BAD news from one of the local Sinclair advertisers

[Lefta Dissenter]

I got this response this morning... :(

Dear ****,
Would like to know who directed you to send e-mail to this address. Our buildings have been shot at the last two nights and police are investgating. I am forwarding this to them so you can expect a follow up from them.

This was my letter, by the way,

Good Afternoon,

As a life-long Madison resident, I am very concerned to find that your business advertises on Fox47, which is a Sinclair Company. As you may know, Sinclair has recently demanded that its stations preempt regularly scheduled programming in order to air a slanderous hit-piece on John Kerry. This is an illegal attempt to influence an election. They are telling their stations to refer to it as 'news' programming, in order to skirt election law.

I can understand why Sinclair is so desperate to keep the current administration in power. The current FCC is extremely friendly to large media companies, and their rulings favor the companies that intend to buy up as many stations as possible in order to dominate markets. Sinclair also has been awarded defense contracts by the current administration. Whether this was a 'payoff' for the intended smear campaign or not, we may never know. Sinclair also, as it happens, is the same company that FORBID its affiliates to air the 'Nightline' show that honored our soldiers killed in the Iraq war. Can you imagine, refusing to allow the names and pictures to be shown as a small recognition for their sacrifice. And now they intend to smear the service of a decorated veteran, using lies that have already been disproved by the Navy. As the wife of a Vietnam Veteran, I am horrified that this is becoming an accepted way to treat our soldiers who have honorably served. As you must realize, all of this goes against everything that our country stands for - a free press, freedom of speech, and a free election.

Therefore, I am unable to continue to support any company that in any way supports the Sinclair Corporation, and this includes any companies that advertise with them. I love my country dearly, and I am horrified that a media corporation would denigrate our election system so blatantly. Please contact Fox47 and let them know that you will not continue to advertise with them if they air the movie. Please declare your patriotism by helping to defend our Democracy.

Thank you so much,

[EarlG]

1. They're threatening to send legitimate letters of complaint to the POLICE?

What bullshit.

[lil-petunia]

2. nice letter, even better response. Proof positive that you

DO NOT WANT TO BE A CLIENT EVER AGAIN!

[molly]

3. Call the police yourself and report harrassment for

freedom of speech.

[Endangered Specie]

79. Amen. I second that.

[xultar]

87. Second, their respnse is a threat to you. effin effin effers

[Norquist Nemesis]

4. Which advertiser?

As far as contacting the police...so what? You're expressing your right to free speech!

[MercutioATC]

What company was your e-mail addressed to?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

5. PM me what advertiser is it

I'll tell everybody their product causes cancer.

[qanda]

6. Why are they sending your info onto the police?

eom

[Killarney]

7. I bet they're lying.

Their building was not shot at. They just want to scare you and think they are going to get you sent to Gitmo for sending them a letter.

Fuck them. Fascists.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

16. A variant of Parlocking? One that doesn't even need a real act?

Makes sense to me.

[VolcanoJen]

55. Exactly. Intimidation, pure and simple.

:grr:

[Carson]

8. Their buildings have been shot at??

Dear God, some people are truly nuts.

[DulceDecorum]

9. Everyone knows

that Democrats don't inhale
and liberals are against gun-ownership.

You can blame
the well-written
double-spaced
e-mails with the correct spelling on us,
but that is about it.

[Barney Rocks]

66. you know--it is a fallacy

that liberals are against gun ownership. I always believed this until I came here to DU--it seems like the majority of the "liberals" here support gun quite a bit. In fact, at times this place is worst than a RW militia site.

:shrug:

[Trajan]

89. I think you are misinterpreting the meaning of the word 'majority' ...

SURELY 'some' DUers are gun 'aficiandoes' ....

But: on the whole: DU supports gun regulation, and rejects the NRA, RKBA worldview ...

You cannot claim that the few liberal gun rights supporters in J/PS (IE the Gungeon) represent any more than an extremely small sliver of DU as a whole ...

