There should be a (heavy) penalty for public figures just saying this kind of made up crap about other people.
I’m a huge advocate for being able to speak your mind pretty much without any caveats, however objectionable your opinion is, but slander has nothing to do with free speech. This is a hill i’ll die on.
They make it a “free speach” thing like false accusations are covered under that law.
I can’t go around lying to police about how “my neighbor tried to kill me.” Ruining their life for fun or profit has consequences, and rightfully so.
But for some reason, public figures go around talking about how “all trans people are pedophiles” and “immigrants are eating our cats and dogs.”
It does ruin many lives too through deportation, bullying, gossip, and even just small stuff like reducing likelyhood of fucking getting hired at a job.
But also same figures and journalists, in spite of the victim testimonies and released files, can NOT call a certain someone pedophile without losing their job because “they didn’t say allagedly.”
It’s like the application of laws and even their morals themselves bend around to unprotect minorities.
I can’t go around lying to police about how “my neighbor tried to kill me.” Ruining their life for fun or profit has consequences, and rightfully so. lemmy.blahaj.zone I mean, you can do that though. And it would cost your neighbor a significant amount of money to fight it.
And if you’re white (and wealthy, and a republican politician), then you get away with it every time.
I believe it falls under libel, but that’s up to the person being defamed to pursue.
Slander is spoken, libel is written. Might be a little blurred in the age of video and podcasts though. Anyway, slander and libel cases are famously hard to win, because you have to prove the statement was made, the person who made it knew it was false, and that it damaged your reputation. It’s also harder to win for public figures, as the increase in general media around them tends to dilute damaging statements.
I ment it more in the sense that public figures should just straight up be held to a higher standard than Joe Schmoe when it comes to these things.
the person who made it knew it was false
Someone in this position should just be expected to know better and if otherswise be expected to prove these kinds of claims.
Just like I feel they are supposed to divest when they enter public office and be barred from investing in anything while holding any kind of position of power instead of becoming obscenely wealthy in this period of “public service”.
But don’t worry, i’m fully aware these things are all naive pipe dreams in this system.
Proving that Tommy Tuberville knew, or knows, anything would be pretty much impossible.
Yeah. Dude is a certified bigoted ignorant jackass. The check on guys like him is supposed to be the voting public, but I’ve seen what makes maga cheer… Part of the reason why I think a democracy where voting rights are "equal’ will never produce an effective government.
Usually it isn’t really legally separate anymore and is just defamation regardless of how you do it
A penalty for islamophobia in America? The country that invented islamophobia? The country built on discrimination and slavery? Good one.
I can’t wait for the day the whole shit burns down.
I’m pretty sure if there’s a country that invented Islamophobia it’s either the Papal States or somewhere in central Europe and did it before people were aware that there were two clusters of continents on different hemispheres.
America absolutely got really in on it, but at our founding we were generally ok with Islam. But yes we were built on genocide and slavery.
I read that dudes comment and thought the same thing. Pretty sure the Crusades got the good ole USA beat by hundreds of years in the realm of islamophobia.
But also yeah the islamophobia is the USA is obnoxious and loud. As a white dude, I hate and get annoyed by all of that bullshit and the fact that when I’m travelling down south everyone assumes I’m a racist white guy and says dumb shit to me.
Yeah I really don’t want to discount our country’s real problems, but I also don’t want to lend credence to the idea that it was founded as a Christian nation or that it’s always been wholly evil in every way.
Also I don’t want Europeans to brush off the islamophobia that they have as well. We all need to do better in this area.
Defamation laws exist
Those old american politicians. Their last recourse for anything is “They’re not white and they don’t think like me!”.
Then it is up to us pasty white folks who hate fascists and racists; to show that "hey, you might be the same shade of skin colour as me, but your personality and politics are if a shade of bullshit I detest. Tommy Tubervulle is a mongerel
Yep, I for one am glad that someone smart and with good politics won the senate primary and that it’s even better to have him be Egyptian American, considering that’s a group that faces discrimination and deserves representation.
John Adams told one of our earliest friendly nations (Morocco) that our country is just as much for Muslims as it is for Christians, and while I may have a lot of disagreements with the founding fathers I think they nailed that one on the head
There hasn’t been a time in my life, and I’m not young anymore, that American conservatism hasn’t been a racist movement.
The most racist element of that movement are at the end of their lives and the racist GOP know that. Unless they can cheat their way into total control, this is their last big push. That’s why they aren’t hiding it anymore.
I feel this in my entire body: I sincerely, deeply hope you are right.
in my country if a politician posted something like that, would be sued for defamation and will 100% lose in court.
Are Senators exempt from laws in the US? Given how easily this can be disproved why hasn’t he been sued to the point of bankruptcy?
Can you sue this motherfucker for defamation?
Yes but it will be dismissed with prejudice unless you have a tort. Probably, the politician will.
And in two years or however long it is people will not think back to how out of control crazy this post was. Nobody will remember. All they’ll know is that they felt fear and anger and the name associated was Abdul El-Sayed.
I mean, Islam is intrinsically bad for me, just as any religion is, basically (I’m an agnostic atheist [I don’t know if a god exists but I reasonaly believe that no, and even if it existed, I still wouldn’t adore him], that’s why)… But damn, that’s wild. He doesn’t even know him yet he is calling him “radical islamic” out of nowhere, what a fucking asshole. If I have to guess, he’s surely an Incel too.
If we want to vote a radical terrorist to the Senate, we should be allowed. We voted one into the presidency.
stupid ignorant assholes representing his state of stupid ignorant assholes…
these politicians don’t appear out of nowhere, this is the best alabama can do!
and also, what kind of stupid fucking name is tommy tuberville? that is a fucking cartoon character name not someone a fucking adult would vote for!
Hey, put some respek on senator potatotown’s name.
I can see America being destroyed under republican rule
No, no. Haven’t you heard? They are Making America Great Again.
/s in case that wasn’t obvious.
They’re working on it.
It’d be the one good thing they ever did.
honey our president is a terrorist. … most our government is ran by terrorists.
Republicans don’t know they’re the terrorists.
Ummm…
I forget the conversation that turned into an argument and the republican screaming at the democrat about trump derangement syndrome, while the democrat was talking real shit that mattered and was basically pointing out the flaws in which the republicans don’t see with their handling of I think it was either Gaza or the current middle eastern conflict something though and it blew my mind. It made me go you gotta be fucking with me how there’s real shit that needs to be talked about and discussed in a civil manner and because one side needs to have a perception of being correct it just turned into an absolute shit show.
I immediately said afterwards while shaking my head in a what the fuck did I just see manner and did a long deep sigh and said, “Thank goodness I stopped caring about politics.”
And a rapist. And a felon. And likely a pedophile.
Hypocrisy is lost on MAGA. They believe it’s Trump versus Satan, that anyone not them is pure evil by fiat, and therefore any action of their own is justified, even when it is violent or heinous.
And because their peerless leader is pure good by fiat, his own behaviors that are immoral or incompetent are disregarded as beyond the need for explanation.
This is common in cults of personality. It’s also super fragile if the leader dies without major effort to define an heir in advance.
also super common in narcissism.
The fact that you need to research that information about him to prove it, but don’t need to research the allegations against him says a lot
Football coach turned politician, what do you expect?
Southern college football coach.
I was considering adding SEC, it’s good context
Football coach turned politician, what do you expect?
Concussion related brain damage?
If all they got is racism they don’t got much.
Unfortunately we live in a nation where they actually got total control of our federal government utilizing racism.
It may not be much, but it’s often enough.
