(and I know that writing this here does meet with David Codrea’s contempt, as I blog here anonymously)Not at all, and I apologize if anything I said led you to believe that. I actually wanted to leave a comment, but they're closed on the linked post--and now's probably a good time to clear this up, what with the doings of recent days.
Like anything else, it's a choice. Those of us who have made it know full well that it carries a cost in terms of reputation, career options, etc. But I honor the spirit of Publius, and believe that anonymity can be a key guarantor of freedom.
What I have contempt for is not anonymous blogging, but those who abuse that anonymity to troll and insult without any personal accountability. I believe in their right to do so, understand, but I think it's unethical and cowardly, and have no respect for them as individuals. I have a pretty simple rule--I never expect anything out of another that I'm not willing to do myself. As such, I have never said anything to anyone on the Internet that I would not have said to their face, with their full knowledge of who I am. Which means I will accept real and personal consequences for my words and actions.
21 comments:
Some folks have good reasons for not using their real identities on the internets. I, for example, have enemies who would pay to find out how to get personal with me. They still want to kill me for things I did decades ago. I'm not afraid of them, but I have people near me who didn't ask to take such risks. Its bad enough I have to pack heat to feel safe mowing my grass without advertising for trouble.
I concur that many people, friends and opponents of mine, have legitimate reasons for remaining anonymous. Often in the 90s we would run into folks who wanted to help but simply could NEVER allow themselves to be identified because of their job -- doctor, lawyer, government employee, etc. -- and yet we always found someway of making use of their talents. Clandestine service is still service, perhaps even more valuable in many cases than being public. There were of course folks who exaggerated their risks out of an excess of caution, but I've always had a policy of never, ever wasting a resource or "shooting the wounded."
The ones who nettle me are those who call people names, threaten them, question others commitment or courage or sanity, all from an anonymous shelter.
They AREN'T anonymous to the federal monitors who keep track of such things, just to US. Few, I would venture, have your legitimate excuse. They are simply cowards. -- Vanderboegh
All the people who have tried to kill me are no longer active or have found Jesus. One got awfully close, though. The doctors and the x-rays said I was done. I wasn't.
Since the medicos said I would die by morning, I left the hospital right then. I didn't think I wanted help from somebody who had already buried me.
Far as I know that asshole is still running. Never caught up to him. He runs real good, once he knows you know who he is. Hell, he may be dead now. That was 42 years ago.
However, I do understand why some people would prefer to remain or for whom it is imperative that they remain anonymous.
and no I did not commit any illegal acts. that is why I was targeted, actually.
There have been times I feel I should have stayed anonymous, as I was when I first started speaking out. My life has been turned upside down because of the consequences of saying unpopular things. Still, my conscience is clear.
I've been in situations where it was better to remain anonymous (I ran an underground publication at my university that would have gotten me into trouble with certain professors, groups, and portions of the administration), and in situations where it was best to loudly claim my work. There's definitely a place for both approaches
"There are only two ways of telling the complete truth--anonymously and posthumously." --Thomas Sowell
Anonymity can be for weal or woe. I chose long ago to go 'public'. Let em target me. It's a 2 way street -s-.
I've been watched by a variety of orgs, including a couple of 'international' groups.
I know of those who are 'underground' as it were. We serve where we can.
Know when to hold em and know when to fold em.
Okay, how come so many of you guys are complaining about groups of people wanting to kill you? What do you guys do?? Are you just poor dinner guests?
I don't expect anyone to answer that, bu I have a hard time thinking of anything I could do in my day-to-day life which would piss an individual off sufficiently for them to have a life-long death grudge against me.
nezumi,
It ain't the years, it's a combination of the mileage and the road you travel. Some of us have walked a bit off the beaten path --that part on the edge of the old map where it says: "Heer there bee Monsters," or, "The Dragon Lands."
