Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what’s a heaven for?
I don’t think Robert Browning’s exhortation has been lost on the birthers. They’ve grasped in the form of over 200 lawsuits, attempts to rally millions to the nation’s capitol and to sway both the electorate and Congress—none with much of any success.
On the legal front, they have been stymied by the lack of standing. In federal court, unless some statute gives leave, an individual can only bring a lawsuit when they can show standing. To show standing, a plaintiff must allege (1) an “injury-in-fact” that is “concrete and particularized,” and “actual or imminent.” While Donald Trump using his celebrity and the power of the media was able to get Barack Obama to release a copy of his birth certificate, Orly Taitz (et al) was not able to do this through the courts because her interest in the President’s birth certificate is not “concrete and particularized.” Despite what she might believe, she’s nothing special.
While not a birther lawsuit, there is a current lawsuit of interest involving a birther attorney, Larry Klayman, who has made a very great reach suing no less than:
Randall L. Stephenson, AT&T, Jason Katz, Palalk, Marissa Meyer, Yahoo! Inc., Tim Armstrong, AOL, Tony Bates, Steve Ballmer, Skype, Microsoft, Apple, Timothy Cook, Salar Kamangar, YouTube, LLC, Larry Page, Google Inc., Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Department Of Justice of the United States, National Security Agency, Keith B. Alexander, Barack Hussein Obama, II, Eric Holder, Sprint Communications Company and Daniel Heese.
So is Klayman attempting to grasp onto the publicity teat of the Edward Snowden revelations about NSA intelligence gathering, or does he have a point?
Klayman and his three co-plaintiffs are attempting what is called a “class action.” A class action allows multiple people to sue multiple people when the cause of action is similar. So how is this type of suit different from the typical ones with the issue of standing? Class actions at the federal level (such as Klayman v. Holder) are governed by FRCP 23 and 28 U.S.C.A. § 1332(d). Here I rely on my legal degree, De Facto Juris Doctor Pro Hac Vice, which lets me look up stuff on the Wikipedia and act as if I know what I am talking about. In my inexpert guy on the Internet opinion, I don’t think that a class action overcomes the issue of standing at all. If no member of the class has standing, the class doesn’t have standing.
Class action privacy lawsuits have been around for some time, going back to a suit against DoubleClick, Inc. over tracking cookies. That case was settled out of court. The question then and now is the whether the loss of privacy is harm when there is no concrete injury. In the case of Low v. LinkedIn, the court said: “Plaintiff was unable to articulate a theory of what information had actually been transmitted to third parties, how it had been transferred to third parties, and how LinkedIn had actually caused him harm.” It would seem to me that the same sort of problem occurs with Klayman’s class action against the NSA (et al) in that he cannot show how the information collected actually damaged him or his co-defendants, nor does he even know that any information was collected on him.
What is interesting is that up to this point, the last thing I thought about doing was reading Klayman’s argument. I trust the legal discussions in the Wikipedia much more than I would Larry Klayman. My trust may be correctly placed, but ignoring what the crackpot says is never a good idea.
According to a paper at Bloomberg Law (that readers here may find instructive), there are two emerging theories of injury, “statutory injury” and “fear as injury.” It would seem that statutory injury is the most promising approach, a violation by the government of a protected right. Arguments based on direct appeal to the Constitution have not worked well in the past (Klayman here invokes the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments), but also invokes 18 U.S.C. §2702 (a)(1) that deals with the “contents of a communication” and tries to make it apply to “records of communications,” a dubious gambit.
The case was filed in June and the docket is up 29 entries. I don’t see an entry suggesting that the class has been certified by the Court. Oh by the way, Klayman wants $20 billion. For that kind of money, he should have showed up at the Status Conference (but he didn’t).
The opinions expressed in this article should not be considered legal advice. I am not a lawyer.
References:
“Oh by the way, Klayman wants $20 billion.”
Apparently those WND donations aren’t materializing? Lots of money is needed for the start of the next American revolution. 😉
KKKlayman is even more disgusting than Dr. Taitz. He knows what he tries to do. Just never shows up.
