2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumPeter Thiel going to speak tonight thinks giving women the right to vote ruined America
bluedye33139
(1,474 posts)They probably deferred to him as the "most educated'ed" person there.
senseandsensibility
(17,215 posts)I somehow don't think he'd want to give up his rights that the repugs are so against. But he could care less if anyone else gets theirs?
NCTraveler
(30,481 posts)MiniMe
(21,722 posts)MattP
(3,304 posts)sarae
(3,284 posts)and he's a huge dickhead.
http://gawker.com/this-is-why-billionaire-peter-thiel-wants-to-end-gawker-1778734026
bluedye33139
(1,474 posts)Gawker's staff targeted gay men that Nick Denton doesn't like, and their outing campaigns tend to be very vile and very hateful. The attacks on Geithner, for instance -- Thiel is a terrible person, but the Gawker Media attacks on his sexuality were and are odd. Let's not look upon Gawker as some kind of positive force or innocent party here.
sarae
(3,284 posts)But I don't think a billionaire should be able to do what he did. What if it wasn't Gawker that he targeted?
bluedye33139
(1,474 posts)If he had gone after another sleazy gossip site with a hundred potential lawsuits floating in the air around it, I would potentially have had more respect for that other sleazy gossip site, absent a history of attacking gay men for being gay.
sarae
(3,284 posts)bluedye33139
(1,474 posts)I apologize for not remaining entirely within the lines of your discourse.
sarae
(3,284 posts)I've been watching the RNC coverage too long...
sarae
(3,284 posts)I'm just pointing out that it worries me that a billionaire with a personal vendetta can get away with bankrupting whoever he wants.
I meant no offense, sorry.
bluedye33139
(1,474 posts)but am *way* less concerned about a news site being assessed awards during a jury trial following the law of the land. Thiel is repulsive, but Gawker opened itself up to litigation by its own conduct, no?
kcr
(15,326 posts)First of all, the notion that people open themselves up to whatever retaliatory measures others feel they should be able to take is wrong. The ideal of "fair game" is used by some very evil entities to justify very bad behavior. And Peter Thiel is not doing this for the GLBT community. Second of all, I am concerned when billionaires fund lawsuits for third parties to further their own agenda, particularly parties who didn't sue others for the same transgression as is the case that is bankrupting Gawker. It should be illegal. You might not like Gawker, but check out what happens when it's used against decent people. Really, you should reconsider supporting such tactics. http://www.motherjones.com/media/2015/10/mother-jones-vandersloot-melaleuca-lawsuit
bluedye33139
(1,474 posts)Mmmkay. Thiel was targeted by Gawker in an outing campaign, and they kept up 4 years mocking his homosexuality. This is literally true.
He then paid the legal fees for someone who wanted to sue Gawker.
A trial then resulted in a large settlement.
Are you proposing a law requiring all lawsuits to be paid for only by the person filing the suit? This is your beliefs? This is your goal? This is insane!
Thiel is a fool and a freak, but he literally did nothing wrong. Unless you want to create this new rule in law, that all lawsuits must be funded by the person filing them.
sarae
(3,284 posts)But I still feel Thiel's in the wrong, too.
riversedge
(70,441 posts)Hillary Clinton ?@HillaryClinton 3h3 hours ago
This week in 1848, the Seneca Falls Convention declared that women deserve equal rights.
Short gif video at link
https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/755858863300026368