The radicals at “Occupy Dayton” were not too happy when one of their activists was caught on video shouting: “F*ck the military, f*ck your flag, f*ck the police!”

The video aired at Breitbart.tv and was subsequently picked up across the blogosphere.

In response, the “Media Committee” of Occupy Dayton issued the press release below, in which organizers threaten to sue… someone… for libel:

OccupyDayton1

Occupy Dayton Threat to Sue –

The case that Occupy Dayton relies on, Becker v. Toulmin, 165 Ohio St. 549 (1956), does not have any relevance here. The video merely publishes the activist’s own words, which he stated volubly and in public.

Furthermore, the activist depicted is involved in a matter of public concern, and therefore is a public figure for the purpose of Occupy Dayton. He would therefore have to meet a higher–in this case, impossible–standard of proof.

Neither he, nor Occupy Dayton, has a case.

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Tim Wise posted a bewildering response to Breitbart’s tweets regarding the cross-burning libel. The most embarrassing thing about Wise’s response was that it was written as if Breitbart said Wise was accusing him of burning the cross in front of his Tulane frat house. Wise spends the majority of his piece dismantling an argument that was never made.

But importantly, Wise did manage to work in an apology to Breitbart:

I said some unkind things, about wanting to see him destroyed (politically of course), and lose credibility to such an extent that he was reduced to begging on the street. Was that nice of me? No, and truthfully, I don’t really want to see anyone homeless and starving, as I intemperately suggested; so for the tone of those suggestions, and their content, I actually am sorry.

A touching apology, but why did he leave out the statement that most irritated Breitbart: that he wants his family to suffer? Probably because you can’t say “only kidding” for comments like that. It takes a deranged person to say such a thing, and Wise had no excuse for it, so he left it out.

In regard to the cross-burning accusations, Wise takes the line of reasoning that he was only making a comment about Breitbart’s low standard of proof:

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I hate football. Not as much as I detest baseball and basketball and NASCAR, but the mere thought of sitting in a stadium watching a football match or game or whatever it’s called makes me dream of the sweet release of death. So when I heard that Rush Limbaugh wanted to buy one of these teams or crews or squadrons or whatever they are called, I shook my head. If I had a couple hundred loose mil to spend, it would be on a tropical island, not a bunch of ‘roided-up dudes bashing into each other and preempting my favorite shows. But its Rush’s money and this is America.

Well, it was America. Apparently, that’s changed in the last few days because now it appears that Rush cannot be allowed to spend his own money as he wants to because his political views are unsatisfactory. He’s conservative, and therefore the rights, privileges and immunities or any other American citizen no longer appear apply to him. Just ask Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), who urged the NFL not to allow Rush’s bid to buy some team (The Rams? The Raiders? The Yankees? I really don’t follow this stuff).

Let me get this straight, because this is more disturbing than the thought of having to attend a hockey doubleheader: An American political leader is demanding that a private business not do business with an American citizen because she does not approve of his politics.

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