Daniel Snyder, the owner of the Washington Redskins, is suing City Paper for $2 million in addition to punitive damages and court costs. Why? Because an article in the paper by Dave McKenna was packed with lies. And it was anti-Semitic. And it was mean. Really, really mean. Except that others don’t see it this way (well, maybe it was a little mean).
For instance, in citing a falsehood, Snyder’s legal team points to McKenna’s introductory paragraph, in which he states that Snyder “made a great view of the Potomac River for himself by going all Agent Orange on federally protected lands.” The owner did not in fact use Agent Orange, his lawyers insist. City Paper argues this was merely an expression, not to be taken literally. I, for one, pictured the end of Platoon. Or the famous napalm scene from Apocalypse Now—a neat row of fireballs along the Potomac. It’s a good thing no one is describing Snyder as having gone ballistic—readers might think he went on a shooting rampage.
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