COLDNews: Personal Attacks are Acceptable; Criticism Isn't

[XLFD]

Tonight's City of Ludington Daily News editorial, written by the triumvirate of Jeffrey Evans, Steve Begnoche, and Patsi Klevorn (the lady who related the attack of the chiefs in yesterday's paper) came out with an editorial in today's paper, coincidentally on the 50th anniversary of my birth on March 26, 1964. 

"Barnett, who has acted in a very professional and caring manner as far as we have ever been able to observe...", and it gets better. 

They ask we should "consider the manner in which Rotta makes his personal attacks... too often he resorts to name-calling and unsupported charges that get very personal". 

Speaking of unsupported charges, COLDNews editors, let's have some actual examples please.  Chief Barnett, didn't give me any that I could work with.

 

"...his (Barnett's) reserves deal with many dangerous situations at their own peril"

Which is why they need to have legitimate authority, minimal training, standards, etc., otherwise they are not the only ones in peril, the public is. 

 

"he (Rotta) should keep on topic and quit bad-mouthing individuals and their motives"

Examples please, of where I bad-mouth individuals, outside of their acting in their official capacity.

 

"... some of the bile spewed by Rotta is nothing but harmful and hateful."

One example please.

 

"We hope Rotta listens and takes the Chief's advice"

I could only hope the Chief, and their lapdog media, follow the Chief's advice.  I consider the source.

[Willy]

Unbelievable. The only conclusion I can draw from this is the LDN, Council, Mayor and the Chiefs got together and decided to conduct an offensive assault against you. It's just so obvious. Sure is funny how all these people came together at the same time to lambast you and what a coincidence that this mindless editorial seems to appear so quickly after the Chief's rantings. This was all a setup. And since when are negative and untrue comments by the Chief front page material? The real problem is they know you are right and their only weapon is the same that liberals all over use, negative and personal bashing of those that question their authority. This Council, Mayor, Chief and newspaper are doing more to stink up Ludington's reputation than anything I can think of. I want to let all the Players that are doing this to Mr. Rotta to know that he's not alone. There are many people that support him and I challenge those that are stooping so low to back up your slanderous statements. All of you should be fired or retired. Happy Birthday X.

[XLFD]

Since I'm 50 maybe I should be called 'L' (the Roman letter for the number 50), or XXXXX. 

You would be surprised at what's about to come out.  If you think this public orgy of hate-speech speaks badly about the situation in Ludington, a big shoe has already figuratively dropped on the corrupted cockroach-infested pit of iniquity known as the city hall which will show things are much worse than any of you could have imagined. 

[XLFD]

Rob Always makes a statement, that makes him lose all credibility with me.  To my knowledge and belief, I have never spoke about Chief Barnett's features negatively even in private moments at the city hall, and from my records,  this is the only time I used the word 'pervert' in a speech (feel free to search the archives for where I have used it here).  Rob Always engages in the slander and libel he decries.  Consider the rest of his work to have the same degree of veracity:

"And here is a zoomed shot of the hidden camera in the woman' restroom. What is the purpose of this hidden camera in the women's restroom pointed down over the stalls? I can only guess at lewd and lascivious purposes. But let's take a look at other public restrooms maintained by our City Hall. Here's the men's room at the North James Plaza:"

"The break in the ventilation screen is less noticeable, but the camera is obviously there."

"Once you zoom into the bottom left side, a closer look sees that this hidden camera goes back to the City's locked maintenance room. The women's side appears to have the same type of well-hidden camera in their duct.

But one could claim that these were put there long ago, by some unknown pervert that once worked for the City."

[XLFD]

One should note, that when the Waterfront bathroom pervcams were installed, Chief Barnett was writing citations down in Pontiac, and likely had never heard of Ludington.  On Facebook I have asked for Mr. Alway to put up or shut up, but I presume he will do neither because he needs to appease his base.

