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Man who briefly worked at the White House threatens to sue Tufts student newspaper

Anthony Scaramucci, whose tenure as White House communications director ended not long after he mused about Steve Bannon's physical flexibility, is deeply offended by a pair of columns in the Tufts Daily, enough to threaten a lawsuit if the Daily doesn't retract the columns and apologize for calling him "an unethical opportunist and who exuded the highest degree of disreputability" and "a man who makes his Twitter accessible to friends interested in giving comfort to Holocaust deniers."

In a letter to the Daily, his attorney says the First Amendment only goes so far and doesn't protect the Daily from besmirching the good name of an ethical man whose friend used his Twitter account for a poll asking just how many Jews were killed in the Holocaust not to deny the Holocaust but raise awareness of it in these trying times when not everybody knows how many Jews the Nazis killed (of course Scaramucci knows 6 million Jews were murdered, the lawyer notes).

Why should he care so much what somebody writes in articles in a newspaper not noted for circulation outside of Medford and Somerville? Well, turns out the op-ed pieces were arguments on why Tufts should rescind its appointment of Scaramucci to the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy Board of Advisors.

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Comments

Yet another shithead in the procession of Trump officials who longingly look to China and Russia for inspiration.

According to the Globe, Tufts has rightfully postponed an upcoming event featuring Scaramucci. Looks like threatening to sue students over well written criticism isn't the best way to make friends.

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Editorials are opinion pieces and not guaranteed factual, especially at Tufts, it seems. Shame on Tufts if they consider editorial pieces when considering appointments. Also, opinion pieces are much harder to win lawsuits against.

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Do you have any facts to contribute that demonstrate that "all these editorials are fake news"?

Of course not.

P.S. he can't do the fandango

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Editorials are not news at all. They are opinion. They might be reflections on the news, but for a reputable news organization, which I will put Tufts Daily in the category of, the publication standards of a news story is much higher than that of an opinion piece. The piece has a lot of opinion, but not many facts, real or otherwise, are mentioned.

I also think you guys missed a big thing the other anon noted- this case will go nowhere because it is about an opinion piece. The "libel" is basically "I think this guy is horrible and is buying his way on to the board." Not too much to go on either way.

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Had he not threatened to sue he might have still gotten the invite. He responded in a rash and undemocratic manor to what is reasonable, civil criticism by current students. His threatening of a baseless lawsuit isn't an opinion, it's a fact. Tufts based their actions on that fact.

Anyway, a good op-ed (such as was written) is a discussion of facts. The students were making an sound argument based on documented facts, not giving an opinion of his hair style.

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Rash Manor is where I went to private school with The Mooch!

Ersatz News!

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You want that everyone votes on what his reaction should be?

Democracy has nothing to do with this situation. Tufts University is neither a democracy nor a republic. The administration, in this case, can do whatever the heck they want. They decided to pay heed to criticism of his role with his alma mater. If they went the other way, the other side could pound sand just like he can pound sand about what they did.

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The undemocratic thing is Scaramucci trying to silence critics (Tufts students) with lawsuits. If he believed in democracy (specifically the 1st amendment) he wouldn't try to prevent the press from publishing whatever they want. He'd either respond or ignore them, not threaten a baseless lawsuit.

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Sweden doesn’t have a first amendment, so is it a democracy?

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Like the second amendment, it goes on past the first sentence.

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Here’s one thing- there are a bunch of countries in Europe that are very much considered democracies but have a lot of limits on free speech. To wit, the Mooch could just prevail if a libel action was taken in England. Try speaking ill of the monarchy in Spain or claim that the holocaust never happened in Germany (that is, make the claim in Germany)

No, freedom of speech may very well be a very good thing to have in a democracy, but in the end “democracy” is a system of deciding how government is run. It involves voting, not the ability to say whatever one wants.

America needs more civics education.

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And, once again, you are showing the wrote nature of your training in American Studies. You clearly have not engaged beyond memorization, and then wander all over the map to avoid reality. I'm guessing that you didn't take AP? You need more civics education, dear.

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England is undemocratic?

But hey, I’ll talk like an expert in the field you have degrees in, since obviously things like an actual definition of democracy is superfluous compared on our feelings on the subject.

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Want to point out the fabrications in the editorial? All the reasons the author cites for not appointing the brat are factually valid, even going as far to link to the sources in the op-ed. Incidentally, one of the defenses for libel accusations is being truthful. That's why his threats are meaningless. It's not slander to criticize.

Threatening someone for no other reason then you dislike what they have to say is a good reason to deny him the appointment.

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Whackjobs like Mooch and Drumpf are constantly WHIINNNNIIINNNNG about "tort reform", because they only care about making sure that they are never held responsible for their behavior - be that by a free press or by the courts.

Make no mistake: these guys hate the 1st amendment more than they love the 2nd.

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Editorials are opinion pieces and not guaranteed factual...

Shame on those pesky editorials, dear readers, with their non-factual brand of opinion! Yr humble correspondent here prefers the kinds of opinions that are objectively correct, which by sheer coincidence happen to line up with my own opinions.

...especially at Tufts, it seems.

I flipped to his methodology section and saw that this was based on a sample of "Tufts student newspaper editorials I didn't even read" (n=1). His conclusions seem irrefutable, dear readers.

Shame on Tufts if they consider editorial pieces when considering appointments.

"Shame" is too kind a fate, dear readers. I am thinking more along the lines of professional blacklisting. Anyone who dares consider op-eds when trying to establish an informed opinion is just...the thought of it is too unbearable. Everybody knows newspaper opinion pieces aren't intended to influence peoples' opinions. Rather, they are like a sonnet or haiku, an exercise in form for high schoolers to analyze.

And let us not forget the truly despicable sight of university adminstrators listening not only to newspapers, but students as well. I am weak and frail and am under doctor's orders to not properly express my outrage. But oh dear readers, I am truly outraged. And my outrage is terrible, and terribly outraged.

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‘s response to Roy Moore and his threats to sue:

We are confident that litigation would not only demonstrate that AL.com exercised the utmost diligence and employed high journalistic standards in reporting these stories, but would also reveal other important information about your clients

AKA “fuck off or we’ll bury your nazi-sympathizing ass alive with what we find in discovery.”

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If they can get the kind of legal muscle to back up that stance. Tufts alums, what do you say? Want to do some probono for the alma mater?

(For my part, I'm pretty horrified that the Fletcher school woudl risk its reputation by bringing Mooch in. But, nie moj cirk, nie moj malpy)

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Why not let this fool speak and so remove all doubt?

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no doubt

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He's the only guy I know who is so clueless that he thinks that people want to hear from a moron who was fired by someone infinitely less competent mentally than him for being a loud mouthed idiot.

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Sue this, loser!

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