For myself, my dragons have been not as monstrous as some others. I can't say I've killed anybody in the past 15 years, but I've helped put more than one in prison and disrupted the plans of others. When you do that, the EBG's ("Evil Bad Guys" -- a term used by a friend of mine who is currently in Iraq) tend to get a bit miffed. One told a jailhouse snitch that when he got out, he would slit the throats of my children while I was forced to watch, then he would kill me slowly. He is a particular favorite of the feds, apparently, having done crimes that were life mandatory, but they offered him a five year deal and then let him out in four. Ask anybody familiar with the federal penal system how common THAT is. He's currently walking the streets. Not bad for a neoNazi terrorist who had culpability in the OKC bombing.
The important thing when fighting monsters is not to become one yourself.
I am anonymous just to the point of not being completely out there. Yet.
I'm sorry about the comments being closed - I simply don't have the time to weed through the trolls to get to the good comments.
Having said that: I'm glad that I can contribute in some small way to The Cause - and who knows? Maybe this small effort will get bolder in time...
Nezumi, in my case some of the attempts against me were retribution for something somebody else did, and something I would not do because of a moral and legal stance on the issue.
Some were just wrong place, wrong time. One was because someone thought being a widow was better than being a divorcee, the four guys she sent didn't fare at all well. Oddly she died a few years ago from the same heart disease that is killing me. Talk about poetic justice.
And some were because I was not "pragmatic" and would not bend my knee to some simple-minded sonofabitch who thought he was special.
I came from a very poor family early on and we lived in neighborhoods where anything at all could get you killed. You learn real quick that declaring your peaceful intentions and being "pragmatic" is just the signal that triggers the predators' attack response.
There are a lot of evil people out there who are only held in check on any specific occassion because they are certain the cost to themselves is too high. Declaring you will not oppose them is quite simply surrender to their predations.
Do I wish I didn't have as many scars? Do I wish I had lived a sheltered and privileged life where hired hands protected me? Do I wish I had not been the recipient of so much violent attention?
Answers to 1 and 3 are yes, Hell yes! Answer to number 2 is no. I prefer to be a man, one capable of relying on himself for his safety and that of his family. Hired hands have tendency to not engage on your behalf when it looks like they may not live to spend their pay. Ask anyone that witnessed the riots in South Central, or the various mass shootings. Where were the hired hands? They were making sure they got to spend their pay, they stayed away until those incidents were over. Worse, it was policy that they do so.
Not everybody has avoided war, or bad neighborhoods, or poverty that forces one to live in the lower dog eat dog parts of the world. Not everyone has avoided assault. I can usually tell who has, though, by their bleatings that "everything" can be talked out.
I wager you would be surprised just in the circle of your acquaintances how many have faced just such types of difficulties. It is not something most talk about as an everday topic of conversation. It is appropriate to discuss such when that is the topic, especially as clarification of a larger topic where its mention can show the lessons learned from experience, but it can be quite off putting at a bar mitsvah, or wedding, or Saturday night barbecue.
I have known Holocaust survivors who don't often talk about it. Only when there is a lesson to be learned by the listener.
I am not Jewish, but one of the strongest and most gentle man I ever knew was one such survivor of Auschwitz. The only one of his family to survive. And I don't mean just his immediate family, his entire family. Yet, he is not bitter and filled with hate. He is a rabbi who teaches peace and forgiveness. But he also teaches resistance in whatever form necessary to thwart tyranny.
A better man than I. But I'm trying.
Oh, to answer your question, which I thought was kind of cute, I usually am a bad dinner guest. I'm not malleable enough to determine which opinion of the day I am supposed to adopt to fit in. I like people, but am not really liked by a lot of them.
Only four people seriously want me dead, one lost their desire, one ran into something, and two gave up. Sorry about the lack of details, but as any lawyer will tell you, scars make the best witnesses. I'm a bad dinner guest too, but I don't get invited a lot, so no big deal. The reason you have a hard time figuring out how we could have made someone mad enough to kill us says it all. We have this little rule that goes,"This far, and no more". I suspect your rules have a lot more leeway. We don't. When that point is reached, something happens. We don't have a meeting, run it through committee, or mull it over. We act. Punks and cowards and jackasses don't like that, and tend to want to get you back, preferably in the back, at night, and catch you alone if possible. Once you know you're marked, you can wait for it, or you can pre-empt. I'm heavily into pre-emption myself, and I heartily recommend it. I did wait once, but it worked out the same, because I knew he was coming. Did you know they use staples a lot now instead of stitches? They even use this tape stuff, it works really well. But I absolutely detest concussions. Makes you cranky for weeks. And always tell the docs' to give you an antibiotic, it's good insurance, and it costs next to nothing. Oh, and you can do nothing and still encounter one of those monsters, or they encounter you, and you have no idea how little regard they have for others. Death smiles at all of us, all a man can do is smile back.
