WARNING: The contents of this Political Boxers are not to be viewed by anyone squeamish about the discussion of sex, sexual-oriented material, or words that are sometimes used in a sexual context.

Rumors have it that Bob Griggs, publisher, editor, and sole writer of the Gwinnett Gazette, an online "news" site, is going to sue the publisher, editor and primary writer of the The Political Vine (aka Bill Simon).

In the last edition of Political Boxers, Simon/PV poked fun at Griggs in reference to a story first covered by another Gwinnett-based online publication, The Gwinnett Citizen. In case you missed that edition of Political Boxers, and you don't want to go back and find it to read, this is what Simon wrote about Griggs last Friday:

Rumors have it that instead of participating in public discussion forums, Griggs and [candidate for Gwinnett county commission Marcia] Neaton were reenacting Bob's little incident from his days at the Covington Police Department, complete with handcuffs and stout women dancing and shaking their groove thing at Bob.

Now, interestingly enough, there is also a rumor going around that the Atlanta Journal & Constitution recently served Griggs with a cease-or-pay-us-$50-for-every-article-you-have-stolen-from-us letter. See, Griggs thought he was soooooo cute to swipe 20 articles from the AJC Stacks and post them on his new anti-John Dunn Website. Dunn is running for District Three of Gwinnett County Commission.

Perhaps Griggs forgot about the rules of using AJC's copyrighted material. See, the AJC requires that if anyone wishes to use their articles in full, they must pay $50 per article in order to do so.

Hmmm...has he come up with the $1000 or has he taken the articles down?

On Sunday, May 9, Griggs sent the following letter to Simon/PV, which Simon will answer in parts as we go:

Subj: Your latest article
Date: 5/9/04 8:24:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: bobg@aboutgwinnett.com
To: PoliticalVine@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)

Congratulations, Bill.

You just became the first IDENTIFIABLE person in four years to publicly link my service as a police officer to alleged inappropriate sexual conduct. Your insinuation is false and thereby libelous and defamatory.

Bill Simon's Response: First thing I need to get out of the way, Bob, is that I believe...no, no...I KNOW you're a moron. Nothing insinuated there, Bob. Therefore I sincerely hope that that statement of fact does not add to the laundry list of your claims that I have been "libelous" and "defamatory" towards you.

Second, you state that I have become the first "Identifiable Person" in four years to link your service as a Covington police officer to "alleged inappropriate sexual conduct."

Well, Bob, I didn't say one word about "inappropriate sexual conduct," alleged or otherwise (why do people just immediately jump to the conclusion that sex is involved when handcuffs are mentioned?) in that paragraph. In fact, I doubt ANYONE who read that outside of perhaps 5-500 entities in Gwinnett (you, David Shafer, the Bagheris, Clower, Marcia and all the people who don't like you anyway) knew what I could have possibly been referring to.

Now, it seems to me that since you've now brought it up, and are accusing me of "defamation," well, that kind of opens the door to me directing the ENTIRE FREAKIN' UNIVERSE of PV subscribers to the Website that has the documentation of this "alleged inappropriate sexual conduct" supposedly committed by you in your "service" as a Covington police officer.

To read what I supposedly "defamed" Mr. Griggs on, I invite all readers to click on the following Website and scroll down to the portion titled "The Griggs Files". (For full disclosure purposes, I am completely unattached to the ownership or content of the GwinnettCitizen.com Website. It's just a good reference site in this matter.)

(Note to Reader:The juiciest files are the ones labled "Relieving Stress." But, the other ones appear to point to a record of questionable acts committed by a police officer by the name of Robert L. Griggs...and, unless Mr. Griggs can prove to anyone that there were 2 police officers working on the Covington police force named "Robert Griggs" during the period of the late 1980s and early 1990s, then I am led to the conclusion that these police reports ARE factual and apply to said Bob Griggs.)

Now, Bob, the Website that has these documents posted is owned by a known person in Gwinnett County, and whose physical address, phone number, and FAX numbers are easily obtained from a Whois search of the domain. I know you know who it is because you've demonstrated before an adroit ability to dig these things up. Why, if these allegations are untrue, have you not sued Carolyn Bagheri and gotten her to take these puddin' proofs off her Website? I have done nothing but make a reference to what some other Website claims is a documented/demented history of YOU.

Your article also claimed that I have committed a violation of "copyright law" in the publication of [nice try, Bob, if you were hoping I would be stupid enough to publish your anti-Dunn Website here and give you free press]. This statement is also false and without foundation, and thereby constitutes defamation as well.

Bob, you ignorant slut. You initially had approximately 20 articles from the AJC on your anti-Dunn Website that you published without obtaining republishing rights from the AJC.

Now, whether or not this was truly a violation of "copyright law" specifically, or whether it was merely a violation of the rules of the AJC, I don't know. I'm pretty sure that the AJC clearly marks on its site that all articles published by them are subject to copyright laws. And, therefore, unauthorized republishing of their articles is subject to enforcement via copyright laws.

Now, you can continue to whine and state that my rumor was without foundation. Fine. Sue away. I think I will be able to subpoena the AJC attorney charged with that duty who, I'm sure, has kept records of all communications and documentation of this matter...

You published your comments in a reckless and malicious manner, knowing them to be patently false, with the only and express intent to harm my reputation.

Dude, you ain't got no reputation that is worth anything more than a piece of dried-up gum stuck to the underside of a high-school desk. Who are you trying to kid?

Bob, you're a P-U-B-L-I-C...F-I-G-U-R-E. As such, the charge of "defamation" and "libelous" will demand a huge body of evidence to prove. And, in fact, with the truth as my best defense, you're going to be paddling in a river of feces for a long damn time if you try to sue me because I will demolish you with the truth. And, then, I will bury YOU with my legal bills that YOU will be responsible for paying.

You will receive formal correspondence demanding retraction of your defamatory comments; however, consider this my demand that you publish an immediate and complete retraction. Only by doing so can you avoid punitive damages. You should be aware that, upon receipt of this email, the clock starts. You have seven days to publish your complete retraction.

To fully satisfy the above demand, you are also requested to fax your retraction within seven days of this notice to 770-828-0524.

I plan to take full advantage of this opportunity. Govern yourself accordingly.

Bob Griggs

cc: W.B, C&B

Bob, L.A. Law was a good show in its day, but, the world has moved past that, and you should stop watching it for hints on lawyer-speak.

Seven days to retract? Okay...I'll think about it...(PV Readers, cue the Jeopardy! music in your head for the next 7 days).

I don't know who "W.B." is, or "C&B" (perhaps Cock-and-Bull, like your entire claim?) is, and I don't care.

Frankly, I was surprised to see you not use the initials "L.O.S." But, perhaps that person is too busy screwing yet another Georgia municipality...

So, in conclusion, Bob...thanks for the opportunity to respond. I didn't like staying up until 4:00 AM to write my response, but, I'm a dedicated fool when it comes to entertaining my readers...

P.S. Bob, as an aside, those pop-up ads are pretty annoying on your anti-Dunn Website. Hey, but, I guess I can put up with a little annoyance just to stand in the same arena as you... *