That’s good to know. It’s a line in the amicus brief filed by the ACLU in a case in which Bob Murray, reality-challenged friend of coal, is suing John Oliver for saying mean things about him and the coal industry. It’s hilarious. Somebody had fun writing it.
This case is beyond meritless. It is offensive to the very ideals of free speech embodied in the First Amendment. The fact that Plaintiffs filed this case is ridiculous enough; but, to pour gasoline on the fire, plaintiffs’ counsel has also filed a motion asking the court to make John Oliver not say mean things about him anymore. It is frankly shocking that Plaintiffs were able to find attorneys willing to file a lawsuit that is so obviously unconstitutional.
It is apt that one of Plaintiffs’ objections to the show is about a human-sized squirrell named Mr. Nutterbutter, because this case is nuts. Which also begs the question: is Mr. Nutterbutter one of the 50 Doe Defendants included in this action?
I have to remember the general principle in the title next time someone tries to sue me.
I was going to post this [much longer review of the brief] to the open thread.
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170802/00533937906/aclu-to-court-legal-to-tell-bob-to-eat-shit.shtml
Check out the image comparing Bob Murray to Dr. Evil.
Oh, that Bob! I saw that from ACLU on my FB feed earlier this evening. Bob has lots of money. Some lawyers will do anything for money. They may even eat shit for him.
Of course, Oliver could be nice to Bob…very nice to him…and still eviscerate him. Oliver and his writers are very sharp.
Speaking of Oliver, I watched his bit on Alex Jones last night. Oliver’s point is that Jones is just hawking snake oil…phony remedies that cure everything. I suppose Jones may lawyer up next. Clearly this is a boon time for litigators.
I refer the plaintiff to Arkell v. Pressdram 1971
I love how Murray wants to put a gag order on Oliver to keep him from talking about the case, while Murray himself spends his time issuing press releases and going on Fox News to call John an “elitist”. Apparently Murray thinks that he should be able to say whatever he wants about other people, but they can’t say anything about him he doesn’t want them to.
As an aside, it’s irritating as hell to hear an obscenely wealthy corporate fuckhead call one of his critics an “elitist”. Privileged right wingers have completely destroyed any meaning the word might have once had.
Ok, so Mr Bob “Nutterbutter” Murray promotes a dirty and dangerous fossil fuel, produced by mines that kill his own employees, objects to safety laws enacted in response, complains in the media he has no voice and cannot be heard, denies AGW and calls it a , and even looks like Dr Evil, you can’t say any of that. ‘Cuz it’s mean!
Sources: ACLU To Court: It’s Legal To Tell Bob To Eat Shit (from @1), and Ye Pffft! of All Knowledge.
That’s a relief! Only the other day, I said it to my pet bluebottle, Bob, who was off his feed.
Reminds me of a conversation with a friend who was a retired provincial court judge on why it is not defamatory to call someone an asshole; because the statement will not be taken as literally true by anyone, and figuratively true is not defamatory, at least not in Canada.
One last thing, I watched the episode of Last Week Tonight about coal. Oliver spent a good amount of time explaining the plight of the miners and painting them in a very sympathetic light. The only people he had any contempt for were Trump, Murray, and the other rich assholes who were exploiting or screwing over the miners. “Elitist” indeed.