[Willy]

I think Alway has pointed out his own bias in this situation as written in his statement. "I do live in this community and I own businesses in this community". To me that says it all. His goals, as with the LDN, are to not rock the boat and to not upset those that advertise on their news sites which appear to be half advertising. He's as bad as the LDN and is pandering to pressure from those in authority. X has never called anyone a pervert. As I previously said this is an organized attack by City officials supported by local media. I wonder how much advertising was threatened to be kept away by businesses who support them. Alway should be ashamed of himself. If he were a true journalist who would have contacted X and reported the real story as to what is going on. Instead he jumps in the sewer with the politicians and the LDN. Shameful display of what is wrong with Ludington.

[XLFD]

Excellent point, Willy.  The statement you highlight effectively says he has to toe the line or there would be repercussions to his businesses and his family.  It's too bad he has to sacrifice his journalistic ethics and standards on the altar of personal expediency. 

I know what he means, many other here knows what he means. 

[Willy]

Eye

"To insinuate otherwise is bordering on unethical."

You mean like the slanderous insinuations the Council, Police Chief, the LDN and Alway have been stating about Mr. Rotta.

[XLFD]

Nevertheless, I have put the challenge out to Rob Alway on Facebook to put up or shut up.  His high journalistic standards does not permit me to comment on his Facebook page, so I have placed his post on the Ludington Pitchfork, our Facebook affiliate. 

He has every right to do some research on the topic, to listen to what has actually been said at these meetings, to review our archives and to petition the City of Ludington for their research on the Torch's archives, just in case he thinks I have cleaned the archives of objectionable content, which I haven't.

He will find that his one post on Facebook is definitely defamatory with his given Nolo post.  I call that extremely reckless on his part. 

[Wonder Woman]

Actually, Mr. Alway is incorrect in his assessment of slander and libel laws.  Public officials and celebs aren't protected by the same laws that private citizens are.  Here is some further reading from Nolo.com:

 

"The public has a right to criticize the people who govern them, so the least protection from defamation is given to public officials. When officials are accused of something that involves their behavior in office, they have to prove all of the above elements of defamation and they must also prove that the defendant acted with "actual malice."

People who aren't elected but who are still public figures because they are influential or famous -- like movie stars -- also have to prove that defamatory statements were made with actual malice, in most cases."

To act with "actual malice" means to:

"Actual malice" means that the person who made the statement knew it wasn't true, or didn't care whether it was true or not and was reckless with the truth -- for example, when someone has doubts about the truth of a statement but does not bother to check further before publishing it.

In the cases involving Mr. Rotta, I don't believe he is acting in actual mallice because he believes the statements he is making are true, and researches his concerns before publishing them or speaking them. 

 

I would say 75% of the time, I don't agree with Mr. Rotta's assessments or opinions.  However, he isn't guilty of anything.  He is trying to be a watchdog and expose corruption.  City officials need to recognize that they are political figures and are subject to critisicm, scrutiny, etc....even if it's not always factual.  We see this kind of thing happen all the time in politics. 

 

Mr. Rotta, on the other hand, is a private citizen and is protected by libel and slander laws.  He could easily claim that he has a case against local officials, local media, and private individuals who post on social media for defamation, libel, and/or slander.

[XLFD]

I would agree with everything you say, except that I agree with Mr. Rotta's assessments or opinions at a much higher percentage.  I have to; I gotta live with the guy and his eccentricities.

[Willy]

Wonder Woman

You have just pointed out what is wrong with Alway and the LDN and what I have been saying for years. They print articles and information that are inaccurate and are often times just plain lies. They do very little if any research on the subjects they talk about. They fail to provide their readers with all sides of the story which gives the readers the wrong impression of what is taking place. The people of Mason County deserve better.

[Willy]

After searching the archives under "Barnett" it's obvious why Barnett lashed out. X has dug up and revealed a lot of questionable decisions, acts and police work that has taken place under Barnett. Barnett feels he has no way to defend himself except to vilify X. I'm sure he asked all his cohorts to back him at the Council and it's quite possible they encouraged him to do this so they could cheer him on.