Yaman Salahi's day in court is over, but his days of writing about people he believes are wrong is just beginning.
In a related post [Students for Justice (in small claims court)], I relayed the story of Yaman Salahi, a UC Berkeley student and activist who recently lost a lawsuit brought by Lee Kaplan, a right-wing investigative "journalist." As the other article concludes, I really see no evidence for why Kaplan won; I felt Salahi's documents were persuasive and well-supported with evidence, whereas Kaplan's documents were riddled with factual errors and misunderstandings about the way technology works, not to mention brought up far more than was relevant to the case that effectively distracted the essential fact that there was no tortious interference committed, so there shouldn't have been a dime awarded to Kaplan.
In a similar situation, I imagine I would have stopped talking about Kaplan or his cronies, in a combination of fear for being sued again and genuine desire to avoid giving the guy any more publicity than he needs. Anyone who reads thoroughly enough will discover that he's not quite the ethically-motivated or objective journalist; he doesn't need all that much help to dispel those myths.
I think Kaplan gives a bad name to journalism. I'm not afraid to say that, because it's entirely my opinion and I would fight him to the death for the right to say it.
And it appears Salahi is doing much the same, after launching fpmwatch.org. I may not agree with Kaplan's or Salahi's politics, but I believe in the greater principle of free speech. Both invited opposition by engaging in part of a greater heated debate, one that has many wondering whether peace will ever come to the Middle East. But Kaplan's strategy seems to silence the opposition, and I'm proud to say that a fellow Bear is standing up for what he believes.
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