Spicer Threatens the Free Press

[MacTheKnife]

I think the reason so many are confused about this incident is because of the format on here...comments are hidden and out of order. difficult to keep up and see what has been said. It is not a complicated story at all but people see bits and pieces here and there and came up with the completely erroneous belief that spicer was accusig the media of lying. again.....spicer was not accusing the media of lying....he was pissed with the media because they repeated the lie of the black guy that spicer had used the n word back when they were kids....thus defamng him. He threatened legal action not because the media lied but because they repeated the lie of the black guy thus defaming him.

 

[MacTheKnife]

Note the forum: "US Constitution" -- not Current Events or Politics. This is not (particularly) a story about Sean Spicer. It is a story about the First Amendment and whether it can be curtailed at will.

Spicer Threatens Legal Action over AP Report

>> Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer is threatening to take legal action against The Associated Press over a report from the wire service about an incident on his book tour.

Spicer’s attorney Michael Bowe said in a statement Saturday night that the AP “recklessly republished a categorically false accusation about Sean Spicer.”

“The claim is a lie. Absent an immediate retraction, Mr. Spicer will take legal action Monday,” Bowe said.

The AP report, published Saturday, documented an incident at Spicer’s book signing in Middletown, R.I., on Friday during which a black man claiming to be a former classmate of Spicer’s at Portsmouth Abbey School accused Spicer of using a racial slur.

... Video of the encounter published by NewportRI.com shows the man, identified as Alex Lombard, approaching Spicer at event.

"Sean, I was a day student at [Portsmouth] Abbey, too, with you,” Lombard said.

“Hey," Spicer replies. "Yes, how are you?”

You don’t remember that you tried to fight me?" Lombard said. "But you called me a [n-word] first."

The video then shows security escorting Lombard out of the event.

"I was 14 then. I was a scared kid then, Sean. I’m not scared to fight you now," Lombard can be heard yelling. <<
​

The AP report in question is in the link worded "AP Report". The actual video of the incident taking place, in full, is at the link worded "NewportRI.com".

Obviously the event happened. You can't deny what's clearly visible and audible on video --- yet here's Spicer's attorney threatening just that.

In his campaigning in 2016 Spicer's ex-boss Rump infamously declared he would "open up" libel laws to intimidate journalism and control the flow of information.

​

Perhaps Spicer wishes that could have been a real thing*.


(* "Congress shall make no Law respecting an establishment of Religion, or prohibiting the free Exercise thereof; or abridging the Freedom of Speech, or of the Press; or the Right of the People peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of Grievances".)

Long live the First Amendment.

The First Amendment doesn't give you the right to defame people.

Correct.

---- and?

If the papers made a claim that is false, that is called defamation. How is spicer suing them to admit they lied, attacking the 1st Amendment?

A claim that was false? The guy didn't come up and say that stuff to Spicer? Despite the FACT (not alternative fact) that it's all on video?

Yes, he made the claim. A claim that can't be supported by anyone. And, the papers chose to report a story that can't be confirmed. That is ethically bankrupt.

Exactly...I hope this has now been cleared up. Unbelievable it just dragged on and on with folks not getting the facts.

 

[MacTheKnife]

What a mess this format has made of all these posts. What is up with that. glitches or what the hell?

 

[MacTheKnife]

Note the forum: "US Constitution" -- not Current Events or Politics. This is not (particularly) a story about Sean Spicer. It is a story about the First Amendment and whether it can be curtailed at will.

Spicer Threatens Legal Action over AP Report

>> Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer is threatening to take legal action against The Associated Press over a report from the wire service about an incident on his book tour.

Spicer’s attorney Michael Bowe said in a statement Saturday night that the AP “recklessly republished a categorically false accusation about Sean Spicer.”

“The claim is a lie. Absent an immediate retraction, Mr. Spicer will take legal action Monday,” Bowe said.

The AP report, published Saturday, documented an incident at Spicer’s book signing in Middletown, R.I., on Friday during which a black man claiming to be a former classmate of Spicer’s at Portsmouth Abbey School accused Spicer of using a racial slur.

