Not Fair!

When I first started blogging I got attacked unfairly a couple of times by anonymous bloggers. Being new to blogging, I felt that I had to defend myself. I spent hours (yes hours) composing a good reply to the unfair remarks. I was particularly annoyed that the person didn’t even have the courtesy to sign their name. As I spent more time blogging, it occurred to me that there was such a thing as a “Blog Troll”. The blog troll is a person that will say anything, even lies, without fear of retribution. The more annoying they become the more gleeful they get. Nothing makes them happier than to get into a persons head, and make them think that they have to defend themselves.

Some of the more experienced bloggers advised me to simply ignore the trolls, but, I found that a percentage of the people out there will believe the rantings of even the most insane person. The experienced bloggers told me that a certain amount of people will believe anything, right or wrong, credible or not, and that there would be nothing that can be done about it. I swore that I would never believe anything from an anonymous blogger. Later I started reading some of the more intelligent of the anonymous blog comments. I found some of them to be very wise and pertinent. So, I could no longer ignore the anonymous bloggers, but I very often wished that I could have the privilege of knowing WHO was so wise as to make some of the comments that I admired so much.

Very often, knowing who is making a comment will put it into context for you, when otherwise, it would make no sense. Some of that happened recently on my blog, where something completely innocent was taken as a death threat. Emails behind the lines flew, until everybody found out that a “choker” is a cable that a log is pulled with, and not very threatening at all. Funny how after we knew who the “death threat” was from, an old logger, it became quite humorous.

Sometimes you get to know a blogger by his/her “nom de plume”, or made up name, where they don’t reveal exactly who they are, but give you the courtesy of knowing that they are the same person that used that name the last time. When people just sign “Anonymous” nobody knows one from the other. Some of us spend a great deal of time trying to sort out who is who.

Most of the “nom de plume” bloggers are people that want to build a mirror identity. Usually they espouse some great cause or ideology. They think of themselves as Zoro. Batman, Superman, or some other anonymous crusader. If they see a wrong in the world, they whip out their false identity, put on their capes, sit down at their keyboards, and type as if the world depended upon their rantings. They set about righting all the wrongs in their silly little worlds. Usually they just cause turmoil. In my opinion, Nixon would have been exposed without “Deepthroat”, but who am I to say.

I admire people like Eric Kirk, Hank Sims, Fred Mangles, Rose, Dave Kirby, Bunny, and others that sign what they have say. Sorry to all of you that sign their names that I forgot, but I also admire you! The ones that I don’t admire are the ones that pontificate about others wrong-doings when they themselves don’t even have the-courage-of-their-convictions to sign their names. I don’t mind gentle opinions, but personal, named attacks, should be signed.

My grandmother often said that “you are the person that you would be, if nobody ever found out about the things that you do.” I often refer to the wisdom of my ancestors, and after a few un-signed attacks on me, I vowed that I would always sign my name to anything that I say on the blogs. If I say it, I sign it. You would be amazed at the things that I have thought about saying anonymously, but didn’t. In the end, I feel better about myself knowing that I avoided being mean, or hurting someone’s feelings. Sadly, I seem to think that “Anonymous” is fair game, because they have no personal investment in what they say. Incredulously, they seem to be insulted when I fly into them, like they were personally invested in an unsigned comment! Go figure, they take "Anonymous" personally, like that was their real identity!

Now, to the root of all of this rhetoric. An anonymous blogger (The Joe Blow Report) attacked Dave Stancliff for writing about the unfairness of doing a very vulgar demonstration at the funeral of a fallen soldier. Dave, a writer and a journalist, believes in free speech, above and beyond what the average person has even thought about. Many journalist agonize over what, and when, it is the right time to say things. Like, “You can’t shout FIRE! in a crowded theater”. An old cliché, but a good point. Dave spent a considerable amount of time, and gave a great amount of thought to the rights of the church group that demonstrated at the soldiers funeral. It was Dave’s opinion that the family of the fallen soldier had the right to a respectful, quite funeral, without disruptive disrespect. Many would agree, including the courts. But, the decision was overturned, and it is now going to the supreme court.

To add to the confusion, and possible unfairness, Dave is a veteran of “The war that didn’t happen” he was a soldier in Cambodia. The war that Nixon denied, the war that caused the Kent State riot, and the student deaths. I don’t know what demons that Dave still carries around with him, but I would guess that they are considerable. To have “Joe Blow” openly taunting him, from behind his cowards curtain of anonymousness, seems to be patently unfair. I think that the unfairness would be easier to swallow if he had the courage to sign his name. Don’t get me wrong, Joe Blow often makes valid points, but plain viciousness, for viciousness’s sake, is just plain unfair. Dave deserves respect. Even when you disagree with him.

If you want to familiarize yourself with this subject, please use the following links:
 Dave Stancliff, offers a reward for exposing the identity of "Joe Blow".
 The Joe Blow Report.
Free speech, maybe