# Why is that Covington student able to sue for $250 million when the right lies endlessly **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 21, 2019, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939 "2019-02-21T02:47:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939/41 "2019-02-21T19:20:04Z")
This lawsuit is purely for rightwing consumption and anyone giving it a lick of seriousness is being used like a tool. The whole complaint reads like it was written by a PR firm, not a lawyer. I imagine a tiny minority of the faithful imagine that during discovery (if it gets that far) they well get to see some of WaPos emails and dream there will be ones say ‘Get the hats!!!’ But that is not how the WaPo, or any respectable media (liberal or conservative) works. That is only how the rightwing imagines it works because that is how _they_ work. Much like how the righties are constantly accusing the liberals of voter fraud when the tiny number of cases are actually Republicans (c.f. North Carolina). They make the accusation because its what how they would operate. In reality, this case is just for drumming up some funds for a GoFundMe page and it will quietly fade out. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939/42 "2019-02-21T20:17:17Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > He was at a fucking political rally! Note it says “history of”. Was this the first time Sanderson participated at a rally, or has he been to others? As for Phillips’s claims being dishonest, once again, it’s been proven many times that they were. (And if you want to sue for millions when the right lies, hey, no one’s stopping you dude.) ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939/43 "2019-02-21T20:56:45Z")
> [@Mr.Nylock](#): > > Your amusing conclusions are drawn from an incomplete knowledge of the facts. So, post the facts then. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939/44 "2019-02-21T21:26:01Z")
So, help me understand something: From the video evidence, it appears that all Sandmann did was wear a red MAGA hat and smirk. But there seem to be 2 liberal camps on the issue: The 1st liberal camp believes that Sandmann did something other than just wear a MAGA hat and smirk - that maybe there was taunting or other stuff going on by Sandmann that wasn’t shown on camera; But the 2nd liberal camp believes that the \*mere act of wearing a red MAGA hat and smirking is worthy of punishment \*- that even if Phillips approached Sandmann and Sandmann did nothing but smirk in silence while wearing his hat, that that is bad enough - that that is a sin in and of itself. Am I understanding this correctly? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939/45 "2019-02-21T21:49:57Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > So, help me understand something: > > From the video evidence, it appears that all Sandmann did was wear a red MAGA hat and smirk. But there seem to be 2 liberal camps on the issue: > > The 1st liberal camp believes that Sandmann did something other than just wear a MAGA hat and smirk - that maybe there was taunting or other stuff going on by Sandmann that wasn’t shown on camera; > > But the 2nd liberal camp believes that the \*mere act of wearing a red MAGA hat and smirking is worthy of punishment \*- that even if Phillips approached Sandmann and Sandmann did nothing but smirk in silence while wearing his hat, that that is bad enough - that that is a sin in and of itself. > > Am I understanding this correctly? What the hell is a “liberal camp”? There are probably liberals that believe a whole variety of things about this incident, but the vast majority of us aren’t thinking about it much at all, much less staking out a firm position on who is at fault. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939/46 "2019-02-21T22:23:56Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > These kids were sent to Washington by their parents and their school to protest abortion. They are tools. Would you also say that high school students protesting at a state capitol in favor of gun control legislation are “tools” sent by their parents and school? Not sure why the OP thinks it’s unconscionable to have this lawsuit permitted because They Do It Too. The Post may have done less than due diligence in initially reporting this story (I accepted it at pretty much face value at first, especially after seeing a photo of a Covington h.s. student in blackface taunting a black player at a basketball game), but it’s hard to see how this kid deserves a whopping $$ award for defamation. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939/47 "2019-02-21T22:28:51Z")
If it wasn’t their idea, and they wouldn’t have done it on their own, shit yeah. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939/48 "2019-02-21T23:45:57Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Am I understanding this correctly? Based on prior experience with your posts, my initial suspicion was that the answer to this question is most likely “no.” Reading your “analysis,” I see I was correct. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939/49 "2019-02-21T23:58:13Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > IMHO there is a reason why the Black Hebrew Israelites are not one of the main targets with the right wing media, the BHI is a very reactionary group and one of the few minority groups that support very conservative views regarding abortion. What I do think took place is something that the right wing is loath to pay attention to: how divisions among people of the right can come furiously when instead of concentrating on the march for life it gets shifted to the trolling what MAGA paraphernalia can get or give among people that were supposed to come together for the anti-abortion issue. > > Of course, taking them to task would not do when the conservative narrative here is that this incident was all the fault of the liberal press. Good point – however, I do wish more people would admit that hey, we (general we, not we here) fucked up and got it wrong. > [@bobot](#): > > If it wasn’t their idea, and they wouldn’t have done it on their own, shit yeah. Most likely they did it to get out of class. (Most of my classmates did so) So perhaps you have a point. That being said, did they deserve all the shit they got, when the accusations turned out to be false? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939/50 "2019-02-22T00:21:39Z")
Oh, I’m not interested in who deserved what. No one got hurt, it’s over, \*everyone \*involved can feel free to go about their lives with the lessons they learned that day. Or try to sue the Washington Post for a quarter billion, you know, before the glow wears off. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939/51 "2019-02-22T00:44:07Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Oh, I’m not interested in who deserved what. No one got hurt, it’s over, \*everyone \*involved can feel free to go about their lives with the lessons they learned that day. Or try to sue the Washington Post for a quarter billion, you know, before the glow wears off. So if this was the other way around, a conservative press had misreported a story about say, a pro-choice rally, and accused students of harassing minorities, and said students received deaths threats as a result – your reaction would be the same? And no, I’m not turning to the right, nor am I becoming a Trump supporter. I’m just noticing a disturbing trend on the left that somehow the ends justify the means. And I don’t think I’m the only one. If the left is going to complain that the right never admits when they screw up, then they shouldn’t be doing the same thing. And they shouldn’t be using the stupid MAGA hats to justify harassment of the kids, either. I don’t like it when my side acts like hypocrites. It pisses me off because it only gives the other side ammo. (Yes, the kid in blackface is an asshole. But he had jackshit to do with this particular story) Don’t become what you hate, peeps. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939/52 "2019-02-22T15:41:58Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Note it says “history of”. Was this the first time Sanderson participated at a rally, or has he been to others? > > As for Phillips’s claims being dishonest, once again, it’s been proven many times that they were. Seems to have been the first time. So what? The fact that he was at a political rally at the time of the incident is part of that history. I’m not sure what Phillips’ claims being dishonest has to do with my post. I don’t doubt that Phillips was dishonest. What I don’t understand is why the Post is supposed to be responsible for that. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939/53 "2019-02-22T17:15:00Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Seems to have been the first time. So what? The fact that he was at a political rally at the time of the incident is part of that history. That’s not what “having a history” means. And I think you know that. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939/54 "2019-02-22T18:50:49Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > So if this was the other way around, a conservative press had misreported a story about say, a pro-choice rally, and accused students of harassing minorities, and said students received deaths threats as a result – your reaction would be the same? they do that all the time, and you can see that the reaction is not to sue them for a quarter of a billion dollars. Look at the misreporting on the Parkland survivors and their activism by right wing outlets. If the kid’s lawsuit goes through, then Fox is due for a paying out few billion in damages for the death threats that they have received for angry gun owners due to the fabrication of Fox and their ilk. > [@](#): > > And no, I’m not turning to the right, nor am I becoming a Trump supporter. I’m just noticing a disturbing trend on the left that somehow the ends justify the means. And I don’t think I’m the only one. If the left is going to complain that the right never admits when they screw up, then they shouldn’t be doing the same thing. Agreed, but I don’t think that this is a case where that is necessary. The trend you “notice” is only something that exists in the fevered and demented minds of Trump supporters and the far right. That you would parrot their talking points without even trying to justify them is why people sometimes confuse you for a trump supporter. > [@](#): > > And they shouldn’t be using the stupid MAGA hats to justify harassment of the kids, either. No one has done that. That is a figment that exists in the minds of the right, but it is not something that is reflective of reality. > [@](#): > > I don’t like it when my side acts like hypocrites. It pisses me off because it only gives the other side ammo. I don’t either, but the accusation that democrats are acting as hypocrites comes up every single time that anything at all happens. That doesn’t mean that it is a true allegation. It is never backed up, same as this isn’t backed by any facts. > [@](#): > > (Yes, the kid in blackface is an asshole. But he had jackshit to do with this particular story) > > Don’t become what you hate, peeps. You just responded to a message of tolerance with an accusation of hate. