Smear campaigns are very commonplace in politics, since one candidate needs to discredit opponents using whatever ammunition is available, even if it is made up or not verifiable.

Although Maureen O'Gara was mentioned on several occasions in the past year, e.g. in [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11], we try hard now to draw attention to her. For those who do not know the background to this, O'Gara was caught spying on a Microsoft and SCO critic and then publishing libelous slime to be used as a baseless weapon, for purposes of dismissal the ad hominem way.

We have recently witnessed other similar examples, some of which we summarised last week and we know all too well about the slime and the libel, which escaped all rational proportions.

Those who are familiar with the O'Gara story might find the following news article rather interesting if not eerily familiar.

The onetime super-agent says he asked the private eye to get information on two reporters. One of them testifies tearfully about intimidation and her fear she was going to be killed.

Opening a rare window on the inner angst of Hollywood, onetime uber-agent Michael Ovitz testified Wednesday that he hired private eye Anthony Pellicano to get embarrassing information on two entertainment reporters who were writing negative stories about him.

[...]

Prosecutors allege that Pellicano wiretapped, harassed and obtained confidential information about one of the reporters, and her complaint to authorities became the flash point of a five-year scandal that has fascinated Hollywood, culminating in his federal trial....

[...]

Ovitz was followed to the stand -- and nearly crossed paths in the court hallway with -- former journalist Anita Busch, the co-author of the stories Ovitz testified were making it "more than difficult" to sell his beleaguered Artists Management Group. Busch, in tears, testified that she was intimidated and nearly run down by a speeding car after those stories appeared.

This one goes a little too far, but the rest makes a chilling deja vu. ⬆