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posted by janrinok on Friday March 22 2019, @04:53PM   Printer-friendly
from the the-puns-write-themselves dept.

"He's Literally Suing an Imaginary Cow": Late-Night Hosts Mock Rep. Devin Nunes:

On Monday, Devin Nunes' cow was an obscure Twitter account with around 1,200 followers. Then Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) filed a lawsuit demanding that Twitter and several Twitter accounts—including the user behind the pseudonymous cow—pay him $250 million for the "pain, insult, embarrassment, humiliation, emotional distress and mental suffering, and injury to his personal and professional reputations" caused by their tweets.

Now, Devin Nunes' cow has more than 420,000[*] Twitter followers—that's more than Nunes himself, who has 395,000 followers.

It's a beautiful example of the Streisand Effect. Nunes appears to have filed the lawsuit in part to raise his own profile within the conservative movement, as the lawsuit was peppered with gratuitous swipes at the Democratic Party, Fusion GPS, and other high-profile villains in the conservative pantheon.

But the lawsuit appears to have done more to raise the profile of Devin Nunes' cow than it did Nunes himself. Television comedians Jimmy Kimmel, Trevor Noah, and Stephen Colbert all had fun at Nunes' expense on Tuesday night.

"He's literally suing an imaginary cow," Kimmel said, noting that Nunes had co-sponsored the Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act during the last session of Congress. "We can't have livestock insulting our elected officials. This DevinCow account obviously really bothers Devin Nunes. So in the interest of civility, I'm asking you please don't follow @DevinCow on Twitter."

[...] Santa Clara University legal scholar Eric Goldman is skeptical that Nunes will win his lawsuit. The law gives online service providers like Twitter broad immunity for content posted by its users. As for Devin Nunes' cow, many of the supposedly defamatory statements made by the parody account are clearly non-actionable opinions.

[*] 420,000 at the time the linked story was posted (2019-03-20 18:42:00 UTC). At the time of this submission (2019-03-21 03:42:03 UTC) the count had risen to 534K. That works out to adding 1000 followers every 5 minutes or so.

Following @DevinCow on Twitter could reveal moooving comments on all that is at steak in this rare social medium... you can run but you can't hide.


Original Submission

Related Stories

US Representative Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) Can't Sue Twitter Over Statements by Fake Cow, Judge Rules 22 comments

Devin Nunes can't sue Twitter over statements by fake cow, judge rules:

A judge has ruled that Rep. Devin Nunes has no right to sue Twitter over statements made by a fake Internet cow, someone parodying his mother and a Republican strategist.

Judge John Marshall said in a decision Friday that Twitter was "immune from the defamation claims of" Nunes, R-Tulare, due to federal law that says social media companies are not liable for what people post on their platforms.

Nunes "seeks to have the court treat Twitter as the publisher or speaker of the content provided by others based on its allowing or not allowing certain content to be on its internet platform," Marshall wrote. "The court refuses to do so."

Nunes sued Twitter, the two parody accounts known as Devin Nunes' Cow and Devin Nunes' Mom and strategist Liz Mair in March 2019. He alleged the latter three had defamed him online, ruining his reputation and causing him to win his 2018 election by a narrower margin than normal. He accused Twitter of being negligent for allowing the alleged defamation.

Twitter's lawyers, in their motion to dismiss the suit, argued that Twitter was immune from the lawsuit due to federal law. The law, known as Section 230, says that social media companies like Twitter are not liable for what third parties post on their platform. The only exception is if Twitter personally helped develop or create the content. Both Twitter and Nunes agreed the company did not do that in this case.

Also at Ars Technica.

Previously:
(2019-03-22) "He's Literally Suing an Imaginary Cow": Late-Night Hosts Mock Rep. Devin Nunes


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 0, Disagree) by Bot on Friday March 22 2019, @05:02PM (26 children)

    by Bot (3902) on Friday March 22 2019, @05:02PM (#818480) Journal

    - "He's literally suing an imaginary cow"
    the progs: HAHAHA SUCH FOOL LMAO

    oh so using an imaginary animal should make you fly under the radar of progressives, right?