He is a guy who neither has a gun nor does he travel. Doesn’t have the money to pay the fare (that is what he told the court in his child molesting case.) Yes, a child molester. That is something no one ever accused Dr. Taitz of.
I could not agree more.
I used to see him on Bill Maher’s POLITICALLY INCORRECT show way back when (during the Clinton impeachment says) and I don’t recall ever seeing such a loathsome guest. Even Witchy Witch and Right-Wing Floyd were more sympathetic. Coulter was appalling in a harpy-sort of way, but not loathsome. Klayman was truly despicable.
Neither is Corsi’s big $250 million case against Esquire. Add “WND will own Esquire when this is over” to the list of my favourite claims that never came to be.
Well…. almost no one. 😉
I see what smiley you used.
But to be sincere: I have watched Dr. Taitz for much too long. Sometimes I can’t bear her any longer. So I send her insulting posts sometimes. She is unable to block me – all her internets belong to me. She has to notice / read them before she deletes.
Knowing her personality, I am sure that she “abused” her sons in a very wide sense. But she surely did not sexually molest them, like KKKlayman did with his daughter.
isn’t today 11/19/2013?
klayman said on September 23, 2013:
On November 19, 2013, a day that will hopefully live on in the history of our once great republic, I call upon millions of Americans who have been appalled and disgusted by Obama’s criminality – his Muslim, socialist, anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, anti-white, pro-illegal immigrant, pro-radical gay and lesbian agenda – among other outrages, to descend on Washington, D.C., en masse, and demand that he leave town and resign from office if he does not want to face prison time.
http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/klayman/130923
Larry Klayman puts his money where his mouth is: Date set for revolution
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/page/301734_Larry_Klayman_puts_his_money_w
AND on november 15, 2013: Larry Klayman and Friends to Give Obama ‘Last Chance’ on Nov. 19
In his Nov. 1 WorldNetDaily column calling on left and right to unite at his Nov. 19 rally, Klayman wrote: “[T] he nation’s ‘leaders’ are so corrupt that it is no longer a question of whether revolution will ultimately break out, but simply when. In the words of French King Louis XV, ‘Apres moi le deluge,’ meaning let the people be damned, and after me I don’t care if all hell breaks loose. Indeed, this came to pass when French citizens stormed the Bastille on July 14, 1789, and King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, in addition to the king’s noble court, government officials and judges, were later taken to the guillotines.”
He continued, “This is the last chance for Obama and his Democratic and Republican enablers to escape more serious remedies by the populace.”
http://splcenter.org/blog/2013/11/15/larry-klayman-and-friends-to-give-obama-last-chance-on-nov-19/
So if this is the “last chance”, does that mean he’ll stop after it fails?
Andrew Vrba, PmG:
In the end, no more than a hundred people showed up for today’s big event.
Nevertheless, Klayman told Tea Party activists that he is still confident that the Reclaim American Now rally will force the president to resign and that grateful Americans will beseech Klayman and his allies to organize a new Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
Below are some of our favorite pictures from the revolution.
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/larry-klayman-rally-overthrow-obama-draws-slightly-fewer-millions-expected
Doesn’t it go until late this afternoon……6 or so?
Any hour now!!
Stalinist propaganda 101 sez: “Huge success, we were only a few million short of our goal.” 😉
KKKlayman: “To the tens of people in attendance, and the billions who are with us in spirit around the whole White, uh, wide world…”
Stop? That’s what’s called a “fat chance.”
Apparently Klayman has extended his deadline to the day after Thanksgiving. I’m sure that Obama is changing his holiday plans as we speak.
A comment at the 2 Million Bikers Facebook page:
Beverly Morrison; where is everyone. I had hoped we would have something like the egyptians when they threw out morsi. How sad that more people aren’t there.
