It's All About The Benjamins, Baby

So Crooks & Liars does a nice little round-up on Sgt. Peter Damon, who:

• was seriously wounded in the war in Iraq and lost portions of both of his arms ...
• then appeared on "NBC Nightly News" on a stretcher during a segment about medical treatment for veterans ...
• then supported Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy during an anti-war speech ...
• then saw that NBC footage legally used in a way he did not particularly appreciate in Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 ...
• and then went on to appear in two anti-Moore movies—Fahrenhype 9/11 and Michael Moore Hates America—where he expressed his disgust with how the clip was used ...
• before filing a lawsuit against Moore—two years later.

Sounds like a clear-cut case of "fair response" to me. But you'd never know that, because the way most of the media has hyped the lawsuit, it's the case of the war veteran (Damon) against the opportunist (Moore).

As C&L noted, check out Reason.com's very legit questioning of the merits and Sylvester Brown Jr.'s reasoning for why everybody should sue Michael Moore.

I know there's a lot of people who take exception to how Moore edits his films, but I don't think there's anybody who isn't sympathetic to the pain Damon has had to—and likely still does—endure.

Nonetheless, his argument is pretty preposterous on legal grounds. I'd understand the possibility of legal action better if he had sued, say—two years ago—NBC instead. Even then ...

When I interviewed a World War II veteran a few months back, he talked about the six months dedicated to training veterans on readjusting to society. Of course I appreciate the sacrifice Mr. Damon made for this country, but I think his recent legal action against Moore is a hopelessly lost cause because he's still making that adjustment. I hope that at some point, he makes it there.

But right now, I'm afraid the clip Moore elected to precede the footage he legally used it for is entirely accurate; it was Congressman Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) saying:

"You know, they say they're not leaving any veterans behind, but they're leaving all kinds of veterans behind."

If I'm reading Brown's numbers right, the Damons are seeking damages of $185 million. That's a lot of bling-bling for a story that's really sad-sad.