The Daily Bulletin today had an article by Megan Blaney about local bloggers and the collision between the free speech rights of bloggers and the rights of those being written about.
Diann Ring was busy waving the Claremont 400 flag, and was quoted in the article issuing a thinly-veiled threat of prior restraint:
Former Claremont Mayor Diann Ring said she thinks the blog in her city is potentially heading toward litigation as well.
....
Ring is succinct in her distaste for the site.
"I think it's a bunch of junk," she said. "He accuses people by couching it in innuendo."
Ring said she is pretty sure she knows who the anonymous blogster is, but did not want to name anyone.
"It's someone without a job or a life," she said. "Someone with too much time on their hands. It's done with malicious intent and some of it is downright lies. Some day someone's going to get so mad they call (a lawyer)."
Not that Diann would ever engage in spreading gossip or innuendo ("Ring said she is pretty sure who the anonymous blogger is, but did not want to name anyone." Nod, nod. Wink, wink.) If Diann thinks that something we have posted is a lie, let her step up and point it out. She has not because she cannot.
Anyone who's followed Claremont elections knows well that one of the prime tactics by the Claremonsters is the spread of rumor and gossip. In the 2001 city election, a number of these same people spread the false rumor that then-candidate Llewellyn Miller, who is African-American, was against interracial marriage.
And there have been other instances, which we would be more than happy to provide documentation for should the need arise, just as we provide documentation in the form of links and video when we write about city issues (see last Saturday's post on the LLD as an example).
The problem here, as we see it, is one of ownership. The Claremont 400 and people like Ms. Ring refuse to take ownership of their words and actions. They accuse others of the very actions they are guilty of. So we will shine a light on them. No more skulking around in the shadows of whispering campaigns. No more bullying.
Welcome to the 21st century, Diann. And thank you for your readership.
Posts
