Quote :

"Iraq Vet Sues Michael Moore for Misleading Interview in 'Fahrenheit 9/11' Thursday , June 01, 2006 By Jennifer Fermino TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — A double-amputee Iraq-war vet is suing Michael Moore for $85 million, claiming he recycled an old interview and used it out of context to make him appear anti-war in "Fahrenheit 9/11." Sgt. Peter Damon, 33, who strongly supports America's invasion of Iraq, said he never agreed to be in the 2004 movie, which trashes President Bush. In the 2003 interview, which he did at Walter Reed Army Hospital for NBC News, he discussed only a new painkiller the military was using on wounded vets. "They took the clip because it was a gut-wrenching scene," Damon said Tuesday. "They sandwiched it in. [Moore] was using me as ammunition." Damon seems to "voice complaint about the war effort" in the movie, according to the lawsuit. But what the father of two from Middleborough, Mass., was really talking about was the "excruciating" pain he felt after he lost his arms when a Black Hawk helicopter exploded in front of him. Damon wasn't expressing any opinion about the war, the suit charges, but rather extolling the drug. "I just want everybody to know what kind of a guy Michael Moore is, and what kind of film this is," said Damon. He has appeared in two films attacking "Fahrenheit" -- "Michael Moore Hates America" and "Fahrenhype 9/11.""

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,197637,00.html

6/3/2006 3:16:10 PM

good for him, i hope he wins. michael moore is all about using shit out of context

6/3/2006 3:19:07 PM

Quote :

""I just want everybody to know what kind of a guy Michael Moore is, and what kind of film this is," said Damon."

so you see, i pretty much HAVE to sue him for 85 million dollars. you know, so everyone knows what kind of guy he is.

and damn dude, the movie came out like 2 years ago, and you're just now getting on this lawsuit?

6/3/2006 3:29:14 PM

^ hahah pwnt!

6/3/2006 3:47:53 PM

This is the reason why I don't do taped interviews.

6/3/2006 3:55:13 PM

I MUST COMBAT MOORE'S DOUCHITUDE WITH MORE DOUCHENESS!

6/3/2006 4:01:26 PM

I know it's hard to quantify, but M&Ms did make money off of misrepresenting this guy and taking what he said out of context. This guy should be able to sue imo, maybe not for so much money though. We as a society shouldn't allow anyone's commentary to be taken out of context for a documentary or news report.

6/3/2006 4:05:15 PM

looks like Rush and almost the entirety of Fox news are going to have problems if that happens.

6/3/2006 4:12:50 PM

Quote :

"Kennedy: Iraq war based on politics WASHINGTON (CNN) --U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, an elder statesman among liberal Democrats, slammed President Bush and his administration for going to war in Iraq based on political considerations. In a speech Wednesday, Kennedy said the decision to invade Iraq was grounded in the "gross abuse of intelligence," an "arrogant disrespect for the United Nations" and the GOP's desire to seize control of both houses of Congress in 2002. The senator from Massachusetts spoke to the Center for American Progress, a liberal advocacy group, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington. He [Ted Kennedy] was flanked by Brian and Alma Hart, whose son John was killed in Iraq, and Army Sgt. Peter Damon, who lost both arms serving in Iraq. Kennedy called the invasion of Iraq "a war of choice, not of necessity" and laid out what he called a timeline of the "drumbeat to war" that he said began in the earliest days of the Bush presidency. In support of his criticism, Kennedy cited recent revelations about Iraq policy by former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill in the Ron Suskind book "The Price of Loyalty" and in TV and magazine interviews. "Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill has now revealed what many of us have long suspected," Kennedy said. "Despite protestations to the contrary, the president and his senior aides began the march to war in Iraq in the earliest days of the administration, long before the terrorists struck this nation on 9/11.""

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/14/kennedy.iraq/

hmmmm....

6/3/2006 6:37:31 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/06/01/fahrenheit.suit/index.html

Funny that CNN didn't include that in their report on the suit.

hmmm...

