Victory!
The office of Defendant McMaster proclaimed victory today:
More importantly, overnight they have removed the erotic services section from their website, as we asked them to do. And they are now taking responsibility for the content of their future advertisements. If they keep their word, this is a victory for law enforcement and for the people of South Carolina.
Nicely spun, perhaps by trash-talking McMaster PR operative Trey Walker (@treywalker), who reportedly was investigated by the SC State Law Enforcement Division for election fraud in connection with Defendant McMaster’s 2002 campaign:
“I’m embarrassed about it,” Walker said. “I’ve embarassed my family, my friends, my employer, my clients. It was stupid and silly.”
Speaking of elections, here is Defendant McMaster celebrating another important victory in The Post and Courier, the publishers of which he recently condemned as criminals.
Techdirt has a different take on Defendant McMaster’s victory:
That’s just blatant outright lying now. Craigslist made those changes last week, and at the time McMaster’s response was: “That response doesn’t work” and claimed it was proceeding with plans to punish Craigslist management with jail time. Since then, Craigslist has made no other change, other than to sue McMaster. To suddenly claim that it’s made a new change and is taking the matter seriously, when the only change is suing McMaster, is quite the delusional response. I have no idea how likely it is that McMaster will win his current race for the Governor’s spot in South Carolina — but so far the man has been an embarrassment to the state.
As did PolicyBeta (www.cdt.org) :
Now we hear that McMaster is calling the Craigslist suit “good news,” which is befuddling because the S.C. taxpayers are likely going to have to pony big bucks to pay for the Craigslist legal bills (unless McMaster backs down right away), which can easily run $250,000 or more.
“The bottom line here hasn’t changed since McMaster decided to start his grandstanding: Craigslist is constitutionally protected from having liability for content placed on its site by users”
May 20th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
I am loving this! ‘Defendant McMaster’. And now the fallout spreads to his cronies. Absolutely! Lambast them all! Nothing more deserving than a hypocritical politician getting served. Expose them all as the glass house frauds who should know better then to throw stones.
However I would like to remind people to make sure we separate South Carolina from the South Carolina Buffoon.
SC is a great state with many devoted craigslist users. They should not suffer the same lampooning as Defendant McMaster.
Seems like Defendant McMaster is quickly realizing his extortionary threats against the owners of craigslist have backfired and backfired badly and he now wants to sweep everything under the rug and minimize his beatdown.
Unfortunately for Defendant McMaster, I have a feeling Buckmaster is not quite done yet.
May 20th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
As soon as you legally kick this guy’s ass, take on Andrew Cuomo! Left-wing or right-wing, they’re all grandstanding fascists and they have to go.
May 20th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Lemme get this straight. YOU sue McMaster and HE calls that a victory for law enforcement and the people of South Carolina? Holy Double-Speak, Craigslist Man! Wait…South Carolina is a tobacco state, so….McMaster and Walker must be bucking for positions doing PR for the Tobacco Institute. They’re the only other organization I’ve heard of that attempts such blatantly transparent spin-doctoring.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:30 am
In other news today, there were seven defendants indicted on various charges for running a prostitution ring with the business name of Room Service Entertainment. New York AG Cuomo claims in the press release that the business only operated on Craigslist, but then admits that initially the business also “advertised in The Village Voice and other local papers.” Obviously it was the cost of advertising that led the company to the internet classified ad giant, Craigslist. It sounds like the pursuit of Craigslist has too much to do with the low to nothing cost of advertising on the website when we reflect on Cuomo’s recent attacks of the company in the news and the headliner for this press release: ATTORNEY GENERAL CUOMO ANNOUNCES TAKEDOWN OF PROSTITUTION RING OPERATING ON CRAIGSLIST.
http://www.oag.state.ny.us/media_center/2009/may/may20a_09.html
As for the seven defendants that face up to twenty-five years in prison for their alleged parts in this business: Not to worry, the NY AG’s Office usually settles for time served and probation when you take the plea deal. The Manhattan Madam, Kristin Davis, can attest to that.
May 21st, 2009 at 6:32 am
That press release from McMaster’s office is one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen. I don’t even think you even can that spin doctoring - it is an absolute fabrication. It bears no resemblance to reality. I can easily point to your blog and any newspaper article written about this situation in the last week for proof. All McMaster has proven is that he’s another slimeball, self-serving, opportunistic politican that doesn’t care who he craps on if he thinks it will further his political ambitions. Apparently he hasn’t noticed that lately there is very little tolerance in this country for politicians who behave that way.
Clearly McMaster thought he’d make a little political hay at the expense of craigslist, then quickly relaized he’d bit off far more than he really wanted to deal with. Rather than do the right thing and apologize - or at the very least thank craigslist for keeping its word, and declaring that prosecution would obviously not be pursued - McMaster and his toadie Trey chose this brilliant course of action. I’m always amazed at how insulated from reality these guys get after years of being in politics…they get so proud of their own spin they start believing it, and apparently assume the general public is stupid enough to buy it too.
I don’t even think these guys have any clue how slimy, ignorant and ridiculous they actually look to everyone following this situation. I know I came into this situation completely neutral - I’ve never even used craigslist. My opinion was formed strictly on the basis of how each side behaved. Jim was up front and handled this whole thing with class. And McMaster has done nothing but behave like something that rhymes with class, minus a few letters.
