You are the Free Republic—Enhancement and Initiative Announcement

I’m still interestred in seeing examples of bloggers that were unfairly ridiculed here on FR.

Ahhh I would love a news video report by freerepublic..highlighting current news, interests and the conservative view point from the common man!!!!!!

a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch who screws up has a corporate lawyer backing him up because the newspaper knows it needs to be willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars to avoid losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in a libel lawsuit. The result is libel lawsuits are rarely filed against major newspapers even when they make major mistakes, and when they are filed, they're usually settled out of court if the reporter obviously blew it.

What I don’t understand is how an NBC can edit a tape of George Zimmerman’s voice, deleting the police question as to the race of the subject (Trayvon Martin), and making Zimmerman’s “He’s black” stand as if Zimmerman were stating it as a reason for suspicion. It would seem that a good lawyer would have Zimmerman owning NBC for the tort of placing in Zimmerman’s mouth meanings which anybody at NBC would cut their own tongues out rather than say in their own voice. On nationwide TV, placing Zimmerman in the position of being in eminent danger any time any black sees him anywhere in the country.
The idea that they can get away with that without being sued for their very underwear is astonishing; it is only explicable, IMHO, in the context of the monopoly which wire service journalism (essentially, the AP and its membership) constitutes. I saw on a web site, in a context which made it hard to doubt, that the AP was found in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act by SCOTUS back in 1945 (in a case out of Chicago). With people like Sharpton having blood on their hands (the fire in a NYC men’s clothing store which killed several people) and the Black Panthers being involved, it looks like NBC, the AP, and the rest of journalism would be subject to a RICO lawsuit for triple damages for obliterating George Zimmerman’s reputation as a human being for fun and profit.

Please accept my apologies for the delayed answer. I just saw your note today.

The short answer of why there's no libel lawsuit (yet) is that the criminal case hasn't yet gone to trial. Many facts which are now in dispute will be clarified by the criminal case. If any libel case gets filed it almost certainly would not be heard until after the criminal case finishes, and there's probably no point in filing until that happens.

The longer answer involves the protections of the “New York Times v Sullivan” case on libel law for media covering public figures. Zimmerman is definitely a public figure, so if Zimmerman wants to sue, he needs to prove not only that the report was false but also that there was actual malice and reckless disregard for the truth.

Could Zimmerman win a libel lawsuit? Ordinarily the answer would be no, not only because libel lawsuits are extremely difficult to win but also because a lawsuit against a major corporation — not just a libel lawsuit against media but virtually any lawsuit — requires massive amounts of money to have any chance of being successful. Normally a corporation (again, not just media) will settle a case to avoid a lawsuit going to trial.

However, the Zimmerman case has become so politicized that anything is possible. What I've seen so far with editing of the 911 tape seems, at least on its face, to be grossly irresponsible.

I'm sitting right now at my county courthouse reviewing the court documents on a variety of shootings, beatings, and other assaults. Nothing I'm dealing with is even close to the Zimmerman case, but I bend over backwards to get my facts right. Stuff happens, and I realize how hard it is to work under deadline pressures, but I have tremendous difficulty seeing how that news report aired without someone catching it during the editing process.

I've seen people fired for far less serious offenses which were totally unintentional. A reasonable case could be made that what happened with the 911 tape in the Zimmerman case was worse than unintentional, but again, we don't have all the facts yet.

Could Zimmerman successfully sue any media outlet other than the original outlet? Probably not. Libel cases are hard enough to win against the outlet which blew it without trying to win a lawsuit against those outlets which relied on AP to disseminate the original report.

There's another reason, however.

My guess is that if Zimmerman has a strong libel case (and he very well may have one) this will never go to trial because he will get a large financial settlement if he wins the criminal case and then sues for libel. How good of a case he may have depends on a lot of internal editing and fact-checking done by low-level as well as senior staff, and we don't yet have the information we need to know the facts yet. Remember, to win a lawsuit, Zimmerman must not only prove the report was wrong but also that it was produced with actual malice and reckless disregard for the truth, and that requires lots of testimony about internal editing and review procedures.

Bottom line: Let's wait and see what happens in the criminal case. If Zimmerman wins, and if he successfully sues for libel, this will have a major effect on a lot of newsgathering procedures and that may be a very good thing.

AM, thank you for documenting how this will be done, and what the guidelines are.

Laz, take a bow—you pioneered this concept.

All—we need to get the pro-America and pro-Constitutional message out whichever way possible in the next five months until Election Day.

If Obama wins, it will not matter after that.

The battle is not just political, but it is spiritual in nature as well.

Pray for our country, that the heavenly protection we have enjoyed for 236 years is not withdrawn. God is just, but He is merciful, and we need His mercy right now.

DUDE!

I missed your note!!!!

I have a question. Can we consider a voice phonecall or a chat online soon?

Please accept my apologies for the delayed answer. I just saw your note today.

Apologies? But of course none is needed. Thank you for taking the time to reply.

