Comments on: Thin Ice http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/thin-ice/ Firedoglake weblog Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:37:02 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Hermes http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/thin-ice/#comment-421133 Hermes Sat, 16 Dec 2006 14:16:16 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/thin-ice/#comment-421133 <p><a href="#comment-421027"><em>Marc in Tallahassee @ 96 </em></a></p> <blockquote><p>I’m just saying you should be able to say whatever the hell you want in a novel. Tropic of Cancer, Lady Chaterly’s Lover, the list goes on and on. . . . There are better ways to combat stupid novelists by than suing them, e.g., blogging about how stupid they are…</p></blockquote> <p>I don’t comment much either, but I think your example of books censored for graphic sexuality compared to Crichton’s calumny is apples to oranges. The point of the post was that Crichton is not so cleverly skirting laws against just such behavior. Not all speech is completely free. You can’t yell “Fire!” and you can’t libel and slander.</p> <p>Jane’s pointing out Crichton’s vulnerable position in a legal sense hardly seems “tactics best left to the righties.” And commenters wishing to see a shill for junk science brought to justice, albeit for a different reason, are voicing freely their opinions. If you believe one should be able to say anything in a novel, why wouldn’t the same hold for a blog?</p> Marc in Tallahassee @ 96

I’m just saying you should be able to say whatever the hell you want in a novel. Tropic of Cancer, Lady Chaterly’s Lover, the list goes on and on. . . . There are better ways to combat stupid novelists by than suing them, e.g., blogging about how stupid they are…

I don’t comment much either, but I think your example of books censored for graphic sexuality compared to Crichton’s calumny is apples to oranges. The point of the post was that Crichton is not so cleverly skirting laws against just such behavior. Not all speech is completely free. You can’t yell “Fire!” and you can’t libel and slander.

Jane’s pointing out Crichton’s vulnerable position in a legal sense hardly seems “tactics best left to the righties.” And commenters wishing to see a shill for junk science brought to justice, albeit for a different reason, are voicing freely their opinions. If you believe one should be able to say anything in a novel, why wouldn’t the same hold for a blog?

]]> By: Marc in Tallahassee http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/thin-ice/#comment-421027 Marc in Tallahassee Sat, 16 Dec 2006 06:46:02 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/thin-ice/#comment-421027 <p>I’ve been reading this site since it started, and I’ve never posted a comment until now. FDL is going down a bad road by suggesting an author should be sued for similarities between a FICTIONAL character and a real life person. Those are the kind of tactics best left to the righties. I’m not saying I like Crighton, or however you spell his name; I’m just saying you should be able to say whatever the hell you want in a novel. Tropic of Cancer, Lady Chaterly’s Lover, the list goes on and on. Sorry, I just think this is bad topic for the Progressive Movement to be discussing. It’s no different than Hillary’s stupid sudden obession with violent video games. There are better ways to combat stupid novelists by than suing them, e.g., blogging about how stupid they are…</p> I’ve been reading this site since it started, and I’ve never posted a comment until now. FDL is going down a bad road by suggesting an author should be sued for similarities between a FICTIONAL character and a real life person. Those are the kind of tactics best left to the righties. I’m not saying I like Crighton, or however you spell his name; I’m just saying you should be able to say whatever the hell you want in a novel. Tropic of Cancer, Lady Chaterly’s Lover, the list goes on and on. Sorry, I just think this is bad topic for the Progressive Movement to be discussing. It’s no different than Hillary’s stupid sudden obession with violent video games. There are better ways to combat stupid novelists by than suing them, e.g., blogging about how stupid they are…

]]> By: none http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/thin-ice/#comment-420828 none Sat, 16 Dec 2006 03:23:29 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/thin-ice/#comment-420828 <p>I thought Harlan Ellison used to do that all the time. He remembered names of bullies who used to beat him up in school or other people who had gotten on his bad side, and inserted them into his fiction as characters who came to various horrible deaths.</p> I thought Harlan Ellison used to do that all the time. He remembered names of bullies who used to beat him up in school or other people who had gotten on his bad side, and inserted them into his fiction as characters who came to various horrible deaths.