... Video of the encounter published by NewportRI.com shows the man, identified as Alex Lombard, approaching Spicer at event.

"Sean, I was a day student at [Portsmouth] Abbey, too, with you,” Lombard said.

“Hey," Spicer replies. "Yes, how are you?”

You don’t remember that you tried to fight me?" Lombard said. "But you called me a [n-word] first."

The video then shows security escorting Lombard out of the event.

"I was 14 then. I was a scared kid then, Sean. I’m not scared to fight you now," Lombard can be heard yelling. <<
​

The AP report in question is in the link worded "AP Report". The actual video of the incident taking place, in full, is at the link worded "NewportRI.com".

Obviously the event happened. You can't deny what's clearly visible and audible on video --- yet here's Spicer's attorney threatening just that.

In his campaigning in 2016 Spicer's ex-boss Rump infamously declared he would "open up" libel laws to intimidate journalism and control the flow of information.

​

Perhaps Spicer wishes that could have been a real thing*.


(* "Congress shall make no Law respecting an establishment of Religion, or prohibiting the free Exercise thereof; or abridging the Freedom of Speech, or of the Press; or the Right of the People peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of Grievances".)

Long live the First Amendment.

The First Amendment doesn't give you the right to defame people.

Correct.

---- and?

If the papers made a claim that is false, that is called defamation. How is spicer suing them to admit they lied, attacking the 1st Amendment?

A claim that was false? The guy didn't come up and say that stuff to Spicer? Despite the FACT (not alternative fact) that it's all on video?

Yes, he made the claim. A claim that can't be supported by anyone. And, the papers chose to report a story that can't be confirmed. That is ethically bankrupt.

When you say 'he' made a claim you should have been specific as in.....the black guy lombard made a claim. he claimed spicer used the n word when they were kids. And no he cannot nor can anyone prove that spicer said that. And yes...the papers chose to report a story that cannot be confirmed and yes it is a violation of journalism ethics for the media to report a statement that is harmful and which cannot be confirmed. Isn't it amazing how so many cannot understand this??? again i think it is mainly because of this format....so many comments are not visible.

 

[MacTheKnife]

Note the forum: "US Constitution" -- not Current Events or Politics. This is not (particularly) a story about Sean Spicer. It is a story about the First Amendment and whether it can be curtailed at will.

Spicer Threatens Legal Action over AP Report

>> Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer is threatening to take legal action against The Associated Press over a report from the wire service about an incident on his book tour.

Spicer’s attorney Michael Bowe said in a statement Saturday night that the AP “recklessly republished a categorically false accusation about Sean Spicer.”

“The claim is a lie. Absent an immediate retraction, Mr. Spicer will take legal action Monday,” Bowe said.

The AP report, published Saturday, documented an incident at Spicer’s book signing in Middletown, R.I., on Friday during which a black man claiming to be a former classmate of Spicer’s at Portsmouth Abbey School accused Spicer of using a racial slur.

... Video of the encounter published by NewportRI.com shows the man, identified as Alex Lombard, approaching Spicer at event.

"Sean, I was a day student at [Portsmouth] Abbey, too, with you,” Lombard said.

“Hey," Spicer replies. "Yes, how are you?”

You don’t remember that you tried to fight me?" Lombard said. "But you called me a [n-word] first."

The video then shows security escorting Lombard out of the event.

"I was 14 then. I was a scared kid then, Sean. I’m not scared to fight you now," Lombard can be heard yelling. <<
​

The AP report in question is in the link worded "AP Report". The actual video of the incident taking place, in full, is at the link worded "NewportRI.com".

Obviously the event happened. You can't deny what's clearly visible and audible on video --- yet here's Spicer's attorney threatening just that.

In his campaigning in 2016 Spicer's ex-boss Rump infamously declared he would "open up" libel laws to intimidate journalism and control the flow of information.

​

Perhaps Spicer wishes that could have been a real thing*.


(* "Congress shall make no Law respecting an establishment of Religion, or prohibiting the free Exercise thereof; or abridging the Freedom of Speech, or of the Press; or the Right of the People peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of Grievances".)

Long live the First Amendment.

The First Amendment doesn't give you the right to defame people.