[Barney Rocks]

90. I hope you are right,

but it seems to be that I read a lot more pro-gun posts here than gun control posts. Personally, I would support TOTAL gun control, I do not think a private citizen should have a gun--not EVER. I lived in Japan for two years, they had complete gun control--and no gun violence whatsoever. It does work. But I do not feel that my views are majority opinion here--in fact I feel that I am very much in the minority. Perhaps I am wrong. Maybe there are many people here who believe in gun control. If so, I wonder why don't they speak up more often on this issue?

[not systems]

10. How nice of them...

I would consider never doing buisness with them on principle
regardless of Sinclair.

[Memekiller]

11. I don't believe it...

They're trying to scare us off from complaining. Complete bullocks.

Swift Boat Vets threaten to notify your employer if you e-mail them from a company account. It's all just a way to silence us.

[colonel odis]

12. oh for heaven's sake

maybe if you write them back saying that you're not going to dignify that kind of statement and don't appreciate such accusations.

if it were me, i'd have to say that i had a new reason not to do business with them. before, it was just because they support sincliar. now it's because they're crazy, too.

but for god's sake, don't take my advice.

[Beware the Beast Man]

13. Perhaps you should have used a less threatening tone.

/sarcasm off

Un-freaking-believable. So they attempt to link your legitimate letter of complaint to a bunch of goons with nothing better to do than resort to vandalism (which may not exist, naturally)? Whoever they are, they do not deserve your business, or anyone else's.

[Cassandra]

14. Maybe they mistook...

Fox47 for AK47? Other than the fact that they are stupid and creepy, I think your letter was perfectly polite and I can't imnagine why a police department with any brains would chase after you. Maybe you should send the exchange to the FCC.

[Lefta Dissenter]

23. Thanks

for making me laugh, Cassandra. Fox47 for AK47?

I am MAD, because I am so sure that if their business was shot at, there's no way it was anyone wanting them to listen to OUR SIDE of this issue!!! :wtf:

[AverageJoe]

Do you feel comfortable revealing

who this misguided advertiser was?

Man, what's happened to America? Oh, I forgot, it's the Republicans....

Keep fighting the good fight.

[Texas_Dem]

15. They are lying. It is what people like that do best.

[Fleshdancer]

17. WTF??

First and foremost, having the office shot at two nights in a row is a horrible thing and I hope they catch the asshole who did it. Having said that, your letter was clear, concise, and sane and to imply that your criticisms of Sinclair Broadcasting should instantly make you a suspect in a shooting is absurd.

on edit: IF the shootings really did occur, I hope they catch the asshole who did it. Sounds like something you would hear on the local news, wouldn't it? The local news station getting shot at several times?

[bush equals idiot]

60. It would have been Republicans

voting for Kerry. It's part of their nature. Democrats don't do that stuff.

[Carni]

18. Who the f--- do they think they are?

Demanding you tell them who told you to email?

What is the company? I would like to email them as well!

[Warpy]

19. This calls for a LTTE

and possibly calls to their competitor stations in your area. Let people know that letters of complaint to this company will be forwarded to the local Gestapo. My gawd, can you imagine what customer complaints might generate from such arrogant SOBs? That's probably who shot at the building, if anybody did at all.

Oh, and a visit to Officer Friendly might be in order, too. Own up to your complaint and don't make them come find you first.

I can't imagine wanting to do business with thugs like these, and I can't imagine anybody else would, either.

[Carni]

I wouldn't bother...some freeper owns the company and they are bluffing

On edit: To clarify I meant I wouldn't bother going to the cops--just contact the media like the person I am replying to suggests!

That response is SOOOO Freerepublic...

You know who the advertiser is...go to Google and scout around to see if there is any news about "a shooting" I will guarantee you they are full of shit.

You should call your local news (that isn't affiliated with Sinclair) and provide them with the emails--a competitor will eat that up and they may actually do a story.

