*pay
This incident is proof that you don’t humanize former members of the Trump white house. You don’t invite them on your fucking late night show and have light hearted chats with them. You don’t invite them on your Sunday talk shows for their insights. Every one of these cunts, from Spicer to Scaramucci, knowingly participated in an administration that is hostile to civil liberties. They’re animals. Put them in a fucking zoo cage where they belong and watch them throw shit at the glass.
*costs
I hadn’t even started drinking yet at that point.
Can I just point out that the keyboard sucks on this laptop? Yeah, that doesn’t explain typing wrong words.
Spicer evidently has never heard of the Streisand Effect, wherein attempts to suppress (or punish people for making available) information, result in its wide dissemination.
Maybe the boost in his book sales will pay for any court costs he incurs. Maybe not.
pffffft. It’s posturing. And it’s intended to trigger the Streisand Effect, and thus boost sales. They sanction lawyers who file frivolous court actions, don’t they? Pretty sure Sean’s lawyer knows this. If the Basinger Doctrine* were to be held to apply to public threats of lawsuits made by lawyers, we wouldn’t see this kind of dick-wagging.
(a term of art I just made up, after the judgement entered against Kim Basinger when she decided not to appear in Boxing Helena* after orally agreeing to play the role during what she claimed to believe were preliminary discussions.)
… Are you ok, man?
I wondered the same thing. There wasn’t a single “I’ve been saying this all along” or “we’re witnessing the destruction of the rule of law” or “this is how democracy dies” in the entire post.
About as okay as any of us are.
I agree with him. Anyone who enables Donald Trump should be ostracized by society. People should genuinely fear for their future welfare if they lie on his behalf to the public.
Certainly the actions and statements by Trump and his coterie that defy democratic norms, such as branding the press “enemies of the people” or threatening to shut down the federal government out of personal pique should not be normalized by treating them as rational statements. And the people who promote such claims on behalf of Trump, whether they hold them as personal beliefs or not, should expect to be subject to criticism and rebuke, a reality understood by public relations professionals.
The baleful cries that critics and opponents of Trump’s policies and statements have abandoned civil discourse are delusory and dissimulating to the core given that they are rendered in defense of a person who has called for physical violence against detractors and imprisonment of a political rival without basis. Trump has long ago relinquished the high ground in any discussion of propriety or comity, and has displayed his ineptitude for the responsibilities of the office and and contempt for factual discourse. No quarter should be given to the notion that Trump is a normal President (or indeed, person) or those who defend that position. Spicey, Sanders, and their entire lot should be reduced to only being able to eat out at gas stations and convenience stores.
Stranger
Isn’t that what Bruce Willis asked Ving Rhames after the Gimp scene?
This. It probably already has. He is only threatening to sue at this point. Not the same thing as suing. It got his name in news.
With the additional bonus of depicting the innocent Mr Spicer as another victim of BLM and the New Black Panther Party.
Spicer may be trying to intimidate AP, but it won’t work. News organizations get threats of lawsuits all the time. It’s almost a badge of honor for someone like Spicer to threaten to sue. AP knows he won’t get anywhere, and probably won’t even file the suit.
Whether it helps Spicer is another thing. By threatening to sue, Spicer keeps his name in the news, and panders to the always-Trump crowd. He’s promoting his book, and the audience for the book already believes Trump’s claims of fake news by what actually are legitimate news agencies. Appealing to the true believers will help book sales.
Well they were suppose to file suit today.
Local paper covers story: Allegations against Spicer disputed
“Two classmates and one professor who were at the school at the time told The Daily News the incident never happened or they did not remember it. Another student who knew Lombard corroborated his story.” [INDENT]Spicer was “taken aback” by the man’s “outrageous claim” and had no recollection of him or of being in school with him, she told the Associated Press.
“It definitely happened,” said Marc Leandro, who was in the Class of 1989 with Spicer. He came forward publicly over the weekend when he saw media reports that Spicer did not know Lombard.
Leandro, who grew up in Newport, said he went to St. Michael’s School with Lombard and had known him for years.
He said he, Lombard and Spicer were day students and the day students all knew each other well. Day students have a different status than the students who boarded in the dormitories, he said.
“All the day students were tight and knew each other,” Leandro said. “Any claim that we did not know each other is preposterous.”
Lombard said that after Spicer slurred him, he avoided Spicer and they did not have classes in common.
“I saw Alex right after it happened,” Leandro said. “He was super upset. I suggested he go to the administration but he did not want to. He said, ‘No I don’t want to make a big deal of it.’” [/INDENT] There’s more at the link, including denials from the guy who allegedly tackled Spicer.
That denial is pretty damning for the Lombard story, I think. But that has nothing to do with the ridiculous conceit that the AP can be sued for reporting what happened.
Spicer could sue Lombard, but he’d have to convince a jury that the story was false. Lombard needs to prove nothing – that would be a hard hill to climb. And it sounds like Lombard maybe doesn’t have deep pockets anyway.
I think nowadays “I’m going to sue” frequently means “I really really deny this”, and not much more.
Especially since many members of the public are ignorant of the legal obstacles that the OP mentions, and interpret not suing as being sort of an admission of guilt.
In some cases, the people threatening to sue are themselves also ignorant of the law, and they back down when confronted with the long legal odds. But that wouldn’t explain a lawyer making that threat. So I assume it’s nothing more than some PR jive, as above.
I frankly can’t tell what happened. We don’t have a detailed account by Lombard. Lombard does have someone that backs him up. But the person who backed him may or may not have been a direct witness.
The teacher’s testimony doesn’t conflict with Lombard’s story: Lombard maintained he didn’t report the matter. Some of Spicer’s friends seem to acknowledge that they may not remember the incident – though I see now the alleged tackler says he would have remembered something like that.
One thing that sticks out to me was Spicer’s claim that he had no recollection of him or being in school with him. Another student said that Spicer and Lombard with both day students, as opposed to boarders – and day students all knew one another. These events happened years ago, but that to me is a flag. (In my nomenclature, many or even most flags are false positives, but nonetheless should be noted. Because not all are.)
No word as of yet on any lawsuit being filed.
My high school class was 132 students. We all “knew” each other, then, but now, mumble-mumble years later, I can’t place everyone.
And I know this, because just this past week, I was getting gas when I heard my name called out. A gentleman approached me who had been organzing a crew of landscapers’ work. He said, “Rick! It’s M-----!” I looked blank, obviously, so he clarified, “From {high school}!” I nodded, then said, “Wow, how’ve you been?” He talked about owning a landscaping company now, and mentioned a few classmates whose names I did recognize. But I have no idea who he was, even after seeing his name on the landscaping trailer.
So I don’t have too much trouble believing that Spicer, even if he knew the guy then, has no recollection of him now.
And while the denials of other students and teachers are useful, the alleged tackler is the key. I may not remember every kid in my class, but I certainly remember every fight I was in, or almost in.
Now, none of this is proof, and Spicer himself has very little credibility with me. But that just means I take his statements as having little worth, not as being positive evidence for the opposite of his claim.
Mostly agree with Bricker’s reply. The only twist is that apparently the number of day students was smaller.
I’d qualify matters by noting that no fight is alleged to have taken place. The allegations are anger, implicit threats, use of a racial epithet, and John Farley tackling Spicer, which John Farley denies. That last part is also a flag for me.
If this was bullying, it’s not unusual for it to be forgotten by the bully. But that tackle aspect seems more memorable.
ETA: Wholly concocted lie: can’t be ruled out. But it would be odd to pull in John Farley by name.