Dick DeVos and KayBee Hutchison Go After Bloggers

by emptywheel

That's a way to make you feel good about blogging, huh? To be attacked by both Dick DeVos and KayBee Hutchison?

DeVos is suing 30 anonymous bloggers and YouTube users because he believes they are among a group for former distributors who sued Amway and were put under a gag order by the judge in the suit.

In the lawsuit filed this past week in Ottawa County Circuit Court, Quixtar seeks an injunction and damages of more than $25,000 against the posters, identified only as John Does.

[snip]

Quixtar believes the videos and other postings are part of an organized effort by former distributors who unsuccessfully sued Alticor and are under court order not to disparage the company or disclose proprietary information, according to the lawsuit.

Quixtar plans to ask for permission to subpoena various online companies to figure out who posted the materials, spokesman Rob Zeiger said.

According to the Grand Rapids Press, an Alticor representative said the court action was merely to identify anyone who might be associating with those under court order, rather than expressing their own personal opinions.

Zeiger told the paper that his company was not interested in pursuing people not associated with the former employees, and would even reimburse their legal fees if there was no connection. "An individual who is expressing their own opinion, we don't have a problem with that," he said. "They're not doing anything wrong."

I thought at first this might be an attempt to neutralize the power of anti-DeVos blogs, which had been really effective against him in the last governor's election in MI. I need to see the complaint here, because I'm not sure the allegations made in the YouTubes actually relate to the failed lawsuit against Amway. So DeVos risks amplifying the blog material which appears like it may be factually correct: that is, that Amway's online division Quixtar, sucks. (Full disclosure, I have a family member who was a Quixtar believer before he became a Southern Baptist.) That'd be nice, huh? If in pursuit of a bunch of people who tried to bust the pyramid scheme, DeVos actually informed more people that Amway is a big hoax?

KayBee Hutchison, for her part, is complaining about bloggers because--wait for it--they don't follow the esteemed principles of journalistic ethics.

In response to a question on another subject, she volunteered this:

The mood of the country right now is pretty frustrated. People don't like the partisanship -- there's kind of a toxic atmosphere about politics -- I think the blogs, interestingly, feed on that. The intemperate nature of blogs, and the lack of accountability, have had an overall toxic influence on our elections. These blogs are cynical and mean -- on all sides. I don't think that's good. Even if you disagree with the mainstream media, there's a sense of integrity and honesty and standards. There are journalistic standards, which blogs don't have.

[snip]

UPDATE: KBH's office called and emailed this morning (Saturday) to say that she was talking about "anonymous" bloggers only.

KayBee, if you're wondering, my real name is Marcy Wheeler. And I challenge you to examine whether the journalists who are reporting on you are really upholding those vaunted journalistic standards. Because what you appear to believe are journalistic standards may be nothing more than Beltway cravenness (though I can see why you'd like that).

And while you're talking about "lack of accountability," I've got some comments about the behavior of the Senate I'd like to chat with you about. After all, you might want to be calling for the resignation of Ted Stevens or David Vitter before you start attacking citizens for their lack of accountability.

Comments

[T00lpusher]

Marcy,
You're the best. Most of the "Journalists" serving the American public today are paid stenographers and hacks,( i.e. anyone who quotes KBH). It's easier and more lucrative to write and report what you're told thant to find out and report what is really happening. On television the only people telling the truth are Olberman, Stewart and Colbert. How much better would they be without restraints? Please set up a Paypal account so we can donate to your reporting and help in a small way to maintain some resemblance of truly investigative reporting.

[T00lpusher]

Forgot David Schuster...my bad

[P J Evans]

Add to that: KBH, I used to be one of your constituents, and you never made any effort to represent my views; in fact, you insulted them, regularly.

[DrDick]

Amway is worse than a hoax. It is a classic pyramid scheme. I frankly do not understand why they are still in business and the top ownership are not in jail. Full disclosure: I have never had any relationship to Amway nor do I know anyone who has.

[Emily]

My husband & I went to an Amway meeting one time. There were about 10 people there and one guy was drunk. When the Amway lady was talking about how the pyramid worked, the drunk started talking about "pyramid power" and how all the energy flows to the top, disrupting her discourse big time. He wouldn't shut up. Who would have imagined that the combination of a pyramid sales scheme and a talkative drunk would be so amusing?

