WND Editor Joseph Farah To Sue Esquire Over Birther Parody

[meegbear]

Source: TalkingPointsMemo.com

World Net Daily editor Joseph Farah plans to file a lawsuit against Esquire magazine next week over a satirical article alleging he was recalling a WND-published book questioning the legitimacy of President Barack Obama's birth certificate.

Farah's lawsuit is still being crafted and will be probably be filed in Washington, D.C. next week, he told TPM in an email. He said last month he was considering his legal options after Esquire published a parody article that said Farah was recalling Where's the Birth Certificate? The Case that Barack Obama is not Eligible to be President by Dr. Jerome Corsi and giving refunds to anyone who already purchased a copy.

The Esquire piece, which was published shortly after Obama released a copy of his long-form birth certificate, included fake quotes from Farah that said he couldn't publish the book "in good conscience" because it was "problematic," contained "factual inaccuracies."

As TPM chronicled, the release of the long-form version of Obama's birth certificate did little to satisfy the most committed members of the so-called birther movement, who quickly went back to their back-up theories, including the claim that Obama isn't eligible because his father wasn't a citizen.


Read more: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/06/wnd_editor_joseph_farah_to_sue_esquire_over_birther_parody.php?ref=fpb

[gratuitous]

1. Libelous! Insinuating that Farah has a conscience

Sounds like a slam dunk, except that Farah will have to find a jury pool somewhere that would actually be fooled by the assertion that he has a conscience AND that it would be bothered by factual inconsistencies. Summary judgment anyone?

[abelenkpe]

2. O Give me a freaking break!!!

If anyone should be suing the Sheet out of someone it should be the president suing WND and FOX news for their daily barrage of lies.

Bet this same a-hole champions tort reform and rails against frivolous lawsuits.

:P

[Octafish]

3. Fuck him.

He's a public figure.

In fact he's a public figure going after a public figure.

So, fuck him twice.

[EC]

4. I'd like to see him sitting up there in the witness chair and

refuting a satire piece, saying he was doing the right thing. What will he say? That the President was lying and showing a fabrication as his BC and that the book is truthful? Or that even so he was in the business of making money and even if the book was false, he could still make money on it and the article interferred with that? Will he say he'll list it as fiction or keep it as non-fiction?

[kestrel91316]

5. Impending massive lawsuit FAIL.

[certainot]

6. farah is a total loon and a serious propagandist

[jmowreader]

7. He has no case. Jerry Falwell saw to that.

In "Falwell v. Hustler" the Supreme Court decided that parody was completely legal. One of the reasons Falwell got off was the Campari "ad" Hustler printed was so over-the-top no one would ever believe it.

Followng the same logic, the idea of Jerome Corsi returning a nickel to anyone for any reason is so over-the-top no one could ever believe it.

[tammywammy]

8. +1 n/t

[Bozita]

19. +2

Thanks, Jerry!

[VA_Jill]

9. awwww

Is Farah's widdle feelings hurt?

[yurbud]

10. when was the last time a conservative pundit EVER issued a correction of their lies?

[VA_Jill]

13. I dunno

...but I"m pretty sure it took place in Never-Never Land.

[CBHagman]

11. It really is the silly season.

I hope the nuisance gets precisely the legal attention he needs...but not the kind he wants.

[CatholicEdHead]

12. Doesn't WND border on parody most days anyways?

You really have to be on something to make much of their snake oil material make sense.

[booley]

14. Hustler Magazine v Falwell

IF one can write a satirical account of how one lost their virginity to their mom in an outhouse, I doubt Farah's law suit will gain much traction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hustler_Magazine_v._Falwell

[physioex]

15. Please calm down everyone....

The tort reform passed by the pukes might finally come and bite em in their azz.... :rofl:

[fascisthunter]

16. thinned skin Weasle

[Odin2005]

17. May he go to hell.

[Taverner]

18. Falwell v Flynt

[Archae]

20. Don't forget....

Farah lost his OWN ass in a libel lawsuit from a friend of Al Gore's.

Farah kept bragging about how he'd fight it all the way to the Supreme Court, then settled out of court days before the suit began.

[christx30]

21. I can't see this lawsuit going anywhere

I mean.. I love Farah and all of the birthers as much as the next DU'er (snark), but I just can't see any judge saying that parody is... what... against the law? Libelous? Anything but fair use?
I mean... can the Dems go after Rush and Hannity for their satires about Obama? Are we now to the point where we sue each other over parody?
This is going to be thrown out before the judge bangs his gavel twice.