Nezumi, truly, and I'm saying this not to diss you but in the hope that yo consider this and maybe take it to heart--your indictment comes off as something judgmental said by someone who has never "been there."
You don't need to be an obnoxious jerk or trouble-seeker to garner death threats--I received them from two people I fired for cause--it's when I first carried--illegally, I might add, because there was no other choice--on the advice of the officer investigating--who rolled his eyes when I started coming up with excuses why that was illegal, why he and his partner had training because of their profession, why (come up with an excuse and I probaly bleated it out)... That man taught me a valuable lesson and I will always be grateful to him for helping me grow up. I may tell that story some day--at the risk of incurring the wrath of anyone who says lawbreaking makes us all look bad because we still have the vote, and I would have deserved punishment.
That would not have helped me late at night, alone, locking up the place and going to my car in the back parking lot.
And for the record--I'm one hell of a good dinner guest and an even better cook and host. I can think of several WoG regulars I'd be pleased to prove that to.
I know you meant to include me in that invitation (and if you didn't, please don't break my heart by telling me) :). I promise I would be on my best behavior, however, according to my wife that ain't much of a promise. :)
"We have this little rule that goes,"This far, and no more."
I may be too young, but it's really never come to that for me. My house was broken into when I wasn't home, and even though I don't live in the nicest area, I avoid going into the worse areas when I can. That's about the worst I've had to deal with with crime. Never knew anyone who tried to kill someone else. Don't know my local drug dealers. I have one friend who had some trouble in grade school, but aside from that, as far as I'm aware, that's about it. I'll be the first to admit, I don't go sniffing for trouble, though. Heck, I'll admit, I'm a geek. My free time is spent online. I'm certainly not rich, and I don't think I'm sheltered, but I'm not especially social either, which may be a contributing factor.
So not only have I never 'been there', I don't think I'm even in the same time zone. That's why when I read this stuff about people genuinely wanting to kill other people and about hiding out in foxholes, I have to scratch my head and wonder what action movie you fell out of. Again, this isn't meant to be rude, but from what I've encountered in life, you might as well have come and told me you have a second head.
I'm sure if I had more drug dealer friends or got into a gang I could find these weird situations, but for up-standing individuals who I assume are all too morally straight to intentionally get involved with scum, it seems completely alien.
No,sportsfan, I have not been involved in drugs, nor were my "opponents", nor other illegal activities. They were just people who are more or less hard-headed brats, who are used to getting their own way, usually over the body of someone else. Action movie, having just dropped out of? Action movies have stars, sound tracks,slick sets, high priced cars and other vehicles, clearly defined situations, predictable outcomes, with everything resolved in 125min. or less. Real life involves some laundry, doing dishes, solving some inexplicable problem at work,only to find out the cause of it was:your wife was laying the guy responsible for the problem, she and he were both robbing you blind at the job,they enjoyed holding you up to ridicule to everyone you both know,your house is now up for auction by the sheriff, you have NOTHING in your bank accounts, all your bills are 3 months overdue, and you are in a cast up to your waist. Then you find a way to resolve or solve all those things, and the now unhappy wife layer shows up at your door in the middle of the afternoon,drunk,roaring about what a sonofabitch you are.Oh, I forgot the part about how this makes you think when you look at your three small children. Sometimes, you just make bad choices, and sometimes you just believe people couldn't possibly be so cold-blooded. Then you wake up and move on. Foxhole, hiding in. They're not places to hide, they're fighting positions. Metaphor,for the idea, that if you expect acceptance from people you have rejected during discussions in peace, it is unwise to expect acceptance during times of extreme violence and uncertainty. One doesn't intentionaly become involved with scum. That's because scum spends a lot of time with camoflage, so you won't see them as they truly are. Then they can do their damage unhindered by your close observation. As in con artist. I leave the judgements as to how moral I am to G*d. Yup, straight. Alien? My guess is you've lived a generally quiet,peaceful life, without much upheaval, or crisis, and in that respect you've been blessed, or lucky as some say.Ok by me. But it's an incredibly tough and nasty world out there. Here in America, you can live in peace, most of the time. But it is the exception, not the rule.
