Haggard famously claimed that "the only difference between me and George Bush is that Bush drives a Ford and I drive a Chevy."
With the latest revelations about involvement with male prostitutes and taking meths, is this tantamount to libel?
2006-11-04 01:25:17 · 7 answers · asked by Kiltie Man 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Politics
But only George can choose to sue him
2006-11-04 01:27:05 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
NO.
Libel laws require that the statement is an untrue fact and be damaging, and also with public figure there must be a showing of actual malice and intent to harm. Also any kind of political opinion is exempt, (until Bush destroys the first amendment)
also it must be in writing to be libel, but perhaps you meant slander.
also it must be understood at the time to be a declaration of an untrue fact.Mere implications from post statement conduct is irrelevant.
Haggard was not outed yet, so there was no danger that he would be misunderstood at the time. nothing wrong with saying that about cars etc.
However, if he now said that "Bush is a lying hypocritical druggie gay adulterer. like me". it would be slander( unless true)
BUT
people like Bush are in a highly visable public profession and it is almost impossible for them to win a slander suit because their position makes statements against them largely exempt. they must show actual malice.
If he sued for slander. it would only give more publicity to the accusation and be worse. that is why public figures seldom bother to sue anyone for this. It brings up all sorts of characater issues in court and the victim has to testify and be examined unmercifully by the defendnats attorney about evreything under the sun.he must answer under penalty of perjury.
can you imagine if he was asked if he ever took meth? if he lied he would get impeached for lying under oath. ( in a fair world) if he admitted it, he would suffer other consequences. so best to shut up and not sue about it.
so if you want to slander the Pres, feel free, but beware his attacks on freedom of speech. he may just arrange for Cheny to shoot you in the face with a shotgun.
2006-11-04 01:41:41 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well maybe on the male prosititutes thing yes that is a difference between them. I have a feeling that our President doesn't go in that direction. However on the drugs thing, its widely known that he did go through a hard drugs phase for a time in his life. So in this respect they may have that in common.
To answer your question no it can't be considered Libelous as he may have lied more about himself than about our President. Good luck in your quest to sue Teddy.
2006-11-04 01:33:02 · answer #3 · answered by stymie1970 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The truth about Ted Haggard has been released at http://www.landoverbaptist.org
2006-11-04 05:46:00 · answer #4 · answered by iknowtruthismine 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No...because it's not libel..It's truth..You know a christian minister wouldn't lie...Oh yea..I forgot....all they have to do is ask for forgiveness and it's alright...They can lie as much as they want and every thing will be OK....so as far as Christians go..you never know if they are lie-ing or speaking truth..It's all the same to them
2006-11-04 01:33:39 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
no but its funny as hell
2006-11-04 01:30:59 · answer #6 · answered by gdeach 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
???
2006-11-04 01:27:25 · answer #7 · answered by Pero 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