Hogan Wins Gawker Suit & It's Implications

Yesterday, Hulk Hogan won his defamation case against Gawker to the tune of $115 million. Punitive damages will be announced on Monday (and I'll edit that in later), so it's time to enjoy the sweet taste of victory against the abuses of one small part of a corrupt media establishment.

Mike Cernovich has an article dedicated to an analysis of the verdict.

Vox Day quotes Cernovich, links to that same article, and then offers his own opinion before opening the floor to the Ilk to do the same.

The Ralph Retort has its own article about the trial's verdict and immediate reactions thereto.

And man, the schadenfreude is glorious. Burn, Gawker, Burn.

But the kicker is the appeal, or rather the scramble to pay for it. Archived here for posterity is this wrinkle that could prove fatal for Nick Denton, Gawker's owner:

Another peril of the Hogan case for Gawker: even if they win, their legal and liability insurance is more or less gone.

So the millions required to put up an appeal? Out of pocket. If they end up accepting defeat, the damages have to be paid out of pocket. Denton doesn't have that money, so that means Gawker will be sold to settle the debt. Already there are folks (like Cernovich) making jokes about taking jobs as a Hogan-owned Gawker, and "making Gawker great again".

Every other entity with similarly slimy senses of ethics, especially those in the media, are taking notice. Some claim it will be narrowly applied, but I'm not so sure. The reason? The same arrogance that undid Gawker here is at work in other arenas, as another reader to Vox Day's blog noticed recently:

A reader has a realization:

A long time ago, there was a comfortable Establishment, which ran the roost via handshakes and insider back-scratching. The Right People got the right rewards, and all was good for the Establishment

Then a bold, brash newbie shows up, and, despite pissing off the establishment by being exceptionally politically incorrect, becomes more and more successful until the Establishment decides that Steps Must Be Taken, and the Newbie must be destroyed. They're destroying the accepted procedure, and they don't care. . .

The question: Who am I talking about: The Puppies. . . .or Donald Trump ??

I've realized it's the SAME STORY, and the ‪#‎NoTrumpers are just the PuppyKickers in a different venue. How is gaming the convention rules any different from E Pluribus Hugo?

This is why the Puppinette referred to me as "the Donald Trump of science fiction", which is, of course, a grand compliment indeed. But in both cases, we are the change that the establishment does not want to see.

Both Vox and his reader writing in are correct.

Gawker is no different in attitude and belief than the Establishment at-large. That's what the wise on all sides recognize, which is why those aligned against Trump, against the Sad & Rabid Puppies, against GamerGate, and so on are shitting themselves: they just saw proof that they can't win in an honest contest. Expect more cheating shenanigans as a result.