This entry was posted on
Monday, June 1st, 2009 at
1:39 pm and is filed
under The Political Weblog Movement.

In an earlier post, I referred to this exchange, where Iain Dale’s lawyer tried and failed to specify an example of libel on my website after accusing me of repeated libel:

L: So far as I’m concerned, it is plainly obvious; you have accused my client of being, in various guises, a liar… with a number of adjectives which accompany it.

T: Riiiight..?

L: He denies that he’s a liar.

I’d like to expand on that theme briefly if I may, because it appears to me that someone is seeing bad language where there is none… while being blind to their own, no less.

Here’s a further exchange that I really wish I could bring you as audio. The best I can do is present this image as a description of the mocking tone used by this lawyer during this conversation:

L: I think that calling someone an expletive-deleted liar is not necessarily the most temperate way of diffusing a situation.

T: Actually, I…

L: … you could always say that someone has ‘been untruthful’.

T: … because I’ve been led into this trap* before, I’ve been very careful about my language with Mr Iain Dale recently…

L: I can only tell you…

T: … but he is a liar.

L: I can only tell you, it may be something that you may used to but the majority of people in this country still find very strong.

T: Wha…? I resent that, I really do.

L (mocking): “Oh, you resent that, you really do.” Cut the crap.

T: What’s with the mocking tone, sir?

L: Because I’m not here to be buggered around with.

[*Dale himself will himself tell people to “piss off” and describe them as “first class pricks” and allow/publish much worse from supporters on his website, but will feign shock if you ever swear back at him. So, because it is something that he nearly always takes advantage of, lately I’ve tried to be very careful about swearing at Iain.]

Now, leaving aside the possible status of ‘crap’ and ‘bugger’ as expletives, I’ve looked back though my posts from 2009 (because all of this crap started at or about the time that bugger Jenvey turned up) and all I can find are these two items:

In this post, I describe Iain Dale as “a shameless liar”.

In this post, I describe Iain Dale as “a malicious liar”.

So, depending on which of these two words is an expletive, we may finally have found what Iain Dale is referring to when he accuses me of libel… so is ‘malicious’ the expletive, or is it ‘shameless’?

Neither word shocks me, but that’s not a reliable guide, as it may simply be something that ‘people like me’ are used to. Would someone civilised care to point it out? Ideally, someone who represents “the majority of people in this country.”

–

[Of course, if this were a libel case, then I would have to prove that I speak the truth when I call Iain Dale a liar (which will be very easy to do if this ever sees the inside of a courtroom, because he lied to me), but this is not a libel case; Iain is instead alleging harassment, using accusations of repeated libel to support that allegation, and ‘inviting’ me to shut up and back off and let him have his way with continued publication of his lies about me while assuring every man and his dog that he isn’t trying to gag anyone, because he doesn’t like being called a hypocrite, either… even though he is one. Iain? You agreed to call Mercer, then didn’t, then lied about it. You also lied when protesting your innocence over the false claim about Tom Watson that cost the Mail on Sunday “substantial damages”. You also allege that I was harassing you when trying to contact you about both of these matters (and my statement to police, obviously) when you were in the process of misleading your readers about Tom Watson’s association with Draper/McBride/smeargate, and my association with Draper/McBride/smeargate. You were not sitting at home innocently twiddling your thumbs or fearfully hiding behind the sofa; you were busy publishing libel at the time (and/or ‘letting it ride’ after withdrawing same just a little too quietly), and I was one of the targets on your site and others. Instead of throwing lawyers and allegations at me, you should come down from your ivory tower and explain yourself under comments like any blogger worth their salt would have done weeks ago. Until you do so, you can piss off, you first class prick.]

[MINI-UPDATE – After initially allowing me to publish their letter(s), Iain’s lawyers now inform me that I am no longer permitted to do so… for reasons of copyright. (Tch. They’ll gag me with an accusation of jaywalking next.) Iain’s lawyers also refuse to clarify if criticism of Nadine Dorries amounts to harassment of Iain Dale in his eyes, as they appear to contend in their original copyright-protected letter.]