I'll think I'll wait to see what nezumi has to say after he gets robbed when he is home. Provided, of course, they leave him alive.
Bear in mind nez, that now they know you have "stuff". They may want it, or they may need a fix that your stuff will buy them after a sale or visit to a pawnshop. Now, that they know where "stuff" is, they may be too desperate for cash or drugs to wait until you aren't home next time.
Ironically, this was a more peaceful society before all the men in it decided there was never a reason to resort to violence. The bad guys were much more circumspect than now is the case. So, you may be too young (as you stated) to understand at what price peace is purchased.
"I'll think I'll wait to see what nezumi has to say after he gets robbed when he is home. "
To be clear, I do have a firearm in the home (just like I have a telephone and insurance). I think someone breaking into the house is unlikely, but a reasonable possibility. I suppose, hypothetically, if I had to defend myself I'd have to contend with that person or his relatives making life-enemies out of me. I hadn't thought it to quite that point, since frankly, I'm more worried about the cops (yes, unfortunately, I'm more worried about the local police than the thugs).
I suppose I, and those I spend time with, have just been lucky. Hopefully it'll hold out. I really wouldn't want to be the one saying there's someone out there who'd like to know where I live so he can come and kill me.
I sincerely hope your luck holds. I really do. No one of us would wish misfortune on any other man (generic, we don't wish it on women either, probably some ex-wives excluded :)). But for the same reason you have a fire extinguisher and smoke alarms, we would prefer that you not be helpless if your luck doesn't hold.
You have now touched on the big burr under our saddles. The fact that most of the people fear the authorities more than they fear the murderous thugs who rob and rape and kill them.
I was hopeful, but not optimistic, that you would discover the paradox. When your fear of the state is greater than your fear of the criminals (hard to tell them apart, sometimes they are the same) there is something seriously out of whack.
That is the reason that we have a line in the sand. That is why the people we fear the most must be made to understand that there could be a horrendous price to pay for continued tyranny and its attempted expansion.
BTW, I read your comments over at Uncle and was very impressed. What are you doing? exactly? Figuring it all out?
Ok, couldn't help it, I said something nice and it hurt. Just consider the last as an analgesic for a grumpy old man.
What am I doing? Yes, figuring it out. I came from a very anti-gun home. My mom wouldn't even let me have toys that looked like guns. I also spent years overseas, especially in Moscow before '89. So I came home wondering why Moscow was such a.. well, add your own descriptors. It was everything I couldn't tolerate in a country.
So I'm picking up where my parents left off and asking questions. I'd probably be posting on the Brady forum too, if they had one (I thought that was rather telling). I realize I have a lot to learn and I'm listening, but admitedly, sometimes the things people tell me seem pretty out there, compared to my own collected experience. I guess I'm still figuring out where I fit into everything. So your taking time to explain things to me is certainly appreciated.
Nezumi, if you had a gun, would you kill people? Do you want a gun for the sole purpose of killing people? Are you only awaiting the start of a life of crime for lack of gun?
No??? Well, then, what danger are you to any honest citizen who does not trespass you? How would acquisition or possession or carrying of a gun raise anyone's threat ratio? Excluding, of course, those who might decide to rob you when you ARE home?
Therefore, if your exercising of your rights does nothing to increase the threat of violence or predation to any honest peaceable citizen, how is it harmful to you, your family, those other honest citizens, or society if you are prepared for the hopefully never to occur confrontation with monsters who would hurt or kill all those listed above?
It is not. If such a confrontation never occurs, something we all hope for, then your gun would never be used against another human. Not a bad thing. but a terrible thing if you should need it and not have it.
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