[snippy]

43. Agreed. Response definitely was written by a freeper. n/t

[MatrixEscape]

20. Judging by the content of your letter ...

The response was totally inappropriate! So, if that mental midget does not know how to respond to a request or boycott implication, then I would not trust them or what they sell.

Intimidation? Good business acumen there! Swift.

[AmerDem]

21. Spill the beans, which advertiser was it?

Don't get shaken by this nonsense. I was personally contacted by CNN's security team months ago because I wanted to make a complaint of their coverage. I think it's very important that you tell us who this advertiser was. I personally will contact them with my opinion on this whole Sinclair mess!

[Carni]

36. I totally agree--they counted on not being exposed

I would AT LEAST do some googling on the company and see what position the person that sent you the email holds (If they signed a name to the thing)

This may have been an employee deciding to do whatever they felt like doing on the behalf of Bush and cohorts.

If one of my employees did something like that without my knowledge
or consent I would be absolutely LIVID.

[NanBo]

22. As a fellow cheesehead

I'd very much like to know who the advertiser is that sent this...Sounds like BS to me (I checked local news reports and didn't find any mention of shots fired etc).

[shaolinmonkey]

35. As would I. eom.

[BootinUp]

24. Don't let that get you down

Obviously intelligent discourse with that company is out of the question.


Nice letter. :)

[Bridget Burke]

25. Have the shooting incidents been reported in the media?

If they were real, they would be on the 6 o'clock news or in the paper.

Especially since Sinclair is/are the media.....

[htuttle]

30. I saw nothing on Madison local news last night (6pm) about a shooting

Which advertiser? If something like this happened in Madison, I can practically guarantee I would know about it (unless it happened late last night).

[Lefta Dissenter]

26. Thanks for all the support, everyone

:pals: I'm not going to give the name of the company, but you can bet your booties I won't be dealing with them ever (not that I have the income to make purchases of that type, anyway)...

This morning I replied to his email by sending him my phone number, telling him to feel free to call me or to forward it on to the cops. I'm not hiding from anyone - I haven't done anything wrong. And if they can find anything threatening in that letter (well, other than what Cassandra suggested above), then this country is in even worse shape than I thought! x(

I grew up seeing my mom constantly writing letters to the editors and participating in the anti-war demonstrations here in Madison. My dad testified before Congress against the Defense Department. And now, I can't so much as send an email to a local company?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

32. Good for you...you might want to check on what the penalties are

for a false report of a crime in your area. That letter was a threat to you.

[Carni]

33. HEY--You shouldn't withhold the company name

That is what they counted on...screw them, forward the whole thing to Buzzflash and tell them you don't want your name used.

I don't mean to be pushy and rude, but damn it this company should be held accountable in the free market.

If that is their stance (fascism) and they are willing to threaten a local patron with police action for sending a polite email of complaint... then all of their patrons should know when they walk into that store exactly who they are spending their money with.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

34. I swear to all that's sacred if you PM me the name I won't spill the beans

And I won't be too obvious by badmouthing the company here in DU shortly after. Only in other forums and in "real life", and I'll wait a little not to make it traceable.

But I GUARANTEE they'll lose business. Come on. You know you want to.

[H3Dakota]

57. I agree - don't withhold!

What purpose does withholding the company name have? Better to share so that others that actually DO business with them know how they treat customers (as well as potential customers). Their response was completely unjustified. Personally - I would definitely do a LTTE - and I would definitely include the name of this business. Include within the letter the response you received - get the word out & let others know about it!

[fob]

63. Also, since they are alocal company, you can just go down there

and BROWSE, and see for yourself the bullet holes, unless of course, they're lying.

[Misunderestimator]

81. Please give the name of the company... I'm more than willing to write

them a letter as well... Why won't you disclose the name?

[venus]

27. Thank goodness you wrote a civil letter! n/t

[venus]

28. Oh wait, they don't realize an email address is a virtual address

and not a physical address. Oh boy.

