Thursday, August 27, 2009

Tort Reform...

Through all of the healthcare "debate" I've seen a few common things. One of those is tort reform. These days, the American people sue over anything. If we want to bring the price of healthcare down, we need to stop suing our doctors over everything, especially for MILLIONS. Oops, your dentist did your root canal wrong. Sue 'em for 15 million.

Or this one. Suing a comedian because she tells mother in law jokes? Ya gotta be jokin'...(pun intended)...

LOS ANGELES -- Veteran comedian Sunda Croonquist has had a lot of success with her "mother-in-law" jokes, but her mother-in-law isn't laughing.In fact, she's suing the comic for making her the butt of too many jokes.The lawsuit was filed by Ruth Zafrin, her daughter, Shelley Edelman, and Shelley's husband, Neil.

They're accusing Croonquist of spreading false, defamatory and racist lies with her in-law jokes that have become a staple of her routine in nightclubs and on television channels like Comedy Central.

Croonquist knows all too well about culture clashes -- she's half-black, half-Swedish, grew up Roman Catholic and married into a Jewish family. She has joked about her first visit to her mother-in-law's house, saying: "I walk in, I say, 'Thank you so much for having me here, Ruthie.' She says, 'The pleasure's all mine, have a seat."' Then, in a loud aside, 'Harriet, put my pocketbook away."'Then there's the one about her mother-in-law's reaction to news she was pregnant with her first child: "OK, now that we know you're having a little girl I want to know what you're naming that little tchotchke. Now we don't want a name that's difficult to pronounce like Shaniqua. We're thinking a name short but delicious.Like Hadassah or Goldie."

Croonquist said there was a time when her in-laws would laugh with everyone else at the black-member-of-a-Jewish-family jokes."They played my tape at Passover one year, and they loved it!" she said.But things changed after the comedian posted information on her Web site, promoting upcoming gigs in New Jersey.

According to her in-laws, the information allowed pretty much anyone to figure out their identities.They sued in April in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, where they live.The action seeks unspecified damages and demands that Croonquist remove any offensive statements from her Web site, routines and recordings.Croonquist says she would drop any language her family finds offensive, but refuses to pay any settlement.Her lawyer has filed a motion to have the suit dismissed, and a judge is scheduled to hear it on Sept. 8.

Croonquist, who lives in Beverly Hills, is being represented by her husband's law firm.She says it should be obvious to her in-laws that she's not anti-Jewish since she converted to Judaism before she met her husband and keeps a kosher house.Attorney Gary L. Bostwick, an expert in First Amendment law who isn't involved in the case, said suing a comedian is often difficult because courts tend to rule that it should be obvious they are joking.

10 comments:

Pamela Zydel said...

James: Our country has turned into one big “Sue Fest”. I partly blame the Lawyers because they encourage some of these law suits and class actions suits. Also, I think the judges should throw some of these stupid cases out of the court room.

And after every one of these stupid cases, the companies have to place warning labels and disclaimers on their products.

“Do not iron clothes on body” --On packaging for an iron
“Do not eat toner” --On a toner cartridge for a laser printer

And my all time favorite... “Keep out of eyes”--Nail polish remover

Crap. I painted my eyes last night! Now how am I gonna change the color????

Are people REALLY this stupid? Wait...don’t answer that. I really don’t want to know the answer.

Joe "Truth 101" Kelly said...

WEird. I have a cousin in Los Angeles who is a comedienne. The few times I've seen her act on TV and You Tube I thought she would be better if she poked more fun at our family.

Now I know why she doesn't.

James' Muse said...

Pam, my favorite was the one on the package of peanuts on my last flight: "Allergy Warning: Package contains nuts"

Pamela Zydel said...

Oh James THAT one is ROFL! Like DUH! What's supposed to be in a bag of peanuts? Coffee beans?

Or what about this one from a box of sleeping pills: "May cause drowsiness." Ya think?

Truth: I guess maybe your cousin weighed the pros and cons and decided there are just too many lawyers. That's ashame, because family stories are so funny! I make fun of mine all the time!

Lynne said...

I think history proves over and over again that hate and bigotry have to be confronted. Glenn Beck’s fan base is quite large enough that the withdrawal of people like us wouldn't matter anyway.

More than just the danger of his rants corrupting democracy with disinformation, he is as likely as not to incite someone to violence, which he will then and successfully blame on his "enemies" and thus incite to more violence. Glenn Beck is a very dangerous person.

James' Muse said...

Okay...but what does that have to do with my post?

Buck Ofama said...

James: Why don't you just delete the off-topic posts? I'm no big Glen Beck fan, but I can't stand to read BS like Lynne's comment and let it stand without rebuttal.

Lynne: Have YOU confronted the hate and bigotry on the left? No one is any more hateful than Keith Olbermann. Instead of calling Glen Beck names, why don't you cite something untruthful that he has said and try to intellectually prove its falsehood? I challenge you to do so on your blog then open it up for all to read and debate.

James' Muse said...

Buck: I wanted to give her a chance to defend herself. If people insist on being off topic, I may delete them. May.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Buck Ofama said...why didn't you delete Lynne's stupid comment. You seem to delete all others that you deem stupid! Why not that one?

I'll tell you why, it's because you are a closet Liberal. And you liberals are all the same.
To my conservative friends
I'd like to advise ALL conservatives/republicans NOT to post on these Liberian Hate blogs.
I like you are a conservative./ republican I am not a racist, and I don’t want to be labeled as one.
And that’s what all these blogs are about, not all, and by no means all the time
Why go to a place that will only insult you and call you names?

James' Muse said...

Deyoges Denn: I'm not sure what you are talking about. I actually don't delete comments very often. I think I've done it four times ever, and most of them were from TIME when he was on his rampage.

By the way, thanks for coming here and immediately labelling me. I'm not a "closet liberal"...

Grow up.