Last year my daughter bought tickets for my husband and I to go with her and a group of her friends to see a comedian/ventriloquist by the name of Jeff Dunham. I had no idea who he was, but I figured it was sweet of her to want to be seen in public with her doddering old folks for a night out on the town. Turns out, I’d heard about Dunham’s trademark puppet, Ahmed the Dead Terrorist. I just didn’t know the comedian’s name at the time. The show was pretty good (even though I’d have much rather seen a Dwight Yoakam concert), and we all had a blast. Not to mention a Family Time Kodak Moment.
If you haven’t heard of Ahmed the Dead Terrorist, or that his trademark line is “Silence! I kill you!” then you really have been living under a rock. I can’t help you with that. But for some strange reason, a letter I just got from a lawsuit happy lawyer by the name of Charles M. Baron made me think of good old Ahmed. The extremely thin skinned Mr. Baron got a tad perturbed at a comment about him that one of my readers posted on my recent blog, My lawyer can beat up your lawyer. Chucky wrote:
Stephanie – I can’t believe you re-posted the defamatory post below, after the talk I had with you. The post you are quoting at the end, and which you have 100% control over in the moderating/publishing of your blog, essentially accuses me of the crime of extortion.
This is what is called DEFAMATION PER SE under the law, which entitles me to sue you AND the person you are quoting for monetary damages, without the necessity of me proving any economic losses caused by the defamation. Should I sue, you will be forced in discovery in the lawsuit to reveal the source, who will then be added as a defendant.
This is to demand, for the LAST TIME, that you permanently remove the post. No further warning will be given!! If you wish, you may have your attorney call me – 305-933-9292.
YOUR POST:
Sure, you can have your comment back, with the caveat that Mr. Baron was allegedly initially asked to be a consultant by the developer’s representative, who then reconsidered the offer. I have to say “allegedly” because there is apparently nothing in writing and I am only going by what was told to me by the representative.
Here’s your original post:
“Here’s the deal: Mr Baron wanted the developer to hire him as their attorney/consultant, and he basically told them (on the record) that if they did not hire him he would oppose the project.”
Seems to me that Charles M. Baron, Esquire, is telling me, “Silence! I sue you!”
Touchy, touchy, touchy.
This kinda reminds me of the reason I was named the Miami New Times’ Best Gadfly – 2011, for dogging North Miami Beach EX-mayor Myron Rosner from the moment he sicced Code Enforcement on me until he was gloriously voted out of office.
In the words of the New Times, “If his goal was to silence the legal secretary and 20-year North Miami Beach resident, Rosner struck out big time. The very next day, Miami’s best gadfly was back on her computer, blogging about Rosner’s crackdown and demanding his head. What a pain in the ass! (That’s a compliment, Stephanie.)”
Call me crazy, but…Wait! Someone already did!
This threat also reminds me of the time when I pissed off a North Miami Beach cop, who called himself “Officer YeahRight,” for my opinion on salary and pension reform by posting a comment on my blog, telling me, “Your a crazy woman Kienzel. GO F$&K YOURSELF.” Eventually, Officer YeahRight and I ended up calling a truce after some reasonable discussion on both our parts, and that whole crazy mishegas settled down after a spell.
And now, just like Ahmed the Dead Terrorist’s threat, “Silence! I kill you!”, Charles M. Baron, Esquire, is attempting to intimidate me by threatening that if I don’t shut up, he’ll sue me. He’s demanding that I remove the “offending” comment or else he’ll file yet another lawsuit. (This dude’s got way too much time on his hands, eh?)
Not only do I not intimidate easily, but I also don’t negotiate with terrorists. Even ones with law degrees.
However, out of the goodness of my heart, and in the spirit of…gee, I don’t know…cooperation, maybe?, I’ve decided to save him the time, the trouble and the court costs by removing the comment from the blog.
Feel better, Chucky? Now, take your ball and go home to mommy.
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
How old is this dude? 16?