He’s suing — yes suing — Sy Hersh, in Britain, where he won’t be hindered by that annoying First Amendment of ours.
Perle’s not British. Hersh isn’t British. The New Yorker certainly isn’t a British publication. Perle just thinks he has a better chance of winning there:
Britain has the most repressive libel laws on earth. American companies come here to silence their critics – they know they have a better chance of suing a magazine in Britain than in the US, even if it only sells a tiny number of copies over here. In America, public figures seeking damages must show that the published information was maliciously fabricated. Here, by contrast, the burden of proof is carried by the defendant. Available only to the rich, our libel laws are a devastatingly effective means of silencing the cries of the excluded.
When I look back at my work over the years, there’s usually a particular cartoon that sums up what I felt about the times we were going through. I have a feeling that “Outrage Overload” is going to be that cartoon for these years.
Here’s the article Richard “I don’t need your steenking Constitution” Perle doesn’t want you to read. Link to it, pass it around, email it to your friends. That’s one way these libel cases can backfire — by bringing more attention to the article than it would ever have received otherewise.