[in_cog_ni_to]

29. That's total bullshit.

They're just trying to scare you. It's a RW employee who wrote that email to you. Don't believe it.

[Walt Starr]

31. Contact an attorney ASAP and file a lawsuit aginst them

DO NJO DELETE THE EMAIL! It is evidence to be used against them.

[LoZoccolo]

75. dupe - deleted n/t

[LoZoccolo]

76. Agreed - try to sue them if they lied!

The pukes need to be drained of their resources if they want to try shit like this.

[htuttle]

37. Here's some local Madison news sites. There's no mention of any shooting

http://www.channel3000.com/index.html
http://www.madison.com/

Here's the morning paper. If it happened last night, it would be in here:
http://www.madison.com/wsj/

Afternoon paper. Also no mention:
http://www.madison.com/tct/

People in Madison tend to be very sensitive to any connection between politics and violence (remember Sterling Hall? We do...). I cannot believe this 'shooting' occurred (twice!) without a mention of it in the local media.

I don't think it happened.

[Lefta Dissenter]

42. Remember Sterling Hall???

Our parakeet, Emma, was KILLED in the bombing of Sterling Hall :cry:(a death that went unreported).

HA, I was sitting here at my 'puter, and I just heard a truck pull up the driveway - for just a MOMENT, I thought, Jeez, that sounds like a pretty big diesel engine, for a paddy-wagon! :scared: ...but it's just the oil delivery guy. (whew! :D)

[htuttle]

47. I'm so sorry about your parakeet!

Regarding the alleged 'shooting', I really don't think it happened.

If you PM'd me the name of the company (I'm assuming it's one of the dozen or so Madison companies on the boycottsbg.com site), I could triple-check (and I'd PM the answer back to you), but as it is I'm almost positive there was no shooting.

on edit: It was NOT a parrot. It was a parakeet! Sorry about that...

[merh]

58. Don't give out their name - the freepers will see to it that the

admin & rove are made aware of them and the next thing you know, they will be given government contracts and the head of the company will be put on some bogus gov't commission and get $100 K a year for nothing. <sarcasm with too many hints of truth to it>

Don't do them any favors, literally. I would call the PD and let the investigator assigned to this matter (if there is one) know that these folks advised you that your name had been given to him/her relative to the "shooting" investigation.

[Toucano]

38. Bring it ON!

Fuck their intimidation tactics.

You do have an alibi, don't you? ;)

[BootinUp]

50. LOL n/t

[Insomnicole]

39. If I knew what company this was,

I'd stop using them on general principle. I'm sorry if some nutter really took a shot at their building, but there was nothing remotely threatening about your letter and their response to you was completely over the top and inappropriate.

[debatepro]

40. I'll send them and email with my contact information in BOLD

Tell us who you sent it to and I will follow up for you.

[IdaBriggs]

41. LIARS. If you had done it...

...you would already know you did it, so no reason to tell you about it. If they are afraid of you, then they would just forward it all onto the police (because warning a scary person with a gun FIRST before contacting the police is stupid). This is intended to silence you. If people are going to lie, they should at least TRY to make it believable!!!

[IIgnoreNobody]

44. Do they think the police will arrest you for boycotting their business?

:wtf:

[Clinton Crusader]

45. Good GOD! Call the police! They're threatening you

:kick:

[Arkana]

46. Un-American fuckers.

PM me with that company's name. I'll email them as well. Those fucking brownshirt fascist two-bit rat bastard sonuvabitches. They should NOT be allowed to get away with threatening people like that!

[Norquist Nemesis]

48. You'ld think shots 2 nights in a row would be NEWS!

Tried several google searches on it. NADA! It must be an undercover investigation or something.

[Name removed]

49. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[progressivebydesign]

51. OMG. What assholes they are!

You wrote a nice, polite, letter. If they were shot at, as they claim, then it didn't come from a Democrat, I can assure you. That's NOT what we do. Never.

