Jack Attack on GamePolitics, Part 4: The Bookstorm
Jack Attack on GamePolitics, Part 4: The Bookstorm
July 25, 2007
Part 4 of 4
Background: Controversial anti-game attorney Jack Thompson went on the attack against GamePolitics in an interview with the obscure PopZart site during the week of E3.
In my third year of running GP, I’ve grown accustomed to Thompson’s criticism, but this attack was so remarkably personal in nature that I feel compelled to respond.
You may also want to read part one, The Demonizing, part two, Game Industry Stooge and part three, Raising The Bar. Part four, The Bookstorm, follows.
Picking up where we left off in Part 3, we resume by quoting another of Thompson's accusations from the PopZart article:
JT: McCauley even went so far as to link his site to my Tyndale House book offering at Amazon.com to assure that it would be "bookstormed." The number of obscene postings at my book offering there were so voluminous because of what McCauley did that Amazon had to delete many of them. McCauley is simply a tool of this industry, then, and its too bad, because the guy has talent and has a sense of what is news. What he lacks is any sense of fairness when it comes to Jack Thompson.
GP: This is an absolutely, utterly, false accusation which Thompson has repeated numerous times, including to PopZart. Here's the truth:
Back in 2005 GP's only source of revenue was a pittance from Amazon affiliate ads. You know - someone clicks through and buys a book, GP earns a few pennies. Thompson's book Out of Harm's Way was to be published in mid-November, 2005. Thinking that it might be a good seller among GP readers, I posted an Amazon ad for it, pre-publication, in early September. For three months that ad ran and Thompson never complained. Why would he? He was getting free advertising.
When the book finally launched in mid-November, people certainly did post nasty things on its Amazon page. I actively discouraged that on GamePolitics and even wrote a charitable commentary on the book at one point, for which Thompson thanked me. All of this from the guy who, in Thompson's words, "lacks any sense of fairness when it comes to Jack Thompson."
Timing is crucial to understanding what happened next, and how this outrageous "bookstorming" accusation suddenly materialized. Thompson's book was published on November 14th, 2005, and the nasty Amazon posts started almost immediately, but the bizarre "bookstorming" charges against GP didn't surface until nearly three weeks later, on December 1st. Why?
It's impossible to know for sure what triggered the sudden turnaround, but Thompson may have become angry with me over two stories - one that I wrote, and one that I didn't. It's also possible that he became even more frustrated when I was unable to take his phone calls.
All I know is that from September 1st until the late afternoon of December 1st, Thompson was fine with his book being advertised on GamePolitics. What caused him to suddenly begin making these outlandish allegations? Here's the timeline. You decide...
Sept. 1, 2005 - GamePolitics begins running pre-publication Amazon ad for Thompson’s book
Nov. 15. 2005 - GamePolitics announces Thompson’s book is now for sale; posts first chapter; negative comments start to appear on Amazon
Nov. 16th, 2005 - I admonish GP readers who are discussing some mischief against Thompson's book ("I won't have a book burning advocacy here, no matter whose book it is.")
Nov. 25th, 2005 - Having now skimmed the book I write my generalized impressions; Thompson posts a thank-you
Nov. 30, 2005 - Book ad has run on GP for 90 days – no complaints from Thompson
Dec. 1st, 6:45 AM - GP runs a story about a service promoting Thompson as a radio talk show guest; Within hours Thompson will take exception to this item
Dec. 1st, 2005, 9:59 AM - via e-mail, Thompson offers GamePolitics an op-ed, “Hillary’s Video Game Hoax,” which is his response to GP's Nov. 29th coverage of game legislation introduced by Sen. Hillary Clinton
Dec. 1st, 2005, 12:43 PM - Thompson posts response on GP to the radio bookings piece; chides GP for not running Hillary story; vows to quit visiting GP.com
Dec. 1st, 2005, 12:48 PM - First of six voice mails left this day by Thomspon; chides GP over bookings article and not covering Thompson's Hillary op-ed
(these voice mail recordings were left on my office phone by Thompson on December 1st, 2005; they were digitized and saved)
Dec. 1st, 2005, 1:28 PM - GP, busy on those oh-so-annoying non-GamePolitics segments of life, posts a brief response to Thompson; but no time to respond to Thompson's phone calls
Dec. 1st, 2005, 2:15 PM - second of six voice mails left by Thompson
(in these voice mails Thompson seems to believe he's talking to an answering machine on which I'm screening calls; he's actually talking to Verizon's voice mail service, which I use for my office phone. I can't hear a word he's saying until I get around to checking messages)
Dec. 1st, 2005, 2:27 PM - third of six voice mails left by Thompson (as a courtesy to Thompson, we've blocked his recitation of his phone number with a tone)
Dec. 1st, 2005, 2:32 PM - fourth of six voice mails left by Thompson (ditto, regarding JT's phone number)
Dec. 1st, 2005, 2:48 PM - fifth of six voice mails left by Thompson
Dec. 1st, 2005, 4:24 PM - last of six voice mails left by Thompson ("I'm done with you... you're a hack...")
