Jack Thompson's "Modest Video Game Proposal"

Post by **Dalton** » 2005-10-18 07:49pm

Wow. This man is seriously disturbed. He's attempting to get Gabe and Tycho arrested because they showed him up, because they proved that they're better humans than he will ever be. What an egotistical, whiny, pompous lunatic.

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » 2005-10-18 08:06pm

Thanks for following this faster than I ever could, guys. I've taken the liberty of compiling the articles we've got here into a megapost to distribute around the gaming sites I post at. (It may be found here, if anyone's interested.) I've got it in both EzCode and BBCode, if anyone wants it and is too lazy to do the typing.

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2005-10-18 08:09pm

I would pay money to see Jack Thompson get brought to court over this, not much, but money none the less.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2005-10-18 08:25pm

The CNN bit:

tales from the coot

Mon, October 17 2005 - 7:00 PM
by: Gabe

Jack was on CNN tonight to talk about Midway’s new football game. Like I said in my news post above , this is why Jack is scary. Because he has no fucking clue what he’s talking about yet they put him on CNN to talk as though he was an expert. This is a quote from him:

"The NFL wouldn't allow it's name to be used, so that tells you something."

He doesn’t understand that EA purchased the rights to NFL games and that Midway’s new game is a direct response to that. Like I said before the time for ignoring this coot is over. He can’t be allowed to pull this kind of shit anymore.

-Gabe out

He's right too. Hopefully because of what Jackie boy is doing by pissing off people, they will shut him down.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2005-10-18 08:43pm

That's just ridiculous. That kind of thing's been going on for more than twenty years and Thompson acts like it's a recent thing and blames it on the violence issue.

Frankly I can't even imagine what else he would have even said other than just a several-second soundbyte statement...

Anarchist Bunny · Post by **Anarchist Bunny** » 2005-10-18 08:48pm

Damn it, why isn't this on the news.

m.castaldo · Post by **m.castaldo** » 2005-10-18 10:35pm

Heh, was bored, so I decided to send the Anderson Cooper show a small tidbit showing my displeasure at having cactus jack thompson on the show, even if it was just for a little bit.

I am completly aghast at the fact that, out of all the people you could have on your program for video game issues, you choose a man who, quite frankly, is borderline insane. Jack Thompson is one of the foremost 'quacks' when it comes to video gaming and its effects on society. If your fact checkers had bothered to examine recent events, they'd realize this. Some examples include Thompson's 'a modest proposal', which he said he would donate 10,000 dollars to a charity if a game company made a game his way (link: http://gc.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=5883). As time went on he has become even more irrational, making threatening emails to others, including people at www.penny-arcade.com, saying that they haven't done anything for the community, when in fact penny-arcade.com has actually CREATED a charity which has raised over half a million dollars for children! This same site, after having several threatening emails from this so-called expert, even donated 10,000 dollars in Thompsons NAME, after a mod group did as Thompson asked, but Thompson, coward that he is, refused to pay off on a charity, saying his proposal was 'satirical'. (links http://www.livejournal.com/users/gamepo ... 10152.html
and http://www.penny-arcade.com/news.php?date=2005-10-18)
So again, I just wanted to register my disappointment both as a viewer and my professional disappoint over whoever it is who screens your interview guests. I work for a small Eastern Kentucky station, and even I make sure before I have a guest on whether or not he's what could be called a reliable source of information, rather then some half baked kook, who has even gotten a cease and desist letter from the organization he used to proudly represent! (lins (warning, pdfs) http://www.gamepolitics.com/images/NIMF-1.pdf and http://www.gamepolitics.com/images/NIMF-2.pdf)
Thank you for your time, and while I am being negative about what amounted to a small part of your program, I do want you to know that the rest of it WAS enjoyable, and I will continue to be a regular viewer as long as it remains so.

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2005-10-18 10:54pm

His brand of lunacy is nothing new. Many similar things have been said about jazz and comic books.

SAMAS · Post by **SAMAS** » 2005-10-19 12:23am

Dalton wrote:Wow. This man is seriously disturbed. He's attempting to get Gabe and Tycho arrested because they showed him up, because they proved that they're better humans than he will ever be. What an egotistical, whiny, pompous lunatic.

Actually, that seems to be bullshit, too. According to Gamespot(link to article), the Seattle PD says they never recieved any letter from him. GS asked Thompson about it, and he said that: ""They have it now." Thompson added, "The moral midgets like the computer geeks at Penny Arcade think that I am some sort of pixelated piñata in a game. I'm not. Gabe [the in-comic alter ego of Penny Arcade artist Krahulik] decided to go after me, and he chose the wrong target. I've been at this longer than he has."

So Gamespot checked again a few hours later. Still no fax.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2005-10-19 12:27am

What, you mean he's a LIAR?!

Amazing. Truly amazing. This man is completely without a set of testicles.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2005-10-19 01:15am

DPDarkPrimus wrote:That's one badass check.

Damn, I just noticed, I think that might even be a business check: extra-wide and all.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2005-10-19 02:03am

how badassed is the check, did they use John Wayne, Vin Desiel, and Sam Jackson's faces in the watermark?

