We have a standing rule. If you find someone that accuses GraniteGrok or one of its authors of Hate or calls us a Hate site, we ask that you politely inform them that our lawyers would like the evidence, and could you forward it to us? No one ever sends us anything.
That is instructive. And I’m not just trying to be clever. In most cases, they’ve never read a word we’ve written or seen the words attributed in context. They are regurgitating a slur based on a false stereotype perpetrated by whiners, and no one here cares unless, by care, you mean, “Oh, look low-hanging fruit about which we might write.”
I assure you no one on our site is intimidated or losing sleep. But it is a warning of sorts. These are typically the same folks who insist on things like hate speech, hate crimes, hate tribunals, and even prosecution based on the above. If that’s your verb, then any indiscriminate accusations using the word “hate” suddenly represent a significant risk to the accused. You’ve (potentially) defamed someone and are susceptible to a lawsuit without evidence of actual crime or malice.
We will be happy to take your money and watch you pay our legal fees, but we’d rather you leave us be while also knowing that’s impossible. Progressives lack the capacity to leave others alone. Happily, nothing like that is in the pipeline, on the horizon, brewing, forthcoming, imminent, or expected. The Attorney General of New York, however, finds herself in that situation. She is being sued. As your typical A-list Lib, she has done what many do; echoed accepted thought in what passes for the progressive collective consciousness, not at some swanky private uptown fundraiser, but in public.
During a press conference held by New York’s Democratic Attorney General, Letitia James, to announce the filing of a civil lawsuit against Red Rose Rescue and several pro-lifers for an injunction to block the group from protesting within 30 feet of abortion mills, James branded the group’s members as “terrorists” without evidence to support the claim.
“It is my duty and my honor and my responsibility to keep individuals safe from terrorists, and that’s what they are,” she said in reference to Red Rose Rescue, as The Washington Times reported.
James’ lawsuit, however, does not accuse the group or associated pro-lifers of terrorism, which AFLC noted is because “there are no facts to support such a claim of criminality.”
Perhaps Red Rose Rescue should have burned down some black-owned businesses near the abortion clinics where they gather. These violent and destructive acts referred to colloquially as mostly peaceful protesting™ (Summer of Love 2020) were never once labeled by the left as terrorism, nor were its Marxist BLM and Antifa perpetrators referred to as terrorists by anyone in Letiata’s progressive class of rhetorical wordsmiths.
One of the plaintiffs in AFLC’s lawsuit, Miller, a co-founder and spokesperson of Red Rose Rescue, told LifeSiteNews that James’ “terrorist” claim is a “total propaganda lie – born from sheer pro-abortion politics.”
“Those who participate in Red Rose Rescues are quiet, loving and completely peaceful,” Miller said in a statement. “Terrorism doesn’t save babies from abortion – love saves babies from abortion – and Red Rose Rescuers are committed to acts of love.”
Miller pointed out that the Red Rose Rescue code of conduct requires members to “refrain from violence of any kind” and to avoid “profanity, cursing, yelling, screaming, or loud arguing.”
Defamation has a high bar, but Red Rose Rescue is not a “public person.” The recent spate of attacks on pro-life aligned centers helping women with unexpected pregnancies doesn’t help. Red Rose Rescue has also referenced “the chilling effect on Plaintiffs’ rights to freedom of speech and expressive association.”
The high bar may be a lot lower when it’s the State’s top cop doing the name-calling.