Dec. 1st, 2005, 4:32 PM - Eight minutes after his final, angry voice mail, Thompson’s FIRST EVER attack on the GP Amazon ad materializes via e-mail to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, cc’d to GP: Tortious, Possibly Criminal Activity at Amazon.com, ...I would ask that you rescind from [GP] the privilege of linking to my book on your site. The idiot videogamers who visit that site are not buying the book. They and the owner of the site, Dennis McCauley, are using the link to “bookstorm” and spike the book. I want it stopped now.
Dec. 1st, 2005, 5:54 PM to 7:19 PM - GP sends several e-mails to Thompson: "I can't tell you how disappointed I am that you would link my name with anything insidious … I would caution you not to blame your bad [book] reviews on me... I've been in and out of meetings all day and I can't talk to you on the phone... FYI, as per your request, the ad for your book is gone from my site. To date, five copies were sold through GamePolitics - which probably makes us the world's leading referral site on your book."
Dec. 2nd, 2005, 6:07 PM - Thompson posts a lengthy tirade, vows never to return to GP (no such luck, unfortunately)... GP responds, admittedly with more heat than is my norm. But then again, I'd just been accused of this "bookstorming."
Dec. 3rd, 2005: Thompson sends an e-mail to newspapers that carry GP's column claiming that GP is misrepresenting himself; copies to media outlets; claims that GP is orchestrating bad reviews at Amazon, including the line, “I got McCauley to pull the [book] link this week, because I caught him doing this.”
Dec. 3rd, 2005: The truth being that I took the Amazon ad for his book down as a response to Thompson's request, I wasn't about to sit still while he claimed this courtesy as evidence of some wrongdoing on my part. I immediately reposted the book ad and left it up the entire month of December to prove the point. This did not go over well in Miami, to say the least.
The bottom line is simply this: If Jack Thompson makes people angry, that's not my fault. I can't control what people think about him or what they post on Amazon.com or anywhere else. I absolutely challenge Thompson to produce any evidence whatsoever that I encouraged an attack on his book. There isn't any evidence because it never happened. In fact, there's substantial evidence to the contrary.
Jack's parting shot at me from the PopZart article:
JT: These blogs like GamePolitics, where Dennis McCauley lets people hide behind anonymity, like big tough guys, casting their stones and then whining when I respond with what I think is the truth, with my name attached, kind of tells anyone who is willing to listen and hear who the mean-spirited anonymous cowards are.
GP: I assume he is referring to reader comments. What am I supposed to do about that? Did GP invent the anonymous Internet? Maybe Jack could take it up with his old law school classmate, Al Gore.
In the end, I must think back to Federal District Court Judge Paul Huck, who, in dismissing a recent case filed by Thompson against the Florida Bar, wrote:
Thompson submits nothing beyond wild accusations of a vast conspiracy against him…
Comments
I still find it horrendously deploreable that a LAWYER would demand that anyone and everyone who chooses to post commentary display their full name and address. How stupid does he think we are?
What next Jack? Demanding that little kids turn over Mommy and Daddy's credit card numbers over the internet? How about my Social Security number and a scanned copy of my driver's lisence? My Birth Certificate? Please Jacky Boy, tell me how much of my identity you want to steal.