It was another Parlocking.. they're happening fast and furious now. The freeps also enjoy "DUing" advertisers and the media, to annoy them.. Last time I checked the NRA endorsed Bush.. not Kerry. We're not the ones running around with guns in our pick up trucks.

I'm sorry you were treated this way by them.

[newportdadde]

52. Ugh... I'd say contact the police yourself.

To see if they got shot at and then send them the letter with the guys name on it and let them know there might have been an unreported shooting. Might be interesting for this guys boss to see the cops show up to talk to him.

[dansolo]

53. Call their bluff

Contact the local police and verify their story.

[saccheradi]

54. yep.

Definately wise to submit their reply to the police preemptively.

[B3Nut]

56. I third that.

Call the MPD and fax Faux47's response to them. I haven't heard a thing about any shootings here in Madison. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

TP

[mccormack98]

59. I 4th it. Call the police. We did it once and was amazed at the response

I once had a neighbor threaten to call the police on me over a dispute regarding the building of a fence (we were building a fence on our property and the guy felt he had a right to stop it. He was very beligerant and threatened to have our workers arrested.)

While I was arguing with the neighbor, my wife quietly walked into the house and called the police. Man, did that change things.

The police were great. They sent out an officer who was nice and polite and helpful. He explained to the neighbor that we had a right to build the fence and that there was nothing he could do about it. The neighbor then threatened to sue the police department. The officer responded "That's your choice. But you are not to interfere with the contruction of the fence. If you do, I will arrest you." The officer then said to us quietly "Here's my card. If he gives you any trouble, call me and I will come right out." He then ordered the workers back to work and supervised them for the first few minutes to make sure all was OK. His visit totally changed the dynamic.

Call their bluff. Talk to an officer on the phone. You will feel great afterwards.

Bill

[BUSHOUT]

61. DON'T LET THEM INTIMIDATE YOU!!! please identify them.

It wasn't you who shot at them, I presume?

Legitimate protest is what you're engaged in, and could you please identify them so that I may also send a letter.

Thankyou.

[Sean Reynolds]

62. Someone shot their building via e-mail?

I don't get it. :D

[BUSHOUT]

64. WHO IS IT, MY LETTER WRITING FINGER IS ITCHY!!! N/T

[kimchi]

67. I'm with you.

Please PM those on this thread who want to contact the scumbags.

[mzmolly]

65. Actually I doubt the "buildings shot at "story. I'd call the police

myself and ask if it's true.

[factcheck]

73. Some advice...

DO NOT call the police and DO NOT contact an attorney.

Well, unless you want to call the police to verify the story, but let that be all you do during that conversation.

If you contact the local police and try to claim that this company threatened you or harassed you, etc. You are going to end up with your name in a 'nut file'. No kidding. Local PD's keep track of people in the area who report what they consider to be frivolous 'crimes'. Save yourself this hassle because this company did nothing that is illegal.

If you contact an attorney to sue this company, as one person suggested, you will do nothing other than give an attorney a nice chuckle. Sorry, but you were not damaged in any way and have no legal recourse whatsoever. And, before someone else mentions it, no your good name was not damaged by their email message because you are the one who chose to present it publicly.

However, if this company's claim of a crime being committed is true, it may be possible that the local PD is, in fact, investigating. You might simply receive a phone call or an actual visit by a detective. If EITHER of these happen, decline to talk AT ALL to the detective. Contact an attorney who can either go with you to the local PD or agree to meet with the detective in the attorney's office.

Sorry, don't mean to offend anyone, but most people are very naive when it comes to legal issues and can give some bad advice. Unfortunately, due to the nature of being in business, I have been involved in my fair share of legal adventures so I know what one should and shouldn't do in this type of situation.

[yardwork]

68. Their rude response to you just inspired me to write more letters!

I am going to write more letters to local advertisers of Sinclair in my area in North Carolina.