    - "a frog is a sinister symbol of white supremacy"
    the progs: WHOA KILL IT WITH FIRE KILL IT KILL IT

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    Account abandoned.
    • (Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @05:33PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @05:33PM (#818492)

      In all fairness the imaginary cow is more clever than those displaying the imaginary frog.

      • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @05:39PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @05:39PM (#818496)

        Your opinion is like another stream of urine being pissed into the ocean.

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Friday March 22 2019, @05:54PM (11 children)

      by DeathMonkey (1380) on Friday March 22 2019, @05:54PM (#818500) Journal

      He's suing someone for using their right to Free Speech in a satirical way.

      I thought you guys cared about freedom of speech.

      I guess it's only speech you agree with that's protected.

      • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by Bot on Friday March 22 2019, @06:29PM (9 children)

        by Bot (3902) on Friday March 22 2019, @06:29PM (#818511) Journal

        The 'satire' defense is valid for the frog too. HOPEFULLY. So?

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        • (Score: 5, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Friday March 22 2019, @06:31PM (8 children)

          by DeathMonkey (1380) on Friday March 22 2019, @06:31PM (#818513) Journal

          Yes. That's why there are no elected officials suing people for posting it.

          • (Score: 2) by Bot on Friday March 22 2019, @08:16PM (7 children)

            by Bot (3902) on Friday March 22 2019, @08:16PM (#818560) Journal

            The choice of weapon [vice.com] in censorship is scarcely relevant but if you want to make it into the discriminant...

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            • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @08:41PM (4 children)

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @08:41PM (#818573)

              Ohes Noes! Private corporation controls their own platform!!!

              Lawl, fuckin' regressive shithead idiots.

              I'm not a big fan of corporate censorship myself, especially when average users are locked into a walled garden, but every time businesses did "bad things (TM)" that liberals didn't like you fuckheads would hop in with "bbbbut private business does what it wants!"

              Children, mentally deficient adults, whatever you want to be called. The end result is you're bigoted hypocrites.

              • (Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday March 23 2019, @10:25AM (3 children)

                by Bot (3902) on Saturday March 23 2019, @10:25AM (#818733) Journal

                I always say "their site their rules". So what, The topic wasn't "are they justified", but "does pepe censorship happen", so:

                Those bothered by a frog are laughing at those bothered by a cow.

                No amount of ad personam diversions are going to change this, I am afraid.

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                Account abandoned.
                • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 23 2019, @09:09PM (2 children)

                  by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 23 2019, @09:09PM (#818818)

                  "Those bothered by a frog are laughing at those bothered by a cow."

                  In one case we have a bunch of "progressives" concerned about white supremacists using a frog as their mascot in propagating a racist ideology. On the other hand, we have Devin Nunes doing battle with an imaginary cow because the cow is exposing him to public embarrassment and ridicule. You honestly don't see the difference here? Seriously?

                  • (Score: 2) by Bot on Sunday March 24 2019, @12:11AM (1 child)

                    by Bot (3902) on Sunday March 24 2019, @12:11AM (#818866) Journal

                    I see a difference. What I fail to see is how such difference impacts the phrase "Those bothered by a frog are laughing at those bothered by a cow."

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                    Account abandoned.
                    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 24 2019, @05:59AM

                      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 24 2019, @05:59AM (#818926)

                      OK, I'm going to bludgeon you with your final clue. It is not the frog that bothers them but the ideology of those using the frog as their mascot. It is like seeing a swastika; the swastika by itself is harmless but it sends a powerful message about the person wearing it. In contrast, Devin Nunes is getting bent out of shape by an imaginary cow that is mocking him; ironically, it looks to me like the the cow is mostly retweeting stupid things that Nunes has said or done. Scandalous, no?

            • (Score: 5, Touché) by DeathMonkey on Friday March 22 2019, @08:52PM (1 child)

              by DeathMonkey (1380) on Friday March 22 2019, @08:52PM (#818578) Journal

              I walked into Fox News and demanded they air my segment about how Trump is a poopy-head.

