Here's something definitely disturbing for those who value a free press in Boss Godfrey's Amerika. We got this letter via snail-mail today from Ogden City Attorney Gary Williams, indicating that Weber County Forum has apparently struck a raw nerve with the ever-humourless Boss Godfrey:
• Gary Williams 12/11/09 LetterIt's evident that Boss Godfrey is a mite tee-ed of about these satirical parody posts, and that he possibly takes himself WAY TOO SERIOUSLY:
• Donny Dolittle's Election Parody PostsOf course that's probably easy for us to say, since it's Boss Godfrey who's the butt of the joke.
You'd think a "man" in the public limelight like Godfrey could take the good with the bad. In the wake of last month's election defeat however, wherein Godfrey's two rubber-stamp realtor candidates got handed their ass, it looks like the little twit is now ready to play dirty.
We'll weigh our options as we contact Mr. Williams about this on Monday morning.
In the meantime we'll ask... is there any sentient being who didn't take these posts "tongue in cheek?"
19 comments:
Sheesh Rudi, I take it that the Mayors feeling have been hurt.
What Ass Clown. And Gary wanted to make sue he doesnt infring on your rights to free speech?
Keep up the good work.
First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.
I would wipe my ass on the letter and send it back.
Maybe someone at the Salt Lake Trib would be interested in the Ogden city attorney trying to influence a free speech forumn.
The ACLU loves these free speech issues if you need someone to slap his hand.
Rudi,
You have not sufficiently redacted the name and address in the letter . . .
Given the absurd nature of the statements posted by "Mayor Matthew Godfrey", how could anyone believe it is really Godfrey, unless people take for granted that Godfrey is a complete boob?
Oh, yeah . . .
. . . if Gary thinks this blog is hard on a public official, he should try these.
Zero Hedge
Mish
I also note that in "Donny Dolittle's" election parody posts, it says "parody" at the bottom of each.
I suppose Rudi could re-post them, putting an asterisk at the end of Godfrey's name in the byline under the title, then put the word "parody" yet again at the bottom of each article.
Or he could delete them. The election is over, after all.
There are many easy things to do. It will be interesting to see if Williams is interested in any of them, or whether he simply seeks to follow the time-honored practice of silencing someone by using public money to sue them.
Perhaps the city council can delete Williams' entire budget for six months to dissuade him from using public money to intimidate Godfrey's opponents.
Hey Godfrey supporters: This is a new low for the mayor, huh?
Note too, that in William's letter, virtually all mention of "complaints" make reference to how the "complainant" has "heard" of "others" being "mislead".
Also, the images and other data relating to Godfrey all appear to have come from public sources, ie the Internet. In fact, most of the links in the latest comedy post lead to local newspaper articles!
The only reason it all makes Godfrey look stupid, is because Godfrey often does look stupid, and does so publicly!
One wonders if those comedy election parodies aren't satire, what is?
If those articles aren't protected speech as satire, what are?
If you can't make fun of a mayor, what good is the first amendment?
I could go on.
But really, the election is over. Take the election satires down if it makes them happy.
As far as the Mayor Matthew Godfrey blog, tell Gary to give Google a call. It appears they are the ones who host that blog. I'm sure they'll love hearing from him.
Rudi,
Maybe Williams will not be so hypocritical when they used the muni building to run their foundation and that they should open up the minutes and the financing of the foundation using the tax-payers money. Would you remind him that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander, and if he will open up the books of the foundation then you would be glad to remove the blog. Also ask him if is willing to hold the mayor accountable for the fraud that he did at the salmon center as well as the taxpayer donation to Mr. Peterson in the last legislative race. You would do well to tell him to bring it on and lets see him do his job in arresting the mayor. But really Rudi I believe that if you just write a redaction then this would "CURE" the whole problem of the letter that he has sent you. I believe that he needs to find out what it is like to be sweeped under the carpet.
Rudi's Board Anthem:
I Won't Back Down
Don't fret, folks.
Hmm.. Soooo, Haines violates campaign finance ordinances, and Williams has probably never even bothered to think of researching it, yet, we're taking the time during taxpayer-funded working hours to threaten a blog with criminal charges because they parodied a dumbass.
Only in Ogden..
How ironic. Godfrey complains about parody while his hand-picked candidate, Mark Hains, refused to stop or distance himself from the nasty, misleading videos Hains' coworker Abe Shreve put on YouTube before the last election.
There is a difference between parody and character assassination.
next thing you know, our own beloved Grondhal will be getting a cease & desist letter from Williams about his parodiacal (is that a word?) editorial cartoons that depict the little mayor ...
js.,
BB
Rudi, actually your subject title is incorrect. It isn't that there isn't any humor at City Hall, there's no sense of humor there.
I fail to understand Gary Willaims concern. Why can't he use his special powers to "cure" Matthew Godfreys hurt feelings.
Gary Gary Gary,
You have failed to use the correct form.
I think you, Gary should spend your time Googling how to fix the underlying problem - in this case a pluperfect ready-to-go document, instead of engaging in taxpayer funded ululation word processing
Gary, use this link for a PDF of the correct form, this will also save us taxpayers the cost of any more custom letter from you.
The Official Internet Butthurt Complaint Form
Cheers,
Flunked English
One rule of thumb that Mayor Godfrey and Attorney Williams would do well to follow is that by complaining about your hurt feelings on the Internet (a series of tubes), all you are doing is ensuring that said hurt feelings will continue for much, much longer.
I speak from experience, of course. One round of "did not/did too" is more than enough for most adults.
Ahem.
While it is true the courts have generally granted parodies, and particularly parodies as political speech, broad latitude under the first amendment, and while it has been rumored --- more than once --- that Hizzonah is particularly thin-skinned with respect to comments he deems insufficiently respectful of his person, it is nevertheless also true that there are some people who will take the most obvious, broad, and obvious satirical parody posting straight. Honest to god, they will. [Ask Mark Saal of the SE or Robert Kirby of the SL Trib.] Some people will, believe it or not, take the posts straight and literally.
Should the existence of a limited number of such literalists work as kind of a "literalist veto" [akin to the discredited "hecklers veto"] to prevent the first amendment free speech rights of a site like the WCF? I'd say no, of course, particularly since Hizzonah is a public person, and an elected official, and as such has to expect, and must accept, a level of political parody and even invective a wholly private citizen might justly object to.
But it is true that however obvious the parody or satirical intent may be to people of at least normal perception and wit, there are some, always, who will not get it and who will take such posts literally.
OK, an article about the Godfrey parodies being modified or removed is up on the SE website. I got such a laugh over the Godfrey photos being replaced by Joseph Stalin, that for a moment, I questioned whether Schwebke's article was itself a parody.
That was supported by the included explanation of just who Joseph Stalin was. Unfortunately, it isn't a parody but even more people will read WCF now, perhaps searching for the parodies and recognizing them as such.
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