@GP
Bravo Dennis. You've done a magnificent job of taking a very heated topic and coolly tearing it apart piece by piece. This sort of work is stuff you should print and hang on a wall somewhere. This probobly won't stop Jack from spreadng his lies everywhere, but now if anyone asks, you can refer them to this story in the archives.
Oh. and you get another 50 points for professionally bitch-slapping Thompson. *Level up music*
A) Childishly attack their character and call them names.
B) Make a point that's completely irrelevant to the original post.
or
C) Fail to respond at all. (Which I can't blame you for. There's too much to respond to, and I understand that you probably only want to look foolish so many times per day.)
And why should any of us be expected to divulge our personal information? What good does it do you or us? You chose to be a highly criticized public figure. Do you really want to email opinion pieces to your critics at GamePolitics or pay them visits at their homes? Or is this just about money again and your desire to file lawsuits when people hurt your feelings? Seriously, why in the world do you need to know anyones personal information?
Do you suddenly think your problems would go away if another person was looking at your ethics complaints?
I've certainly got better things to do than go attack books that I really have limited interest in, but it's assumed that because I post on here, and don't agree, that therefore I MUST be a social misfit who engages in casual vandalism.
The anger on here was never at his opinion that games should be banned, even if that opinion seemed to be mobile depending on circumstances, it was at the demeaning and belittling attitude he automatically took, the fact he bundled ALL gamers into one basket, kind of like saying that all LaCross players are rapists simply because a few commited rape, and the fact that even when proven to be completely wrong about something, like the Robida or Cho incidents, he still wasn't man enough to take it on the chin.
I fail to see how he can continue to blame anything on GP after this series of articles. Every accusation he has had has been debunked and shown up as fantasy, perceived threats that are not there.
"They attacked my book and tried to vandalise the page!"
"You mean the book he wrote a decent review of and advertised for you for free?"
"Yes!"
Jack, you just got OWNED BITCH!!
Well said dennis, well said.
Basically, I'm talking about Jack's little tantrum regarding the alleged 'Bookstorming'.
You didn't cover him when he wanted, so he stormed off. Seems very immature.
I thought those voicemails were too funny to be real. I have heard similar before, and sorry GP, but I think Jack might be in love with you. Maybe ask him to dinner and let him down softly
If I lived in Miami I would personally visit his office to tell him what I think of him.
hey jack you want my address and name?
ill gladly post them!
But JT needs to grow up. Christ told his disciples to say when they pray, "Please forgive me my tresspasses as I FORGIVE OTHERS THEIR TRESSPASSES."
Sounds to me like JT needs to start practiing those Christian values he professes to live.
Also the final link is broken.
The reason for anonymity on the Internet is to protect the people using it, Jack is supposedly all about 'Protecting the Children' and yet doesn't think twice before demanding personal details on a Public Message board. I was furious the last time he tried to pretend he had the legal weight to demand that people post their details on here, it could so easily have led to a terrible result, which Jack would, without doubt, have tried to blame on Video Games, not his own irresponsibility.
For all we know it's all /b/'s fault that Jack is hell bent on destroying people's rights.
Grow up. It is because of comments like yours that we have this problem with JT.
Again, Grow Up.
Quick! Someone give him a new upcoming form of media/art for him to bitch about. It worked for rap.
Agreed. Saying that you want to kill someone isn't the best way of coming across as a rational nonviolent sort of person. Hate his attitude, despair over his argument skills, and mock his unusual sense of logic, but civility goes a long way.
The final quote, from Paul Huck, sums up Jackie just fine. Keep doing what you do.
Original meaning, however, is Heard, Understood, Affirmative.
So, shut your big fucking mouth and stop wasting your time.
Jack, please, for your own and everybody elses sake stop it. You are just embarrasing yourself.
That is actually a very amusing link. Lets see Jack claimed that Take Two would be destroyed by March 23 and its now, oh look at that its way past that and Take Two is still in business. Man, I wish I had a dollar for every time Jack loses.
Yes. An Al Pacino character. A character who lost his sight because he was screwing around with hand grenades.
Ever think about THAT, Jack-Off T?