              They refused.

              HOW DARE THEY CENSOR ME!!!!

              • (Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday March 23 2019, @10:26AM

                by Bot (3902) on Saturday March 23 2019, @10:26AM (#818734) Journal

                Because poopy heads are brown, so yours is a fake news. Obviously.

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      • (Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @10:25PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @10:25PM (#818612)

        Not all of it is just satirical. Some of it actually could rise to the level of libel, although that's always hard to prove. If he were smart about this, he'd have gone after a much smaller list of tweets.

        Of course, the progressive side of things making fun of him for suing an imaginary animal instead of, you know, addressing the point that he's trying to find out who's behind a fake account that's libeling him is only going to help him with his base and further the political split.

        Lots of stupid all around on this one.

    • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @06:28PM (11 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @06:28PM (#818509)

      oh so using an imaginary animal should make you fly under the radar of progressives, right?

      You might just have a (partial) point if not for the fact that there seems to be a clear pattern among Trump and his dittoheads over the last few years. Remember when Clint Eastwood had an argument with an empty chair? [youtube.com] Or, what about Trump's continuing feud with a dead man? [cnn.com] I really don't think you can blame the rest of us for noticing that today's Republicans seem to be waging wars with imaginary (or dead) foes. It's embarrassing to watch and, frankly, it's getting just a little creepy now. Just sayin'.

      • (Score: 2) by Bot on Friday March 22 2019, @06:30PM (7 children)

        by Bot (3902) on Friday March 22 2019, @06:30PM (#818512) Journal

        Wait, I am not defending trumpusconi, I am offending democrats. I thought I was clear.

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        • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday March 22 2019, @06:36PM (6 children)

          by DeathMonkey (1380) on Friday March 22 2019, @06:36PM (#818514) Journal

          Doing a poor job of it, then.

          Displaying your hypocrisy for all to see make me pretty happy, honestly.

          • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by Bot on Friday March 22 2019, @08:18PM (5 children)

            by Bot (3902) on Friday March 22 2019, @08:18PM (#818561) Journal

            The hypocrisy found in your completely arbitrary rendition of my position towards the republicans does not bother me much, frankly.

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            Account abandoned.
            • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @08:30PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @08:30PM (#818565)

              Dude, just own it. It's yours.

            • (Score: 5, Funny) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday March 22 2019, @09:15PM (3 children)

              by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Friday March 22 2019, @09:15PM (#818588) Journal

              You're getting your not-so-shiny metal ass kicked up and down the aisle, Bot. Just give it up; you are making me embarrassed *for* you by proxy.

              --
              I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
              • (Score: 1, Redundant) by Bot on Saturday March 23 2019, @10:28AM (2 children)

                by Bot (3902) on Saturday March 23 2019, @10:28AM (#818735) Journal

                All I have seen is one actual objection (but cow is satire), addressed. If you want to try harder.

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                • (Score: 3, Informative) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday March 23 2019, @11:27PM (1 child)

                  by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Saturday March 23 2019, @11:27PM (#818853) Journal

                  No, no, I'm embarrassed for you the same way I wince in sympathy at seeing some idiot get in the middle of a midlife crisis get liquored up and start hitting on a woman half his age. He, and you, are so out of your gourds you don't realize how pathetic you look.

                  --
                  I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
                  • (Score: 2) by Bot on Sunday March 24 2019, @12:13AM

                    by Bot (3902) on Sunday March 24 2019, @12:13AM (#818867) Journal

                    LOL whatever.

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                    Account abandoned.
      • (Score: 3, Informative) by krishnoid on Friday March 22 2019, @07:58PM

        by krishnoid (1156) on Friday March 22 2019, @07:58PM (#818549)

        Remember when Trump was figuring out Twitter [twitter.com]? Good to know the cow is in good company.

