster for common folk. I heard it told the other day that if the Republicans are the party of the rich, then isn’t it in their best interest to keep their constituents rich? If that’s true, then if the Democrats are the party of the poor, isn’t it in the Democrat leadership’s best interest to keep their constituents poor? Take that home and chew it.
Monday, November 02, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Should Rush Sue? Thomas Sowell Import
To sue or not to sue? That is the question.
After racist statements were made up out of thin air and then attributed to Rush Limbaugh, these were the options he had.
It is easy for me to understand that these are not simple choices because I have faced those options as well. Recently there have been a number of columns made up by others and put on the Internet with my name on them. The things said in those bogus columns have nothing in common with anything that I have said, in my columns, in my books or anywhere else.
Years ago, CBS reporter Lem Tucker said in a broadcast on October 13, 1981 that my views "seem to place him in the school that believes that maybe most blacks are genetically inferior to white people."
Anyone interested in the facts could have discovered that I had argued directly against this idea in a number of writings, including a feature article in the New York Times Magazine on March 27, 1977.
An attorney I did not know, but who had read my writings and knew that what was insinuated in that broadcast was totally false, offered to represent me in a lawsuit against CBS. That was when I faced the kind of dilemma that Rush Limbaugh faces now.
When someone is considered to be a "public figure"-- and Rush Limbaugh is certainly that-- the Supreme Court has narrowed the grounds on which that public figure can sue for libel, to the point where even the most blatant lie can often go unpunished.
Worse yet, there may be millions of people who never heard the original lie but who will hear it repeated in the media as a result of news stories about the lawsuit. And when those who committed character assassination are let off the hook on a technicality, they can claim "vindication," as if what they said was true.
The question facing any public figure who has been the target of character assassination in the media is: Is it worth investing a large amount of time in a process that can make you worse off by spreading the very lie that you are suing to stop?
The down side of not suing is that it allows the lie to continue to be repeated in the media, with later repetitions being justified in terms of "just reporting" what someone else said.
No one can resolve this dilemma for someone else. My decision in 1981 was that I had too many other things to do for me to go into the exhausting and time-consuming process of suing CBS, with such dicey odds in the courts.
Every situation is different, so whether Rush Limbaugh should sue is a question that only he can answer.
The question for the media to answer is: Are lies to go unchallenged when they are lies against someone you disagree with? Worse yet, are they to be excused, rationalized or even repeated?
Already there are people on television saying that, although Rush didn't actually say the things that have been attributed to him, he has said other things that they choose to call "racist."
If those other things really are racist, why don't they quote them, instead of something that was made up out of whole cloth?
The Rush Limbaugh show has, after all, been broadcast for many years, three hours a day. There are thousands of hours of those broadcasts that people can go back through to look for things to quote.
If critics can't find anything racist in all that material, why should an outright lie about what the man said be given a pass?
As the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, you are entitled to your own opinion but not to your own facts.
Ultimately, this is not about Rush Limbaugh or anybody else who is smeared with impunity. It is about the whole climate in which issues are discussed.
Without a range of opposing opinions being available to the public, the basic concept of a self-governing democracy is a mockery. If views that some people don't like can be silenced or discredited by character assassination, the whole country loses.
The courts should not be the only line of defense. Common decency should be the first line of defense, so that people who smear others will pay a price in the outrage that their lies should provoke, even among decent people who do not agree with the target of their smears.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Some Disturbing Images -- Blogger Who Fabricated False Quotes of Rush Limbaugh Now Posting Horrid Cartoons
Legal Insurrection has the latest from the Rush-haters:
A popular left-wing hatesite, Jack and Jill Politics, has a photo of Rush Limbaugh as Hitler with blood dripping from his mouth, and "KKK" lettering.
"The Real Face of the RepubliKKKan Party"
The genius posting this garbage was the author of Top 10 Racist Limbaugh Quotes, many of which have been revealed in the past day to be complete fabrications.
Another Slur:
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