Conspiracy Theories & Lawsuits

[Alt+F4]

“Amelia Earhart Lives!”, published in 1970 made the assertion that a woman named Irene Bolam was in fact Amelia Earhart. Mrs. Bolam sued the author and the publisher (McGraw-Hill) for defamation. The book was quickly pulled. The $2 million case was settled out of court.

Interestingly, the defendants initially asked for a summary judgment, stating that Bolam’s lawsuit was without merit due to the fact that their photographic comparisons of the women was strong confirmation that Bolam was Earhart. Their motion and appeal were both denied.

I’m thinking this is where Loose Change is headed and might finally lead to that “new investigation” they want. If everyone who has been defamed (and copyright infringed) by LC sues, at least some of those suits will go to trial. I wonder what local judges and juries in a many different states will decide about LC’s assertions.

Anyone know of others who have sued successfully after being libeled/slandered/defamed by a conspiracy theory?

[Scientologist]

Right but Loose Change is "only asking questions," remember?

[Alt+F4]

Right but Loose Change is "only asking questions," remember?

Yes, they can keep saying that, but would a jury say?

[Kiwiwriter]

[FONT=Tahoma]Anyone know of others who have sued successfully after being libeled/slandered/defamed by a conspiracy theory?




Actually, the conspiracy theorists are quicker to sue for defamation and libel than their targets. There's a variety of reasons for that dichotomy.

The victims of CTers are probably quite aware that their accusers are nutters, and so they don't worry about them, unless the threats become violent.

However, there are exceptions. Sara Salzman, who fights Holocaust denial, found herself being hammered by neo-Nazis on the web, being accuses of all kinds of bizarre sexual practices, including bestiality. That rose to posting her personal address, pictures of her house, and job site. Then the neo-Nazis started sending forged e-mails and letters allegedly from her, making threats to President Clinton and others. The neo-Nazis also filed accusations that she was abusing her kids.

Sara filed complaints with the law, and they had trouble dealing with it, because internet harassment was and probably still is a gray area. Also, she was in Washington State, and the author of her troubles was in Arkansas, but eventually she was able to prosecute the jerks and impose a fine.

The nutters do file suits and threaten them. David Irving is the best-known such incident, and he represented himself in court in England, and had the usual fool for a client, losing badly and big-time. After Irving lost to Deborah Lipstadt, her university created a website to post the transcripts of the trial and all the evidence. Irving has sued the university for posting that material, and the university told him to get bent.

More recently, neo-Nazi nutter Michael Collins Piper of American Free Press, which is the outfit the LCers cite in their film, threatened to sue Andrew Mathis for libel over an entry in Mathis's blog, "Leugner."

"Leugner" tracks the manifold misstatements of neo-Nazi nutter Daryl Bradford Smith's internet radio show, and Piper was a guest on it several times, spouting idiocy. Piper demanded an apology from Mathis and threatened a libel suit. Mathis told him to go to hell (in less polite terms). Piper fumed back in anger that he was not going to sue after all, but whined, "Why don't you come on my radio show?" He also complained about Mathis to Mathis' employer, Villanova, which brushed the whining aside. However, no lawsuits have followed. Presumably Piper had a chat with Legal Aid.

I have experienced defamatory attacks on the web myself, at The History Channel, of all places, where a nutter with a penknife to grind started picking on me. When his insults in their forum graduated to veiled hints about threatening my job, and posting what he thought was my home address, I printed out the posts, and took them to both the cops in my city and mailed them to THC's boss, the president of Arts and Entertainment, and told them that this guy was violating numerous clauses of their Terms of Service. Every time they barred him and his posts, he just re-registered, and kept right on, under a different name.

That package got results. Right after they got them, his attacks stopped. More importantly, I got a letter from their corporate attorney, to whom the package had been referred, acknowledging my complaint. The attacks stopped.

A and E probably uncorked their corporate lawyer and his legal stationery, and sent this guy a very harsh letter that told him in polite legal terms that the repeated violations of their Terms of Service to make threats against me would result in a nice little breach of contract lawsuit and possible federal prosecution, as A and E were the victims, not me. Have a nice day.

Never heard from him again.

[Sword_Of_Truth]

[FONT=Tahoma] Mrs. Bolam sued the author and the publisher (McGraw-Hill) for defamation. The book was quickly pulled.

Clearly a case of controlled demolition.

[njslim]

Problem with fighting a CT nut job has been described like wrestling with
a skunk in the gutter. You get the stink all over you while the skunk
doesn't seem to mind. Most people just dont want to spend the time, money
and trouble to fight with these clowns. Cops in many cases don't want
to bother with them either.

[Kiwiwriter]

Problem with fighting a CT nut job has been described like wrestling with
a skunk in the gutter. You get the stink all over you while the skunk
doesn't seem to mind. Most people just dont want to spend the time, money
and trouble to fight with these clowns. Cops in many cases don't want
to bother with them either.

