What the hell is wrong with people!

Okay, this has been bugging me for a while. What the hell is wrong with people on the internet!?! How can a seemingly normal person, in real life, get on the internet and turn into a raving lunatic bully?

Example: That really horrible song Friday by that teenager. I mean, yeah, I hated the song. But I don't feel the need to log in to YouTube or e-mail her and call her names or send fucking death threats!

Other examples: I remember watching a news program who talked with a family whose daughter had died in a car wreck. The pictures wound up on the internet, and the family was getting e-mails from people saying "I'm glad she's dead," "she deserved to die," etc.

More examples: Sites like Slate Magazine are now requiring commenters to log in with a Facebook or Yahoo! or etc. ID. Because people are nicer when others know who they are.

Oh, and before someone calls me a hypocrite, because I'm semi-anonymous and I said that Rush Limbaugh needs to die! - Rush dishes it out every day on his show. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about ordinary, innocent people, who someone get their name known and then get attacked over NOTHING! People need to grow up and realize that if they wouldn't say something to that person's face, then they shouldn't say it on the internet. [And I would happily tell Rush Limbaugh to his face that he is an asshole.]

Free Speech is Free Speech: Part 5 Supreme Court is Correct

Those idiots at the Westboro Baptist Church do have the right to protest military funerals. I'm glad the Supreme Court made the correct decision but I really feel for the military families that have to listen to that crap. Maybe individual cities can enact some kind of law that funeral protesters need a license and they can deny the license for Westboro.

Free Speech is Free Speech: Part 4

Westboro Again!?! I should have established by now that I firmly believe in Freedom of Speech. Even from morons ;) But what the fuck is wrong with these Westboro people? Now they plan on protesting at Elizabeth Edwards' funeral. I really don't understand how they can do this. They have to be completely insane. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Just because you CAN say something doesn't mean you SHOULD say something.

Free Speech is Free Speech: Part 3

Wow, according to this posting, the Westboro Baptist Church has no problem with the Ground Zero Mosque. Well, they think it should be allowed to be built, but they do think Islam is a false religion. I'm not sure if they really believe that deeply in freedom of religion or not. A friend of mine suggested that they only support the mosque because they know it will piss people off.

Free Speech is Free Speech: Part 2

A friend of mine had a great idea. We should all show up outside the Westboro Baptist Church and protest them! This article on Wikipedia has their address. I wonder if they would still claim Freedom of Speech, if we stood on public property outside their church and told them they were all going to hell because God hates people like them. We could even chant and sing songs like they do.

Free Speech is Free Speech

I am a big believer in freedom of speech, and sometimes that means defending people who don't deserve it. Case in point: those damn funeral protesters. The case is now up to the Supreme Court, and I really hope they can cut through the hurt feelings and make the right decision, which is their job. Personally, I feel it is completely reprehensible to protest a soldier's funeral. But we have the right to do so in this country.

I believe I have mentioned before in this blog, that right after I graduated college, I did some shift work. I was flipping through the cable channels at 4 am and found the KKK on the local cable access network. At first I was pretty offended, but then I realized that they were protected under freedom of speech laws. To paraphrase: I don't believe in flag-burning, but I will defend to the death your right to burn the flag.