6/3/2006 6:58:31 PM

Knowing CNN, he was probably up next to speak counter-point

6/3/2006 7:39:44 PM

b.c he rly needs $85 million , the news does this kinda shit all the time.

6/3/2006 7:46:39 PM

well its an outrageous amount, probably his lawyer's doings.....they're probably after a much lesser amount and realize that whatever they do give him (prob in the 1-10 million range) it will look like a lot less than the 85 mil...regardless of the fact that its still a shit ton too much...just playing games

6/3/2006 10:22:43 PM

People constantly sue for outrageous amounts. They know they won't get it, but it makes the news and it gives bad press to the defendants and they decide to settle for say 2-5 million.

While its still too much for this, its more in an acceptable range. Personally, I'd give the guy $500,000 plus legal fees.

6/3/2006 10:49:43 PM

I'd give him whatever he was damaged. What's shit-talking by his vet buddies worth?

6/4/2006 12:00:12 AM

How much could John Kerry sue the Swift Boat Veterans' for?

6/4/2006 12:01:48 AM

that lawsuit has no chance in hell.

6/4/2006 12:08:57 AM

seriously though, when did misleading editing become illegal?

last time i checked saying "that's not what i said" in a national newspaper accomplishes the same thing.

6/4/2006 8:55:14 AM

i bet he wins...just because of all the publicity...

6/4/2006 9:20:57 AM

I don't know too much about the swift boat dealie, but how much of it was them taking John Kerry out of context?

I thought they were just telling their opinions of them, which is in no way the same.

6/4/2006 9:56:47 AM

Quote :

"misleading editing become illegal?"

When it defames the character of the victim, for instance if you take the word "not" out of the statement
"I did not kill that woman"

You've defamed him.

6/4/2006 9:57:48 AM

theres a difference between taking an entire segment a bit out of context and taking out single words. i'm not defending that kinda stuff.

i mean some ppl could construe that the pain of getting your arms blown off might be a bit anti-war, even if you didnt want it to be.

[Edited on June 4, 2006 at 10:13 AM. Reason : .]

6/4/2006 10:11:41 AM

because unless you're conservative, you're not allowed to spin anything

6/4/2006 10:21:37 AM

Look, no one should spin anything. And they should be sued when they do.

Liberal or conservative

6/4/2006 10:27:44 AM

Quote :

" mean some ppl could construe that the pain of getting your arms blown off might be a bit anti-war, even if you didnt want it to be."

Yeah, but here's the thing a lot of the news reports are leaving out. It's not really a war-related injury. A survey of quotes from local papers. I could probably look up the accident to see what exactly happened...

Quote :

"and Army Sgt. Peter Damon, who lost both arms serving in Iraq."

Quote :

"But what [Peter Damon] was really talking about was the "excruciating" pain he felt after he lost his arms when a Black Hawk helicopter exploded in front of him."

Quote :

"[Peter Damon] lost his arms when a tire on a Black Hawk helicopter exploded while he and another reservist were servicing the aircraft on the ground. Another reservist was killed in the explosion."

--http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/entertainment/movies/14709855.htm

I really feel sorry for the guy for losing both of his arms, but this was one of those accidents that could have happened any time, any place.

[Edited on June 4, 2006 at 10:32 AM. Reason : .]

6/4/2006 10:30:22 AM

Quote :

"I don't know too much about the swift boat dealie, but how much of it was them taking John Kerry out of context? I thought they were just telling their opinions of them, which is in no way the same."

No. It's much worse than that. They out and out lied about him.

