Misty @ Saintless provided a link to this in the comments at The SideTrack. The crazy is getting deep over this freshly vetoed Thompson-authored, Rep. Morley (Eagle Forum?) sponsored video game bill.
In the fallout from his latest, apparently unsuccessful attempt to legislate video games in Utah, disbarred Miami attorney Jack Thompson has issued a vague legal threat to Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. The popular Republican is serving his third term as Utah’s top law enforcement officer.
On Friday the Salt Lake Tribune reported that Shurtleff had expressed concerns about the legality of HB 353, the Thompson-conceived video game bill which was vetoed by Gov. Jon Huntsman last week.
Thompson, clearly, was not thrilled with the news. He referred to Shurtleff as “dead meat” in the header of an e-mail forwarded to GamePolitics later on Friday.
A Sunday e-mail from Thompson to Salt Lake Tribune reporter Robert Gehrke (and cc:’d to GP) threatens to “proceed” against Shurtleff if the A.G. doesn’t move against major retailers for what Thompson claims is “the distribution of pornography to minors in violation of state law.” By way of defining porn, Thompson attached links to strip club and hooker scenes from Grand Theft Auto IV. However, while certainly not intended for younger buyers, GTA IV has not been declared obscene in any U.S. jurisdiction.
Oh, and there’s a deadline for Shurtleff to act: 5:00 P.M. today.
As GamePolitics has previously reported, Thompson called for Shurtleff’s impeachment in 2007 when the A.G. suggested that a piece of Thompson-authored video game legislation then before the Utah House was unconstitutional.
How can we save Attorney General “Dead Meat” before 5pm? Contact the Gov and Shurtleff himself to thank them for their sanity admidst the Gayle Ruzicka/Jack Thompson/Rep. Morley doofus-fest.
As a side note: several people have emailed to point out that this media attention generated by such a looney is a great way for Shurtleff to kick off his Senate run against Bennett. Good point.
‘Doofus-fest’ is the funniest thing I’ve seen all day. I’m going to find my self chuckling in the car later about that one. Maybe I’ll even try to use it in a sentence during the day. “This staff meeting sure turned into a doofus-fest.”