- Buy a golf driving range
- Charge $100 for a bucket of balls
- Be the guy who drives around in golf cart scooping up balls
- Become insanely rich
ok thanx for answering my question, consider all the crap hes put the bar through if they do disbar him i doubt they will try and keep it too private
The problem with this interview of Jack Thompson is that he is not really challenged about his methods. The ends do not justify the means. He has been guilty of saying terrible hateful things to people, including but not limited to "Go buy a suicide game and get real good at it". I have seen his comments where he belittles gamers. I think most people know that what a lot of immature people have done to Thompson and his family in regards to phone calls, name calling and sending him vile things is wrong, but at the same time he is not interested in a constructive dialogue with us. It's not that most gamers disagree with Thompson's stated goal of keeping mature games out of the hands of children, its his methods we can't stand. I think there are better ways to keep violent games out of the hands of children than a ban or legislation. I think ultimately that it is up to the parents to know what there kid is playing and at $50 a video game I see no good excuse for how they can not know. Those are my opinions, but I understand that Thompson has his.
I should go ahead and say here that there was a time when a large number of gamers got together and tried to open a talks with Thompson to exchange constructive ideas about how to accomplish this goal. A letter was written to Thompson apologizing on behalf of the gaming community for the way he has been treated by some of its members and asking him to speak with us civilly. People from all over the world signed this letter and pitched in with money to send an impressive number of flowers to Thompson as a peace offering. A lot of time, energy and hope was poured into that project. Thompson's response was not at all positive. He called our efforts "childish". He stated that he had no interest in a dialogue with us, and he implied that he was going to send the flowers to a member of the video game industry. ( I think it was Paul Eibler (sp?) but I don't remember) In the end it seems to me that Thompson would rather be hateful to anyone he views as a gamer than work with gamers to keep mature rated games out of the hands of children. I find that extremely strange if his goal is what he says it is. I would think that anyone wishing to create positive change in an industry would be happy if the consumers of that industry were willing to listen and exchange ideas but that is not Thompson's position.
Some people think that Thompson is mentally ill. Some people might mean that as an insult while others are expressing genuine concern. Thompson has a history of stating that the "industry" is conspiring against him. He believes that all gamers are involved in that conspiracy. He seems to suggest again and again that all gamers get orders from the "industry" and work to carry them out. To some people that might seem a little paranoid. Thompson has intentionally made himself a volatile figure. It seems that he believes this helps his cause. Personally I think it does the exact opposite; it distracts people away from the issue until they only pay attention to Thompson's behavior.
Yeah, but I don’t think Thompson ever meant “Hooah” to be disrespectful or as a way to rile us up (like he does with pixelante, a word that’s so silly and poorly conceived that it’s impossible to take seriously as a pejorative). I think it’s just something he heard in a movie and thought was cool.
Andrew Eisen
You persistently try to put-down, attack and smear others to prop yourself up... Whether you're using Christ's name to align people that work for an honest business to satan... or trying to discredit journalists... or seeming to receive satisfaction from getting into flame-wars with teenagers on the internet.... and now you even use smear tactics to attack the president of YOUR OWN BAR ASSOCIATION... It probably wasn't published because your self-serving goal of trying to smear Frank Angones is very transparent.
PS... Although you've completely established that your goals are ideological and that you're willing to twist and manipulate the letter of the law to suit your own ambitions, in a way I hope that you don't loose your license to practice law.
This is because you'd be more dangerous as a private citizen to pursue whatever tactics you please, without the type of restrictions you face as a lawyer.
- - - -
CHECK THIS LINK: http://www.joystiq.com/2007/03/18/jack-thompson-responds-biblically-to-t...
I don't think anyone would think this guy should be practicing law after reading what he wrote.
Yeah its a military thing. I don't use it because I've not gained the right to do so, neither has Jack. So every time Jack does use it its a major insult to our men and women in uniform past and present, including those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Therefore its par for the course as far as the lack of decency and couth that John Bruce Thompson displays.
but Al Pachino's character was a retired US Army officer.
Funny thing BTW, a few popular meanings of "hooah" include "I am not listening" and "I don't know what that means, but I'm too embarrassed to ask for clarification" which suit Thompson perfectly.
If Jack got his own blog, there'd be nothing but gamers on it. And Jack, the day you get my personal info there'll be a 50mph bucket of my own spit immediately following it.
