CLEVELAND (TDB) -- The newspaper management's account of the internal wrangling before it reached the decision is reported by reader rep Ted Diadiun. His column drew a retort from Gawker, which questioned the reasoning:
"If the Ohio newspaper wants to take political correctness to an extreme, fine. For consistency's sake, the PC police might want to do a purge of the Plain Dealer's archives, where there are several instances of the n-word making it through intact onto the the page."
My own history at The Plain Dealer: I used the the n-word once in print (that I recall), as a quote in a 1988 piece about Jesse Jackson's run in the Democratic presidential primary. A white senior citizen in Ironton said he planned to vote for Jackson, despite the fact the candidate was a n-----. His words surprised me and it was a quote that I never expected to see reach print. The geezer's point seemed to be that he thought Jackson was right on a lot of the issues though he didn't like the candidate's skin color. There was quite a flap after the quote appeared. And rightly so.
Showing posts with label Censorship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Censorship. Show all posts
Monday, January 21, 2008
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Bizzyblog's Tom Blumer: Swings At MoveOn But Missed Ohio GOP Censorship Bid
CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Bizzyblogger Tom Blumer says today that he couldn't help but notice MoveOn had sent trademark cease-and-desist notices to a satirist who tried to market t-shirts mocking MoveOn. Blumer saw the action as evidence of the Democratic left organization's "radical" nature.
"I am told from time to time that MoveOn is not really a radical organization. Wrong. MoveOn is run by people whose first, second, and third instincts, if given any opening, are to silence opponents. They are petty tyrants in training."
Strong language.
He didn't mention -- or maybe he doesn't know -- that the Republican Party went even farther to silence a critic in Ohio. The GOP took legal action against Michael Dalton, a Democrat who lives in a Cincinnati suburb. Dalton's offense was to set up a Web site in 2005 called "hamiltoncountyrepublicanparty.com." that mocked Republicans. He was sued by the Hamilton County Republican Party for trademark infringement. The GOP sought a temporary restraining order and injunction to shut Dalton down.
A key legal filing in the case is still available online. Ralph Nader's organization filed the brief contending the Republicans were out to suppress free speech. Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Ted Winker -- a Republican, by the way -- declined to grant the order sought by his own political party.
At most, the incident smacked of hardball politics. Radical? Or tyranny? Hardly.
Bizzyblog wanted to take a swat at MoveOn -- and many people would agree that the Dem-leaning organization needs a spanking over the Petraeus/Betray Us ad it sponsored last week. But a flap over t-shirts can't be elevated to burning the Reichstag, or an October revolution in Moscow, or Mugabe's assault on democracy in Africa, or Myanmar's junta. Or even an Ohio Republican party's trademark lawsuit against an Internet critic.
Bizzyblog is one of the very best of Ohio's bloggers, talented and a lifetime .300 hitter. This time, he went with his heart instead of his intellect. By the way, the Web site that stirred up the GOP is still around. Wonder if Bizzyblog's Mr. Blumer thinks those radical (just kidding) Republicans were really right to try to shut it down?
"I am told from time to time that MoveOn is not really a radical organization. Wrong. MoveOn is run by people whose first, second, and third instincts, if given any opening, are to silence opponents. They are petty tyrants in training."
Strong language.
He didn't mention -- or maybe he doesn't know -- that the Republican Party went even farther to silence a critic in Ohio. The GOP took legal action against Michael Dalton, a Democrat who lives in a Cincinnati suburb. Dalton's offense was to set up a Web site in 2005 called "hamiltoncountyrepublicanparty.com." that mocked Republicans. He was sued by the Hamilton County Republican Party for trademark infringement. The GOP sought a temporary restraining order and injunction to shut Dalton down.
A key legal filing in the case is still available online. Ralph Nader's organization filed the brief contending the Republicans were out to suppress free speech. Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Ted Winker -- a Republican, by the way -- declined to grant the order sought by his own political party.
At most, the incident smacked of hardball politics. Radical? Or tyranny? Hardly.
Bizzyblog wanted to take a swat at MoveOn -- and many people would agree that the Dem-leaning organization needs a spanking over the Petraeus/Betray Us ad it sponsored last week. But a flap over t-shirts can't be elevated to burning the Reichstag, or an October revolution in Moscow, or Mugabe's assault on democracy in Africa, or Myanmar's junta. Or even an Ohio Republican party's trademark lawsuit against an Internet critic.
Bizzyblog is one of the very best of Ohio's bloggers, talented and a lifetime .300 hitter. This time, he went with his heart instead of his intellect. By the way, the Web site that stirred up the GOP is still around. Wonder if Bizzyblog's Mr. Blumer thinks those radical (just kidding) Republicans were really right to try to shut it down?
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