Damn straight...the CT nutter enjoys the attention. If he wins, it's a glorious victory for his movement because the NWO was humiliated and defeated in public. If he loses, it's a glorious victory for his movement because the NWO's desperation and tyranny was demonstrated to the world. If 100 people show up at the CT nutter's event, it's proof his crusade is growing. If two people show up at the CT nutter's event, it's proof that the NWO is using every method possible to silence his cause, and that his crusade is therefore growing. If the CT nutter gets on TV, it's proof the world is taking his crusade seriously. If the CT nutter's TV appearance is canked, it's proof that the NWO is afraid of his message and is engaging in censorship.

It's great to be a CT nutter.

[Crungy]

Damn straight...the CT nutter enjoys the attention. If he wins, it's a glorious victory for his movement because the NWO was humiliated and defeated in public. If he loses, it's a glorious victory for his movement because the NWO's desperation and tyranny was demonstrated to the world. If 100 people show up at the CT nutter's event, it's proof his crusade is growing. If two people show up at the CT nutter's event, it's proof that the NWO is using every method possible to silence his cause, and that his crusade is therefore growing. If the CT nutter gets on TV, it's proof the world is taking his crusade seriously. If the CT nutter's TV appearance is canked, it's proof that the NWO is afraid of his message and is engaging in censorship.

It's great to be a CT nutter.

Yup, you can see it from those ground zero videos the nutters film.

[Oliver]

It's great to be a CT nutter.


You believe in this NWO Bullcrap? Seriously? :confused:

[Kiwiwriter]

You believe in this NWO Bullcrap? Seriously? :confused:

I'm being sarcastic about the CT folks.
:)

[Oliver]

Cursed - you fooled me... :D

[Kiwiwriter]

Cursed - you fooled me... :D

I was trying to show some of the mindset of the CT nutters, how they can and do claim victory, no matter what happens, and I either worked too well or didn't work well enough.

The basic point is that no matter what happens in their grandiose plan, they always win...in their mind. So I use the term "NWO" as a simple term for their view of their manifold enemies, which are everyone from President Bush to the guy at the unemployment office who tells them they aren't getting any more checks because their eligibility ran out.

I'll try it again, because I want to be clear on my take on their thinking:

If they make their demonstration and parade, they have won because they have been able to stand up to the NWO, make their speech, and gain adherents, and the NWO is crumbling in the face of the advancing army of CT nutters and their supporters.

If they are unable to make their demonstration and parade, they have won because they have shown the world that the NWO is engaged in un-American practices of censorship and tyranny, is afraid of the consequences of the truth being revealed, and is resorting to desperate measures to maintain their grip on power in the face of the overwhelming truth of the CT nutters and their supporters.

That's why I said it's great to be a CT nutter...you live in a world of endless triumph and victory, that has no connection to reality.

Sometimes these guys do realize that they're getting nowhere, but they won't say so in public, unless really, really, squeezed. In public, they assume that familiar condescending attitude, no matter what. But occasionally, they'll admit they can't "gain traction." Daryl Bradford Smith, a big CT nutter on 9/11, the Nazis, and everything else, has done so on his radio show, than been quick the next day to say he is gaining an audience, realizing he can't admit defeat.

These folks admit their failures usually when they break from their life in the CT world, and it's interesting to read the interviews with men and women who left neo-Nazi and skinhead groups. They talk a lot about the tawdry life of these organizations...they're drenched with paranoia, mutual suspicion, and Machiavellian internal politics.

The ones who get out are the ones who realize that for all the energy they spend, they really get nowhere...they also have a very high turnover, as adherents get older and realize that they can't keep extending their adolescence and romantic dreams into their 30s.

[firecoins]

Unfortunately the Amelia Earhart truth movement was kidnapped from Charles Lindbergh's house.

[TjW]

<snippage by TjW>
These folks admit their failures usually when they break from their life in the CT world, and it's interesting to read the interviews with men and women who left neo-Nazi and skinhead groups. They talk a lot about the tawdry life of these organizations...they're drenched with paranoia, mutual suspicion, and Machiavellian internal politics.

The ones who get out are the ones who realize that for all the energy they spend, they really get nowhere...they also have a very high turnover, as adherents get older and realize that they can't keep extending their adolescence and romantic dreams into their 30s.

I think that for some of the adherents, the paranoia, mutual suspicion, and Machiavellian internal politics are actually part of the attraction. It's high drama, and it makes their lives exciting. It's "As Seen On TV".

[Kiwiwriter]

I think that for some of the adherents, the paranoia, mutual suspicion, and Machiavellian internal politics are actually part of the attraction. It's high drama, and it makes their lives exciting. It's "As Seen On TV".

Absolutely...it lifts these folks out of their mundane lives (or in the case of the neo-Nazis, lives of powerlessness and being shunned by the rest of society) and turns them into romantic adventures. It relieves the boredom on a grand scale.