@Austin Lewis:
You're way off with #2. Jack lacks the necessary equipment.
@Andrew Eisen:
Ha! Watching JT get punched in the mouth never gets old!
May as well lighten up on the "HOOAH" thing. By Thompson's own admission he picked it up from Al Pachino's character in Scent of a Woman.
Andrew Eisen
If I ever hear or read you saying hooah again, I will come to your office and yank your internet connection and phone line out of the wall.
HOOAH is a USARMY phrase. You don't know the meaning behind it, just like you don't know the hardship of such a life, so kindly shut your damn mouth fool.
Austin, Sane and you're a jackass.
my bad!
Don't worry, I'll figure out some coverage
I remember the commercials that used to say "A mind is a terrible thing to waste"
There is no better example of the tragedy of a wasted mind than Mr. Jack Thompson...
He's got to be worried right now that he's going to wind up without a license.
Dennis - I will voice my support once more for your website and journalism. I don't always agree with the amount of ink dedicated to some people and issues, but I can at least trust that you are posting the most factual information that you can accumulate. Keep up the good work and don't let the b*****d grind you down.
"Okay we have wrath there. Now add that to the pride and greed. Come on Jack four more to go! You can do it!"
Don't forget Sloth, seeing as he still has yet to create JackandGoliath.com
your going to cover as much of the procedure on jackys hearing right?
Okay we have wrath there. Now add that to the pride and greed. Come on Jack four more to go! You can do it!
Oh yeah, you got a point there.
By the way, Jack's court date... is that September 16th? Cause that's my birthday and would be a TOTALLY awesome present to have Jack disbarred on the anniversary of my birth. Oh man, I'd toast champagne to that while singing "Ding Dong the Dork is Dead!" :D
Seriously though, I can't help but wonder what his wife and kid think about his crusade.
~Otaku-Man
IIRC, when Jack was using his wife as a playing the sympathy card, Kurisu emailed him saying his wife was also in a bout with cancer and pulled through and that he understands what Jack was going through etc. and Jack replied saying he wished Kurisu's wife died simply because she's a gamer.
@kurisu7885
I forget the full details but do you still have that email mentioned above?
I was just saying that I'm proud not to be John Bruce.
John Bruce sees himself as an honorable, ethical, intelligent attorney.
Based on his model, himself, of "attorney", I wouldn't want to be his kind of attorney either.
So, no, I wasn't talking about attornies in general. We have several good ones who hang around here in fact.
None of them would I use John Bruce's model of "attorney" to describe either.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
I think he only 'selectively' read The Bible.
@StepForward:
I'll bring the beer!
jack's a hack and will always be a hack!
so am i the only one he told to go buy a suicide game to or was it to other people also?
Lmao Man that was the funniest thing i've read all day
All I can say is, at least New Jersey doesn't have to worry about a quack like him. Our state has enough problems as it is.
That's all I can say about that, since no words can describe how much he gives lawyers a bad name.
He's like the guy that keeps sending love letters and calling his ex-girlfriend in the face of a break-up begging for her back.
afraid to challenge a real lawyer ?
you truly are a pathetic little man
if you want better book sales write a better book
@ Gamepolitics
Great 4-parter. I appreciated and enjoyed all of it. Thank you for getting everything on the record. I especially liked the timeline.
And isn't Jack banned? Or did he figure out proxies?
@ Jack Thompson
So what if we're not legal professionals? Have you shown much professionalism lately?
Dennis goes and rebutts you (with his explanation why RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING OF EVERY PIECE IN THE 4-PART ARTICLE) in what could easily be called an editorial piece OR investigative reporting. That's right Jack, it's still journalism. The fact that Dennis (and the rest of us for that matter) are fact checking you and refuting your lies just upsets you, so you lash out like a child who's been caught in a lie. You attempt misdirection/distraction (see your first post here - completly irrelivant to the subject) and then blame-shifting (another form of misdirection, commonly used in psychological handling of volatile people - see blaming Dennis for something rather than owning up to your own short-comings). It's all rather childish. Dennis has explained himself, his reasons for doing this, and has evidence to back up his statements. You've got... a losing track record, multiple bills shot down on constitutional grounds, multiple Bar investigations for conduct unbecoming an attorney, and (albeit from secondary evidence) questionable sanity. I pity you and your family for what you're inflicting on them.