[Ishmael]

(Sc)amway is a cult operated by the DeVos family for its own profit, combining the exploitation of rampant consumerism and greed with the mass hypnosis of a revival meeting. And all everyone is left with at the end is a garage full of paper towels and toilet paper in their garage that they couldn't sell to whatever friends and neighbours they haven't alienated by trying to turn them into customers. I have never had any connection with Amway, but as a lawyer I was regularly consulted by clients who said they wanted to get into "income diversification", "multi-level marketing", etc., and any number of other lures that Amway uses, besides its own trademark, as it is the company that dare not speak its name. I think they are fully aware of how derided they are among informed people, and therefore are very afraid of the internet and its ability to reach more people/potential suckers with adverse testimonials more easily. Amway is not the only practitioner of the pyramid scheme, and what I noticed regularly was that the first sales pitch these Amway imitators used was "Oh no, we're not Amway!" There does seem to be a general awareness of Amways business practices as being a recipe for bankruptcy or at the very least failure for its participants, but there will always be a portion of the population to whom the lure of making it big is seductive, just like the Bush 28percenters and the Benny Hinn crowd, who believe despite all the evidence to the contrary. Let's hope that the bloggers can accomplish with Amway what bloggers have with political discourse.

[sojourner]

Kay Bailey Hutchison is my senator, and I just wrote her a letter to express my views about her comments. She is a smart woman, but one more of the Beltway people who (I think) has lost her sense of right and wrong.

[bmaz]

KayBee wants to talk about accountability? You have got to be kidding me. I just booked an open ticket and am ready to attend THAT conversation anytime, anywhere. Since she has made accountability of "anonymous bloggers" her first discussion point, I would like to weigh in with accountability for the corruption and politicization of the Department of Justice my first discussion point. Perhaps after that we can move on to accountability for the death, destruction, carnage in the world and inequality and debt in the United States she has personally underwritten......

I am very glad the good Ms. Hutchinson is interested in having this discussion and so look forward to hearing from her when and where she wishes to do so.

[sharon]

I was once asked the classic line "wanna get rich?" by a stranger at my table at a friend's wedding. "Uh, no thanks, in this country that amounts to stepping on other people." He denied that was the case but later when his wife gave me her business card so I could mail her photos I'd taken, it said AMWAY. The wedding was in Grand Rapids.

[sharon]

I suppose that was better than the other classic line I was asked by a strange man as I waited for the Detroit City bus on the way to high school: "Wanna make ten bucks?"

[bmaz]

Same people, same line.

[masaccio]

Years ago, I worked for my state AG, and learned the history of one small aspect of our state consumer protection law. By definition, it isn't a pyramid scheme if the only way to make money is to sell the product (other than entry fees and similar de minimis amounts). The precise way the statue is drafted makes it clear that it doesn't matter who does the buying: a distributor is as good as an end customer. That language leaves Amway in the clear. It turns out that there were a bunch of other Easter Eggs hidden in the final draft.

[Kevin Hayden]

I'm offended that Kay accuses me of no journalism standards. I'd be happy to sell my Mom on the white slave free market and give Hutchinson daily blow jobs, just like the 'real' Beltway pundits do.

[William Ockham]

Sen. Hutchinson,

blehhh...

From one of your constituents....

[Redshift]

I await with bated breath Sen. Hutchinson's decrying of expensive political ads from anonymous groups with Orwellian names, who are poisoning our political discourse with no accountability. Such a principled stance, such concern for our political process; it couldn't possibly be that she only has a problem with people who criticize her team, right?

[bmaz]

Redshift - No. Never. How could you even insinuate such a thing? Heh heh.

[Prissy Patriot]

Very interesting post.
Anonymous bloggers bug Kay? Well Senator, I'll bet a rising Canadian dollar that Kay also has an intense dislike for whistle blowers...don't cha, dearie?
She never tells on the cronies ripping off her country. Or that she supports a Charles Manson by proxy- Dick Cheney.

[Sagacity]

I am a constituent of Senator Hutchison and I say she is a hack.