(O)CT(O)PUS = CYBER-BULLY

Some time back, (O)CT(O)PUS, the anonymous proprietor of The Swash Zone, began leaving the most awful comments on my blog. These were plainly trolling and abusive drive-by taunts. I tolerated them for some time and then finally I sent him an e-mail as follows:

(O)CT(O)PUS:

My blog, my rules, hello?

You've said your piece on your own blog. Maybe you've gotten some of your derangement off your chest.

You're free to comment on my blog as long as it's germane to the post, of which your earlier comments we're not.

Follow the rules, or be banned...

Donald

A few months later, I left a couple of comments at The Swash Zone, at entries posted by Captain Fogg and Repsac3, as the blog is a group effort. I frankly didn't make the connection to (O)CT(O)PUS (who I later realized runs the place), and for that transgression I received this threatening warning in my e-mail inbox:

And these are my rules: DO NOT HARASS ANY OF MY WRITERS AT "THE SWASH ZONE" AGAIN. IF YOU HARASS ME OR ANY OF MY WRITERS ONE MORE TIME, I WILL NOTIFY ELOY OAKLEY AND DONALD BERZ AT YOUR PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT AND TAKE IMMEDIATE LEGAL ACTION AGAINST BOTH YOU AND YOUR EMPLOYER. THIS GAME OF YOURS ENDS HERE.

The ALL-CAPITALS format in BOLD TEXT are in the original.

I have to admit this caught me off-guard, and recall this stuff isn't new, as I've received hate-mail and death threats before.

But I want to draw readers attention to the stark differences here in the comparative responses: My original e-mail simply requested of (O)CT(O)PUS that he abide by a standard of decency and relevancy. He was free to comment at my blog without personal attacks on me or my readers. No threat was made or implied. (O)T(O)PUS in return, and in response to comments at posts he had not written, and that were not directed at him, threatened my livelihood, and my employers (oddly enough).

There's a real cheap cowardice at work here that's not only annoying, but downright creepy.

Considering this, it's even more bothersome to find a whole new post dedicated to this threat at American Nihilist, a blog set up by Repsac3 to ridicule and smear me for fun and a bit of revenge (the only relief available in the face of the intellectual incompetence inflicting these demons).

Entitled "DEFAMATION - DONALD STYLE," (O)CT(O)PUS is responding to my take down of Captain Fogg, who implicitly called for the execution of Rush Limbaugh in a post last month. (O)CT(O)PUS gets fairly vicious at the post, but it's the conclusion that's out of this world:

We know these behaviors all too well, and why some of you bother with this pinhead is beyond me. The Coward is not welcome at The Swash Zone; we delete his comments immediately. More disturbing are the comments and e-mails left by his followers: Profane, racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-Semitic … worthy of report to the FBI. What to do?

If the Coward or any of his followers harass you online you, contact President Eloy Oakley at (562) 938-4122 or Executive VP of Academic Affairs Donald Berz at (562) 938-4127 and describe the harassment. For serious online abuse or defamation, there is always this option (case file in progress).

So notice here: Not only has (O)CT(O)PUS now escalated his campaign of harassment with a public call to threaten my employment, but he's accused me of online abuse and defamation without one shred of evidence.

It's been almost six months since I first e-mailed (O)CT(O)PUS and I haven't heard one word from my college administration or from a plaintiff's attorney. It's funny too, because Repsac3's blog is all about abuse and defamation, for example in the next post to follow (O)CT(O)PUS', where Truth101 impugns my reputation by smearing me as "Donald the Dog."

And remember, all of this is taking place at a blog called "American Nihilist," which (if you click the link) is a website specifically designed for a demonic campaign of personal attacks against American Power.

What's all very interesting here is that each and every one of my antagonists goes by an anonymous online handle. Now that's cowardly. And worthy of a little analytical consideration.

Readers may recall that I noted, in response to TBogg, that I'm reading David Denby's Snark. Denby's extremely liberal, so a lot of his stuff is suspect, but I have to admit he's got one of the best discussions of online anonymity I've seen so far:

People who start their own blogs almost always identify themselves, but many snarking writers exercise power anonymously, hiding behind a handle, attacking people who appear in public, who run blogs, or other commenters. The insults come out of nowhere, as if waiting for the occassion. But why hide? This love of anonymity is amazing to me. If you have something to say, why in the world would you want to hide yourself? ....

The answer, of course, is that anonymous writers are either ashamed of what they're saying, or, alternatively, quite proud of what they're saying, but, in either case, they're not eager to confront anyone directly ... Anonymity frees us to attack whites, blacks, Muslims, men, women, gays, birders, arachnophobes, philatelists - frees us in a way that would be impossible in the office, at a cocktail party, in a bar, or a schoolyard ...

Denby continues with the notion that anonymity is inherently childish, something that's available to essentially non-grown-ups. But there's a totalitarianism to anonymity as well, for as Denby notes, "a phone call to the secret police is a much more serious act than a snarking post, but that's the kind of negative vibe anonymity can give off - it's not something to be played with; it has danger lurking in its secrecy."

And that's a perfect way to summarize the cyber-bullying of (O)CT(O)PUS and his demonic allies at American Nihilist.

These people are manifestly ignorant pests of juvenile proportion. But they're totalitarian as well, in the classic standard of today's left where dissent against the Obamessianic line is not tolerated. But things have gotten to the point in which I can't ignore the abuse and attacks. While of course these idiots have no plausible case for a lawsuit, the opposite in my case is nearly true. "Donald the Dog" is pretty close to defamation, although these brilliant hacks don't have the faintest clue as to the inherent hypocrisy of their project.

If it's any consolation to me, it's simply the fact that what I do at American Power is working, and that's to expose the left's truly diabolical plotting for the death of moral right in this country, and when the left is reduced to pure babbling incoherence in failed attempts at intellectual parry, their only recourse is rank bullying.

As always, I'll stand my ground, even in court with legal representation if it comes to that.