We here at yr Wonkette are kindly sorts, for all our snark and bluster. We are grown adults with children and grandchildren even for some of us (that is your editrix, who remains spritely), and we take careful aim at bad actors because we have seen enough of the world to know that there is a war being waged in this society and it is very much one of Good and Evil.
Truth can hurt, but if the team at Wonkette or other journalists weren't reporting it they wouldn't be worthy if that title. Reporting uncomfortable reality IS ethical journalism!
And when a person's life is taken, either by their own hand or someone else's, it deprives them of the chance to ever make amends for their wrongdoing.
THERFORE Wonkette's bad words allegedly had something to do with this suicide.
Have I read this right? (I HOPE NOT!)
BECAUSE if this is the case then you, Ms. Killermartinis OWE ME SOME FUCKING MONEY!
I don't subscribe for MAGICAL THINKING. I subscribe because Wonkette tells it like it is!
I appreciate that you have a conscience. I appreciate that you want to be a good person. But I cannot allow you to beat yourself up because this rotten pastor was found dead because he was outed for his BAD BEHAVIOR. The story is that a gross drunken pig molested a young woman because he had mistaken her for his daughter fallen asleep on the family room sofa!
I have heard a rumor that the Kentucky GOP allegedly put a contract out for this guy and PROFESSIONAL Hitmen came from Detroit and set everything up to look like a suicide and then have tried to frame Wonkette for a Shitstorm of Blame.
That rumor strikes me as far more plausible than any crazy theory that this GROSS DEAD PIG suddenly had a hard-on of remorse and did the RIGHT THING by offing himself!
Look at HIM! He's a fundagelical who talks to an unseen power! He styles himself a POPE! He ABSOLUTELY never thought he would be caught and when he was he denied everything and deflected the blame onto his accuser!
And here I find my favorite news source going all rogue Hamlet with pangs and serious thoughts when the real story is "HOOO-FUCKING-RAAAAYYYY! GROSS PIG FOUND DEAD! ONE DOWN! SEVERAL MILLION TO GO!"
It is not wrong to speak ill of the living. Now that I think of it, I'm okay with speaking ill of the dead in this case, too. Yes, we can have compassion for his surviving loved ones but his being dead doesn't make him a good person.
I worked for a horrible person, really nasty piece of work. One of my colleagues made a voodoo doll of this person. Every time our manager made her upset, she put a pin in the doll. Fast forward a month or two, the boss died in a really surreal fashion, running out of oxygen while mountain climbing. My friend felt really spooked about it, but pretty sure it was just the deceased being her usual bullheaded self.
I understand the sentiment, but that we even pause to ponder feeling bad shows how good a person Killer and the rest here are. These are GOOD people here. Ultimately, that is why we keep coming back. Though the dick jokes are fun also.They prove it in a million little ways and I, for one, am grateful for it, even if I do not always agree with everything.
KM's reaction speaks to the writer's intent in shining a light on these things. Yes, the content - dick jokes and all - is intended to entertain while it informs, but the snark acts as a sort of anesthetic that's sorely needed for both the writer and the audience when reporting on topics like these. While the details can be difficult for people to mentally and emotionally digest, reporting on such stories is still important because bringing attention to them is one of the few effective ways we have as a society to try make them happen less, and that's definitely worth doing.
If no one had Made An Issue about the alleged assault, it almost certainly would have happened again (if not to the girl in question then to someone else), and to who knows how many other people as well before circumstances finally forced the alleged assailant to stop doing it. The fact that death was the softer option than exposure from the standpoint of the accused implies just how damaging he thought the truth would have been had he lived to see it all come out.
Dick jokes aside, Wonkette's audience gives its writers a position of influence greater than most individuals have. Given this influence I think it's not a bad thing that the fallout after something like this - for which I don't believe for an instant that KM bears any responsibility - doesn't always rest easy, and it shows just how seriously she and Wonkette's other writers take their work.
