Rockstar Lawyers Up but Boycott over Michael Savage Connection Won’t Go Away

Efforts by the makers of Rockstar Energy Drink to suppress the association between their company and the father of its CEO and founder, right-wing extremist radio talker Michael Savage, appear to be backfiring. Rather than stifling the company’s family connection with Savage, publicity generated by Rockstar’s aggressive legal strategy is helping to spread news that a boycott of Rockstar is underway.

Michael Savage’s real name is Michael Weiner. His son, Russell Weiner, is Rockstar’s CEO.

In the past few weeks, Rockstar’s lawyers have caused a stir by contacting online outlets that promote or report on the Rockstar boycott. They forced Facebook to shutter a boycott-oriented group and threatened to sue news sites, including Alternet, Gaywired, So Cal Voice, Change.org, Gaysocialites.com, Wiqaable.com and the gay news site, the Bilerico Project.

Charles Tsai, a would-be boycott organizer on Facebook, claims on his blog, dontdrinkhate.wordpress.com, that Rockstar lawyers forced Facebook to shut down his group, which was called “Don’t Drink Hate. BOYCOTT ROCKSTAR.” Facebook allegedly replaced the boycott group with a group called “ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK FANCLUB!”

Tsai writes that the new Rockstar fanclub page included sniping at the Weiners and their lawyers:

“Yes, this is a cave-in. It was decided it was not worth any legal repercussions to [sic] we now FULLY endorse Rockstar Energy Drink in every way! GO ROCKSTAR! YAY!”…

“Please let’s all focus on the AWESOMENESS that is ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK (as ordered by lawyers). Any past negative comments concerning ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK originatin [sic] from this group were WRONG, LIES and SLANDER! GO ROCKSTAR!”…

“Once again, we APOLOGIZE publically for any slander towards ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK and salute them as the world’s most powerful energy drink! Go Rockstar!”

According to Bil Browning, an editor at the Bilerico Project, Rockstar’s lawyers demanded that he retract statements written by guest blogger Michael Jones, an editor at Change.org, that contained mischaracterizations of Savage’s role in Rockstar:

[…]

NOW Sanctions Letterman Over Palin Jokes

Statement: ‘NOW hopes that all the conservatives who are fired up about sexism in the media lately will join us in calling out sexism when it is directed at women who aren’t professed conservatives’

Poor David Letterman. He’s finding out the hard way that going up against Sarah Palin can be a very, very unpleasant experience. And now, even, um NOW (the National Organization for Women) is against him.

It all started when Alaska’s governor came to New York to participate in a tribute to William Seward in Auburn, N.Y. on the 50th anniversary of Alaska statehood. After that, she and the fam, who as we know from the 2008 campaign, like to soak up all the freebies they can, attended a Yankees game before heading to Washington for a Republican fund raising dinner. Palin’s 14-year-old daughter, Willow, was at the game. Her more notorious daughter, the 18-year-old Bristol, who recently bore a son without benefit of marriage, was not.

So began Letterman’s troubles.

And if that wasn’t bad enough…

[…]

H1N1 Influenza: It’s Officially a Pandemic

Remarks of Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization delivered June 11, 2009
– ————————————–

Ladies and gentlemen,

In late April, WHO announced the emergence of a novel influenza A virus.

This particular H1N1 strain has not circulated previously in humans. The virus is entirely new.

The virus is contagious, spreading easily from one person to another, and from one country to another. As of today [11 Jun 2009], nearly 30,000 confirmed cases have been reported in 74 countries.

This is only part of the picture. With few exceptions, countries with large numbers of cases are those with good surveillance and testing procedures in place.

Spread in several countries can no longer be traced to clearly-defined chains of human-to-human transmission. Further spread is considered inevitable.

I have conferred with leading influenza experts, virologists, and public health officials. In line with procedures set out in the International Health Regulations, I have sought guidance and advice from an Emergency Committee established for this purpose.

On the basis of available evidence, and these expert assessments of the evidence, the scientific criteria for an influenza pandemic have been met.

I have, therefore, decided to raise the level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 5 to phase 6.

The world is now at the start of the 2009 influenza pandemic.

[…]

The Latest Idiocy from Florida Republicans

It would be laughable … oh hell, it is laughable. Here’s the latest quote-marked blurt from Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer, (edited for length, not content):

Back in the USSR

Tallahassee — Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer today released the following statement regarding President Obama’s most recent appointment of yet another czar to his administration which, in 5 short months, has now surpassed the number of czars appointed during the 300 years of Russia’s Romanov Dynasty:

“It is absolutely ridiculous that President Obama has appointed, and will most likely continue to appoint, countless czars which are nothing more than symbolic figureheads to demonstrate to the American people that he is concerned about the buzz word of the day — border czar, regulation czar, infotech czar, urban czar, the list goes on and even includes a “compensation czar,” responsible for deciding the salaries of the top 100 employees of publicly traded companies!”

In over 300 years, the Romanov Dynasty ruled Russia with only 18 czars, yet in only five short months, the United States now has an excess of over 20 czars. What happened to cutting back and doing more with less?”

“These absurd positions do nothing but take away from the transparency that President Obama promised the American people. Who do the czars report to? The President? Members of the Cabinet? Congress? Certainly not the American people? These czars allow for an unacceptable sense of unaccountability in our government. What happened to the checks and balances between the branches of government that our forefathers carefully built into our Constitution? To me it looks like those values are being side stepped in favor of an army of presidentially appointed mini-dictators. Enough is enough.”

[…]