Correct.

---- and?

If the papers made a claim that is false, that is called defamation. How is spicer suing them to admit they lied, attacking the 1st Amendment?

A claim that was false? The guy didn't come up and say that stuff to Spicer? Despite the FACT (not alternative fact) that it's all on video?

Geez pal are you really that obtuse? You just do not understand what happened. Though it has been repeated time and again. But again....because I am tired of seeing you keep repeating your false understanding of what happened. Spicer did not accuse the media of lying...now repeat that 7 times. Spicer was pissed with the media because they the media repeated as in reported the untruthful statement of the black guy that spicer had used the n word when they were kids. Spicer did not threaten to sue the media for lying. He threatened to take legal action against the media for repeating the statement of the black guy that spicer had used the n word. Do you understand now?

 

[MacTheKnife]

One sees a lot of confusion on a lot of threads because some people though they understand the truth have diffculty explaining it in a clear manner. Then one person gets it wrong and he posts something and then someone else reads that and makes another erroneous post....it is like the old game played at parties where people in a circle whisper a simple statement in someones ear that has been written down and then each person whispers in the next persons ear what he heard and when the last person in the circle repeats out loud what he heard and it is compared with what was written down...everyone is shocked. That is the way it goes on here. Things get twisted and turned because folks have difficulty expressing themselves clearly and unerstandaly. This incident with spicer and the black guy is a classic example of that.

Now watch...I can almost gurantee it...a couple of posts down the line and someone will say why is spicer suing the media for lying. Ridiculous but that is the way it is. Also again this format contributes to that in a big way with all the hidden comments being not chronolgoicaly viewable in a open manner....this format is much different than most message boards as in you have to click on the little arrows and that is a mess in my opinion.

 

[Muhammed]

How is anything obvious from that video other than someone yelling such?

That's it. That's the entire story. Nothing more need be said.

To be generous, it could be that Sean Spicer has somehow retained an attorney who can't read.
Not sure how you can pass a bar exam that way, but that's about all I can think of.

NYT spewed fake news again.

 

[MacTheKnife]

How is anything obvious from that video other than someone yelling such?

That's it. That's the entire story. Nothing more need be said.

To be generous, it could be that Sean Spicer has somehow retained an attorney who can't read.
Not sure how you can pass a bar exam that way, but that's about all I can think of.

NYT spewed fake news again.

Outrageous to come on here and lie like a rug!

Here is the video which proves you lie. This lying really pisses me off.

I thought the liberals were just confused hence all their mistatements about the event.

Now I think they were purposely trying to deceive in order to make spicer look bad.

 

[Muhammed]

How is anything obvious from that video other than someone yelling such?

That's it. That's the entire story. Nothing more need be said.

To be generous, it could be that Sean Spicer has somehow retained an attorney who can't read.
Not sure how you can pass a bar exam that way, but that's about all I can think of.

NYT spewed fake news again.

Outrageous to come on here and lie like a rug!

Here is the video which proves you lie. This lying really pisses me off.

I thought the liberals were just confused hence all their mistatements about the event.

Now I think they were purposely trying to deceive in order to make spicer look bad.

Why do you suppose that CNN and MSNBC would want to fool your dumb ass?

 

[MacTheKnife]

I thought at first

How is anything obvious from that video other than someone yelling such?

That's it. That's the entire story. Nothing more need be said.

To be generous, it could be that Sean Spicer has somehow retained an attorney who can't read.
Not sure how you can pass a bar exam that way, but that's about all I can think of.

NYT spewed fake news again.

Outrageous to come on here and lie like a rug!

Here is the video which proves you lie. This lying really pisses me off.

I thought the liberals were just confused hence all their mistatements about the event.

Now I think they were purposely trying to deceive in order to make spicer look bad.

Why do you suppose that CNN and MSNBC would want to fool your dumb ass?

Take a course in reading and get back with us.

Anyhow, I did not claim cnn or msnbc was trying to fool me.

What I said in the post you seem to be referring to above is that the liberals commenting on this event on this thread I think are purposely trying to deceive. Got dat? Now you are dismissed. Next? Anyone--please someone with some ability to read what has been posted in a accurate manner.