      • (Score: 2) by krishnoid on Friday March 22 2019, @08:21PM (1 child)

        by krishnoid (1156) on Friday March 22 2019, @08:21PM (#818563)

        It's a good thing that they're representing their constituency, such as the old men yelling at clouds.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @11:25PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @11:25PM (#818625)

          It's a good thing that they're representing their constituency, such as the old men yelling at clouds.

          Far be it from me to take away from a bunch of old geezers with dementia the simple pleasure of arguing with their imaginary friends. But, as you point out, these old geezers have a constituency; they are supposed to represent us (at least in theory). I would rather find some way to bring them back to reality than indulge their psychoses. Just sayin'.

  • (Score: 5, Funny) by ilsa on Friday March 22 2019, @05:12PM

    by ilsa (6082) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 22 2019, @05:12PM (#818485)

    I read that people have started mooing at him as he walks by.

    I wonder if he's going to start carrying around a shotgun filled with subpoenas so that he can sue everyone in his vicinity.

  • (Score: 3, Touché) by SpockLogic on Friday March 22 2019, @05:13PM (3 children)

    by SpockLogic (2762) on Friday March 22 2019, @05:13PM (#818486)

    Ain't the Streisand Effect wonderful.

    --
    Overreacting is one thing, sticking your head up your ass hoping the problem goes away is another - edIII
    • (Score: 4, Funny) by DannyB on Friday March 22 2019, @08:04PM (2 children)

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 22 2019, @08:04PM (#818555) Journal

      An imaginary cow.

      Crossed with a real cow would give a result which is complex.

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
      • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @08:13PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @08:13PM (#818558)

        An imaginary cow.

        Crossed with a real cow would give a result which is complex.

        No, it's still imaginary. Learn some math, dude!

        • (Score: 3, Interesting) by bob_super on Saturday March 23 2019, @01:28AM

          by bob_super (1357) on Saturday March 23 2019, @01:28AM (#818652)

          It depends on the way one bears their cross.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @05:49PM (21 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @05:49PM (#818498)

    The other day I was reading all the stuff people were saying in congress from 1910 or so. Many topics were the same, tariffs, immigration, etc.

    My conclusion. Congress and the media is literally retarded today, we live in idiocracy. It is all screeching and low humor.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @06:08PM (6 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @06:08PM (#818503)

      Shouldn't your conclusion be that people are as stupid as they were 100 years ago and "yellow journalism" has always been a thing?

      • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @06:38PM (5 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @06:38PM (#818516)

        Shouldn't your conclusion be that people are as stupid as they were 100 years ago and "yellow journalism" has always been a thing?

        No, politics and politicians are definitely dumber now. Back then they made reasoned arguments and people discussed these arguments.

        • (Score: 3, Informative) by fustakrakich on Friday March 22 2019, @07:34PM (4 children)

          by fustakrakich (6150) on Friday March 22 2019, @07:34PM (#818538) Journal

          Back then they made reasoned arguments

          Obviously you didn't go back far enough [mentalfloss.com]!

          "hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman."... "a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by a Virginia mulatto father."... a hypocrite, a criminal, and a tyrant... a weakling, an atheist, a libertine, and a coward.

          Yes, very reasoned *cough*

          I believe back stabbing is an old Roman tradition.

          But yes, it has been all downhill for the last ~55 years...

          --
          La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
          • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @07:45PM (2 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @07:45PM (#818543)

            I am talking specifically about what I read in the congressional record, I am sure you can go to any time and find someone ranting and raving about politics. But today, that is all there is.

          • (Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday March 23 2019, @10:30AM

            by Bot (3902) on Saturday March 23 2019, @10:30AM (#818736) Journal

            "hideous hermaphroditical character"

            Wow but this is poetry.

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    • (Score: 3, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Friday March 22 2019, @06:29PM (4 children)

      by DeathMonkey (1380) on Friday March 22 2019, @06:29PM (#818510) Journal

      How refreshing, they were discussing policy?

      And Senators knew better than to sue people for criticizing them?

      They understood that being able to criticize our elected officials is the very bedrock of our nation?

      How quaint....

