Should Obama Sue?

The Obama Nation, a new book about Obama from the guy behind Unfit for Command, is full of lies.

Usually a public figure will not sue for defamation for 2 reasons: (1) it increases the profile of the defamatory statement; and (2) it is likely to be unsuccessful.

The first reason may not apply here because the book is already a bestseller sure to be used by the conservative noise machine.

The second reason is grounded in the fact that, while an ordinary person need only prove the falsity of the statement, the Supreme Court has held in NY Times v. Sullivan that a public figure has to also prove that the statement was made with actual malice (i.e. knowledge of the falsity or reckless disregard for the truth). Obama has enough money that he need not really care whether he wins so long as the public relations result is to effectively challenge the accuracy of the book. Also, I suspect that actual malice could be proven here. The author has made no secret of the fact that his goal is to destroy Obama.

I would probably conclude that the risk of seeming whiny and overly litigious outweighs the potential benefits of filing suit, but I don't know that Obama should automatically reject the idea of a lawsuit.

Here is Obama's 40 page response.