 

[Pogo]

Spicer should be denied the freedom of speech and legal representation it seems, just so long as the press can be free to lie about him 24/7.

Once AGAIN ---- the fact that this Lombard guy started yelling at Spicer is not a "lie". IT'S ON VIDEO.

Are you so dense you cannot understand what people have been saying? What folks are complaining about is not the fact that the incident happened but that lombard accused spicer of using the n word back when he was l5 yrs. old.

Then their gripe is with Mr. Lombard. He's the one who made the accusation. All AP did was report that he did so. Which is also what NewportRI.com did originally, which is also what The Blaze and the Moonie Times and various other sources also reported. There can be no dispute that Lombard made that accusation. Once again--- it's recorded, and eyewitnessed.

That should have been Spicer's target too -- Lombard. What's interesting about this --- and really the only thing interesting about this --- is that they chose to go after the media messenger instead of the actual accusant. Which, in turn, tells us what their real agenda is here, and that is suppressing the news.

Get it yet?

 

[Pogo]

Spicer should be denied the freedom of speech and legal representation it seems, just so long as the press can be free to lie about him 24/7.

Once AGAIN there isn't any press "lie". The altercation DID happen. It's on VIDEO. It's AUDIBLE. It's DOCUMENTED. And it's not even a story about Spicer, since the actor in the story is Lombard.

Whether Lombard's accusation is a "lie" or not, is an entirely different question which we don't know the answer to, but it's got nothing to do with the AP, or with NewportRI.com, or with TheHIll or any other source that reported what NewportRI reported. None of them maintained that it was true or false. They simply reported that the accusation was made--- which it was.

Go ahead --- try to prove me wrong. I linked everything.

Whether the incident Lombard described happened or not, none of us are in a position to know --- which means you don't even know THAT is a "lie". On what basis do you reach that conclusion? Were you there that day in the prep school?

 

[Pogo]

Note the forum: "US Constitution" -- not Current Events or Politics. This is not (particularly) a story about Sean Spicer. It is a story about the First Amendment and whether it can be curtailed at will.

Spicer Threatens Legal Action over AP Report

>> Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer is threatening to take legal action against The Associated Press over a report from the wire service about an incident on his book tour.

Spicer’s attorney Michael Bowe said in a statement Saturday night that the AP “recklessly republished a categorically false accusation about Sean Spicer.”

“The claim is a lie. Absent an immediate retraction, Mr. Spicer will take legal action Monday,” Bowe said.

The AP report, published Saturday, documented an incident at Spicer’s book signing in Middletown, R.I., on Friday during which a black man claiming to be a former classmate of Spicer’s at Portsmouth Abbey School accused Spicer of using a racial slur.

... Video of the encounter published by NewportRI.com shows the man, identified as Alex Lombard, approaching Spicer at event.

"Sean, I was a day student at [Portsmouth] Abbey, too, with you,” Lombard said.

“Hey," Spicer replies. "Yes, how are you?”

You don’t remember that you tried to fight me?" Lombard said. "But you called me a [n-word] first."

The video then shows security escorting Lombard out of the event.

"I was 14 then. I was a scared kid then, Sean. I’m not scared to fight you now," Lombard can be heard yelling. <<
​

The AP report in question is in the link worded "AP Report". The actual video of the incident taking place, in full, is at the link worded "NewportRI.com".

Obviously the event happened. You can't deny what's clearly visible and audible on video --- yet here's Spicer's attorney threatening just that.

In his campaigning in 2016 Spicer's ex-boss Rump infamously declared he would "open up" libel laws to intimidate journalism and control the flow of information.

​

Perhaps Spicer wishes that could have been a real thing*.


(* "Congress shall make no Law respecting an establishment of Religion, or prohibiting the free Exercise thereof; or abridging the Freedom of Speech, or of the Press; or the Right of the People peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of Grievances".)

Long live the First Amendment.

The First Amendment doesn't give you the right to defame people.

Correct.

---- and?

If the papers made a claim that is false, that is called defamation. How is spicer suing them to admit they lied, attacking the 1st Amendment?

