The Gambit Hugged the Line of Libel and Defamation, But Did Not Cross It
Lawyers Offer Disappointing Opinion
Provocative accusations matter.
Targeted hit pieces happen. A business can lie ruined with the publication and promotion of a deliberately mis-framed situation. The Gambit’s needless, mean-spirited attack on the reputations and dignity of owners of a specialty miniatures boutique may not be libel and defamation by tightly-defined legal standards, but the impact of the publisher’s choices hits just as hard.
A store as simple and benign as a doll house shop serving tourists in the Quarter. It’s all as senseless as it is malevolent.
The BEC heard today a legal assessment of The Gambit’s viciousness toward French Quarter miniatures hobby shop Black Butterfly Too. The Gambit evidently showed extreme care in selecting each word of their phrasing, as a lawyer team describes things. The pair - one Jewish, in fact - assessed the article and believes that a lawsuit brought against The Gambit would not win. Things are not as presented by The Gambit, however; this is not a Den of Hitler and Klan Worship.
While acknowledging the injustice of it all, the definitions of libel and defamation are simply too insurmountable. It is only reasonable to believe that The Gambit did well-know the widespread hatred this would inspire, which indeed it has.
No one in media will touch this story, else they fear to be be maligned as well. The Gambit has laid a Kafka Trap.
We’ve seen no evidence that the store has reopened since the Halloween weekend attack.
Read The Gambit’s attack piece here.
Look at all the mean-spirited “reviews” sent into the shop’s Yelp! page here.
Give a look at Raphael Shimunov’s Netroots Nation bio here.
And yet Alex Jones has gotten judgments over a billion dollars and counting. There are no principles, only politics. Orwell’s boot stamping on a human face is here.
In other words, Mission Accomplished. It’s why people don’t want to speak out. They know they will be next. They’re afraid, and they have every right to be.