Dear Editor,
I read that, barring a retraction through apologies, SN and Chris Ram are threatened with a lawsuit by the AG (KN, March 20). I share the following thoughts.
I hear that the offending words include “careless” and “cavalier” and “obfuscatory” to name some. In any real democratic society, one with a reputable realm of jurisprudence, a lawsuit such as this, if it were to materialize, would highly likely be dismissed out of hand as frivolous and being unduly litigious. Associated costs, including defendants, would be slapped on plaintiff to send the appropriate message.
Also, I think that counsel did his client wrong by failing to advise as to the lack of merit in his complaint. If he did and was overridden, then the appropriate response would have been to step aside. In keeping with the temper of the times, these thoughts of mine might be actionable, too. I say this, since I detect open season and a lowering of the bar to dangerous levels.
Still, there is a part of me that wishes for this matter to proceed.
I believe that many of us would like to behold the judge in this country who is prepared to grant a hearing to this suit, should it become reality. Which judge worth the salt of his law degree, his professional standing, his sense of decency, and just plain old fashioned commonsense is going to accommodate what amounts to a weapon intended to intimidate, and to muzzle. Which judge? Then again, I might be surprised.
Further, and perhaps I should have positioned this first. When do the words “careless” and “obfuscatory” and the rest, rise to the level of the reputational harms claimed in the canned legal verbiage regurgitated? By this standard, Dr Luncheon ought to have hundreds of lawsuits pending based on the use of the word “obfuscatory” alone, as aimed in his direction.
If we seek to suppress “careless” and “cavalier” from speech, then by extension and inference what is next? Lacking substance? Exercise in subterfuge? A stranger to truth? Less than honest? Moreover, I have said it publicly before and I shall say it again: I do not believe that our political leaders are careful or serious or wise. Or even decent. I have been very specific at times. Given the SN and Chris Ram development, is all of this off limits? Last, I have said it repeatedly: I see the dark tentacles of communistic mindsets and standards at work.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
