Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.
Othello Act 3, scene 3, 155–161
In my state, Georgia, there was a historical and now a legal remedy for damaging one’s honor or reputation. “On May 1, 1777, Lachlan McIntosh addressed the Georgia assembly and denounced Button Gwinnett in the harshest terms, calling him a "scoundrel and lying rascal." Gwinnett sent a written challenge to McIntosh demanding an apology or satisfaction. McIntosh refused to apologize, and Gwinnett challenged him to a duel.
On May 16, 1777 in a field owned by Governor James Wright a few miles east of Savannah, Gwinnett and McIntosh met to duel with pistols. At a distance of 12 paces, the two men leveled and fired virtually simultaneously. Gwinnett received a ball to the thigh and McIntosh was struck in the leg. McIntosh would recover from his wounds, but Gwinnett’s wound was mortal and he died three days later.”
Dueling was banned and in its stead, came litigation. In Georgia, any writing which damages the reputation or character of a person is an actionable tort and malice and damages are presumed. Both the publisher of the remarks and author are proper party defendants. One can publish an article in one state and be sued in any state of publication. There are 50 states and probably as many definitions of libel and actions for it with limitations that vary state to state.
Why should I be concerned if someone on this list damages the reputation of another? Can’t I just ignore it? Well, here’s the problem as I see it. Suppose Dave gets sued because someone here libels another member. The list shuts down because Dave doesn’t want to be sued again. We all have an interest and a dog in this fight.
“ Liberal liar; deception, falsehoods, exaggeration, resume inflation; ass; cover one lie with another; falsehoods; hypocrisy; resume padding; pathetic ass; you are a liar; unceasing dishonesty; you lied; filthy rotten liar; fictitious reputation; act like a menstrurating woman; you have no honor; Big Sister King; dishonest and sleazy; filthy lying weasel; compulsive lying disorder; pathological liar; low class white trash liar” are a few things written about King by one man. A fair and reasonable interpretation of these remarks is that there is nothing good natured in these remarks. Most folks, I assume, squirm when someone is called a liar. I know I do, and I don’t care who it is directed against. Burger King? That's okay and funny, but "low class white trash liar??"
I don’t know King Brown from a can of house paint. What we know about Kingsley Brown is that he too liberal for most tastes on this board; but he is not a name caller; he hunts; he fishes and wisely refuses to engage directly in a one-sided smear campaign. This campaign is beginning to have the aroma of one of the epic mudslingathons on this forum between the same man insulting King and Nca225 or whatever his name was which was as distasteful and shameful a display of adult behavior witnessed on this forum that I can recall. There was no winner in that “debate” We can look up much about Kingsley Brown online. It appears to me that he has “walked the talk” unless television interviews by the CBC in 1969 are frauds, or that the articles are counterfeited by him, but they aren’t, and he didn’t. Look him up yourself. Kingsley Brown CBC or Kinglsey Brown Nova Scotia.
I suppose if one calls someone a liar repeatedly, there will be some folks that will believe it because they’ve heard it said repeatedly. In one of LBJ’s earliest campaigns, he started a whisper campaign that his opponent screwed pigs. “Lyndon, no one will believe it” an associate stated. “I know” said LBJ. “I just want to hear him deny it”. The problem with someone throwing slime-ball grenades is that at some point it becomes difficult to tell where the smell comes from. It appears to me that we have an anonymous poster attempting a keyboard assassination of an octogenarian’s reputation and character because of political and religious differences of opinion. It is easy to do from behind the computer screen, but hard to remove the taint however wrong it may be. And, please don’t say “if the shoe fits”, because it doesn’t. And even if “truth is a defense”, someone has to pay for the defense and most homeowner insurance policies won’t, at least in Georgia. You bet the ranch on what you say or write.
From what I’ve seen on screen and off screen about King Brown, while I don’t agree with him on all matters, he is a gentleman with class and I wouldn’t mind having him as a neighbor. You don’t have to be on the same side politically or religiously with a person to respect him and have him as a friend or a good neighbor. I am sure we all have such neighbors and they would be the last persons we would insult or demean as has been done here.
Keep up the debate. Present your opinions. Just don’t engage in character assassination. If indeed you truly believe someone is a liar, etc., be willing to back up your remarks with your personal assets, because insurance won’t pay for willful acts in many states. And more importantly, think about the rest of us and the integrity of the doublegunshop.com. I can’t imagine King filing suit against the other member. However, it is not unforeseeable that if such modus operandi debating tactics continue, someone else will sue if they suffer the same indignity.