Bad news for McMaster: the only people who will buy any part of that ridiculous press release are those who don’t read newspapers or access the internet. And guess what? Those folks don’t vote either. Tell Trey to spend his morning trying to spin that.
May 21st, 2009 at 7:14 am
Dear Mr. Buckmaster,
I am writing in response to a comment I made on a previous article in. I am writing to apologize to you. I wrote something to the effect that you have no balls for allow this jerk to talk and treat you like a criminal.
I am eating my may words… You my sir have balls the size of watermelons… Great for standing up to these backwoods, living in the dark ages, grandstanding and completely stupid people.
My hat is off to you.
May 21st, 2009 at 8:25 am
Please, please, please do not drop your lawsuit. You are going to get some spin trying to peg YOU as the unreasonable ones for continuing with your lawsuit. DO NOT LISTEN TO THE SPIN. In fact, please spin it back and make this a free speech issue, which it absolutely is. Larry Flynt was an unlikeable character who stood for free speech and won. You guys are far more likeable and you have mainstream Americans on your side. You are in a unique position to take back the First Amendment rights that have been deteriorating every day in America. Do not settle out of court. Please press for a judgment that includes several million in attorneys fees AND a precedent-setting free speech ruling. This will provide a financial disincentive to grandstanding attorneys general and provide more protection for website owners who may not have the resources you guys have. Don’t think for one minute that this is all about Craigslist. It is a slippery slope. Let’s say you guys back down and drop your lawsuit or settle out of court. With the current atmosphere of regulating everything, I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility for someone with an agenda to propose regulating every site on the internet and maybe even paying registration fees to the government “to prevent criminal activity”. Such a program would probably prevent much criminal activity in the US but the criminals would just move their sites to other countries and the free speech rights of smaller entities would be squashed because they no longer have (nearly) free access to the internet. Please also don’t think that other attorneys general are not preparing cases against you right now. I can guarantee you they are. If you back down or settle this case without a massive disincentive being placed in the form of case law and financial penalties, be prepared to defend yourselves against an onslaught of civil AND criminal prosecutions. Remember what Mike Nifong did despite there being no facts and no law to back up his claims? It can just as easily happen to you and anyone else on the web. Use your unique position to further the greater good. PLEASE
May 21st, 2009 at 9:35 am
Jerry from MN wrote: “Unfortunately for Defendant McMaster, I have a feeling Buckmaster is not quite done yet.”
I live near Greenville, SC and my sense is that he had an “Uh-Oh” moment where he realized he’d stepped in it. I’d bet the majority of people who read or heard that story had never heard of him before, which is probably why he did it in the first place. However, the local reaction was mostly rolling eyes. I haven’t heard or read of a single “attaboy” for him.
The Upstate of South Carolina, home to BMW North America and Michelin North America, draws people from around the country and world. We have our share of yahoos but then so does California.
May 21st, 2009 at 6:10 pm
McMaster is a slumlord. I’m surprised nothing has come up any of his rental properties.
May 21st, 2009 at 7:25 pm
According to a recent Mercury article, McMaster has never prosecuted a hooker case, at least during his term as st atty gen.
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12421964?source=rss#article_comments
I say even to crazy people his posturing is just plain-ole crazy, but who knows? It exists in a bubble of they, them.
May 21st, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Craigslist, properly replace the erotic section back on your site and link it to this blog! Allow people to see the reason why its gone and who caused so many issues over it. I’m sure the people of SC would soon learn and see… he won’t get into office that way!
May 21st, 2009 at 8:34 pm
Why would the State of South Carolina go after prostitutes? They refuse to address bigamy cases. It’s illegal according to their state statues but a judge for ciminal court in Myrtle Beach ruled that a bigamy case belonged in family court. I guess the judges don’t know the law or the old adage of ineptness filters down from the top is true.
May 21st, 2009 at 9:08 pm
Seems to me that ‘Defendant McMaster’ is in violation of his oath of office (assuming he has taken an oath, and without his fingers being crossed) and as such violation would at the very least cost him his public office, I believe, maybe one of the various prosecuting attorneys could take the time to prosecute his/her boss.
May 22nd, 2009 at 11:53 am
I just want to clarify that there after the new Adult Section changes that CL did not verify or clearly state what the “EXPIRATION” time would be changed to on the new section vs the old Erotic section ads we posted. Prior to now the expiration date was not less than two weeks.
Under the terms and conditions agreement you accept prior to submitting and paying $10 for a new ad, it does not state when the ads will expire. However, it does state that you may repost prior to expiration date.
Well I paid and posted a new ad on Nov 14th and my ad remained. I did not delete the posting and yet a client of mine check CL today to see what our specials were and the listing is removed by CL.
I believe we should be able to repost ads for $5 even after they have expired because CL failed to disclose to us the expiration time for each ad prior to taking our money. Otherwise, a full refund of my $10 fee for my original post on May 14th will be sufficient.
I do not mind paying CL for the ad. Nor do I care if its donated to charity of simply used by CL to pay staff for maintaining and regulating posts. BUT- any company who accepts your money should clearly state its terms and conditions for use of their services prior to accepting your money. That is your consumer right.
August 24th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Henry McMasters will be a guest on the Bob McClain Show on Newsradio WORD Greenville, SC on Thursday August 27th. The show is on from 3 till 6. Not sure what time McMasters is on. The station is online at newsradioword.com. Listen in. I plan to call in and grill him on the Craigslist fiasco.