With public figures, the bar to meet slander/libel includes that it must have been done with ‘actual malice’ – not anything different about which words were used.

Private figures must show that the defendant acted "negligently.“

Public figures must show that the defendant acted with “actual malice.”

The bar for bringing such a case is even higher for public figures than private people, but it’s still not about the word ‘lie’ vs ‘untruth’.

If you’re aware of a single case where synonyms like that mattered, I’d love to know.

The law doesn’t make that distinction, though. ‘Untruth’, falsely claimed’, and ‘lied’ are all the same under the law. The only thing those laws care about is whether your words were true. If I call you a liar in a headline and I can prove you actually lied, you have no case.

Weasel words don’t protect them from lawsuits, it’s just another part of the degradation of journalism and the fact that whitewashing and softening their language gets them more clicks & eyeballs, because it’s less likely to offend people who disagree.

This reeks of IN MINECRAFT, though, and we all know how mentally unstable and trigger-happy some in his cult are. This will almost certainly lead to death threats against her, if not actual plots.

e: not saying it isn’t clickbait, it totally is

Uhh…
… …
He can’t live forever. That’s all I’ve got.

Rapey af

The only legal excuse for this is the slander/libel laws, which only apply in cases where calling someone a liar is untrue. If you’re calling out verifiable lies as lies (e: and you can bring receipts, which they can), that’s not slander.

They’re just pussies.

Biden was far from my choice, too, but I’d have voted for his corpse to keep the fascists out of office. Harris is a no-brainer. I hope she keeps bringing up the abortion issue in the personal, relatable way she did in this debate, with specific, verifiable examples of the real human toll the right-wing cruelty has wrought.

Women and girls unable to get care because hospitals are afraid of litigation, women forced to become walking coffins. She’s right, it’s unconscionable.

He’s just a volunteer coffee boy.

That seems like the riskiest click ever. I’d have to thoroughly sterilise my phone.

Yes, that’s the minor dent I was referring to. They’d need to find another front-man. I wouldn’t be surprised if it took less than a week to convince Musk to take on the mantle.

e: the right is plenty enamoured with Musk, so I think the transition would be fairly smooth.

Let’s not give Pence more credit than he deserves. Pence didn’t decline to support Trump out of a sense of duty or because he cares about Americans, but because Dan Quayle (!) told him he had no choice in the matter:

Over and over, Pence asked if there was anything he could do.

‘Mike, you have no flexibility on this. None. Zero. Forget it. Put it away,’ Quayle told him.

Pence pressed again.

‘You don’t know the position I’m in,’ he said, according to the authors.

‘I do know the position you’re in,’ Quayle responded. ‘I also know what the law is. You listen to the parliamentarian. That’s all you do. You have no power.’

source: How Dan Quayle saved democracy. Yes, really.

Has he met trump??

He just can’t stop tilting at windmills.

Wealthy Christian nationalists, specifically. They’re hell-bent on turning the US into a theocracy. They’ve been shedding members at an unprecedented rate (and thus money) as the populace becomes more secular, and since persuasion hasn’t been working, they’ve resolved to take their control back by force.

A treat for those who missed it:

Trump Got To Sit In A Big Boy Truck Because Today Was A Special Day!

I actually don’t think he’s lying about this. He’s a moron who famously doesn’t read, and he doesn’t need to be included in this. Project 2025 is the Lovecraftian baby of the Heritage Foundation and other fascist groups lurking in trump’s shadow.

Trump is not the driving force behind this fascist movement – he’s just their carnival barker. If he dropped dead today, it would only make a minor dent in this movement.

I think it’s actually dangerous to focus on trump as though he’s the mastermind of this stuff. He is not, and the danger won’t be over once he’s gone.

It’s a fine line to walk, between drilling deep into each of his faults and failures and presenting herself as the capable adult in the room – especially when his lies per minute are so high, he’s just spouting a firehouse of bullshit, and they’re limited to 2 minute responses.

I think she did a fantastic job of baiting him into anger and incoherence without seeming petty, and delivering her points concisely. Trump is a challenge to debate, not because he’s good at it, but it’s like trying to wrestle a pig – his only strategy is to drag you into the mud with him.

Even when she was muted, she got her response across very effectively with her facial expressions of disbelief, astonishment, and incredulous amusement. Her reactions where she didn’t even speak are already becoming memes.

/r/the_dumbass still exists? I thought it was banned years ago.

There are undecideds, though. Every election, millions and millions of people turn 18, and they were under 14 the last time this lunatic was in office, too young to really understand. Many may have been raised in conservative households and are just now forming their own opinions as they enter the real world.

It’s about getting people to VOTE.

And you’re absolutely right about this, which is why the right is desperately trying to make that as hard as possible right now.

e: can’t spell

I love that you did the maths.