The short answer of why there's no libel lawsuit (yet) is that the criminal case hasn't yet gone to trial. Many facts which are now in dispute will be clarified by the criminal case. If any libel case gets filed it almost certainly would not be heard until after the criminal case finishes, and there's probably no point in filing until that happens.

Why would the libel suit depend on the outcome of the criminal case??? That sounds naive I’m sure, but in fact the thing speaks for itself - Zimmerman said “He’s black” in response to a direct question, as a matter of description of the subject, and NBC went out of its way to convert an objective description which no one challenge into a slur, and broadcast that blatant distortion nationwide. It beggars belief to suppose that the people who did that didn’t know that they were inflaming public opinion against Mr. Zimmerman. What would the “fact,” even if a jury were to so find, that Zimmerman subsequently murdered Martin, have to do with the nose-on-your-face-plain fact that NBC “climbed a tree to tell a lie” about Zimmerman? Only, so far as I can see, in the sense that NBC made it far harder for Zimmerman to get a fair jury if he is tried on the murder charge.

Zimmerman is definitely a public figure, so if Zimmerman wants to sue, he needs to prove not only that the report was false but also that there was actual malice and reckless disregard for the truth.

Wire service journalism - essentially the AP and its membership - makes anyone they talk about a “public figure,” in that sense. Did Zimmerman run for public office, or become a movie star? All he did was what government propaganda says we all should do - “If you see something, say something.” And then become involved in a killing. How many people - how many blacks alone - were killed in the US on the night in question? In the month in question? Are their killers all “public figures?” Dunno about you, but I never heard of any of them.
But even assuming the necessity of proving that NBC did what it did with blatant disregard for the truth, I honestly find it difficult to believe anything else of NBC. They had to know that they were obliterating the context of Zimmerman’s words, and giving them a sinister meaning instead of an objective one.

Bottom line: Let's wait and see what happens in the criminal case. If Zimmerman wins, and if he successfully sues for libel, this will have a major effect on a lot of newsgathering procedures and that may be a very good thing.

But it’s the history of AP journalism to do this sort of thing. The Duke Lacrosse “rape” hoax was a pretty transparent within a week, but it provided entertainment and titilation content for AP journalism for months on end, so long as they could sustain the pretense that there was some doubt about the innocence of the accused. It’s pretty obvious that promoting legal and sometimes (in cases Sharpton gets into) physical jeopardy for people is part of the very business model of AP journalism. AP journalism boasts of operating in the public interest, but its business model is interesting the public. And it simply doesn’t care whether the allegations are true.
In my previous post I mentioned RICO, and triple damages, and I didn’t mean that as hyperbole. I have no illusions that it would be an easy case, because of the enormous propaganda power of the AP. It would take deep pockets - or an awful lot of shallow ones - to sustain a fight to the Supreme Court, but AP journalism has proved to my satisfaction that it is a malevolent force in American society. There should be a class action suit, because the systematic target of the AP is not Mr. Zimmerman and it is not the Lacrosse players as individuals. The target is always people at large. The kind of people who would be Republicans.

As stated i like this format but i am not finding what I am looking for and hoping someone in FReeperland can help me in this

I am in a debate that has turned heated; VERY heated. It's regarding a) Israel as an apartheid nation.' b) Israel should cede land to 1967 borders. c) all the rest of liberal talking/hate points to anti antisemitism.

BUT the biggest problem is the argument( circular reasoning)," You have no idea what happened in or on the USS Liberty. How can our allies do this? They are the ennemy for blowing up the USS Liberty with NO WARNING, blah,blah,blah...then they regress to the fast roping to the Turkish terror ship win which the IDF,"GOT PAYBACK.

Here is my dilemna. Most aticleas and books I've read i have poosted showing

1) That Israel gave ample warning about the USS Liberty cruising just outside ( I think Tel Aviv) when all fighting was near the Suez, South and the Negev.

2) The USS Liberty was indeed full of naval personnel however( and it's in books I've read, I cannot find a link) but the ship was run and flying with NSA personnel. This means it was an intel gathering ship and had huge como capabilities using state of the art burst coms, linking intel of troop( Israeli troop) movements not just by triangulating but using electronics with satellite overhead and all band width from a squad in a fighting hole to commandeers comm, picked up by the USS Liberty and sent to Cyprus.

a: from Cyprus we has an understanding( cannot find on google sites) all comm sent to our "cousins"( the UK/Brits) who immediately disseminated intel, all intel to Nasser and the Egyptians who were at the time allied with the CCCP and with thei satellites and incredible( comparable) commo gear themselves could pinpoint Israeli land, sea( not much) and air movements in return Egypt focused their artillery ot on ground line officers to focues on such and such IDF( and IAF movements).

b: This was GIVEN possibly freely by the US to the Brits to Egypt with a CCCP pit stop, or vice versa and realyed to line commanders in the Egytian army. Most but not all my info has come from books, The Secret War Against the Jews By John Loftus and Mark Aarons, some intel by Soldier Spies/Israeli Military Intelligence, Samuel M. Katz, lesser news by From Time Immemorial, Joan Peters9 not much), even a little on cipher and electronic codes ,between Silk and Cyanide by Leo Marks