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2005-10-19 02:15am

You can see it by going to PA's latest newspost.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2005-10-19 05:05am

m.castaldo wrote:Looks like Thompsons gonna be on CNN with Anderson Cooper tonight, 7 pm EST. Kinda sad how this little piss drizzle gets on national news for being such a jackass. Info at game politics[/url]

It pisses me off the mainstream media still waste time on this sad little fucker

SAMAS · Post by **SAMAS** » 2005-10-19 06:24am

Hotfoot wrote:What, you mean he's a LIAR?!

Amazing. Truly amazing. This man is completely without a set of testicles.

The thing is, he's trying for a Chilling Effect, which is where nobody wants to go against him for fear of legal action. He seems to think that Penny Arcade is nothing but a bunch of stupid kids. He seems to have that opinion of gamers in general.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2005-10-19 06:33am

I have nothing but derison for PA, but this sort of behaviour is ridiculous. He's threatning legal action... because they DONATED TO CHARITY? Nutbar.

Arrow · Post by **Arrow** » 2005-10-19 09:42am

I know this isn't going to happen, but I'd love to see the lawyers for Microsoft, EA, Activision or some other publisher publicly offer their services to PA.

Setesh · Post by **Setesh** » 2005-10-19 12:33pm

It truly astounds me this man passed the bar, he sounds like a carbon copy of Stilgar on Mike's Hate mail page.

Unsupported arguments: Stilgar:Yes Thompson:Yes

Lies in arguments:Stilgar:Yes Thompson:Yes

'illogic is so easily pierced that any fool with basic reading comprehension can see through them.' Stilgar:Yes Thompson:Yes

Legal threats:Stilgar:Yes Thompson:Yes

Later proven Bogus: Stilgar:Yes Thompson:Yes

Or laughed at by all parties:Stilgar:Yes Thompson:Yes

Cluelessness about opponants legal knowledge and/or resources:Stilgar:Yes Thompson:Yes

Lies to others about opponants (personal life/hygien/age/education/actions/ect.): Stilgar:Yes Thompson:Yes

Doesn't know when to give up: Stilgar:No (he eventually gave up) Thompson:Yes

As you can see JT is actually worse than Stilgar, kinda sad isn't it?

Post by **Dalton** » 2005-10-19 04:24pm

Yack fucked up

Yack

Wed, October 19 2005 - 11:33 AM
by: Gabe

Tycho and I remain free men. The fact is that Jack actually sent the fax to everyone but the intended recipient at the Seattle PD. There were a lot of names to remember I don’t blame him. I’ve received literally thousands of emails in the past couple days. They are all commending us for standing up to Jack the way we did. Most of them go on to ask what we can do as a community to stop him. I have to admit that is tempting. The more I think about it the more I think it might not be in our best interest. Let me explain.

You can certainly mail the networks he appears on. You can even send letters to their advertisers. You can contact the senators he speaks with and demand they ignore him. If enough of us do that sort of thing and we do it long enough they will eventually get the message and drop him just like the National Institute on Media and the Family did. Would that be a good thing? I’m not sure.

Jack is not special. He is not a unique snow flake as they say. He is just the latest vocal opponent of whatever is "corrupting" our youth at the moment. When my dad was growing up it was rock and roll devil music. Then it was comic books then movies and rap music. Today it’s videogames. If we were to succeed in getting Jack blacklisted from the major news outlets someone else would simply take his place. Imagine him as an actor playing a part in a play. The point is that Jack Thompson is not important. If he were to be fired a new actor would simply take up the role. The same lines would still be delivered in the same way and the same audience would pay to see it. We are actually fortunate that the current actor is so impotent in his role. Imagine what might happen if some charming, efficacious attorney took his place. The more I consider it the more I think we may be lucky to have Jack playing the part of the alarmist. The alternative might be someone who is actually capable.

-Gabe out

Mr. Sinister · Post by **Mr. Sinister** » 2005-10-19 05:23pm

*sigh* Why can't this man do something useful with his law degree, like keeping those evil boobies off our tv screens, or keeping Michael Jackson out of jail?

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2005-10-19 05:53pm

Gabe has got his history a bit out of order up there. The Corruptors of the Twentieth Century actually go: alcohol, jazz, motion pictures, comic books, rock & roll, progressive rock, heavy metal, rap, and video games.

Ignoring of course the long-span scapegoats of television and the Satanic Panic...

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2005-10-19 06:11pm

let's not forget the curruptors of youth in Mozart's day

Coffee and The Waltz (omg they were touching HANDS!!!11shift1)

Spyder · Post by **Spyder** » 2005-10-19 11:25pm

Jack Thompson Interview

Interesting interview. I don't think the interviewer does that great a job though, he seems to lose his cool and the interview seems to lack direction.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2005-10-20 01:30am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Gabe has got his history a bit out of order up there. The Corruptors of the Twentieth Century actually go: alcohol, jazz, motion pictures, comic books, rock & roll, progressive rock, heavy metal, rap, and video games.

Ignoring of course the long-span scapegoats of television and the Satanic Panic...

What about card games and poolhouses?

Oh, and the Penny Arcade forumers are working on getting Jack Thompson disbarred. Things are going swimmingly so far- plenty of faxes and phone calls made, all with extensive lists of violations of conduct Thompson has made.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2005-10-20 03:56am

yeah work on getting him 5150'ed