]]> By: Mommybrain http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/thin-ice/#comment-420722 Mommybrain Sat, 16 Dec 2006 02:02:22 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/thin-ice/#comment-420722 <p>( A liberal is just a conservative who’s never been mugged)</p> ( A liberal is just a conservative who’s never been mugged)

]]> By: Mommybrain http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/thin-ice/#comment-420719 Mommybrain Sat, 16 Dec 2006 02:01:18 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/thin-ice/#comment-420719 <p><a href="#comment-420525"><em>Poodle Head @<br /> 68 </em></a></p> <blockquote><p>I grew up quite the reader. a funny thing happened. many of the authors I used to crave now seem to HATE MY GUTS and aren’t shy about saying so.</p> <p>I guess Mr. Crichton is in the Roger L. Simon business now. maybe he’ll start wearing a HAT!</p></blockquote> <p>Oh, I loved the Moses Wine novels Simon wrote. What the hell happened to him? Must have gotten mugged.</p> Poodle Head @
68

I grew up quite the reader. a funny thing happened. many of the authors I used to crave now seem to HATE MY GUTS and aren’t shy about saying so.

I guess Mr. Crichton is in the Roger L. Simon business now. maybe he’ll start wearing a HAT!

Oh, I loved the Moses Wine novels Simon wrote. What the hell happened to him? Must have gotten mugged.

]]> By: Oklahoma kiddo http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/thin-ice/#comment-420574 Oklahoma kiddo Sat, 16 Dec 2006 00:44:18 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/thin-ice/#comment-420574 <p>Now I can sleep tonight soundly, all warm, toasty, fuzzy and safe. Laura tells us today that Secretary of State Rice would make a “very good” candidate for prez.</p> Now I can sleep tonight soundly, all warm, toasty, fuzzy and safe. Laura tells us today that Secretary of State Rice would make a “very good” candidate for prez.

]]> By: neurophius http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/thin-ice/#comment-420557 neurophius Sat, 16 Dec 2006 00:36:05 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/thin-ice/#comment-420557 <p><a href="#comment-420543"><em>neurophius @ 86</em></a></p> <blockquote><p>I hope the New York Times publishes an op-ed blasting Bush for publication of the Flynt Leverett op-ed.</p></blockquote> <p>Oops, I meant “for blocking publication of the Flynt Leverett op-ed.”</p> neurophius @ 86

I hope the New York Times publishes an op-ed blasting Bush for publication of the Flynt Leverett op-ed.

Oops, I meant “for blocking publication of the Flynt Leverett op-ed.”

]]> By: Hugh http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/thin-ice/#comment-420549 Hugh Sat, 16 Dec 2006 00:33:47 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/thin-ice/#comment-420549 <p>On the NewsHour, after Rumsfeld departure today with full military honors, Shields describes him as a tragic figure and a scapegoat. This is too much even for Brooks who says he wasn’t a scapegoat. He suppressed dissent and alternate views. (Of course, Brooks was one of the last defenders of Bush’s Iraq policy. He seems to have forgotten this since his change of mind.) Both agree he was a “smart” man.</p> <p>Lehrer asks if he was so smart why did he do so many dumb things. Tap dancing and references to personality follow. Shields does say Rummy leaves military in a weakened state. Ya think? Brooks says Rumsfeld was cutting edge. So he was not a stick in the mud disaster. Good to know.</p> On the NewsHour, after Rumsfeld departure today with full military honors, Shields describes him as a tragic figure and a scapegoat. This is too much even for Brooks who says he wasn’t a scapegoat. He suppressed dissent and alternate views. (Of course, Brooks was one of the last defenders of Bush’s Iraq policy. He seems to have forgotten this since his change of mind.) Both agree he was a “smart” man.

Lehrer asks if he was so smart why did he do so many dumb things. Tap dancing and references to personality follow. Shields does say Rummy leaves military in a weakened state. Ya think? Brooks says Rumsfeld was cutting edge. So he was not a stick in the mud disaster. Good to know.

]]> By: Bustednuckles http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/thin-ice/#comment-420547 Bustednuckles Sat, 16 Dec 2006 00:31:23 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/thin-ice/#comment-420547 <p>A New Thread.</p> <p><a href="http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/running-from-dubya/#respond">http://www.firedoglake.com/200.....a/#respond</a></p> A New Thread.

http://www.firedoglake.com/200…..a/#respond

]]> By: Marion in Savannah http://firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/thin-ice/#comment-420546 Marion in Savannah Sat, 16 Dec 2006 00:30:56 +0000 http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/15/thin-ice/#comment-420546 <p>Okay, Oklahoma kiddo, thanks. I try to catch him daily, but I make a SPECIAL point of watching when he’s announced a special comment.</p> Okay, Oklahoma kiddo, thanks. I try to catch him daily, but I make a SPECIAL point of watching when he’s announced a special comment.

]]>