Rick Casey wrote an article on Kelly Siegler that has generated some conversation on the blogs. A defense attorney friend of mine pointed it out to me (since I've been trying to avoid reading the news for a week), and his opinion of it was that the article was designed to praise Kelly. One of the commenters on Casey's article thought the article was "kicking Kelly while she was down". And somebody in one of the comments on Bennett's article on the topic pointed out that we were all missing the boat, because the article was clearly satire.
Um, okay.
Me, I viewed the article from a more practical standpoint. It was a complimentary article that Rick Casey buried until after the election so as not to displease his boss, Jeff Cohen by saying something nice about Kelly Siegler. Casey was also writing the article in a weak attempt to make peace with Sam Siegler so that Sam doesn't sue Casey's rear-end.
Casey is the one who reported (without fact checking) that Dr. Siegler had been the sender of the racist e-mails on Chuck Rosenthal's computer, which was NOT true. Now, after Sam and Kelly had been called racists in public thanks to Casey's article, and he learned that it was untrue, he printed a tiny little retraction buried within another edition of the Chronicle, that I'm willing to bet that none of you ever saw.
Casey is trying to do a little bit of sucking up so that his own reputation doesn't get dragged through the mud like Sam Siegler's did.
The difference would be, however, that if Sam decides to file a lawsuit against Casey, it will actually be based on facts that he knows to be true.
If you go back and look at his columns during the election, Rick mysteriously didn't have a whole hell of a lot to say about the Republican race. That's a little out of character for him, wouldn't you agree?
The Reason? He screwed up so big time in his first column on Sam that he was a bit gun-shy for the rest of it.
Now, I know that libel and slander suits are about as popular with juries as trying a 88-year-old with cataracts for possession of marijuana. And yeah, there would be debates over whether or not Sam was a "public figure" and if that changed the standards.
But, by God, it would get some attention, wouldn't it?
11 comments:
OK - but didn't Sam Seigler send the e-mail that included a video about sexual violence towards women - the "sharking" video in unsuspecting women were grabbed and their clothes forcibly removed?
By the way, someone told me those were done with actors - that makes no difference to me. Who would think that is funny? Or worse, sexually appealing?
Please clear this up for me...thanks.
Who wants that kind of attention?!? I don't think either MDs or newspaper columnists subscribe to the criminal defense lawyers' maxim that no pub is bad pub.
Anon,
I saw the "sharking" video, and personally, found it stupid. Clearly, it was done by actors and actresses who were all in on what was going on, and if I recall correctly, it was a Japanese video clip.
The media has spun it as advocating sexual violence, which is just stupid. Frankly, it seemed to me like a more risque version of the Benny Hill skits I used to see when I was a kid. Thos who are spinning it as something other than a stupid video are taking it way too seriously.
Mark,
I'm not advocating that Sam file a libel suit against Casey, but after his reputation got dragged through the mud, I certainly wouldn't blame him. What would it do to his reputation that Casey didn't already do?
Well, count me as one of those people who "took it too seriously." I'm not the only one, either.
Something like that happened to me in real life, so maybe that prevents me from getting the joke.
I don't blame Kelly for what her husband did - and, I voted for her by the way.
Fair enough, Anon. And I'm sorry it happened to you.
Thanks - you really are a fair person.
I hadn't thought about it in years, but when I saw that video it reminded me. I was in jr high school. Some boys thought it would be funny. It was really hurtful. I was surprised that it still hurt, actually.
I know other women have been through much worse.
Lots of women have stories like that. Maybe that's why Dr. Seigler's business fell off - if he were my doctor and I knew he sent a video like that, I don't think I'd go back to him. Or, if I did, I'd want to let him know why that was so hurtful.
I'm not trying to condemn the man -I just hope he learns WHY it was such a big deal.
Thanks.
According to an R.N. friend of mine, Dr. Siegler is an excellent doctor. She highly recommends him.
To the person that said Sam Siegler is an excellent Dr. HE IS!!! I have been going to him for about a year. He is great. I highly recommend him. Did you know that he also has the ability to be an attorney? YEP! He is also a board certified lawyer! He is brilliant man!
Dr. Siegler is a wonderful man, all guys look at that kind of stuff even if they do deny it. But that is besides the point, the sieglers are two of the most brilliant people I know and this shouldn't destroy their reputation.
Dr.Siegler is a principled man. His integrity and sense of fairness is core connected. Gossip irritates me.
Dr.Siegler is a principled man. His integrity and sense of fairness is core connected. Gossip irritates me.
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