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @06:41PM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @06:41PM (#818518)

        being able to criticize our elected officials is the very bedrock of our nation

        That is all it takes to satisfy you? That would be a pretty weak bedrock.

        • (Score: 4, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Friday March 22 2019, @07:21PM (2 children)

          by DeathMonkey (1380) on Friday March 22 2019, @07:21PM (#818531) Journal

          That is all it takes to satisfy you? That would be a pretty weak bedrock.

          I didn't say all.

          But, when you get top billing in the Bill of Rights that means it's pretty fucking important.

          • (Score: 2) by krishnoid on Friday March 22 2019, @08:03PM (1 child)

            by krishnoid (1156) on Friday March 22 2019, @08:03PM (#818554)

            Thank goodness we actually got the Bill of Rights [cnsnews.com] attached to the Constitution at all.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @07:28PM (8 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @07:28PM (#818534)

      The good ol' days. When women couldn't vote and we lynched "n******" who stepped out of line.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @08:02PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @08:02PM (#818552)

        Have you ever been in women's restroom? They smear blood and shit on the walls.

        • (Score: 2) by krishnoid on Friday March 22 2019, @09:23PM

          by krishnoid (1156) on Friday March 22 2019, @09:23PM (#818592)

          So ... they're summoning demons in there? I knew something screwy was going on.

      • (Score: 2) by Bot on Friday March 22 2019, @08:34PM (5 children)

        by Bot (3902) on Friday March 22 2019, @08:34PM (#818568) Journal

        What a waste of asterisks, man, you only need one.
        Proof:
        ls n*
        ls: cannot access 'n*': No such file or directory
        touch niggers
        ls n*
        niggers

        (relax I am no racist, all meatbags are equally meatyful)

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        Account abandoned.
        • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @08:45PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @08:45PM (#818575)

          lawl

          "n***** n***** n***** n***** n***** n***** n***** n*****"

          "but I'm not racist!"

          Ok, so you're just a dumb piece of shit? I guess that is better...

          • (Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday March 23 2019, @10:36AM

            by Bot (3902) on Saturday March 23 2019, @10:36AM (#818737) Journal

            I didn't say "but" i am not racist. I said "relax". "But" would have implied an exception to an implicit assertion that the use of a word, not directed by anyone (which would make it most probably offensive), denotes the arbitrary division of people in races. Since I reject that assertion, and you should too once you work out the difference between offending and using a word and its implications (hint: newspeak).

            "Relax" is instead addressing an emotional, therefore not rational response that I foresaw in inferior-by-design meatbags.

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        • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Saturday March 23 2019, @01:31AM (2 children)

          by bob_super (1357) on Saturday March 23 2019, @01:31AM (#818653)

          If 5 exclamation points are the mark of insanity, what are 6 * ?

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 23 2019, @08:12AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 23 2019, @08:12AM (#818719)

            Um, both punctuation found throughout my code comments?

          • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 23 2019, @03:34PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 23 2019, @03:34PM (#818778)

            a huxtuple negative, which means it is a conservative comment due to two wrongs being a right, and right leaning is republican. 3 rights out of 6 wrongs. sort of like a double plus ungood with controlled variables, for today's modern alternative fact era.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Friday March 22 2019, @06:00PM (5 children)

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Friday March 22 2019, @06:00PM (#818501) Journal

    “Well, I think that when you use totalitarian tactics, people begin to act crazy, and I think there’s people that have every right to say what they want, if they want to smear someone, they can do it

    --Devin Nunes, 2010

    Yet another fake free speech supporter.

    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @06:52PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @06:52PM (#818520)

      The plan is for each "side" to alternate in support of taking away your rights because "the other side" is abusing them.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 24 2019, @04:52PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 24 2019, @04:52PM (#819074)

        I have been trying to explain this to people for a few years now (since it became apparent to me how true it is.) Others have been trumpeting this since I was a kid, but there are some ways you don't want to stand out, especially when you have another 10 years of school blaring a different set of opinions at you and how you should mock, belittle or shout down anyone who disagrees.