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939/55 "2019-02-22T18:59:55Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > That’s not what “having a history” means. And I think you know that. To me it is cumulative, there is not only that, but also the use of the MAGA hat, and now the goading from Trump and the lawsuit that is even more dishonest that anything that Mr Philips said. And I’m on the record of saying before that the kid was unfairly targeted, this was a case were the lesson was needed to be in a more general form, one lesson was that the chaperones and adults should had noticed that they were too naive in the extreme about how divisive symbols can be even among crows that supposedly are friendly. It is clear now that that lesson will be ignored. With this ridicoulous lawsuit, the parents then become tools and the kid becomes one too. It is a bit now like an enhanced Streisand effect, a lot that was ignored even my me because the kid was unfairly targeted goes away thanks to the asinine “lesson” the kid, family and the right are attempting to give now. As Trump got involved, that twisted lesson includes that bit about the “press being the enemy of the people”. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939/56 "2019-02-22T19:39:10Z")
I messed one line, instead of “goes away” it was supposed to be: ‘comes back again’ ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939/57 "2019-02-22T20:21:28Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > What did an adolescent wearing a hat do that justified death threats? You want consequences? Maybe a sympathetic court will deliver. We live in an age of social media fueled mob rule. Best learn how to exploit it. What did Christine Ford do that justified death threats? While you complain about bike locks (years later), the right mails bombs and sets up “sniper perches”. So please, let’s discuss “mob violence”, when mosques are being bombed and protesters run over. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939/58 "2019-02-22T21:12:38Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > What did Christine Ford do that justified death threats? > While you complain about bike locks (years later), the right mails bombs and sets up “sniper perches”. So please, let’s discuss “mob violence”, when mosques are being bombed and protesters run over. Yeah death threats against Christine Ford are bad. Mosque bombings are bad. Usually, running over people is bad as well. That all goes without saying on a predominately nutty left wing board. My voice added to the overwhelming chorus here is unnecessary. If I posted on a neo-Nazi board I probably wouldn’t last long enough to explain their methods are bad. I focus on real and insidious threats to freedom that comes from the want to be totalitarian, statist loving leftists. Nazis are obviously bad and rare. The far left, unfortunately, isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939/59 "2019-02-22T21:40:40Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Yeah death threats against Christine Ford are bad. Mosque bombings are bad. Usually, running over people is bad as well. That all goes without saying on a predominately nutty left wing board. My voice added to the overwhelming chorus here is unnecessary. If I posted on a neo-Nazi board I probably wouldn’t last long enough to explain their methods are bad. > > I focus on real and insidious threats to freedom that comes from the want to be totalitarian, statist loving leftists. Nazis are obviously bad and rare. The far left, unfortunately, isn’t. Uh, it is. > **[Life's Extremes: Democrat vs. Republican](https://www.livescience.com/17534-life-extremes-democrat-republican.html)** > > Our political views show up in our genes and even in the size of brain structures. > [@](#): > > Liberals have remained in the vicinity of 20 percent, moderates, around 37 percent and conservatives a shade higher around 40 percent, since the early 1990s. > > At the extremes, those who identify themselves nowadays as hard-left Democrats stands at 9 percent compared with 21 percent who are hard-right Republicans. Indeed, extreme leftists, those that would propose Marxism or other silliness, are just a minority among the liberals who are moderates or just plain liberals. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939/60 "2019-02-22T21:40:40Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > I focus on real and insidious threats to freedom that comes from the want to be totalitarian, statist loving leftists. Nazis are obviously bad and rare. The far left, unfortunately, isn’t. I wonder just how much reality you have to ignore to conclude that leftists are a bigger threat to lives and wellbeing than the right wing. You heavily focus on a two-bit actor lying to police while ignoring a Secretary of State lying to victims of child rape. You focus on some privileged white kid having to suffer a drum being played too close to him while ignoring his friends openly and racistly mocking the drummer. You ignore the fact that 71% of deaths by extremists are from the right while 31% are for the left. The sheer amount of distortion and twisting of reality it takes for you to believe that is just jaw dropping. And, coming from you, completely unsurprising. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-that-covington-student-able-to-sue-for-250-million-when-the-right-lies-endlessly/829939.md?page=4)