Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2006 16:39:33 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl at KeithLynch.net>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Gilliland Fliers
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

Candy Madigan <candymadigan at mindspring.com> wrote:

> Not the same situation at all.  *Your* livelihood is not being
> threatened by whether or not anyone believes the Gillilands.  If it
> were, then I would not consider the situation to be a dead horse.

It was a WSFA member who got me my current job.  If he had believed
me to be dishonest, I don't think he would have done so.  After all,
honesty is essential for any job.  And this is unlikely to be the last
job I ever have, or even the last job I ever get via fannish networking.

Nor is such libel likely to remain within fandom.  Fanzines often
appear online, and employers often do Google searches on potential
new employees.

Besides, my paycheck is not the only thing I value.  For instance if
women believe, "... taking enemy action against Lee, you get a menu of
motives ranging from simple misogyny to unrequited love," my love life
is likely to suffer.

> Eventually, the actual liar(s) discredits him/herself by telling
> people things they know are not true.

If that were true, dishonest politicians would never gain power, as
they'd all have all long since discredited themselves.

> If you run around making yourself abnoxious screaming "I've been
> wronged!  I've been wronged!" even when the truth comes out that
> yes, indeed, you were wronged, no one will want to associate with
> you not because of you having lied, but because of your having
> made a public spectacle of yourself long after the issue was dead.

Very true.  But the only alternative is remaining silent and letting
everyone assume the slander against you is correct.  This shows
just how poisonous such vicious gossip is.  It dirties everyone
and everything it touches, and can never be completely washed off.
There are no good responses to it, only bad and less bad responses.

Please note, however, that I have not claimed to have been wronged
by the current flier.  I don't yet know what, if anything, it says
about me.