They DIDN'T lie. Again -- it's on VIDEO. And the AP was passing on what was originally reported by NewportRI.com, the original source. If the whole video is some kind of photoshop done with actors and therefore a fabrication ---- why wouldn't they go after NewportRI.com who originally reported it?

Hm?

What Spicer's attorney demanded was a "retraction". What the story said was that the incident --- completely recorded on video --- happened. Therefore he's asking the AP to turn around and declare that a documented incident, that everybody knows happened, DIDN'T happen. And that's blatant suppression of the news.

No more complex than that. Quit jumping through hoops that aren't there to make it into something it's not.

 

[Pogo]

Note the forum: "US Constitution" -- not Current Events or Politics. This is not (particularly) a story about Sean Spicer. It is a story about the First Amendment and whether it can be curtailed at will.

Spicer Threatens Legal Action over AP Report

>> Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer is threatening to take legal action against The Associated Press over a report from the wire service about an incident on his book tour.

Spicer’s attorney Michael Bowe said in a statement Saturday night that the AP “recklessly republished a categorically false accusation about Sean Spicer.”

“The claim is a lie. Absent an immediate retraction, Mr. Spicer will take legal action Monday,” Bowe said.

The AP report, published Saturday, documented an incident at Spicer’s book signing in Middletown, R.I., on Friday during which a black man claiming to be a former classmate of Spicer’s at Portsmouth Abbey School accused Spicer of using a racial slur.

... Video of the encounter published by NewportRI.com shows the man, identified as Alex Lombard, approaching Spicer at event.

"Sean, I was a day student at [Portsmouth] Abbey, too, with you,” Lombard said.

“Hey," Spicer replies. "Yes, how are you?”

You don’t remember that you tried to fight me?" Lombard said. "But you called me a [n-word] first."

The video then shows security escorting Lombard out of the event.

"I was 14 then. I was a scared kid then, Sean. I’m not scared to fight you now," Lombard can be heard yelling. <<
​

The AP report in question is in the link worded "AP Report". The actual video of the incident taking place, in full, is at the link worded "NewportRI.com".

Obviously the event happened. You can't deny what's clearly visible and audible on video --- yet here's Spicer's attorney threatening just that.

In his campaigning in 2016 Spicer's ex-boss Rump infamously declared he would "open up" libel laws to intimidate journalism and control the flow of information.

​

Perhaps Spicer wishes that could have been a real thing*.


(* "Congress shall make no Law respecting an establishment of Religion, or prohibiting the free Exercise thereof; or abridging the Freedom of Speech, or of the Press; or the Right of the People peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of Grievances".)

Long live the First Amendment.

The First Amendment doesn't give you the right to defame people.

Correct.

---- and?

If the papers made a claim that is false, that is called defamation. How is spicer suing them to admit they lied, attacking the 1st Amendment?

A claim that was false? The guy didn't come up and say that stuff to Spicer? Despite the FACT (not alternative fact) that it's all on video?

Note the forum: "US Constitution" -- not Current Events or Politics. This is not (particularly) a story about Sean Spicer. It is a story about the First Amendment and whether it can be curtailed at will.

Spicer Threatens Legal Action over AP Report

>> Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer is threatening to take legal action against The Associated Press over a report from the wire service about an incident on his book tour.

Spicer’s attorney Michael Bowe said in a statement Saturday night that the AP “recklessly republished a categorically false accusation about Sean Spicer.”

“The claim is a lie. Absent an immediate retraction, Mr. Spicer will take legal action Monday,” Bowe said.

The AP report, published Saturday, documented an incident at Spicer’s book signing in Middletown, R.I., on Friday during which a black man claiming to be a former classmate of Spicer’s at Portsmouth Abbey School accused Spicer of using a racial slur.

... Video of the encounter published by NewportRI.com shows the man, identified as Alex Lombard, approaching Spicer at event.

"Sean, I was a day student at [Portsmouth] Abbey, too, with you,” Lombard said.

“Hey," Spicer replies. "Yes, how are you?”

You don’t remember that you tried to fight me?" Lombard said. "But you called me a [n-word] first."

The video then shows security escorting Lombard out of the event.

