Gawker Is Bankrupt, And Now Liberals Are Pretending To Care About Free Speech

[WestVirginiaRebel]

The Federalist:

So Gawker and its owner Nick Denton filed Chapter 11 today to avoid paying Hulk Hogan the $140 million they owe him after losing an invasion of privacy trial. The suit was funded by libertarian billionaire Peter Thiel, which, according to many liberals, makes this the most vital First Amendment case of our lifetime.

 

In a spasm of hypocrisy, many of the same people who don’t believe corporations deserve constitutional rights; who think allowing the state to ban political movies and books is a fine idea; who are constantly telling us how important the courts are in realizing a just society; who are in the pocket of the trial lawyer lobby; and who have achieved almost every major political victory through third-party-funded court battles (sometimes taxpayer-funded) now worry about slippery slopes because a libertarian has funded a successful lawsuit.

 

Take the illiberal New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, a proponent of censorship who is considering using racketeering charges against global warming skeptics. A government official who wants to punish people for thought crimes now has the temerity to talk about freedom of the press. Gawker, by the way, once favorably wrote about arresting climate change deniers. Unlike Michael Mann and Bill Nye and a bunch of AGs, there are those who believe political speech should be protected, and yet also that media organizations should not be immune from the law.

________

 

Watcha gonna do, when Hulkamania runs wild on your hypocrisy?

 

[Valin]

Forbes: Gawker mulling lawsuit against billionaire it outed
Ed Morrissey
June 11, 2016

Could a company sue the person who helped another person sue them? According to Forbes, the now-bankrupt Gawker may try to find out. After losing a $140 million judgment to Hulk Hogan and being forced to declare bankruptcy, the media outlet may launch a lawsuit against billionaire Peter Thiel, who helped bankroll Hogan’s lawsuit. Thiel had looked for ways to get even with Gawker after they tried to out him as gay, so … good luck with a jury trial on this case:

 

(Snip)

 

Thiel’s arrangement with Hogan may have been unusual, but it’s hardly unprecedented. Non-profits have been helping fund and support lawsuits for all sorts of reasons for decades, usually prompted by ideological or partisan gain. The fact that a single individual bankrolled a private lawsuit aimed at a media entity seems to be the source of the biggest outrage, especially on the Left.

 

But what if the situation involved … oh, say, a former mayor of New York offering material support for a lawsuit against a gun manufacturer? It’s certainly both analogous and apt; one involves a First Amendment claim, and the other the Second Amendment. Would the same people have the same objections? I’d guess no, but I’d also hazard a guess that some of the people who are shrugging off this arrangement because of Gawker might not be anywhere near as sanguine about this hypothetical if and when it comes to pass.

 

(Snip)