Friday, February 16, 2007

Frivilous lawsuit of the day

Usually, I find funny stories waiting for me when I log into gmail. This morning was no exception:

FLOGGED ON BLOG, SHE'S SEEKING ID

A LAWRENCE school board member fed up with anonymous kvetching about her on a blog is going to court to stop it from calling her a bigot and an anti-Semite.

Pamela Greenbaum, who serves on the Nassau town's board of education, filed papers against Google over nasty comments posted about her on the Orthomom blog.

In the papers filed Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court, Greenbaum said she was "horrified" to discover that she had been labeled a bigot on the Google-owned blog after voting against using public funds for what she called "private school interests."

"I was even more horrified when I discovered the blog reported over 300,000 visitors," Greenbaum said in court papers.

Greenbaum alleges that Orthomom - which focuses on issues of interest to Long Island's Orthodox Jewish communities - slandered her by calling her ugly and an anti-Semite.

Greenbaum, who is Jewish but not Orthodox, seeks to unmask the blogger known only as Orthomom.

"Every day that the defamatory material remains on the Internet for all to see, I continue to be harmed as more such material is posted,"she said in court papers.
Can you believe it? Pamela Greenbaum's next lawsuit should be against the malpracticing lawyer who allowed her to file this action against OM. Why do I say that? Becaause this isn't the first time someone has tried to silence a blog. New Hempstead News, for example, is dedicated to destroying Rabbi Mordichai Tendler. The blog calls the Rabbi a liar, an adulterer and worse. For all I know, they've said he's an ugly bigot, too.

Seeking to stifle their free expression, Rabbi Tendler brought a case againt Google in California and in Ohio. Both judges threw the court papers into the air and wet themselves, before saying, and I quote, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" [Krum provides the legal background]

Pam can expect the same outcome.

Worse, she's going to come out of this looking like a cry-baby. People will whisper that she's anti-America and anti-free speech. They'll throw around the C-word ( ie: coward.) They'll whisper things like, "Hmmm... Maybe Pam Greenbaum really is an ugly bigot. Why else would she go to the expense and trouble of suing?"

I know those thoughts have crossed my mind, and until this morning I didn't even know Pamela Greenbaum existed.

Instead of suing, here's what Pam should do: Start your own blog. It's free, and you can use it to address OM and her commenters directly. Anyone who reads OM's blog will read the Pam Greenbaum blog, too, and, as always, the best argument will win. If you're not a bigot, tell us why. If you're not ugly, put up a picture. Let the blogging community decide.

I'll even add you to my blogroll and provide a link to your first post.

Chaim wants to be sued, too.

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