Mark McBride – the former mayor of Myrtle Beach, S.C. and a perpetual candidate for higher office in the state of South Carolina – has been outed as an anonymous commenter named “Elmer Fudd” on the website of the local fishwrapper, The Sun News.
Who cares, right?
Apparently the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce cares. In fact, they sued “Fudd” in a John Doe lawsuit that accuses him of posting false and defamatory information about the organization.
From The Sun News:
Posting under the comment sections of stories on TheSunNews.com in August, “Elmer Fudd” wrote that the Horry County Sheriff’s Office had conducted raids at the Myrtle Beach chamber and other businesses. The individual also posted that computers were seized from those businesses.
The Myrtle Beach chamber received numerous calls from elected officials and concerned residents about what “Elmer Fudd” wrote, said Brad Dean, chamber president and CEO, in a sworn affidavit.
“The post stated as a matter of fact that the chamber was involved in criminal activities,” Dean said in the affidavit. “There is no truth to such statements.”
Sheesh … can this state’s political scene get any sillier?
Of course, as much as we hate sticking up for a low-grade moron like McBride, the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber is absolutely one of the shadiest local “economic development” organizations in the state … which is saying something.
In fact, they almost deserve to be lied about …
By Pee Dee Herman December 6, 2009 at 6:19 am
Just because the MB Chamber of Commerce wasn’t raided by the cops doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be.
By PasserBy December 6, 2009 at 9:48 am
Only one thing to say about this story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxiv3CBMS4M
By TV December 6, 2009 at 11:02 am
This case is about whether one can “say anything” as a anon (or in name)on the web and be held accountable. Free speech has limits which Mcbride is about to learn. You just can’t defame someone because you want to without penalty. If things untrue are said and left unchecked then we will lose all faith in news gathering organizations if we don’t know whats truth and whats a lie.
By Ynot December 6, 2009 at 4:25 pm
that’s why the truth is mandatory
By WorkingTommyC December 7, 2009 at 10:48 am
Luckily for folks who like to dig deep, it is very difficult for public figures, especially national politicians–who can pretty much be lied about with impunity–to gain anything from a lawsuit.
Usually, they just allow the word to get out even more and sometimes it’s found to be true after all.
By Boz Martin December 7, 2009 at 11:13 am
I’m not sure, exactly why my earlier post was eliminated. I can be just as unfair and imbalanced as the next guy. lol
The fact is, nothing has been proven about McBride being “Elmer Fudd”. There is only the accusation, plus some information that amounts to less than circumstantial evidence that he, specifically, was at the keyboard of a certain computer and wrote that comment. His email addy could have been hacked, someone else could have had access and wrote the post, etc.
Further, the comment was in the form of a question, not a statement. It was speculative in nature, perhaps satirical, perhaps a bit of “forward-thinking’ imaginative writing. Who knows?
The Chamber thinks they know, but they will have to prove it in a court of law, and if McBride is smart he will ask for a jury trial. Given the current economic situation in Horry County, caused in large part by the selective tourism and excessive taxation of John Rhodes authoritarian regime, it is very unlikely that he would lose such a case.
Meanwhile, this case just makes the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce look foolish, paranoid and vindictive.
And so it goes.
- Boz
By 2 cents December 7, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Uh Oh. Does that mean FITS readers and posters should be concerned.
I need to to know, FITS. Should I start looking for a lawyer?
By Freddie Guy December 7, 2009 at 2:51 pm
I’m with “2 cents”…
Will: Keep us posted.
To stop and think about it, I’ve said some pretty jackass half-truths!
Shit, who names themselves Fred???
Fred
By TV December 8, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Sorry Boz: Despite your hatred toward the chamber no one can make up stuff and slander another entity just because they want to. You may not like the tax and other stuff about the chamber but that is unrelated to this case. Again, you just cant make up lie and spread them in a comment forum without the risk of consequences. Your 1st amendment rights does not mean anyone can say damaging things that are untrue. No matter how you think it makes the Chamber look the comments are wrong and the chamber is justified in going after this person as you would be if I said something untrue and damaging about you. On another note, your side lost the election. Get over the biker stuff and move on to something else. The majority of people in MB support the council in chasing away bikers and passing the tax. Majority wins and your side lost. Lets move on, if not, what are you going to do?
One last question. What do you like about Mcbride anyway? Nobody with tax problems, failed businesses, and seen as a opportunistic hypocrit (hate bikers til he sees he can get votes by liking bikers) can or should win an election. If thats the best the biker side can put up then no wonder…..
By Boz Martin September 5, 2010 at 1:18 pm
In retrospect, it seems that McBride was far smarter than anyone ever gave him credit for being. He has yet been proven conclusively to be “Elmer Fudd”, both the Myrtle Beach Sun News and the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce made pure-tee fools of themselves with their witch hunt … and he had to be outspent 20 to 1 in the election for Rhodes to eke out a mere 600 vote victory.
“Low-grade moron” you say? Yeah, right.
By Boz Martin September 5, 2010 at 1:21 pm
OH! I forgot to mention the ongoing FBI and IRS joint investigation, didn’t I?
Whoever “Elmer Fudd” might have been, it seems that he/she/they were just a bit on the prophetic side, and knew something was rotten in our little Banana Republic.
By Boz Martin September 5, 2010 at 7:34 pm
/// Free speech has limits which Mcbride is about to learn. ///
lol TV, that was bullshit when you wrote it and even more obviously bullshit now. It’s not a free speech issue, the Sun News always had the right to delete the post, the MBACC always had the right to sue. Whether or not they could have won on the merits of the case, however is another matter. It would have had to have been proven that McBride actually caused a loss of revenue for the MBACC as an organization. And of course, too much would have had to have been disclosed in the process of discovery.
It was a witch hunt and a cynical political stunt from Day One — in which our “local fiswrap” as Sic put it, was wholly complicit.
By That Boz Guy @ The Beach May 11, 2011 at 5:17 am
It becomes clearer, as we near Grand Jury time, that the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce case will prove a useful microcosm of US Chamber of Commerce crony capitalism abuses and violations of the public trust.
“Elmer Fudd” was prescient — whoever he or she might have been. ;)