"I was 14 then. I was a scared kid then, Sean. I’m not scared to fight you now," Lombard can be heard yelling. <<
​

The AP report in question is in the link worded "AP Report". The actual video of the incident taking place, in full, is at the link worded "NewportRI.com".

Obviously the event happened. You can't deny what's clearly visible and audible on video --- yet here's Spicer's attorney threatening just that.

In his campaigning in 2016 Spicer's ex-boss Rump infamously declared he would "open up" libel laws to intimidate journalism and control the flow of information.

​

Perhaps Spicer wishes that could have been a real thing*.


(* "Congress shall make no Law respecting an establishment of Religion, or prohibiting the free Exercise thereof; or abridging the Freedom of Speech, or of the Press; or the Right of the People peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of Grievances".)

Long live the First Amendment.

The First Amendment doesn't give you the right to defame people.

Correct.

---- and?

If the papers made a claim that is false, that is called defamation. How is spicer suing them to admit they lied, attacking the 1st Amendment?

A claim that was false? The guy didn't come up and say that stuff to Spicer? Despite the FACT (not alternative fact) that it's all on video?

......as I said before people are not understanding what has been said.

First of all spicer did not threaten to sue the media for lying.

Let me break this down as simple as possible step by step.

Spicer was at a book signing event. A former classmate of spicers (a black guy) came up to spicer and accused spicer of using the n word back when they were kids.

All accurate thus far. Go on.

The media repeated that accusation by the black guy that spicer used the n word when they were kids.

WRONG. The media reported the accusation by Lombard (he does have a name beyond "the black guy").

WHICH IS ALSO EXACTLY WHAT YOU JUST DID ABOVE.

Sooooo------------ you should be sued for telling us that, right?

Understand?

That is what pissed off spicer that the media repeated what the black guy said which was that spicer used the n word....which was a lie by the black guy.

Oh really. So you too were there thirty years ago at the prep school and also witnessed the exchange?
How is it you guys who just happened to be at that prep school wound up here on USMB three decades later? Kind of boggles the mind in the probability factor.

I'm just curious what that path was.

The media thus defamed spicer by repeating the lie of the black guy. Spicer did not threaten to sue the media for lying but for repeating the lie told by the black guy. Again spicer did not accuse the media of lying. Spicer was referring to the black guy as the liar for saying he spicer used the n word back when they were kids. Spicer was irritated with the media for repeating the lie of the black guy. Again, for the last time...spicer did not accuse the media of lying.

Correct, the attorney didn't say anything about "lying". YOU just did. What the attorney demanded was a retraction. A retraction of the story that the altercation took place, exactly as you yourself just described, accurately, in the first paragraph above. In other words he wants it not-to-have-been-reported.

Sooooooooooooo you gonna issue a "retraction" now? Because you just reported exactly what AP did, exactly what NewportRI did, exactly what TheHill (which is where I first got it) did. Yet only the AP gets the "retraction" demand.

Holy SHIT it's dense in here.

And isn't it interesting that "the black guy" -- whose identity Spicer apparently acknowledged -- can't relate what happened between them 30 years ago, yet you, who have no relation to either of them CAN declare that it didn't. Fascinating logic.

 

[Pogo]

Note the forum: "US Constitution" -- not Current Events or Politics. This is not (particularly) a story about Sean Spicer. It is a story about the First Amendment and whether it can be curtailed at will.

Spicer Threatens Legal Action over AP Report

>> Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer is threatening to take legal action against The Associated Press over a report from the wire service about an incident on his book tour.

Spicer’s attorney Michael Bowe said in a statement Saturday night that the AP “recklessly republished a categorically false accusation about Sean Spicer.”

“The claim is a lie. Absent an immediate retraction, Mr. Spicer will take legal action Monday,” Bowe said.

The AP report, published Saturday, documented an incident at Spicer’s book signing in Middletown, R.I., on Friday during which a black man claiming to be a former classmate of Spicer’s at Portsmouth Abbey School accused Spicer of using a racial slur.

... Video of the encounter published by NewportRI.com shows the man, identified as Alex Lombard, approaching Spicer at event.