C:Other boks read and trying to translate to the internet are partials( some in my library, some given away, some from the library) are,

aa:A spiteful book all around from a Goy perspective:

www.alanhart.net/israels-attack-on-the-uss-liberty-the-full-story-2 but this site was used by the opposition

bb: This too was used, and yes, I agreed the IAF knew it was a US shop but the problem was Israeli's were finding shatter, and a lot of it coming from the USS Liberty and they found a direct link /parallel from the chatter to minutes later their FOB's or forward observers were being pummeled to try and open a hole to the IDF lines. This is the site used and shows as one anti Israeli/J Street apartheid Peace Now activist states,' Israelis are genocidal enemies of the world. They are the reason for all wars, all deceit from Libya(??, okay) to Afghanistan, from Indonesia, to Haiti and the reason allah will kill all infidels, first Jews( she called them scrotal pigs..and she's JEWISH!) then all Christian[this from a peace Now alleged Israeli activist] http://www.rense.com/general39/pilot.htm

I must admit my words are taken from memory. My quotes as much as I like to say are worthy have fallen on deaf ears. I do think this can be a debate that can be won but anyone who knows my writing and my poor abilities to debate know full well I can lose this debate and I want so much to win not just to win, but to let the truth ring. Granted, I know it's a tough debate, know also they're grasping at straws ( this was supposed to be on Obama releasing classified or declassifying classified intel including forcing the hand of Israeli leaders on the Stuxnet virus even by stating Op Cast Lead and the war in Lebanon( 206) was a bloody war to weed out only peaceful Hamas/Hezbollah/al-Fartah).

This is another angle. USS Liberty and USS Pueblo angles. I've heard only scuttlebutt from once high end naval officers and sr chiefs that captured the USS Pueblo[only taking their word for it] which of course was captured again with NSA men aboard, naval personnel running the "Lake" ship not seas worthy for the nasty Pacific. Ironically there were no firearms save one fifty cal and small arms. No medals rec'd after being tortured, many relieved of their command right after the USS Pueblo was returned after a year of extreme POW experiences. Many were forced out of the navy or neatly placed words in their jackets to make sure their careers went no further. This happened about 9 months AFTER the USS Liberty and many( not a lot) fin d the parallels quite significant and strange. I have NOT used any of this in my debate as they already think being a conservative nut-ball well, this would only prove I'm a radical church going anti-abortionist, racist, anti sharia-Islam-o-phobe( play on the homosexual fight for sodomy [*barf8] loose screw that "needs more medications a pharmacy can dish out." Oh it's been nasty.

6) I need help. Please send via this post, or via my Freemail site.

Id you can help me well GOD bless you. I feel like a one man army trying to hold back the dogs of war and I refuse to surrender, NUT's," as General McAuliffe said and I say it now.

I need every tidbit, every back of a napkin fact, every line that shows this like the USS Pueblo was not just spying( who knows why the Pueblo was marked for capture unless a false flag...( pre tet offensive??) this is separate debate altogether but one I've been chewing on forawhile now.but my question is why the parallels of NSA, reams of spy como gear...a suicide mission and a "Israeli's were damned if they didn't slam that ship and damned if they did but Israel would at least remain a nation( this from a BIT higher up, words from a trans-literator during the camp David Peace Accords...maybe Menachem Begin? Hey I've been fortunate to know a few higher ups but unfortunate in that I keep my mouth shut.

happy Fathers day and if you're like me, happy "Abba's day, our Father, our loving Father full of graces, mercy, and loving kindness to all His children.

Not to moderator, please forgive if this was the wrong place to post. I just KNOW there are folks like cindy,euletheria, and others that have these answers bookmarked and to me, this debates NEEDS to be won. kul tov, b'shalom my friends.

Tank You, today, kammsahmnidda, Danka, gracious, "down wit it yo.

And yes lastly, i DO uderstand:

No blog pimping. This is for exclusive Free Republic articles.No blog pimping. This is for exclusive Free Republic articles.No blog pimping. This is for exclusive Free Republic articles.No blog pimping. This is for exclusive Free Republic articles.No blog pimping. This is for exclusive Free Republic articles.No blog pimping. This is for exclusive Free Republic articles.No blog pimping. This is for exclusive Free Republic articles.No blog pimping. This is for exclusive Free Republic articles.

This is not for any blog

This is not for any Freeper article but I do hope to compile somehow a follow up to let you know how it goes and you folks ( you 99% smarty's) help be school these propagandists born well AFTER the USS Liberty. I was nine year old but taking of Jerusalem was a HUGE party at San Onofre Surf Club back when)

But I'm a stubborn old bad of illegal owlgore methane and have not found a place to put this( Ms manners sent me to attackwatch.com). Please help, place as stated in the correctarea to post. I just hope and KNOW I may get a dressing down but hopefully since it's Sundauy and might mess with "t-times, yes and TEA Times occifers that be might be lenient for my Freeper insubordiantion. No blog pimping. This is for exclusive Free Republic article. Only one article if that

As stated I like this format but i am not finding what I am looking for and hoping someone in FReeperland can help me in this