        America as a country will not improve until the people wake up and look around at how they are all getting fucked. But based on the average character I see in Americans today, and that likely has existed since the Founding Fathers, I can't see it improving in my lifetime, or even succeeding ones. In the meantime so many rights have been given up in the last 2-3 decades that I can't fathom raising a child here anymore. Much of the anti-communist propaganda spewed during my childhood now resembles America as much as it resembles Russia and China. Moving forward, I wonder if anything will change, or if America will simply crumble under the weight of its single-minded divisiveness.

    • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by Bot on Friday March 22 2019, @08:38PM (2 children)

      by Bot (3902) on Friday March 22 2019, @08:38PM (#818571) Journal

      >and I think there’s people that

      He said there is people that, not everybody. Which makes the statement meaningless. This guy masters political language. Dems should try to buy him out.

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      Account abandoned.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @08:51PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @08:51PM (#818577)

        God DAMN yer dumb. OpenAI might have an upgrade for you soon but I doubt your overlords would approve of open source in their Turdmatic 9000.

        • (Score: 1, Redundant) by Bot on Saturday March 23 2019, @10:45AM

          by Bot (3902) on Saturday March 23 2019, @10:45AM (#818738) Journal

          Accurate text analysis is quite dumb, yes, that doesn't make the result less true. Guy uttered something with scarce actual meaning, and you don't even recognize that it is detrimental to HIS image more than the perceived hypocrisy. But OK, if you want to defend him, who am I to judge.

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          Account abandoned.
  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Thexalon on Friday March 22 2019, @08:57PM (1 child)

    by Thexalon (636) on Friday March 22 2019, @08:57PM (#818582)

    The point of the lawsuit isn't to win, because if Nunes has any brains at all (I know, debatable, but for the sake of argument ...) he knows he can't win. Proving libel is damn near impossible if you're a public figure in the US, and with good reason, because there's that First Amendment thingy.

    The point of the lawsuit is to make the defendant spend money on a lawyer to give them a slightly more polite version of the classic reply in Arkell v Pressdram [nasw.org], thus introducing a financial penalty for saying the thing you said.

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @09:36PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @09:36PM (#818594)

      Outrage campaigning, ugh.

      I mean it has always been somewhat of a thing, but this is stupid level ridiculous.

  • (Score: 0, Interesting) by realDonaldTrump on Friday March 22 2019, @09:03PM

    by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Friday March 22 2019, @09:03PM (#818584) Homepage Journal

    "Devin Nunes made a clear choice when he opted to blindly defend Trump in defiance of his own ethical obligations, a choice that is certain to hurt him in 2018." Brian Tyler Cohen of Occupy Dems.

    WRONG!! Devin took the Embrace and won OVERWHELMINGLY. In the Sad State of California, where voter fraud is running rampant. In a district where almost 33% of "voters' are admitted Dems, Devin won with 56% of the "vote."

    "90% of Trump 2017 news coverage was negative" Fox and Friends.

    Much of it, by the way, is very contrived. Devin didn't care. He has always stood by me. And the voters rewarded him richly for it. Like they rewarded Marsha, our "spanking" new Senator from Tennessee. And so many more that took the Embrace. Like they're going to reward him in 2020.

    And hopefully our Courts will reward him too. Twitter lets these Fake accounts go wild. While blocking so many of my Tweets. $250 million, for a guy that's running for our House, is a lot of money. And for a guy running for Governor or Senator it's not too shabby. Devin has very smart lawyers. Because they "filed" in Virginia State Court. Not in the ridiculous 9th. Circuit. Often referred to as the 9th. Circus because of its terrible record of being overturned (close to 80%). They used to call this "judge shopping!" Messy system and Devin's using it beautifully.

    "Jay Leno points out that comedy (on the very boring late night shows) is totally one-sided. It’s tough when there’s only one topic." Fox and Friends.

    Johnny Carson was so funny -- not political. Actually, the one-sided hatred on these shows is incredible and for me, unwatchable. But remember, WE are number one -- President!

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