"Sean, I was a day student at [Portsmouth] Abbey, too, with you,” Lombard said.

“Hey," Spicer replies. "Yes, how are you?”

You don’t remember that you tried to fight me?" Lombard said. "But you called me a [n-word] first."

The video then shows security escorting Lombard out of the event.

"I was 14 then. I was a scared kid then, Sean. I’m not scared to fight you now," Lombard can be heard yelling. <<
​

The AP report in question is in the link worded "AP Report". The actual video of the incident taking place, in full, is at the link worded "NewportRI.com".

Obviously the event happened. You can't deny what's clearly visible and audible on video --- yet here's Spicer's attorney threatening just that.

In his campaigning in 2016 Spicer's ex-boss Rump infamously declared he would "open up" libel laws to intimidate journalism and control the flow of information.

​

Perhaps Spicer wishes that could have been a real thing*.


(* "Congress shall make no Law respecting an establishment of Religion, or prohibiting the free Exercise thereof; or abridging the Freedom of Speech, or of the Press; or the Right of the People peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of Grievances".)

Long live the First Amendment.

The First Amendment doesn't give you the right to defame people.

Correct.

---- and?

If the papers made a claim that is false, that is called defamation. How is spicer suing them to admit they lied, attacking the 1st Amendment?

A claim that was false? The guy didn't come up and say that stuff to Spicer? Despite the FACT (not alternative fact) that it's all on video?

Yes, he made the claim. A claim that can't be supported by anyone. And, the papers chose to report a story that can't be confirmed. That is ethically bankrupt.

Once AGAIN feel free to show the class where the AP --- or NewportRI.com or TheHill or The Blaze or anybody else who reported the incident ---- suggested that Lombard's claim "could be supported". We'll be waiting.

The story, however, is thoroughly confirmed. The story is that Lombard stepped up and made an accusation. It's on video. Perhaps you've seen it.

 

[Pogo]

One sees a lot of confusion on a lot of threads because some people though they understand the truth have diffculty explaining it in a clear manner. Then one person gets it wrong and he posts something and then someone else reads that and makes another erroneous post....it is like the old game played at parties where people in a circle whisper a simple statement in someones ear that has been written down and then each person whispers in the next persons ear what he heard and when the last person in the circle repeats out loud what he heard and it is compared with what was written down...everyone is shocked. That is the way it goes on here. Things get twisted and turned because folks have difficulty expressing themselves clearly and unerstandaly. This incident with spicer and the black guy is a classic example of that.

Now watch...I can almost gurantee it...a couple of posts down the line and someone will say why is spicer suing the media for lying. Ridiculous but that is the way it is. Also again this format contributes to that in a big way with all the hidden comments being not chronolgoicaly viewable in a open manner....this format is much different than most message boards as in you have to click on the little arrows and that is a mess in my opinion.

Far as I can see you're the only poster who has suggested "lying". Twice. Once in the negative shooting down the strawman about Spicer accusing the news of "lying" (already covered) and the other in the positive accusing Lombard of "lying" with his accusation. Which you are in absolutely no position to know.

 

[westwall]

The First Amendment doesn't give you the right to defame people.

Correct.

---- and?

If the papers made a claim that is false, that is called defamation. How is spicer suing them to admit they lied, attacking the 1st Amendment?

A claim that was false? The guy didn't come up and say that stuff to Spicer? Despite the FACT (not alternative fact) that it's all on video?

Yes, he made the claim. A claim that can't be supported by anyone. And, the papers chose to report a story that can't be confirmed. That is ethically bankrupt.

Once AGAIN feel free to show the class where the AP --- or NewportRI.com or TheHill or The Blaze or anybody else who reported the incident ---- suggested that Lombard's claim "could be supported". We'll be waiting.

The story, however, is thoroughly confirmed. The story is that Lombard stepped up and made an accusation. It's on video. Perhaps you've seen it.

Yeah, that's not the issue dummy. The issue is a newspaper story reporting a claim that is factually unsupportable.

 

[Pogo]

Correct.

---- and?

If the papers made a claim that is false, that is called defamation. How is spicer suing them to admit they lied, attacking the 1st Amendment?