One can take in the Klayman Katastrophe from this live feed:
http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/11/watch-larry-klaymans-reclaim-american-live-video/#0wP04t3jzm5E9E06.99%22
I can’t wait to hear Bradlee Dean! He’s just an elegant monologist.
looking at those photos, anything near 100 is somewhat optimistic
Oh, it does warm the cockles of my heart to see a birther rally fail so hard. One hundred is a pretty optimistic number! The on-screen zombie count, for the Wii version of Dead Rising has more characters on the screen at one time than any of these photos.
Course they behave about the same way. Just standing there, looking stupid.
This will be photoshopped into a glorious million man march on WND. What a hoot!
I notice one of the photos of Klayman is captioned, “God is behind Larry Klayman.”
Since God is obtrusively everywhere, this statement cannot mean that God occupies only space beyond the place where Klayman is seen ranting, as seen from this camera angle.
Since Larry Klayman is undeniably, a “behind”, as in “ass whole”, I take it that the caption’s author thinks Klayman IS GOD, so the caption seems to argue that God is ass whole Larry Klayman.
Close enough!
Less than 100 people by my estimate. Go Larry, Go!
Where were Zoo-Lowe and Arpaio? Are they getting a little nervous about their association with the antics of the one man Revolution?
Yep, this is the guy who has their daffydavits earmarked for the Alabama Supreme Court. What a hoot!
They’re gonna need ILM’s help in a big way, to get even half the number of people they were hoping for.
He wants $20 billion to finance the revolution. The only problem is, once the revolution starts and he takes over the government…the previous regime’s money won’t have any value, will it?
So what’s he going to do with the worthless paper? Cover his walls?
He’ll convert the funds into “KlayArpLos,” the true definition of “funny money.”
more on klayman’s “revolution”:The wingnut revolution is upon us. Oops, no, you missed it.
Approximately 100 conservative activists gathered in front of the White House on Tuesday for a kickoff of what organizers call “the second American revolution.”
Freedom Watch founder Larry Klayman, who emceed the event, told attendees if President Barack Obama does not resign by Nov. 29, conservative activists will meet in Philadelphia to elect a shadow government.
Two people per state? That’s not a revolution, that’s a Senate.
Bishop Dan Johnson of the Heart of Fire Church in Louisville, Ky., prayed with ralliers, asking God to “cause [elected officials] to get on their knees, not to Allah, but to God almighty.” In his prayer, Johnson denounced homosexuality, permissive parenting, pornography and welfare.
“We have a scoundrel living in that building,” [Former Rep. Bob Barr] said, pointing at the White House, “and need to do something about it.”
http://www.dailykos.com/
The new declaration says Obama must “immediately step down from his usurped office and seek refuge in a nation more of his liking.” Grievances against Obama include gun-control proposals, immigration reform agitation, a departure from “Biblical morality,” alleged help for al-Qaida associates in the Middle East, an allegedly fabricated birth certificate and executive actions that loop around Congress.
Activists seek to dissolve the United States until Obama is forced from office.
“He’s kind of like a skunk,” one attendee joked. “He’s half white, half black, and everything he does stinks.”
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/11/19/conservative-activists-plan-to-elect-shadow-president-if-obama-doesnt-resign-by-black-friday
At least now we know who wants to destroy America.
Buy Bitcoins?
Media Matters has a worthwhile report on yesterday’s epic fail.
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/11/20/second-american-revolution-rally-falls-999870-p/196994
Thanks for the link … looks like LARP for wingnuts, esp. the bit about electing a new gov’t in Phillie LOL
Mustachio Joe is starting to look old. This whole birther gag really is getting long in the tooth 😉
Another common crank MO – once they’ve been unsuccessful for long enough, they simply declare themselves the new rulers of their own little dream world.
In my country, there are at least three right-wing “shadow governments”, each led by some old white guy who loves to call himself “President of the Reich” (they call each other “traitors” of course because “there can be only one” ;)).
The next step is usually some made-up court sending out “verdicts” containing long jail and even death sentences.
—–
Ah, but birtherdom’s reach should exceed its grasp,
Or what’s a doorknob for?