You don't even have refutation for the lies we revealed yesterday regarding your innacurate accusations of GP not giving us full disclosure (another attempt at misdirection, by the way... but who's counting?)
Also, the term "hooah" is pretty insulting, considering you're not a Marine. Unless you've spent the time serving your country, you've not EARNED the right to use it in the manner that you do. You've not shed the blood and sweat, nor shown the strength of character necessary to use that term. You expose your ignorance and lack of moral fiber by said use.
@ Andrew Eisen
That. Rocked.
If I weren't living in Australia (US Citizen living abroad ATM), I might have beat you to the punch on the Shakespear quote... but I doubt it. Nicely done.
“nobody shoots anybody in the face unless you’re a hit man or a video gamer.”
Yeah, I'm a gamer along with thousands of gamers out there. Just because we play videogames doesn't mean that we're terrorist, like you said after someone brought flowers on your doorway.
If you try banning the good stuff like Anime and Manga, everyone in America will hate you.
And let the people speak, I heard that you sue Kotaku for just "Dissecting your lies" which its just plain stupid and even stupider when you screw-up.
And don't even try sueing me for what I said. I'm just telling you that you did was STUPID.
If you going to write another book, you should put:
Jack Thompson, the Ass Attorney Who Lies
Thanks and hooah!!
Tack Jhomson, Fake Attorney, and You're Not
Jack, I have never hid behind annonnimity. If you wanted my name, all you had to do is ask. I will not give you my address or phone number because I don't want to be harassed by you. I have my own life that I apreciate you not trying to interfere with. If you really wanted to disscuss with me or anyone here anything on your position you would not troll the comments page. If you changed your attitude and stopped acting like a child that didn't get his icecream then I might be inclined to talk. Of cource since you have my name I am sure you can find a way to contact me if you really cared about my opinon.
Jack Thompson:
Your still just a lawyer, and still just a pest.
Guess what JT, I don't WANT to be a lawyer or attorney, I'd rather have a life thank you very much.
Read that even when he failed his bar exam the first time, he blamed everyone but himself.
I don't know about anyone else, but even at the age of 19, I know if I mess up, the only person who's fault it is, is my own.
Be fair. Jack's not a fair representation of most attorneys. I know quite a few, and they're all very polite, rational people. Jack's a bad example, but at least he probably won't remain one for much longer.
You know this, you are a lawyer, as you keep reminding us.
Why thank you! What a sweet compliment!
It's so nice to know that I'm not a bigoted, dishonorable, unethical, demon worshiping, piece of guttertrash like you.
How nice of you to say so! :)
Nightwng2000
NW2K software
To make it better, let's write in to these news shows and remind them they had Jack on their shows, then inform them of Jack's disbarrment. The media needs a good slap in the face, IMO.
Also to show support in his well being i think that when and if he is subject to this physc testing and fails i think we should all visit him and give encouragement to make it and climb out of this proverbial meriadas trench he's digging.
Mr. Thompson- Time and time again you resort to tactics of the lowest common denominator. You attack people personally and bring their families into an argument and then throw a fit when the same is done to you (though personally I think its wrong for EITHER side to get that carried away).
Those are not the actions of a Christian Mr. Thompson. See I've read the Bible myself and I don't recall a "be mean" Commandment anywhere in either the Old or New Testaments. You're a bully plain and simple. More than that you're a product of a sue happy society content to let others do the thinking for them.
Dennis I applaud the decorum you've shown in your responses. I'm sure I could have done the same. Thank you for being our voice Dennis.
http://gamepolitics.com/2007/02/03/jack-thompson-faces-florida-bar-disci...
"What does “bookstorm” mean? I checked google definitions, urban dictionary and even wikipedia and I can’t find a definition anywhere."
It doesn't appear to be be a common term yet, or maybe Thompson's just using the wrong words to describe things.
I'm assuming it refers to some of the abuses that can be managed with Amazon's review system. In addition to loading a book down with bad reviews, you can apparently play with the automated recommendation system in a way sort of like googlebombing that the "If you liked this book, you might also like:" thing links to books the author would find objectionable. At least I recall hearing something like that when his book came out that is the only thing I can think of JT could be referring to.
