This Week in the Mercury
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Media Bojack Has Anon Attacker By The Balls
Posted by Matt Davis on Sat, Sep 13, 2008 at 9:36 PM
One of the truest delights of being a blogger in Portland is the number of anonymous attacks you draw. Being better than most of you, I prefer to say something to a person's face if I have an issue with something they've said or done. But as I already mentioned, I'm better than most of you. Now...
Local blogger Jack Bogdanski, whom, I'll admit, I once openly accused of inciting racism, (to his face...to his face), claims to have attained the rare blogospheric pleasure of identifying one of his more rabid anonymous detractors today.
The detractor has said some pretty out-of-line shit about Bogdanski (calls him a "liar," says he put his children at risk by fathering them after 45, etcetera) on a Wordpress blog called "Oregon Reality," in apparent retaliation for Bogdanski's questioning Sarah Palin's fitness to serve as vice president. (And who could blame JB? For example, I heard today that Palin's pastor in Alaska has said terrorist attacks on Israel are God's judgment of jews who haven't embraced Christianity. Do a Google search for "Palin batshit crazy" for plenty more of this kind of thing...)
But why lash out at Bogdanski? Bad idea. He writes:
Now, the author of "Oregon Reality" has made a mistake that is common these days: He actually believes that his identity cannot be found out. But it can, and indeed, I have established to a high degree of certainty what it is. Surprisingly, it is a name that many in the Portland area will recognize, and someone whom I have never met. My plan is to reveal this individual's identity at noon on Tuesday.
Who could it be?! I can't wait to find out!
P.S. It's not me.
P.P.S. Drama!
1
I have some ideas, but I'll wait and see... (And I'm not exactly a friend of Bojack, either, probably a semi-enemy, but I'm a friend of a friend of bojack... the friend of a friend of my semi-enemy is my friend?)
2
I feel the same way as bob. While I don't agree with him on a lot of his anti-city council rants, I appreciate him for what he is, he occasionally has a decent scoop, and he's always wholeheartedly honest and upfront about his opinions and allegiances. He's an asset to the Portland community, even if he attracts a lot of old coot idiots who hate all the socially conscious things our government tries to enact.
I'm really looking forward to tuesday.
I'm really looking forward to tuesday.
3
Agreed.
Although I'm increasingly thinking he's pretty right-on when it comes to Portland's city council. Dude has the guts to be critical in a town where the media doesn't.
Although I'm increasingly thinking he's pretty right-on when it comes to Portland's city council. Dude has the guts to be critical in a town where the media doesn't.
4
I don't even understand why jack allows comments on his site. He will ban your ip (from the whole site!) based on any opinion that is not his. The best part about it was that he blocked my ip where I worked, so nobody at my work could read his blog.
7
The values Jack expresses on his blog are faultlessly progressive. They include preservation and equitable distribution of public goods, fiscal responsibility, and transparency. Those who criticize him are either hogs at the public trough and their minions or citizens falling for "progressive washing".
While we are at it, anybody who advocates for greenspaces, parks and related public goods, equitable distribution of public goods, etc, needs to take a very close look at the Portland Comp Plan revision currently being railroaded through on the fast track. Citizens got a tiny window for front end comment, but one can guarantee that fat cats with their fangs sharpened for private profit at public expense got their markers in.
While we are at it, anybody who advocates for greenspaces, parks and related public goods, equitable distribution of public goods, etc, needs to take a very close look at the Portland Comp Plan revision currently being railroaded through on the fast track. Citizens got a tiny window for front end comment, but one can guarantee that fat cats with their fangs sharpened for private profit at public expense got their markers in.
9
Well, it's certainly a lot more respectable than your whole "I know who you are but won't say, watch your back!" schtick, Matt.
10
Odd because I've noticed you HAVE been watching it, lately, kitty. Miaow. Still, you've really got to work on your impulse control...maybe write a few letters to people you've hurt. I find that always helps.
12
the rare blogospheric pleasure of identifying one of his more rabid anonymous detractors today
There is very little more satisfying.
Well, no, okay. There's a lot that's more satisfying, but having pulled that off myself once, it is pretty sweet.
There is very little more satisfying.
