Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Tuesday, June 12. 2007

Libel: "I'm rubber and you're glue..."

I'm rubber and you're glue. Whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you.

There is some psychological wisdom in this schoolyard defence against scapegoating, projection, and name-calling.

Libel and slander lawsuits have a long history of bouncing off the target and damaging the plaintiff. One example is Oscar Wilde's slander suit which landed Wilde himself in jail for homosexual conduct.

The Islamic Society of Boston's recent libel suit provides another example. (They are the folks who got the cheap land deal from Boston for a new mosque.) The process of discovery uncovered many facts which the Islamic Society would not have wanted publicized - but which were, before they finally dropped the case to prevent further damage to themselves.

Attorney Floyd Abrams discusses the case in Opinion Journal.

Photo: Oscar Wilde

Posted by The Barrister in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 15:47 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

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