A claim that was false? The guy didn't come up and say that stuff to Spicer? Despite the FACT (not alternative fact) that it's all on video?

Yes, he made the claim. A claim that can't be supported by anyone. And, the papers chose to report a story that can't be confirmed. That is ethically bankrupt.

Once AGAIN feel free to show the class where the AP --- or NewportRI.com or TheHill or The Blaze or anybody else who reported the incident ---- suggested that Lombard's claim "could be supported". We'll be waiting.

The story, however, is thoroughly confirmed. The story is that Lombard stepped up and made an accusation. It's on video. Perhaps you've seen it.

Yeah, that's not the issue dummy. The issue is a newspaper story reporting a claim that is factually unsupportable.

And your evidence that they said, suggested or implied that it has any support at all is --- where again?

 

[westwall]

If the papers made a claim that is false, that is called defamation. How is spicer suing them to admit they lied, attacking the 1st Amendment?

A claim that was false? The guy didn't come up and say that stuff to Spicer? Despite the FACT (not alternative fact) that it's all on video?

Yes, he made the claim. A claim that can't be supported by anyone. And, the papers chose to report a story that can't be confirmed. That is ethically bankrupt.

Once AGAIN feel free to show the class where the AP --- or NewportRI.com or TheHill or The Blaze or anybody else who reported the incident ---- suggested that Lombard's claim "could be supported". We'll be waiting.

The story, however, is thoroughly confirmed. The story is that Lombard stepped up and made an accusation. It's on video. Perhaps you've seen it.

Yeah, that's not the issue dummy. The issue is a newspaper story reporting a claim that is factually unsupportable.

And your evidence that they said, suggested or implied that it has any support at all is --- where again?

The fact that they published it in the first place.

 

[Pogo]

A claim that was false? The guy didn't come up and say that stuff to Spicer? Despite the FACT (not alternative fact) that it's all on video?

Yes, he made the claim. A claim that can't be supported by anyone. And, the papers chose to report a story that can't be confirmed. That is ethically bankrupt.

Once AGAIN feel free to show the class where the AP --- or NewportRI.com or TheHill or The Blaze or anybody else who reported the incident ---- suggested that Lombard's claim "could be supported". We'll be waiting.

The story, however, is thoroughly confirmed. The story is that Lombard stepped up and made an accusation. It's on video. Perhaps you've seen it.

Yeah, that's not the issue dummy. The issue is a newspaper story reporting a claim that is factually unsupportable.

And your evidence that they said, suggested or implied that it has any support at all is --- where again?

The fact that they published it in the first place.

Actually NewportRI.com published it in the first place. AP passed it on. As did TheHill, as did TheBlaze, as did the Moonie Times and myriad other sources.

NONE of which to my knowledge made any suggestion whatsoever that Lombard's claims could be supported or offered any such support. That was your homework and you didn't do it. In your defense you CAN'T do it because it isn't there to quote.

Which also brings us back to the dangling question of why NewportRI.com -- the original source whose report, complete with video, was what AP passed on --- was not targeted for "retraction". I got it from TheHill -- why wasn't TheHill targeted for "retraction"? Why wasn't TheBlaze? The Daily Mail? Newsmax? Lawandcrime.com? They ALL reported the same thing, yet the Associated Press was singled out, by itself.

Well?

While you're wiping your chin about that, how 'bout this -- the Washington Examiner put out a story saying that the lawyer says the claim is false. Notwithstanding the fact that saying the claim is false acknowledges that the claim was MADE (which is the story all those above published) --- but it's also another "he said he said" story, merely reporting that the Bowe (the lawyer) SAID something.

In the same way that the first report recounted how Lombard SAID something. Exactly the same thing.

My question now is this --- by your logic, shouldn't Lombard threaten the Examiner with "legal action" if they don't "retract" the story that Bowe made that statement? There's no difference.

Oh and by the way that denial from Bowe was ALSO covered by the AP. That is in fact where the Examiner got it from.

Should Bowe now sue the AP for reporting his denial, which automatically concedes that the incident happened, which was the original story? Should he sue himself for self-contradiction?

Making pretzels is so fun when they make themselves.