Well, no, okay. There's a lot that's more satisfying, but having pulled that off myself once, it is pretty sweet.
13
While Jack is obviously progressive on many issues, I would never go so far as to call anything he does "faultless". His "values" are generally of good intent, but he does have the tendency to jump to conclusions without making efforts to actually investigate...to the point of prejudice.
This is especially relevant in the case of advocating for transparency. One really has no ethical high-ground to criticize for lack of transparency when they do not perform due diligence of investigation.
This is especially relevant in the case of advocating for transparency. One really has no ethical high-ground to criticize for lack of transparency when they do not perform due diligence of investigation.
14
No matter what you think of The Bogman, like him, hate him, respect him, or whatever you think of him, what the half-correctly named "Oregon Reality" said about him was wrong, wrong, wrong. They were hateful comments that shouldn't have been uttered by anyone.
Having read The Bogman over a span of years I've notice that he does indeed allow opinions that don't agree with his (mine number amongst them from time to time). If, however, you equate "allowing yourself to have an opinion" to "letting me career around your blog being obnoxious", then you're going to go away from his blog crying at one for or another.
It's not like you weren't warned. In fact, at the very top of every comment page is a link to his comment policy, which declares anathema, amongst other things: ad hominem about other commenters or particularly about the blog owner; or "overly argumentative, caustic, or insulting", or, as I read it, "obnoxious".
So that's what you buy into when you comment on his site. Don't like it? Don't post (that's a tired trite comment, I know, but there are some things that remain true in some contexts).
That said, given that the comments that have The Bogman on the prowl happened on some other blog. Doesn't the blogger have the right to post them? Sure. And in our society, The Bogman has the right to go after him about it ... within reason.
The comments made about him and his family shouldn't be made by anyone or about anyone. They're scurrilous and nasty. I think Jack's exercised admirable restraint given the nuclear nature of OregonReality's comments. And as anyone who's read his blog for a while might know, he has mad mojo about ferreting out people like that; armed (as I've said elsewhere) with SiteMeter and logs, he will do the detective work. You are the quarry, and he will find you.
And, most importantly, he's given OregonReality a chance to get off the hook ... by retracting the comments and apologizing. Which, after reading the comments he made (and I cannot unread what I've read), he should.
My point (and I do have one) is that what I learned as a kid is still true: if you go over to someone else's house you play nice and respect their rules, and if you don't like it, you leave. And as an adult; if you try character assassination, expect, eventually, someone to respond.
Don't throw blog Molotovs if you can't handle the blowback.
More...
Having read The Bogman over a span of years I've notice that he does indeed allow opinions that don't agree with his (mine number amongst them from time to time). If, however, you equate "allowing yourself to have an opinion" to "letting me career around your blog being obnoxious", then you're going to go away from his blog crying at one for or another.
It's not like you weren't warned. In fact, at the very top of every comment page is a link to his comment policy, which declares anathema, amongst other things: ad hominem about other commenters or particularly about the blog owner; or "overly argumentative, caustic, or insulting", or, as I read it, "obnoxious".
So that's what you buy into when you comment on his site. Don't like it? Don't post (that's a tired trite comment, I know, but there are some things that remain true in some contexts).
That said, given that the comments that have The Bogman on the prowl happened on some other blog. Doesn't the blogger have the right to post them? Sure. And in our society, The Bogman has the right to go after him about it ... within reason.
The comments made about him and his family shouldn't be made by anyone or about anyone. They're scurrilous and nasty. I think Jack's exercised admirable restraint given the nuclear nature of OregonReality's comments. And as anyone who's read his blog for a while might know, he has mad mojo about ferreting out people like that; armed (as I've said elsewhere) with SiteMeter and logs, he will do the detective work. You are the quarry, and he will find you.
And, most importantly, he's given OregonReality a chance to get off the hook ... by retracting the comments and apologizing. Which, after reading the comments he made (and I cannot unread what I've read), he should.
My point (and I do have one) is that what I learned as a kid is still true: if you go over to someone else's house you play nice and respect their rules, and if you don't like it, you leave. And as an adult; if you try character assassination, expect, eventually, someone to respond.
Don't throw blog Molotovs if you can't handle the blowback.
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