‘I’m Not Some Whack Job,’ Says Jailed Alabama Blogger Roger Shuler

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Roger Shuler, Shelby County Jail inmate No. 288928

Popehat’s last update on the case carried this headline:

Alabama Court, Roger Shuler Continue To
Thwart Roger Shuler’s First Amendment Rights

The man is his own worst enemy. Even if you wanted to help a guy who had claimed that a federal judge once posed for a porn site — and refused to retract the claim even after the judge adamantly denied it — the kind of help he needs is a good lawyer, and Roger Shuler insists on representing himself, which he does quite badly.

Shuler was sued for defamation (not by the judge, but by another Republican) and refused to attend an October court hearing at which a judge granted the plaintiff’s motion for an injunction, so the judge had him arrested for contempt. Popehat says the injunction is unconstitutional as “prior restraint,” and Shuler also has the support of the American Civil Liberties Union, but at a hearing two weeks ago, Shuler refused to exercise his right to a court-appointed attorney.

If your goal in life is to be a First Amendment martyr, maybe this makes sense. Meanwhile, however, you’re wearing an orange jumpsuit in the Shelby County Jail, and you’re probably not helping yourself with interviews like this:

“To call it a kangaroo court is an insult to kangaroos,” Shuler said. “It’s worse than a joke.” . . .
He said he is deeply suspicious of the criminal justice system in Alabama — one of the reasons Shuler said he will represent himself in the case, as he has done in a number of previous legal skirmishes.
He quickly added, “I’m not some whack job who doesn’t want help. I want legal help, but it has to be the right kind of help. I’ve had some bad experiences with lawyers, and those experiences tell me that lawyers tend to take your money and represent the other side.”

OK, he hates judges and he distrusts lawyers, and he doesn’t seem to understand why this attitude leads to trouble, or why even those who otherwise want to help him might be reluctant to do so.

Can you explain to me again how Roger Shuler is not a “whack job”?

 

44 comments

  1. “Can you explain to me again how Roger Shuler is not a “whack job”?”

    No.

    The man is suffering from a bad case of CSTFU. This condition is characterized by the inability to not say something stupid and a lack of the ability to recognize when something stupid has been said.

  3. Crooks deny they’re crooks. Socialists deny they’re socialists. Whack jobs deny they’re whack jobs.

    The denial is not sufficiently probative by itself, of course…

  5. Important personal note. If I ever get arrested or post a video RSM decides to excerpt, screen them THOROUGHLY for embarrassing expressions and postures…

  9. “Can you explain to me again how Roger Shuler is not a “whack job”?”

    Not really. Maybe in a thriller, we’d have a hope of doing so, but not otherwise.

    Sorry.

  17. I posted that to smoke you out to see what you would say. Actually, I don’t think Nixon was a crook. He was not able to get away with what he did, which was simply being loyal to those who were loyal to him, because he was basically a decent man. Later, we saw Slick Willie, and now Zer0, who are both sociopaths get away with far, FAR worse. When Dimocraps try to tell me about Nixon I laugh in their faces and tell them to get back to me when they are willing to take on the true criminals they have gotten elected.

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