Anyone Can Legally Say “Eat Shit, Bob!”


That’s good to know. It’s a line in the amicus brief filed by the ACLU in a case in which Bob Murray, reality-challenged friend of coal, is suing John Oliver for saying mean things about him and the coal industry. It’s hilarious. Somebody had fun writing it.

This case is beyond meritless. It is offensive to the very ideals of free speech embodied in the First Amendment. The fact that Plaintiffs filed this case is ridiculous enough; but, to pour gasoline on the fire, plaintiffs’ counsel has also filed a motion asking the court to make John Oliver not say mean things about him anymore. It is frankly shocking that Plaintiffs were able to find attorneys willing to file a lawsuit that is so obviously unconstitutional.

It is apt that one of Plaintiffs’ objections to the show is about a human-sized squirrell named Mr. Nutterbutter, because this case is nuts. Which also begs the question: is Mr. Nutterbutter one of the 50 Doe Defendants included in this action?

I have to remember the general principle in the title next time someone tries to sue me.

Comments

  1. robro says

    Oh, that Bob! I saw that from ACLU on my FB feed earlier this evening. Bob has lots of money. Some lawyers will do anything for money. They may even eat shit for him.

    Of course, Oliver could be nice to Bob…very nice to him…and still eviscerate him. Oliver and his writers are very sharp.

    Speaking of Oliver, I watched his bit on Alex Jones last night. Oliver’s point is that Jones is just hawking snake oil…phony remedies that cure everything. I suppose Jones may lawyer up next. Clearly this is a boon time for litigators.

  2. emergence says

    I love how Murray wants to put a gag order on Oliver to keep him from talking about the case, while Murray himself spends his time issuing press releases and going on Fox News to call John an “elitist”. Apparently Murray thinks that he should be able to say whatever he wants about other people, but they can’t say anything about him he doesn’t want them to.

    As an aside, it’s irritating as hell to hear an obscenely wealthy corporate fuckhead call one of his critics an “elitist”. Privileged right wingers have completely destroyed any meaning the word might have once had.

  3. KG says

    Anyone Can Legally Say “Eat Shit, Bob!”

    That’s a relief! Only the other day, I said it to my pet bluebottle, Bob, who was off his feed.

  4. ardipithecus says

    Reminds me of a conversation with a friend who was a retired provincial court judge on why it is not defamatory to call someone an asshole; because the statement will not be taken as literally true by anyone, and figuratively true is not defamatory, at least not in Canada.

  5. emergence says

    One last thing, I watched the episode of Last Week Tonight about coal. Oliver spent a good amount of time explaining the plight of the miners and painting them in a very sympathetic light. The only people he had any contempt for were Trump, Murray, and the other rich assholes who were exploiting or screwing over the miners. “Elitist” indeed.