Lawprof Jonathan Turley, of late with four wives and five clients, has been the target of a neo-con nutjob.
Two of my clients in the pilots litigation flagged an article by conservative Republican activist and attorney Debbie Schlussel reporting that I am funded by the Bin Laden family and using the Brown family as a front for an Islamic radical agenda.The article is entitled “EXCLUSIVE: “Sister Wives” Lawsuit is Front for Islam, Sharia Bigamy; Lawyer Got Big $s From Islamic Terrorists” published on July 13, 2011. In addition to the false headline, the article contains repeated false statements, including but not limited to:
“Make no mistake, Turley–sleazebag lawyer for Islamic terrorists, including Islamic Jihad founder and convicted terrorist, Sami Al-Arian–is filing this one for his Muslim friends and patrons and using these bozos from Utah as his cover for what he’s really seeking here. Reportedly, the Bin Laden family paid for Turley’s failed defense of Al-Arian, just as the Bin Ladens reportedly paid for the Al-Arian kids’ expensive college and grad school educations.”
And so Turley’s having a great laugh over this insanity? Nope. No, he’s gone from big time high profile lawyer to defensive, oversensitive academic. Some wacko wearing a tin foil hat said mean things about you, Jon. Oooh, poor baby.
The question is whether people of good faith should simply walked away from such libelous and malicious statements or whether we have a duty to bring such people to the courts for judgment. A defamation action against Ms. Schlussel may serve the public as a pro bono effort in maintaining the minimal standards of civility and accuracy in public debate. I will be discussing such an action with friends and colleagues.
The article remains posted and Ms. Schlussel has not issued a retraction or an apology, as requested.
Since you asked, here’s my two cents. There is a whole wide world of nutjobs out there who will say and write mean things of all stripes. Some are worthy of concern, as they come from credible people who raise credible claims. Then there are the Debbie Schlussels of the world.
This is a gift. This is a toy for you to play with, to enjoy and to ridicule unmercifully. How the hell can you take this seriously and get upset for even a second over something so ridiculous?
DO NOT SQUANDER THIS OPPORTUNITY!!!
Do you think anyone, a…n…y…o…n…e, of above-brick-like intelligence isn’t laughing at this one? Have them laugh with you, not at you. For you to get your panties in a twist over this is not merely insane, but suggests that you feel threatened by these assertions. Do you? Is this closer to the truth than I suspect? Are you interested in sharing some of that bin Laden money? Only kidding, unless it’s true.
The nature of high profile work, especially in an area of such high emotion and politicization, is that nuts are going to come out of the woodwork and smear you with the craziest stuff. Didn’t you realize this when you started the suit? This is how it happens, and it’s a lot worse when the New York Times writes something incredibly wrong and stupid than when some neo-con nutjob does so.
Get over it. Laugh at it. Enjoy the gift that’s been handed to you on a silver platter and have some fun. Whatever you do, resist the lawprof urge to get all upset and demand retractions and be all lawyerly. It won’t help. It won’t happen and you just look foolish for trying.
And for God’s* sake (*your mileage may vary), don’t sue for defamation. It’s a lot cheaper and more effective to down a PBR and thank the Lord you ain’t her. Unless, of course, she’s got a point, in which case take her seriously, give the rest of us a reason not to ridicule her and raise a doubt in everyone’s mind that Turley has something to fear. But if not, don’t be a weenie.
While my experiences hardly equate to Jonathan Turley’s many years ago–back in the AOL-forum days–an antagonist hacked my AOL screen name and left (in my name) disgustingly racist and sexist posts on many of the popular political and music forums that I created. My effort to deal with this “hacking” through AOL was wholly unsuccessful and my lawyerly-response even less so. No one cares. Give this sort of thing energy and you spark a flame war that no one really remembers as anything but…didn’t you have some sort of nasty fight, you said something racist…they said something? No one really wants to hear the truth and no one remembers. That’s my experience.
H.L. Mencken said “You’ll never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American voter.” The fact that these foil heads have the internet as a forum makes them much palatable to many people. The I saw it on the internet so it must be true syndrome. The sad fact is once these things start they never totally go away. BTW Debbie Shussell is really in the employ of the ACLU and is a relief pitcher for the Mets where she makes pron tapes in the bullpen.
While I appreciate the Mencken citation, Schlussel isn’t just your everyday Internet nutter. She has a huge audience and make frequent appearances on national broadcast media.
That she is a nutjob, though, is beyond dispute. She’s the sort of ‘conservative’ that gives conservatives a bad name and Zionists a bad rep. Through her over-the-top denunciations, she makes it easy to turn those with legitimate concern about radical Islam into ‘Islamophobes’.
Actually, I’m sort of hoping for a Debbie Schlussel v. Nancy Grace deathmatch. After taking her bows, the winner should be summarily executed, because “It’s for the children.”
Becoming a target of someone like Schlussel is a badge of honor. Wear the badge proudly.