Porky's Revenge - Part 1

Recently, da Manalapan Township Committee held a meeting and offered a special invitation to former mayor Porky Spodak to appear. At da meeting, Porky exercised his First Amendment rights, but also, through his fine investigating skills was able to catch 2 township committeepeople in doublespeak!

In response to Porky's claims of First Amendment issues at da meeting, Committeeman Cash Klauber replied, "We're not here to try to impinge on anyone's First Amendment rights."

Huh?????

Cash's claim was echoed by da Queen Mayor, "No one is looking to impinge on First Amendment speech."

Double Huh????

Did daTruthSquad miss something here????

Was it not daTruthSquad who received a subpoena from Google sent by da Manalapan Legal Dream Team to hand over their identity because da Manalapan Township Committee voted to know????

Was it not daTruthSquad who was taken to court in December because da Township Committee hired 4 lawyers at taxpayer expense -- a reality uncovered by da now-famous Rosman Editorial????

Was it not da TAXPAYERS of MANALAPAN who were paying for this legal challenge to da First Amendment brought by da Manalapan Legal Dream Team, da team of lawyers voted on by da Manalapan Township Committee to bring "Da Township of Manalapan vs Da Mosked Man" to trial????

Klauber: "We're not here to try to impinge on anyone's First Amendment rights."

da Queen: "No one is looking to impinge on First Amendment speech."

To paraphrase something Porky said, "If you say something enough, people may start to believe it."

Porky could not be any more right.

Don't believe for one minute that daTruthSquad, da TruthTellers, and our newest honorary TruthTeller Porky will forget that Manalapan's politicians have spent over $100,000 of taxpayer money on "Da Township of Manalapan vs Da Mosked Man," a land-deal-gone-bad / First Amendment lawsuit.

Never Forget Who Wants To Take Away YOUR Rights!

It's been nearly 2 months since Manalapan went to court, sending their now-famous Manalapan Legal Dream Team into Superior Court determined to erase da First Amendment from history.

Only one problem - they had to prove their case in front of an actual judge in an actual court, and as they found out, there's a big difference between an actual court of law presided by a law-abiding judge, and da Snoozepaper where only bad news about da Mosked Man seems to appear.

Since da Manalapan Legal Dream Team lost their first round against da Mosked man - at TAXPAYER EXPENSE - it seems like a total news blackout has been imposed by da Queen and her court. This makes sense because after numerous stories about da Mosked man in da Snoozepaper, it doesn't look good when you send your two best Dream Team lawyers to court, only to lose - at TAXPAYER EXPENSE.

Maybe that's why da Manalapan Township Committee is currently operating on "silent running."

Recntly, daTruthSquad found a blog site that reminded us all exactly what da case brought by da Queen Mayor, "Defendant" and alleged-Manalapan resident Andy Boy, and da Manalapan Legal Dream Team was about.

A new legal case being disputed in the small town of Manalapan, New Jersey, however, is a perfect example of what happens when you think you can use the law for your own ends. In this case, it's the town of Manalapan-or more specifically, local government officials-wanting to save face from a pesky local critic.

Officials in Manalapan has filed a subpoena for Google to disclose the true identity of "daTruthSquad," as well as communications, and "all other information associated with the account." The reasoning they give for their right to discovery of this identity and other information is that the lawyer himself, Moskovitz, is the actual writer of the blog in question.

However, Moskovitz has stated under penalty of perjury that he is in fact not "daTruthSquad". Despite this, the township continues to claim legitimacy for its discovery attempts, and refuses to withdraw the subpoena to Google for the blogger's identity.

Lawyers for the EFF filed a motion to quash the discovery subpoena, on the grounds that the blogger has a constitutional right to free speech, which isn't given up if he chooses to exercise it anonymously. There are many legal precedents for anonymous free speech that extend beyond print media, though anonymous free speech on the Internet is still a relatively untested issue.

EFF staff lawyer Matt Zimmerman said regarding the case, "Bloggers, as well as everyone else, have a First Amendment right to speak anonymously. Litigants don't get a blank check to pry into the private lives of critics when they say things the litigants don't like. The fact that it is the government trying to abuse the discovery process makes this attempted invasion of privacy all the more repugnant."

One recent case that would support the battle to protect anonymous blogger speech is the case of "Orthomom," a blogger who made critical comments against a county school board trustee who was the incumbent in a county election. In that case, the New York Supreme Court found that "[t]he relief sought by [the plaintiff], on the eve of a school board election, would have a chilling effect on protected political speech."

The EFF lawyer's statements ring true when it comes to determining the difference between a legally legitimate complaint and an illegitimate attempt to take away someone else's legal rights protected by the U.S. Constitution. In this case, it's pretty clear that the township of Manalapan hasn't got a leg to stand on.

Now, this "Total Lawyers" blog isn't written by some guy living in da gully along Woodward Road. These are REAL lawyers discussing REAL issues. Of course, this particular case has generated a lot of discussion not only in Manalapan, but throughout New Jersey, and news accounts show da story of "Da Township of Manalapan vs Da Mosked Man" has been written about or discussed on da radio in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Bloggers and news companies carried da story around da world with da kind of negative publicity that even da most capable public relations or "investor relations" firm couldn't stop if it tried.

DaTruth is, da case of "Da Township of Manalapan vs Da Mosked Man" is still going on, still costing taxpayers "in excess of $100,000," and that quote was 2 months ago. Since then, former Manalapan Mayor Andy Boy has become "Defendant" Andy Boy as he was served with papers by da Mosked Man in relation to this case. There is debate whether YOU DA TAXPAYER will be paying for Andy Boy's legal defense. It's a case that is closing in on being a year old and there is no end in sight to both da case and DA AMOUNT OF TAXPAYER MONEY BEING SPENT ON IT.

And, if you missed it, da Township Committee approved da official cleanup of da Dreyer Patch. That will cost da astronomical sum of $15,000 dollars.

Soon enough you will be receiving your next mortgage payment. That of course will be followed by a municipal tax bill. Remember, that municipal tax bill includes da "in excess of $100,000 for this case against da Mosked man. There are those who don't want you to know about it. There are those who do not report on it in their Snoozepaper so far this year at all, and there are those who hope you will forget about it.

Don't fear.

Thanks to Porky, da Manalapan Township Committee and da Gang of Three (hear no evil, speak no evil, and looking evil) were exposed as trying to cover up da First Amendment Fiasco they're making taxpayers pay for. If you forget, daTruthSquad will remind you. And, even if you don't read this blog, when you get your next tax bill you'll feel the reminder being siphoned from your wallot.

And that's daTruth.