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brother from another mother 15000+ posts
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http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/yaho...-151304482.html
Donald Trump has placed himself in the middle of another controversy involving a birth certificate—this time his own.
In a letter obtained by Yahoo News, the real estate mogul and de facto leader of last year's "birther" movement against President Barack Obama sent a copy of his New York City birth certificate to comedian Bill Maher, who earlier this week made a Trump-like demand to see it.
On Monday's "Tonight Show With Jay Leno," Maher said he would donate $5 million to the charity of Trump’s choice (Maher suggested Hair Club for Men, among others) if the "Celebrity Apprentice" host could prove he is not the "spawn of his mother having sex with an orangutan." Maher was mocking Trump's much-publicized announcement in October that he would donate $5 million to charity if Obama would release his college records.
On Tuesday, a lawyer for Trump sent the letter to Maher with the birth certificate attached, asking the "Real Time" host to make good on his late-night offer:
Attached hereto is a copy of Mr. Trump's birth certificate, demonstrating that he is the son of Fred Trump, not an orangutan. Please remit the $5 million to Mr. Trump immediately and he will ensure that the money be donated to the following five charities in equal amounts: Hurricane Sandy Victims, The Police Athletic League, The American Cancer Society, The March of Dimes, and The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
In October, Trump announced he had "something very, very big concerning the president of the United States"—something he said could "possibly" change the election—leading to speculation that the 66-year-old might have unearthed scandalous inform
"Barack Obama is the least transparent president in the history of this country," Trump said in a video shot from his New York office and uploaded to YouTube. "I'm very honored to have gotten him to release his long-form birth certificate or whatever it may be.
"I have a deal for the president," Trump continued. "If Barack Obama opens up and gives his college records and applications and if he gives his passport applications and records, I will give to a charity of his choice—inner-city children in Chicago, American Cancer Society, AIDS research, anything he wants—a check immediately for $5 million."
Obama was unfazed. On "The Tonight Show," Obama joked to Leno that the bad blood between him and the "Celebrity Apprentice" star "dates back to when we were growing up together in Kenya."
I wonder if Maher even has the money.
"My friends have always been the best of me." -Doctor Who
"Well,whenever I'm confused,I just check my underwear. It holds most answers to life's questions." Abe Simpson
I can tell by the position of the sun in the sky, that is time for us to go. Until next time, I am Lothar of the Hill People!
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I'm guessing Maher will tell him the birth certificate for some reason doesn't prove Trump's claim that his father wasn't an orangutan. Maher is also probably mentally thanking Trump for going after him.
Fair play!
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Officially "too old for this shit" 15000+ posts
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Rapper Ryan Leslie Ordered to Pay $1.2 Million Reward for Lost Laptop. I'm sure Leslie didn't think anyone would take his offer seriously either, or that a jury would accept his attempts to parse the meaning of his public offers. Getting a DNA test would be chump change for a guy like Trump. I'd think all that he'd have to do is get a DNA test that shows he's human and Maher has to pay. Maher might attempt to argue that, since 97% of human and orangutan DNA is identical that proves nothing. However, the only reason that scientists can say that is because they are able to delineate the differences between apes and humans. Accordingly, Trump could most likely find an accepted expert to testify the DNA proves he's all human. For $5 million, why wouldn't Trump go for it?
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From what you posted the rapper was expecting people to take his reward offers seriously. He made two offers and had files on the computer that he felt was worth paying the reward money. His problem was that he wasn't able to get back the part that made it worth paying a million dollars for him. I wouldn't be surprised if Trump did try to sue Maher but who actually thinks Maher was making a serious offer instead of being satirical?
Fair play!
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Son of Anarchist 15000+ posts
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I'm thinking neither of the guys actually take the joke seriously. They're not dumbshits. What happened is that Maher thought he was very clever with the joke, but Trump actually trolled him good.
I mean, we do this sort of thing on the RKMBs all the time - when someone makes a joke, another defuses it by ignoring the punchline and giving a straight reply.
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he really defused that joke
I am the Rill Mac!
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From what you posted the rapper was expecting people to take his reward offers seriously. He made two offers and had files on the computer that he felt was worth paying the reward money. His problem was that he wasn't able to get back the part that made it worth paying a million dollars for him. I wouldn't be surprised if Trump did try to sue Maher but who actually thinks Maher was making a serious offer instead of being satirical? Rapper Ryan Leslie Ordered to Pay $1.2 Million Reward for Lost Laptop.
I'm sure Leslie didn't think anyone would take his offer seriously either, or that a jury would accept his attempts to parse the meaning of his public offers. (Emphasis added)
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Yes but the first part you didn't emphasise isn't true from what you linked too. It's fairly clear that he made serious and repeated attempts at offering a reward for his laptop. If you don't think it matters legally if the offer is an obvious satire than please just say so but the two cases are not the same in that sense.
Anyways, my guess is Trump will pursue this legally and we'll be able to see who's correct in time.
Fair play!
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Yes but the first part you didn't emphasise isn't true from what you linked too. It's fairly clear that he made serious and repeated attempts at offering a reward for his laptop. If you don't think it matters legally if the offer is an obvious satire than please just say so but the two cases are not the same in that sense. While the rapper case is not directly on point, it illustrates that an offer that differs in the mind of the person who made it from how it is perceived by others can still create liability. The rapper tried to claim "I meant the offer was contingent on certain files being intact," but the court didn't accept that. Maher might say "oh, it was a joke," but if a court finds it was reasonable for Trump to expect it was real then Maher could be liable. A court could conclude the satire was, for example, that Maher didn't think Trump could prove a negative.
Anyways, my guess is Trump will pursue this legally and we'll be able to see who's correct in time.
I'm fully aware that this case is no slam dunk for Trump and that Maher might still win (for example, Maher might be able to successfully argue it was an unenforceable bet or a court might accept that no reasonable person would have thought he was serious). However, at the same time, it's not sure thing for Maher either. The point I'm making is that it's not a wise thing, especially when someone doesn't like you to begin with, to start shooting off your mouth on national TV without knowing the possible legal consequences.
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Looking at how Maher worded it, I do agree that it wasn't smart on his part.
Fair play!
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Society's Discontent 6000+ posts
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Defuser! I barely know her!
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Well, Maher can use the comedy/satire defense.
End of case....
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brother from another mother 15000+ posts
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Anyways, my guess is Trump will pursue this legally and we'll be able to see who's correct in time.
and so he does http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/trump-sues-maher-5-million-joke-170038270.html
"My friends have always been the best of me." -Doctor Who
"Well,whenever I'm confused,I just check my underwear. It holds most answers to life's questions." Abe Simpson
I can tell by the position of the sun in the sky, that is time for us to go. Until next time, I am Lothar of the Hill People!
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