Thursday, June 18, 2009

William Wallace Knew Freedom

Freedom isn't free. It takes fighting and occasionally dying, but Patton's basic dictum about making the other poor dumb bastard do that part comes to mind.

Political commentary is a precious freedom guaranteed to us by the First Amendment. The Founding Fathers made such stuff the subject of the First because it was the most critical.

New Jersey isn't known as the most pristine example of democratic purity. On the contrary it is a contender for world corruption championship, hoping some day to challenge the undisputed Champion, Chicago/Cook County/Illinois.

So, we've got this little bit of freedom:

A Whole News-zine Dedicated to One Dirty Pol

Maybe you like John Corzine and maybe you don't. I don't have a dog in that hunt. But what I find outrageous is a "cease and desist" order being sought by the New York Times for copyright infringement over their "world famous Gothic font"! I guess they claim proprietary rights not over their editorial content but the way that it is displayed. I wonder if their column width is copy protected as well. I'd certainly be careful about inadvertently linking them here.

That's right, the NYT--the world's self-proclaimed greatest newspaper--is concerned that this web site is going to somehow damage their credibility, such as it still is. They want their font protected! Are you kidding me? I wonder if I've got a lawsuit for someone using my New Times Roman?

What they don't get is that by doing something so petty, foolish, patently political, the NYT has brought the Corzine Times into the mainstream. Folks who could have gone the rest of their life without being aware, will now visit the site in droves. Success comes from strange corners.

1 comment:

juvat said...

A wise American (I think his last name was Rasimus) once told me "Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they ain't out to get ya". With that in mind, and remembering your Joseph Goebbels analogy, you don't suppose they did it deliberately do ya. Just for the reason you stated, to increase exposure. After all, the honorable Mr. Corzine does have a (D) after his name. I'll have to Google it, but I think that's roughly translated into CCCP in Russian.