Soon-to-be ex-governor Sarah Palin has an interesting way of showing us the horrors of being victimized by drive-by pundits. Her plan? Victimize others, through her personal attorney:
To the extent several websites, most notably liberal Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore, are now claiming as ‘fact’ that Governor Palin resigned because she is ‘under federal investigation’ for embezzlement or other criminal wrongdoing, we will be exploring legal options this week to address such defamation. This is to provide notice to Ms. Moore, and those who re-publish the defamation, such as Huffington Post, MSNBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post, that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law.
I am continually amazed by Palin’s daily race to the bottom, and her need to pursue personal vendettas, no matter how trivial. But this one takes the cake. As her personal attorney Thomas Van Flein should know, defamation claims are notoriously difficult to make out under America’s liberal first amendment doctrine, requiring (1) knowledge of a statement’s falsity, and (2) actual malice. Neither reporting rumors as rumors nor parody are ever actionable. Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46 (1988). If anyone has crossed a line it’s van Flein, for threatening a civil suit in bad faith. So take heart, Alaska bloggers: Palin’s bluster is just that.
It’s surprising, too, that Palin, who whined incessantly of “censorship” during the election, would so quickly and blatantly attempt to censor her critics, in direct contravention of American law. Let’s fight back. What rumors have you heard about Palin’s resignation? I heard that the following are all totally, totally real:
What else have you heard? Oh, and Mr. van Flein – call me!
