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Long-time printer for Massachusetts Republicans sues party chairman for defamation

The owner of a Hingham printing company says Massachusetts Republican Party Chairman Jim Lyons is blaming it for some spat it has nothing to do with and has barred the party and official Republican candidates from using its services.

In a defamation suit filed today in Suffolk Superior Court, East Coast Printing is asking a judge for an temporary restraining order to make Lyons knock it off. Owner Louis Silva says immediate action is needed because we're in the middle of election season and Lyons's "false and defamatory statements" are costing the company money and harming its reputation.

Silva charges that Lyons shut the company out of Republican affairs out of misguided pique over a "personal dispute" he has with two specific Baker-ish Republicans. Silva says the two copied "one of East Coast's junior employees, Mike" on some e-mail string that Lyons got a hold of and promptly assumed that Mike's inclusion via cc meant East Coast was taking the two guys' side in whatever the beef is about.

East Coast's junior employee, Mike, was not an active participant on the subject email thread and is not affiliated - politically or otherwise - with [the two men].

East Coast also has nothing to do with Lyons's "personal dispute" with the two men, the suit continues, adding that Lyons knows this and is so defaming the company by trying to keep it out of the Republican printing business in reckless disregard of the truth.

The suit alleges that as recently as July 8, MassGOP's executive assistant, told the campaign of state Rep. David DeCoste of the 5th Plymouth district - one of the few remaining Republicans in the state legislature - it could not use East Coast Printing, even though the campaign has used the company in the past, and even though:

Time and again, East Coast has proven that it can and will perform to the highest standards. East Coast's commitment to excellence and dependability are especially evident in times of need; and whenever MassGOP candidates need last minute mailers, East Coast always delivers on time.

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Comments

Typical post-Trump Republican strategy: Concentrate on the little petty stuff to deflect from the ongoing serious issues. Governor Baker still wants him to resign.

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Screw over a small business irrespective of the work they've done for some superficial reason.

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...don't use east coast printing for your printing, as apparently you're supporting a republican-owned business.

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Because his printing business will accept republican clients?

98% of the GOP disgusts me but the idea democrats and republicans should live in completely separate worlds is bad for everyone.

Most Republican voters are not bad people even if a majority of the GOP's leadership is.

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If someone is publicly identifiable as a republican they really cannot be surprised if many people are suspicious of their motives and mental state.

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I think it's pretty fair to say that, when a business donated to the Republican party, and the Republican party ONLY, it's a Republican-owned business.

https://www.opensecrets.org/search?q=East+Coast+Printing%2C+Inc&type=donors

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But I wouldn't read too much into a single donation made in 2017 made to what is probably his biggest client. It could just be a token of appreciation for giving his business the work.

Edit: One wonders if the real reason why he's being badmouthed by the MassGOP is that they expect more in the way of kickbacks for their business.

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It sounds like the Trumpies who have recently taken over the state GOP organization want him out, while the Charlie Baker types, who use to control the state party, were happy with his work. So maybe it is worth standing up for this small business guy.

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I’m the devil incarnate given that I’m a biwoman that supports conservatism.

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Sure you are.

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but why you would support the conservation of a status quo that doesn’t recognize the totality of your personhood is completely beyond me

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In The Devil’s Dictionary (1906), the American writer Ambrose Bierce cynically (but not inappropriately) defined the conservative as “a statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others.” Conservatism must also be distinguished from the reactionary outlook, which favours the restoration of a previous, and usually outmoded, political or social order.

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Conservatism must also be distinguished from the reactionary outlook, which favours the restoration of a previous, and usually outmoded, political or social order.

but not all … wait a second

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