This is a story from the small town of my childhood. It has always stayed with me because it exemplifies the Tea Party/Ayn Rand mindset, even before there was a Tea Party. It's also damned funny! And we need some stuff to take our mind off these primaries.
The 'hero' of our story is Mr S. Hated by most of our town, he made a comfortable living off various lawsuits and settlements in his favor. Now the backyard of his nice little villa bordered on the river. The city wanted a 6-foot-wide strip of land along the river bank from all homeowners in order to build an earthen berm to protect against flooding. Flooding in that area was common - not a life-or-death danger, this is just a slow-flowing small river, maybe 100 feet wide. Still, having your basement flooded is a nuisance.
Mr S objected. No flood defense on his land. City said OK, fine. Next spring, guess what happened - his backyard and probably basement got flooded. Mr S sued the city - and WON, according to my parents.
Now you may well think that perhaps there is more to the story. Perhaps Mr S just objected to the particulars, the City's plan was too costly, perhaps they wanted to cut down all his beautiful trees and make him pay for it ... sorry, I don't know these details, I am just relying on what my late parents told us kids, and they were clear in that this was a prime example of anti-social behavior.
But I do know another story, to illustrate how Mr S operated. His land was also close to the City's fairgrounds, there were a number of fairs each summer. And Mr S was annoyed by people relieving themselves in his backyard. So he posted 'No Trespassing' signs - did not help. He eventually started some kind of legal action - again, I don't know the details - for someone trespassing and peeing on his land. And that someone was the spouse of Mr K, the only millionaire in town. I can't see how you can sue for damages for that, but he did. So Mr and Mrs K denied the allegations. There was some kind of hearing, and it became apparent that the only evidence Mr S had beside his word was a grainy, black-and-white photo showing some female squatting against his hedge. There was no way to identify anyone from that picture. So Mr K counter-sued for damage to his and his wife's reputation, for a round Million bucks. The goal was to increase court costs and lawyer fees proportionally so that Mr S would have to give up. Now this, my friends is where you and I need to listen and learn from a master. For Mr S did not give up. He claimed, after this had been the town gossip for a week or two, that a witness had come forward confirming his account. Mr K, the millionaire, folded immediately, there was a settlement, and Mr S still lives in his nice little villa on the edge of the river.
Now I eagerly await your explanation in the comments how this is all related to the Democratic Primary fight, and how one candidate would handle this much better than the Other Candidate ...
If there's any lawyers out there who really want to look this up, message me and I can give you some names (I am just not good with court databases and such).
UPDATE: Someone flagged this? Unbelievable. I dare you to tell me why.