Posted on 02/15/2006 2:26:48 PM PST by Our man in washington
This thread is an update on Rall's attempt to sue Ann Coulter. Rall now says he does want to sue Coulter for a joke she made about him, but it's going to cost a lot of money.
He previously asked for cash just for the filing. He now wants a whole lot more cash to pursue legal action. He's asking for donations, since (surprise, surprise) his lawyer won't work on a contingency basis. The strong of stomach can read the whole thing at http://www.tedrall.com/rants.html. He can't draw, he can't write, he has a thin skin, and now he's a shyster trying to get suckers to donate to a hopeless suit. And yet, he is famous.
You'd think he'd promise to share with his donors some of the take if he does win. The fact that he didn't says a great deal.
Rall is just $10 away from bankrupting Ann Coulter! Heh.
As I said yesterday, Rall has to sue her - she'd crush him in arm wrestling.
Can I doante a penny via credit card so he then has to pay 50 cents in processing fees?
Why is this Ted Rall threatening to sue Ms. Coulter?
Get a load of this.
If you're gonna be a vexatious litigant, at least pony up your own funds.
A prime argument for "Loser Pays" if ever there was one.
Rall won't win because his name was mentioned in the context of a joke, not as a factual statement or assertion of truth. He'll lose, straight up.
Ann should counter sue for harrassment.
Uh, Rall called Republicans Nazis for years. How is that not libel if this b.s. is?
And this little fem is getting all "I've been smeared!"? Isn't he supposed to be a CARTOONIST? Isn't his job to make jokes about public figures?
My favorite bit on that crybaby page of his:
Now, the bad news: As a best-selling author, she is richer than me. Moreover, as a conservative she can draw upon well-heeled ideological allies to finance her legal defense. (Sadly, many wealthy liberals prefer to sit on their hands than defend their own against smears.) She would undoubtedly find representation with a high-powered First Amendment firm to defend her.
God knows there are NO wealthy libs (Mrs. Kerry? The Clintons? Dean? Kennedy? etc. etc. etc.), but "high-powered First Amendment firm"?
Gee, like, I dunno, the ACLU?!?!?!??
What a little baby! "The skinny lady said a mean joke about me! And all I've ever done was say our heroes died for nothing! How dare she say I entered a cartoon contest! WHAAAA!!!"
Grow a pair, you little wuss!
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Ann Coulter Lies; You Decide: Should I Sue?
Republican columnist Ann Coulter spoke earlier today to the Conservative Political Action Committee, where the audience included 1000 right-wingers including Vice President Dick Cheney. There, among other things, she is reported to have said the following:
"Iran is soliciting cartoons on the Holocaust. So far, only Ted Rall, Garry Trudeau, and the NY Times have made submissions."
She lied. I have not submitted anything to any Iranian publication. I have no intention of doing so. And I have said that in public, repeatedly.
Obviously, in making such a statement, Coulter crossed the line into outright libel--she intentionally stated a mistruth intended to harm my reputation. And obviously a libel suit is called for. Problem is, it costs many thousands of dollars to file such a case, much less pursue it through the courts. (I know this from personal experience.)
So what do you, dear readers, think I should do? Should I do what no liberal has been willing to do as of yet--hold a lying neoconservative to task for smearing them? I'll do it with your support--but I need your help to decide. Thus I hereby I announce
THE FIRST ANNUAL ANN COULTER LAWSUIT OPINION POLL
To vote NO, simply email chet@rall.com with a message telling me that you vote no. Feel free to impugn my patriotism if you feel so moved.
To vote YES, please email chet@rall.com along with a solemn pledge stating the amount of financial support you are willing to contribute to support my legal challenge to Coulter's libelous statement.
If enough YES votes come in with enough serious pledges, I'll see Ann in court. If not, well, chalk up another victory for the Right.
UPDATE (Sat. 11:45 AM EST): Votes are currently running 3-to-1 in FAVOR of suing Ann Coulter. And people are putting their money where their mouths are! Pledges already total more than $1500; since it costs about $6000 to draft and file a libel lawsuit in New York, where both she and I live, we're a quarter of the way to having enough to get the ball rolling. If that number continues to rise, I'll be in touch with the pledgers about putting their contributions into my lawyer's escrow PayPal account and start things going.
Some have asked whether she'll be able to use the "just funnin'" defense. She'll certainly try, but I doubt her claims of "humor" or sarcasm will fly with a jury since (a) she's not funny and (b) her audiences take her literally and she knows it. But this will all depend on my attorneys, a team with expertise in libel law. If the pledges keep coming, I'll know whether it's even financially feasible to proceed. Of course, I could sue and lose. But, as emailers have remarked variously: (a) it'd be amusing nevertheless and (b) would finally hold her accountable for her over-the-top libelous statements about Americans with more patriotism than they could ever dream of.
Rall is the PERFECT liberal--he gets to decide what's a joke and what isn't!
LOL What a jerk!
I guess I should have explained why he wants to sue.
When Ann Coulter spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last week, she said "Iran is soliciting cartoons on the Holocaust. So far, only Ted Rall, Garry Trudeau, and the NY Times have made submissions." It was an obvious joke. But Rall is such a sensitive little baby that he wants to sue.
Hmm, Rall sourced threads frequently end up zotted....
Indeed they do. I have never posted a Rall thread before, and probably won't do so again, but we had a lengthy thread on Free Republic yesterday about the lawsuit. Therefore, I thought it was legitimate to update the Board with Rall's plan to go ahead with the suit if he gets a ton of cash.
Rall imagines that he has some good reputation to damage.
I'm sure it would take more than $6,000 to sue Ann, if it got beyond filing, but I bet it doesn't unless a Soros type steps in.
To borrow a phrase from another famous American, Ms. Coulter should answer, "Bring it on!"
Typical leftie - he knows he'd lose big time in court, but he wants to do it on other peoples' money. Now, if Ann were to countersue and win, would this puke try to make his donors liable for the judgement? I mean, without their contributions, the suit wouldn't have happened, right?
Statement by The Liberal Loser
Well, folks, we tried. I was viciously slandered by the Nazi right, and we got together. Grass roots. Brothers and sisters fighting injustice. You know, what America is SUPPOSED to be about?
And we almost won. I was the victim, sure, but YOU were the HEROES! You sent in e-mails, so many e-mails. And money. Let's not forget the root of all evil. It's what you need in this damned country to get anywhere, and since Bush is giving it all to the four richest white men on the planet, personally driving over to their Wayne Manor-like hideout with the bags of cash on Sunday nights, well, there's only so much for the people. But you heroes donated, in droves! We had $46.92 plus many green bags of returnable diet soda cans.
And we fought. Lord, how we fought. It was the Civil Rights fight AND the Out of Vietnam AND the Cindy Sheehan Bar-B-Cue Dance-A-Thon For Hugo Chavez Weekend all in one.
We lost.
I know it hurts. I know the bad guys won again.
But at least we were a shining example for future generations. When they are oppressed, they will look up from the gutter and think "Who was that cartoonist who mocked people for a living and started crying like a spoiled brat when someone slammed HIM?"
I know it hurts now. But our names will be remembered with the Greats--Gahndi, King, Clooney, Moore, Mao, Pol Pot, Saddam.
Okay, gotta run. I have to head down to the can return place before it closes. But the fight goes on.
Peace out!
Apparently, our Ann isn't too afraid of Ted. She repeated the joke in her column this week. See http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1579349/posts
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