defamation

Leftist TV News Host Rachel Maddow Argues that Her Words Are Not Facts As Her Defense in a Lawsuit Accusing Her of Defamation

Maddow's lawyers argued that the news star's statement was "rhetorical hyperbole, incapable of being proved true or false." But, it can be proven false. Maddow, a graduate of Stanford and Oxford Universities and a Rhodes Scholar, is not the sort of person an audience would expect to misuse the word “literally.”

Covington attorney sues Washington Post for dangerously fake news

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:  A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;  A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time

Ritual Defamation: A Contemporary Academic Example

The term ritual defamation was coined by Laird Wilcox to describe the destruction of the reputation of a person by unfair, wrongful, or malicious speech or publication. The defamation is in retaliation for opinions expressed by the victim, with the intention of silencing that person’s influence, and making an example of him so as to discourage similar “insensitivity” to subjects currently ruled as taboo. It is aggressive, organized and skillfully applied, often by a representative of a special interest group, such as, ironically, the Anti-Defamation League.

Fred Skolnik and The Politics of Vilification

[Prefatory Note: I feel somewhat apologetic to blog subscribers. In most respects I realize that I am wasting the time of readers by posting this response to one of my most habitual and vindictive detractors, Fred Skolnik.  I will try to make amends by posting  a more substantive text as soon as possible. I share my defensive response in this setting because it does illustrate the standard operating procedure of dedicated hasbarists, regardless of whether their work reflects personal passion or is done on assignment. Identifying the motivation is not the point.