Off the Rails

Apparently some looney tunes posted personal contact information for the New York Times photographer who worked on the Travel section article about Cheney's and Rumsfeld's vacation homes. The post has since been deleted, mercifully, but fear not: These douchebags are standing by their decisions to publish, link, and promote this information. They're the real patriots, see.

You know, I always did wonder what it'd look like when Timothy McVeigh rose from the dead and learned to use the internet. Now I know.

See further coverage here, here, and here. Now excuse me, please--I've got an overdue letter to write.

Querida Clearly Insane People:

Hi! Supposedly you clearly insane people are "on my side," but you know something? This is no "side" I recognize. This is utterly despicable, is what it is.

It'd be nice if some of the bigger bloggers on "my side" would denounce this insanity--after all, they reach far more readers than I do and their words have far greater influence--but somehow I don't expect anything of that sort will be forthcoming, either. I must say, clearly insane people (and your enablers), that it's just swell how, when I look around, I see the ostensible "party of grownups" tantrumming on the floor en masse screaming, "They did it first!" It's as though you want all the thankfully sane people to register Democrat, clearly insane people (and their enablers)!

Here's a thought: How about everyone quits sulking over who did it first and just STOPS DOING IT AT ALL, EVER, PERIOD. Okay, clearly insane people (and your enablers)?

Wait--that didn't translate in your clearly insane minds to something like, "Research more personal information on even more enemies of America and post it on the internet even more often," did it? Because that is not what I said, clearly insane people. You need to turn down the radio receivers in your heads and read more carefully, because what I said was, the next time your clearly insane minds start thinking it might be a good idea to post personal contact information on the internet and encourage your readers to make real-world use of it, please take your typing fingers and stick them all firmly up your asses UNTIL THE MEDICATION KICKS IN. Once the fog of insanity clears, I think you'll all agree that the only way doing something like that can appear to be a good idea is if you are clearly insane.

In closing, let me just thank you, clearly insane people, for really having a handle on how to fuck up a holiday weekend. I would say "Go USA!" but it seems I am mistaken and really, I live in the Balkans.

Love,

Ilyka

UPDATE: Thanks to some asshole who posted Rocco whatever-his-name-is's address in the comments to this post, I've had to enable comment moderation. Your comment will appear when I approve it, and not until.

I think you should all know that I HATE COMMENT MODERATION, because it's a pain in my ass and yours. But that's the way it has to be so long as imbeciles think the solution to this problem, this problem of people posting personal information on the internet, is to post more personal information on the internet.

Just terrific. I can't even take a nap without some dipshit bringing the crazy here.

UPDATE 07/03/2006: Happy It's-Not-Actually-Independence-Day-but-it's-What-We-Get-off-from-Work Day, Americans. Just a couple of links here: One, this piece at Obsidian Wings had me going for more paragraphs than I'd like to admit:

But as serious as publishing this secret information was, the disclosure of the location of Rumsfeld's and Cheney's vacation homes is far more troubling. Glenn Greenwald hinted at the scope of the problem when he noted that the Times had also published the location of Bill and Hillary Clinton's home. However, that just scratches the surface of this vast conspiracy. Here's the horrible truth:

The media has published detailed information about the homes of hundreds of government officials. As far as they are concerned, the entire federal government might as well be one big hit list.

(Emphasis in original.) My favorite example, and there are MANY, is the Times' publication of Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid's home, about which hilzoy says:

You might say: well, but they didn't publish the street address, did they? Think again: if you've ever seen a map of Searchlight, Nevada, population 798, you'd know that a terrorist wouldn't need one.

With that few people in town you could take the cold-call approach and eventually hit it. "Is Mr. Harry Reid at home?" "I'm sorry, you must have the wrong address, there's no one here by that name." And if small-town friendliness in Searchlight is anything like small-town friendliness in any other small town, I'd bet you wouldn't get far before one of the neighbors cheerfully provided you the right address.

Also, I've been meaning to link this even though he gets at least 5000 times the readers I do (and thus you've probably already seen it), but Jim Treacher's parody that was overtaken by events is the best counterpoint out there to the "oh everyone already knew that" argument being made in defense of the Times' article on Cheney's and Rumsfeld's vacation homes. It's not that everyone already knew that; it's the way "what everyone already knew" was presented.

The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that the New York Times story wouldn't have elicited a peep anywhere if it hadn't led with a photograph of the hidden camera setup outside Rumsfeld's house. If I had a security system in place, and especially if I were as controversial a public figure as Rumsfeld, I sure as hell wouldn't want anyone pointing it out in the newspaper. Neither, I suspect, would any of the Times' staff. Really, how exactly is that a public service? To WHOM is it a public service?

Anyway, that's a point Jim makes better than I do, so see him.