Does Political Punditry Have a Shelf Life?

(Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

A failure to recognize an approaching hurricane or a prediction of an apocalyptic snowstorm that proves to be a light dusting are solid indicators that a television meteorologist may soon undergo a career change.

How many swings and misses are boob tube political pundits allowed before a network strips them of their titles and reclaims their ouija boards?

It's an understatement to say that it was a bad night for The Fox News Channel's triumvirate of fair & balanced prognosticators regarding President Barack Obama's relection.

Fox commentator Newt Gingrich, who called Mitt Romney a "vulture capitalist" when he competed against him during the GOP primaries for the party's presidential nomination, nonetheless had predicted a Romney victory in which Romney would capture more than 300 Electoral College votes. On the Wednesday morning talk show circuit, Newt conceded his prediction was wrong, but based on high unemployment figures, expensive gasoline and his reliance on a "historical (voters') pattern." If a history professor like Gingrich can misread historical patterns, can any of us be safe?

Meanwhile, former pollster turned Fox commentator Dick Morris, who had predicted a "landslide" victory for Romney in the popular vote and a garnering or more than 325 Electoral College votes, this morning on talk shows was also astute enough to admit he was incorrect, but attributed his faulty prediction to his reliance on a 2008 voting model that no longer exists.  "TUOL" can imagine an exchange between Morris and Gingrich in the Green Room before their respective appearances on gabfests this morning (Morris: "I can't believe you're a history professor and you didn't tell me that Latinos and people of color were eligible to vote!")

Finally, independent Fox commentator Karl Rove, whose Super PACS raised millions of dollars toward Romney's election, had a Norma Desmond moment on Fox News last night during which he berated colleagues Megyn Kelly and Bret Baier on-air for declaring Obama the winner and assigning blue state status to Ohio too soon.

Apparently, Fox News doesn't require that its pundits be right provided that they're "far right."

UPDATE: SLAPPing a Birther: Judge Tosses Defamation Suit Against Esquire

In a 20-page Memorandum of Decision in Joseph Farah et al. v. Esquire Magazine et al. (Case No. 11-cv-1179), United States District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Rosemary Collyer this week dismissed a defamation suit brought by a publisher and the author of a book questioning President Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship against Esquire magazine over a satirical post (see "TUOL" post 7/6/11).

Farah, creator of WorldNetDaily.com and political science Ph.D. and professed investigative reporter Jerome Corsi, author of Where's the Birth Certificate? The Case That Barack Obama Is Not Eligible to Be President, sued Esquire magazine and blog poster Mark Warren for defamation, false light invasion of privacy, interference with business relations and violation of the Lanham Act [15 U.S.C. sec. 1125(a)], seeking $285 million in actual, compensatory and punitive damages over a post in the Politics Blog of Esquire.com that appeared May 18, 2011.

The plaintiffs support the position of  the so-called "Birthers" who believe President Obama does not satisfy the requirement set forth in Article II, Sec. 1 of the U.S. Constitution that a president be a Natural born citizen or U.S. citizen. Soon after President Obama released his long-form birth certificate from Hawaii, Warren wrote a post headlined: BREAKING: Jerome Corsi's Birther Book Pulled from Shelves!. Two hours after his intial post, Esquire published another item noting that Warren's piece was intended as satire.

In her decision, Judge Collyer said the Lanham Act count was inapplicable because it covers only commercial speech, not non-commercial satirical content such as the Warren post. She granted the defendants' motion to dismiss the suit under Washington, D.C.'s anti-SLAPP ("Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation") statute enacted in 2010 [D.C. Code sec. 16-5501], which enables a party to fend off lawsuits filed by one side of a political or public policy debate in an attempt to stifle speech presenting an opposing view.

The judge noted that satire is protected First Amendment speech and that the blog post at issue was clearly satire because it was denoted as humor, contained an exaggerated, decidedly un-newslike headline sporting an exclamation point, and used the same siren logo employed by conservative blogger Matt Drudge. Judge Collyer also pointed out that Dr. Corsi himself had originally dismissed Warren's post as a poor attempt at satire.

The plaintiffs' attorney reportedly plans to appeal the dismissal.

Instagram: Just Add President Obama Pix and Wait,,,

Image via CrunchBaseTrying to woo young voters with his hipness, social mediaphile President Barack Obama has added to his Twitter, Facebook and Flickr online presence by joining the photo-sharing network Instagram, according to Politico.

