I've got to offer my kudos to my blog brother, Ward Smythe. He's posted a clear, concise, and down 'n' dirty timeline of the basic sequence of events of Ben Tribbett's and Joe Stanley's unscrupulous acts of the last week.
Now, take a look at the posts in my "Virginia" category. Prior to my incensed response in August 18th, to Ben Tribbett posting private ODBA list e-mails on his blog, I want you to look at what I've discussed about Virginia and politics. Hm, there are a couple of blog conferences in there (yeah, Ben you're in one of those... So is Joe, now that I think of it, though I don't recall meeting him), the Bloggers Day in Richmond, VA Tech, irritation with Virgil Goode (oh, wait isn't he a Republican?!), irritation with Sen. Warner (isn't he a Republican, too? No, he's a RINO), Virginia wineries... yadda, yadda.
Yep. I was a powerful Republican operative - when I spoke, even Rove shook in his boots!
Wait, you say, what about your POLITICS category?! OK, well let's look at that... Mmm. Karl Rove, Virgil Goode (again - same post), national junk, blogging conference again, national, national... blah, blah, blah. Not much, really. I post more about My Life and Friends, or Travel, or Faith and Blessings...
Do you get an inkling of why I'm so irate with this foul tactic?
Now, Joe has family, too, from what I understand. That's great, that's wonderful! I hope they are all healthy and doing well in their lives, I really do. But that does not negate the fact that Joe, an elected representative from the Democratic Party of Virginia chose to link the ODBA with a vile site promoting pedophilia - because he didn't like the way we were exercising our First Amendment rights of political expression and opinion.
All of the ODBA members that I know of are private citizens. Some are more active and vocal in politics than others, but to my knowledge, NONE are elected officials.
So Joe Stanley decides he doesn't like our political opinions and the way we voice them. But instead of countering them issue by issue, point by point, he decides to take the low road (an LORD isn't that a euphemism!) and connect the group AS A WHOLE with N*MBLA.
He's unrepentant. His reasoning is this:
I pointed the domain to NAMBLA for specific reasons. NAMBLA is an organization that advocates a set of beliefs that turn my stomach. Through misinformation, prevarication, and a false sense of earnestness, they pursue a predatory agenda that brings direct harm to countless innocent individuals. Their primary defense is the first amendment.
It is my opinion that the ODBA conducts itself in much the same way. While the end product is far less repugnant than pedophilia, no fewer individuals are hurt by the organization. The main distinction I can make between the two organizations is that NAMBLA believes in the first amendment, and ODBA only believes in their right to free speech.
Not a prank. Not a joke. A malicious act, designed to smear and destroy. And *I'm* one of the people that Raising Kaine compares to using terrorist tactics?!
People, you guys have GOT to get off the moral ambivalence train. This is NOT about "tough politics." This is not about "standing the heat." This is about an elected party official believing it's justifiable to attack private, voting citizens whose opinion he doesn't like. A party official who uses a pedophilia site to make his point, and then makes the defamatory claim that those citizens conduct themselves in such a lewd and repugnant and ILLEGAL way.
As Charlie Fulgate, over at Good Sense, says:
Remember the phrase, "fighting words"? Maybe the phrase, "shouting fire in a crowded theatre" will ring a bell. When said speech infringes upon my good reputation and good standing in the community, that's when I have a problem with your exercise of free speech.
Are these the methods we want our political system, its parties, and its officials to devolve to?
Because Joe Stanley *IS* an elected official for the Democratic Party of Virginia, the DPV has a responsibility to step up to the plate and state clearly whether his apparently unilateral move is acceptable to the party. Roscoe Reynolds, Chap Peterson, and Eric Ferguson, as associates of Joe Stanley AND as elected members of the Democratic party to the Virginia General Assembly, have that responsibility as well.
Democrats: step forward and state for the record whether or not you believe that attacking voting citizens in this manner is or is not acceptable!