The trouble with comparing him to Quixote is: Quixote had style and some sort of moral code that he actually, y'know, adhered to.
I think this one from Romeo & Juliet fits
The hatred i bear thee can afford no better term than this.
Thou art a villain.
I don't think we all hate JT in the literal sense of the word, but giving his tiring and unyielding antics I would think we can all agree that the term villain fits.
you forgot to add a modified version of JT's redundant sig. I'll mad-lib it: "Jack Thompson, (blank), and you're not." Some work-safe examples are "media-whore", "stalker", and "egotistical jerk"
The reason Dennis has written four articles to counter your claims is that there are a lot of claims to counter. You are a classic troll, and are resorting to using devices which most people grow out of in the early teens:
Prima: -Claim A-
Secunda: -Refutation of claim A-
Prima: -Unrelated claim B-, and Secunda just can't resist replying to every one of my comments!
So let us turn the tables. Why, Mr. Thompson, do you insist on replying to everything that Dennis McCauley says? This wannabe-journalist hack clearly doesn't know what he's talking about and is no threat to you, so why give him the oxygen of publicity by stooping to his level and responding to him?
If things got any more drama-filled here I'd think this were deviantART. If you comment-whore, expect people to comment.
(@Andrew Eisen: Zing!)
I found some better quotes from Hamlet that might be better construed.
Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell!
I took thee for thy better.
* Hamlet, scene iv
More matter with less art.
* Gertrude, scene ii
Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind.
* Ophelia, scene i
Well... why should we stop with just one of Shakespears great works, let's try Macbeth.
Look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under it.
* Lady Macbeth, scene v
How's that run for Judge Friedman's seat shaping up, by the way?
Fan of anime, never gonna be an attorney. And YOU'RE NOT!
More to the point, I'll say it because it can't be said enough: superb job GP. Facts don't lie, and you easily provided enough.
Finally, I say this last part as mostly a general comment, not an attack. I've said it before, I'm fairly well-versed in the workings of the human mind. I've seen only two reasons for the actions Mr. Thompson exhibits. The first is simply trying to cause controversy and grasping at straws to do it. A major part of that is something that's come up a couple time already: entrapment. He tries to draw ire, and then point to it as evidence. The other reason is simply mental instability. That's not an attack, simply experience. I've worked on mental wards and I've seen the same kind of behavior there, although more extreme for the most part.
Sadly, I really think Mr. Thompson suffers from the latter. I can only judge from his public actions, but the uniformity of his actions across situations gives strong support for this. That includes his actions in what would usually remain private conversations. I honestly feel very bad for him. That kind of thinking can be a very scary thing to experience.
Says the man who leaves dozens of messages on Dennis' answering machine like a jilted lover.
Shakespear makes it quite clear that the comment is a reflection on herself.
How appropriate that you would pick that particular quote.
Andrew Eisen
So, your response to these or any of Dennis' claims are that he did a four part rebuttal? Once again, sir, you sink down to a level of trying to skirt around simple charges because you're unable to answer them head on. For example, you claimed Dennis "bookstormed" you, in response Dennis said he did no such thing and provided a link one of which gave a not unfavorable nod to the book in question (which you thanked him for) and another where he specifically told his readers he didn't want them to take action against your book and that we should appreciate all forms of speech even if we disaggree with it. You responded by displaying your ability to count to the number four. Notice how Dennis' response was directly pertinent to the charges laid before him by you and that your response was nothing of the sort.
@JT - Judge Huck has already blown you off once - fairly recently - on the recusal. I don't think this attempt to delay your September trial will work, either.
The one thing he does not seem to get is that gamers refuse to stoop down to his level.We do not use the kinds of dirty tricks he uses, we do not qoute tabloids, and we use facts to argue against your lies.
Im going to throw one hell of a BBQ the day you get disbarred.
I do appreciate your quoting Judge Huck, though. It prompted me to move for his recusal today, now that video game sites are quoting him about a "conspiracy" I never alleged.
Thanks and hooah!!!!
Jack Thompson, Attorney, and You're Not