The Politico post, written by former Boston Globe political scribe and current Politico White House reporter Donovan Slack, notes that President Obama's initial contribution to Instagram is an informal photo of  him addressing Iowa Caucus supporters through a video link (naturally) from the Capitol Hilton. President Obama has developed social media expertise, which is fitting, because an obstructionist Congress has boxed him into a virtual presidency.

Esquire Magazine Humor Piece Gives Birth to Defamation Suit

Image via WikipediaThe U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia will hear Joseph Farah, Jerome Corsi et al. v. Esquire Magazine, Inc. et al. (Case No. 1:11-cv-01179), a defamation case arising from a humor article by writer Mark Warren that targets the author of a book questioning the citizenship of President Barack Obama.

As reported by Forbes Magazine, the plaintiffs' Complaint seeks more than $285 million in damages and includes counts alleging defamation, false light invasion of privacy, violation of the Lanham Act and interference with business relations. Farah, WorldNetDaily.com CEO, and Corsi, who wrote Where's the Birth Certificate? The Case That Barack Obama Is Not Eligible to Be President, say they were damaged by Warren's parody that Esquire published May 18, 2011.

Headlined: BREAKING! Jerome Corsi's Birther Book Pulled from Shelves, Warren's piece appeared shortly after President Obama released his long-form birth certificate, defusing all but the most devout followers of the so-called birther movement that maintained the president was not native-born and, thus, ineligible to serve as Commander in Chief. Subsequently, Esquire posted an update on its Website in which it stated, in part: "We committed satire this morning to point out the problems with selling and marketing a book that had its core premise and reason to exist gutted by the news cycle, several weeks in advance of publication."

Satire has proved a successful defense against defamation in the past, as The Rev. Jerry Falwell learned when he sued Hustler Magazine in the '80s. The plaintiffs, who have not been mollified by President Obama's birth certificate, however,  are nothing if not persistent, so stay tuned.

NYT: Facebook "Likes" Gibbs

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThe New York Times reports today that Palo Alto, Calif.-based social network goliath Facebook hopes to land former Obama White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs for a senior slot to manage the company's communications.

Gibbs, 40, left the Obama Administration in February 2011, after serving two years as press secretary. Facebook has yet to make a formal offer to Gibbs, who was communications director during Barack Obama's senate and presidential campaigns.

Although his name has surfaced as a candidate to chair the Democratic National Committee, Gibbs would cash in were he to join Facebook, where he would likely receive a hefty salary and shares in the company ahead of Facebook's anticipated Initial Public Offering in 2012. Before he was purportedly poked by Facebook, Gibbs was expected to play a prominent role in President Obama's re-election campaign.

Although many members of the White House press corps would just as soon "de-friend" Gibbs, that he knows his way around the Washington, D.C. corridors of power would be an asset to Facebook, which has bolstered its lobbying efforts before the FTC and Defense Intelligence Agency, the Times reports.

'Transparent' Obama Admin's Opaque Policy on Releasing Lists

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President Barack Obama, whose campaign pledged transparency and promised to shine a light on the daily workings of government, has so far continued his predecessor's battle against releasing lists of influential visitors to the White House, and been less forthcoming than President George W. Bush in disclosing the members of their respective Supreme Court Judicial candidate's hearing prep teams.

In 2006, President Bush provided the names of 38 individuals who helped now Justice Samuel P. Alito, Jr., steel himself for the grilling he received at his nomination hearings. Those who helped Justice Alito rehearse his insightful answers to questions from Senators ("I won't speculate about an issue that may come before the Court") included former Solicitor General Theodore Olson and White House Asst. Counsel Benjamin Powell. Sen. Russ Feingold (D.-Wisc.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had requested such a list.

In contrast, an Email from a spokesperson for the Obama Administration said no such list would be forthcoming of individuals who helped Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor prepare her insightful answers to questions from Senators ("I won't speculate about an issue that may come before the Court"). The Email cited no statutory basis or presidential privilege to support its stance, other than to state: "'fly-on-the-wall' stories aren't our style."

Meanwhile, the Secret Service has invoked the so-called "presidential communications privilege" oft-relied on by President Bush, as its grounds for refusing to produce a list of health industry executives who visited the White House. A government watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) requested of the Secret Service information concerning representatives of drug manufacturers, doctors and health insurers with whom the White House has met regarding its health care reform proposals. CREW plans to file suit against the Obama Administration for the release of the visitor logs. See "TUOL" 6/16/09 regarding CREW lawsuit for the release of White House visitor logs since January 2009.