Quote :

"Republican-funded Group Attacks Kerry's War Record Ad features vets who claim Kerry "lied" to get Vietnam medals. But other witnesses disagree -- and so do Navy records. August 6, 2004 Modified: August 22, 2004 A group funded by the biggest Republican campaign donor in Texas began running an attack ad Aug. 5 in which former Swift Boat veterans claim Kerry lied to get one of his two decorations for bravery and two of his three purple hearts. But the veterans who accuse Kerry are contradicted by Kerry's former crewmen, and by Navy records. One of the accusers says he was on another boat "a few yards" away during the incident which won Kerry the Bronze Star, but the former Army lieutenant whom Kerry plucked from the water that day backs Kerry's account. In an Aug. 10 opinion piece in the conservative Wall Street Journal , Rassmann (a Republican himself) wrote that the ad was "launched by people without decency" who are "lying" and "should hang their heads in shame." And on Aug. 19, Navy records came to light also contradicting the accusers. One of the veterans who says Kerry wasn't under fire was himself awarded a Bronze Star for aiding others "in the face of enemy fire" during the same incident."

http://www.factcheck.org/article231.html

Quote :

"li·bel Audio pronunciation of "libel" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (lbl) n. 1. 1. A false publication, as in writing, print, signs, or pictures, that damages a person's reputation. 2. The act of presenting such material to the public. 2. The written claims presented by a plaintiff in an action at admiralty law or to an ecclesiastical court. tr.v. li·beled, or li·belled li·bel·ing, or li·bel·ling li·bels or li·bels To publish a libel about (a person). See Synonyms at malign."

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=libel

I'd say Kerry would have a great case for a lawsuit.

[Edited on June 4, 2006 at 10:45 AM. Reason : source]

6/4/2006 10:45:10 AM

I don't disagree, but this point is actually much better founded and here's why

The guy who said it can prove it was out of context.

In the swift-boat story you have 1 soldier saying one thing and 1 soldier saying another.
While one may be lying, its word against word and harder to prove.

In this, the guy who said the words says they were out of context and can prove it.

So, while if the swift-boat thing was a lie, it is a suitworthy case, its just a little foggier than this.

6/4/2006 12:06:23 PM

how can you prove the intent of what this guy said?

has anyone shown the "unedited" footage?

6/4/2006 12:42:18 PM

Were they quotes taken out of context or were they quotes put into a different context by the juxtaposition?

6/4/2006 1:49:23 PM

Quote :

"I'd say Kerry would have a great case for a lawsuit. "

Unfortunately for Kerry, he doesn't. Being a public figure make a libel and slander case much much much harder to prosecute. Else Bush would have a case against 50% of america.

6/4/2006 5:01:05 PM

gg Peter Damon

6/4/2006 6:40:23 PM

Quote :

"June 01"

Quote :

"6/3/2006"

6/4/2006 11:37:27 PM

?

[Edited on June 5, 2006 at 12:00 AM. Reason : .]

6/5/2006 12:00:03 AM

Quote :

"and damn dude, the movie came out like 2 years ago, and you're just now getting on this lawsuit?"

How long would it take you to put a DVD in without arms???!!!


Huh tough guy???!!!!

6/5/2006 1:12:35 AM

hate to sound overly cynical...
but this just sounds like some guy is hard up for money and has found a convenient excuse to sue somebody...
otherwise why wait so long?
especially since the firestorm about Moore using people's words out of context died down 2 years ago...
that or he's just timing it to happen around the midterm elections...

6/5/2006 9:47:52 AM

Quote :

"Lawyer Dennis Lynch said he took the case last year and they held off filing the lawsuit in a bid to settle the matter. "We attempted to resolve the situation amicably with Mr. Moore [for a year] but he refused," he said."

Not that it isn't possible that he's just holding out for more money, but that sort of thing isn't uncommon.

6/5/2006 11:32:30 AM

Quote :

"good for him, i hope he wins. michael moore is all about using shit out of context"

6/6/2006 10:03:15 PM

Quote :

"and damn dude, the movie came out like 2 years ago, and you're just now getting on this lawsuit?"

The guy's a double-amputee... it takes him longer to get stuff done. Have a heart.

6/7/2006 3:36:05 PM

plus i'm sure it has taken time to get the case together... not 2 years, but still some time to prepare.

6/8/2006 1:20:21 PM

^^that jokes already been made, but, good try

6/8/2006 1:58:25 PM