Devin Nunes and the Very Delicate Feelings

Michael Siegel

Michael Siegel is an astronomer living in Pennsylvania. He blogs at his own site, and has written a novel.

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28 Responses

  1. Saul Degraw says:

    “But Nunes is a public figure, as you may have herd. So if he wants to milk this situation for a big judgement”

    ISWYDT!!!Report

  2. I went and sued the maximum our insane laws allow
    Two news networks, seven farmers, and a cowReport

  3. Nunes’ beef is that he can prove that the CNN story was inaccurate based on his travel records.

    Or his dairy.Report

  4. And one serious point: venue shopping. Many (all?) of these lawsuits were filed in Virginia, specifically because it doesn’t have anti-SLAPP laws.Report

  5. JoeSal says:

    Latest story on CNN:

    Herd it from a friend who…
    Herd it from a friend who….
    Herd it from another ewe been messin’ aroundReport

  6. Philip H says:

    On a serious note – Snowflake much Mr. Nunes?Report

  7. Oscar Gordon says:

    I just knew the puns would flow like the milk of heaven.Report

  8. pillsy says:

    Nunes has a long history of hoof in mouth disease.Report

  9. PD Shaw says:

    No doubt, I’m off on the wrong hoof with my personal ewes, but I think NY Times v. Sullivan is a case of baaaa facts making baaaa law, and should be hauled to the slaughterhouse for rendering.Report

    • Michael Siegel in reply to PD Shaw says:

      I disagree. With public figures, there is a critical interest in exposing corruption and malfeasance. Moreover, such figures have immense power at their disposal to kill stories they don’t like. It’s already bad enough with SLAAP lawsuits. I think requiring actual malice is a good balance to that.

      To give a counter-example, I thought Sarah Palin was entirely justified in suing the NYT for claiming her “target map” led to the Giffords shooting. The information was known to be wrong, they responded with a half-assed correction and stood by it until someone pointed out that it was defamation. I think that meets a reckless disregard for the truth standard.Report

      • PD Shaw in reply to Michael Siegel says:

        What the decision does is protect untrue statements in the public sphere. There is no public value in untrue statements; the argument is that the news media needs to be able to make mistakes in order to report the truth. Sometimes these mistakes are characterized as “innocent.” There is a lot of space between innocent and malicious, which is where most liability is triggered. There are different rules of law that could be used and the actual malice standard is particularly novel. The news media has become less reliable since 1964, and some part of that is that the news was relieved of previous obligations.Report

  10. Charles Wagner says:

    Will I be sued if I point out that Devin Nunes’s cow is as fictitious as most of what comes out of his mouth?Report

  11. Daewin says:

    The Land of Milk and Money. Or is it the Land of Milkin’ MoneyReport

  12. nelson says:

    I hope Devin Nunes kicks their no good butts.
    Too much bullshit from cnnReport

  13. Katie says:

    So his he in cahoots with Trump who is also the king of Lawsuits?Report