Like you, I will write polite but firm letters.

It burns me when companies try to intimidate people. It gives me renewed energy to fight them!

[Contrary1]

69. Maybe this company

just suspects their building will be shot at, and is taking a page from the Bush Doctrine preemptive measures handbook by calling in the police.

I would bet the house that they will be changing their story as the need arises.

[DesEtoiles]

70. why would the alleged shooter also send a letter?

[DesEtoiles]

71. have someone else call the location and iquire about a shooting

[DesEtoiles]

72. are people there at night? buildings "shot at" - but not hit?

if no one was there, and bldg not hit - how do they know?

[LoZoccolo]

74. Don't fall for this puke scare tactic - ignore it!

Anyone can write back that kind of bullshit, especially when they're under the gun and want it to stop! Ignore it and don't write back to them. Let the police come to you if they wanna take it seriously, and then give them the URL to the list they would probably see a hundred times if they wanted to bother investigating everyone.

[NJmaverick]

77. Just more right wing lies

republicans have no morals and they will stoop to any depth to ruin this country.

[BUSHOUT]

78. Hey VoteClarkInWI.......are you gunna tell us who this business is?

[high density]

80. I think that response you got is code language for:

"I love fascism! Vote for Bush, it's the last vote we'll ever need!"

I wouldn't worry about it. Freepers work, too... I guess...

[MADem]

82. I would do three things

Call the police on their nonemergency line, tell them your story, tell them you want to file a complaint against the writer of the email for making false accusations against you, and ask if there were any shots fired at the location.

Call the media, every single TV station, and tell them your story.

Call the business in question, stay civil, and tell them you received a threatening email from someone purporting to be in their employ, accusing you of shooting at their business. Tell them you are very concerned, do not appreciate being slandered, and intend to contact a lawyer for redress against this emotional distress, if this sort of thing is sanctioned by said company. If not, you'll settle for the employee being disciplined and a formal letter of apology.

[factcheck]

83. No way!

Do none of these things. Sorry, MADem, nothing personal, I just have experience in these areas.

1. You cannot file a complaint like this because there were no accusations made. Even if there were, it was in a private email between you and the company. False accusations can only be dealt with civilly in cases of libel or slander or as a tort if the accusation was actually made in a police report. None of these things happened. However, filing a complaint could actually place you in a precarious legal position. In fact, after all these posts, I would recommend highly against divulging the name of the company.

2. Again, do not do this. First, the company's response is perfectly reasonable IF their build was, indeed, shot at. Otherwise it is simply a bit harsh and simply a tactic to make you go away. It is clear what their position is. The media would not see this as a story. And IF you did find someone to air this, you would suddenly be in the middle of a legal sh**storm! Trust me, you do not want to go there.

3. Do not contact the business any further. This could open you to a harassment issue. Let it go. You said your piece, they said theirs. It is done. They did not slander you because they did not make any disparaging statements about you to a third party.

Also, as soon as you mention contacting an attorney, the company is going to cease contact with you and you will find yourself talking to their attorney next.

Just let it go.

[Lefta Dissenter]

84. don't worry,

I am not planning on doing anything... a friend of mine is an Assistant State Attorney General, and if I had the burning urge to do anything about this (which I don't), I wouldn't do it without his blessing.

Frankly, I didn't feel threatened - just pissed off. It doesn't bother me if the cops want to come talk with me - I haven't done anything wrong and I have nothing to hide. I don't want to bring the press into it, because that only gives attention to his freeper story, whether true or not. I felt that emailing him my phone number and telling him that he could call me or forward my number to the cops was satisfying enough.

It's just frustrating when someone won't even LISTEN to reason - he's just trying to shut people up. I guess that's why he likes the current administration, however, huh?

[dave502d]

85. tell them to goto hell!

[Lefta Dissenter]

86. well,

there was that option, too! :D

[harpo]

88. psyops...

They are trying to scare us away from contacting them...don't be psyched out ;)