Salon: Unfit for Bookstores (Withdraw Books)

[kskiska]

The Kerry campaign calls on a conservative publisher to withdraw book after the Washington Post torpedoes the veracity of a Swift boat veteran.

The Kerry campaign has told Salon that the publisher of "Unfit for Command," the book that is at the center of the attack on Kerry's military record by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, is retailing a hoax and should consider withdrawing it from bookstores. "No publisher should want to be selling books with proven falsehoods in them, especially falsehoods that are meant to smear the military service of an American veteran," said Kerry campaign spokesman Chad Clanton. "If I were them, I'd be ducking under my desk wondering what to do. This is a serious problem."

Even some uncomfortable Republicans might breathe a sigh a relief if "Unfit for Command" were to vanish from bookstores: "I don't think the Swift Boat Veterans are helping the Republican cause," Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., remarked on CNN Thursday.

Yanking the title may seem unlikely given the fact that Regnery Publishing, the conservative shop that is home to fire-breathing right-wing partisans like Ann Coulter and David Limbaugh, is behind the book. Thanks to the big-spending campaign of the Republican veterans group, which is bankrolled by major Bush contributors, the book has already hit bestseller lists and is sure to turn a big profit.

But there is a long-standing tradition by reputable publishers of withdrawing titles that prove to be hoaxes or frauds. Just last month Random House's Australian unit was forced to pull an international bestseller after it was determined to be a fabrication. The book, "Forbidden Love," allegedly detailed the death of a Jordanian woman, murdered by her Muslim father after he discovered she was seeing a Christian man. After questions were raised, an internal investigation by Random House concluded the book was a fraud.

more…
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/08/19/swiftbook/index.html

[Cha]

1. Those smut peddlers have a lot of Lies out there...

so I don't think they are going to be withdrawing anything. That's their MO..they believe that whatever it takes to win is par for the course.

And as for that book that random house had to withdraw.."Forbidden Love"..in hindsite..the author should have wrote it as fiction!

[Warpy]

2. Regenery Publishing is just one more of those spider webs

that all seem to lead to all the big spiders at the heart of the social conservative/racist/aristocratic right wing web. Don't expect them to withdraw this bit of libel, and don't expect them to apologize for it. Do expect men like Scaife to fund a platoon of lawyers to defend them against a lawsuit, should Kerry and his crewmates bring one.

[smada]

3. I still believe in freedom of speech

and don't like anyone trying to steamroll a book off of bookstore shelves. It's a little too "Big Brother" and book burning era for me.

I say let them say what they will and let the chips fall where they may. If the charges are false, the truth will come out. We don't need to be advocating de facto censorship.

[shraby]

4. It should be labeled and dewey decimaled as

fiction if they want to keep it on the shelves. If it sold as fact, 25-50 years or so down the road someone will buy it and think it's fact and it will end up in historian's books written about this era.

[CarolynEC]

5. Freedom of speech does not inlcude slander (n/t)

[smada]

7. Slander is a legal term

if it's slander, Kerry needs to take it to court and have it declared so by a judge and jury. Until then, calling it slander is only an allegation. I don't favor lowering the bar so that anyone can be shut up just by accusing them of slander.

[CarolynEC]

10. Uh, what about appealing to the conscience of a publisher?

Are certain vocabulary words off-limits when attempting that?

These thugs may have no conscience at all, but that's a separate issue. JK can take 'em to court if he chooses, but that's a separate issue, too.

Just spare me the sanctimonious word-police routine the meantime, wouldya?

[Name removed]

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[1monster]

9. It's not "freedom of speech" ... it's LIBEL

and therefore, it should be withdrawn.

Main Entry: <1>li·bel
Pronunciation: 'lI-b&l
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, written declaration, from Middle French, from Latin libellus, diminutive of liber book
Date: 14th century
1 a : a written statement in which a plaintiff in certain courts sets forth the cause of action or the relief sought b : archaic : a handbill especially attacking or defaming someone
2 a : a written or oral defamatory statement or representation that conveys an unjustly unfavorable impression b (1) : a statement or representation published without just cause and tending to expose another to public contempt (2) : defamation of a person by written or representational means (3) : the publication of blasphemous, treasonable, seditious, or obscene writings or pictures (4) : the act, tort, or crime of publishing such a libel

[Happy Eddie]

8. What books have been withdrawn because of lies?

Arming America took a lot of flak, and a revised edition was brought out, but I'm pretty sure it was never withdrawn. Was there a book about * that was withdrawn? Any others that DUers can think of?

I'm pretty much in agreement with Smada on this one. There are ways of proving the inaccuracy of a book, and implicating the morality of the publisher, but I don't want the Unfit contretemps to start a pissing contest in which, for instance, Big Lies is shredded en masse because some Replonk fact-checker finds a mistake. A lot of books have mistakes. There are good ways of making the Tom Swifties look like fools without too overtly defending censorship.

[CarolynEC]

11. There's a huge difference between a mistake in a book...

... and entire book being based on lies.

Really, people, this absolutist point of view is clouding your judgement.