For KM: Be kind to yourself. Should we blame the last snowflake that fell on the mountain for triggering the avalanche, or should we blame the snow that was already dangerously piled up and ready to tumble down the slope? If your article was enough to make the difference in the outcome given the circumstances and after other outlets had also reported on this story, then the pile of crap looming over him was already stacked so high that it was going to come crashing down at some point no matter what.
In death, as in life, Mr. Johnson's actions were both vain and delusional, in that he cared not for their impact on others, and thought he could deflect the consequences thereof to unrelated causes. Having gone down the rabbit hole on this man's back story just hours before he shed his mortal coil, we, too, felt a bit icky about - but not responsible for - the outcome. You are wise, insightful and kind, Kathleen, and your lovely sentiments should give KM some much-deserved comfort.
Ohhh right! Apologies! I ought to have guessed something like that had happened! *Blush* And I DO like getting those regular updates! Cheers. :)
At times like this it is comforting to believe in an afterlife, to imagine Jesus cock-punching that guy, for all eternity.
"I've cheated on every wife and girlfriend I ever had".
... lolwut? That's like making an EFFORT to be the biggest douchebag in history.
Truth can hurt, but if the team at Wonkette or other journalists weren't reporting it they wouldn't be worthy if that title. Reporting uncomfortable reality IS ethical journalism!
Few things are sadder than the truly monstrous. - Nathaniel West
Perhaps his suicide had more to do the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting long article appearing a few days ago than anything you did
http://longcon.kycir.org/
And when a person's life is taken, either by their own hand or someone else's, it deprives them of the chance to ever make amends for their wrongdoing.
Let me get this straight, OK?
Wonkette says something bad about someone.
Then that someone kills themselves.
THERFORE Wonkette's bad words allegedly had something to do with this suicide.
Have I read this right? (I HOPE NOT!)
BECAUSE if this is the case then you, Ms. Killermartinis OWE ME SOME FUCKING MONEY!
I don't subscribe for MAGICAL THINKING. I subscribe because Wonkette tells it like it is!
I appreciate that you have a conscience. I appreciate that you want to be a good person. But I cannot allow you to beat yourself up because this rotten pastor was found dead because he was outed for his BAD BEHAVIOR. The story is that a gross drunken pig molested a young woman because he had mistaken her for his daughter fallen asleep on the family room sofa!
I have heard a rumor that the Kentucky GOP allegedly put a contract out for this guy and PROFESSIONAL Hitmen came from Detroit and set everything up to look like a suicide and then have tried to frame Wonkette for a Shitstorm of Blame.
That rumor strikes me as far more plausible than any crazy theory that this GROSS DEAD PIG suddenly had a hard-on of remorse and did the RIGHT THING by offing himself!
Look at HIM! He's a fundagelical who talks to an unseen power! He styles himself a POPE! He ABSOLUTELY never thought he would be caught and when he was he denied everything and deflected the blame onto his accuser!
And here I find my favorite news source going all rogue Hamlet with pangs and serious thoughts when the real story is "HOOO-FUCKING-RAAAAYYYY! GROSS PIG FOUND DEAD! ONE DOWN! SEVERAL MILLION TO GO!"
It is not wrong to speak ill of the living. Now that I think of it, I'm okay with speaking ill of the dead in this case, too. Yes, we can have compassion for his surviving loved ones but his being dead doesn't make him a good person.
I worked for a horrible person, really nasty piece of work. One of my colleagues made a voodoo doll of this person. Every time our manager made her upset, she put a pin in the doll. Fast forward a month or two, the boss died in a really surreal fashion, running out of oxygen while mountain climbing. My friend felt really spooked about it, but pretty sure it was just the deceased being her usual bullheaded self.
^^ THIS!! ^^
I understand the sentiment, but that we even pause to ponder feeling bad shows how good a person Killer and the rest here are. These are GOOD people here. Ultimately, that is why we keep coming back. Though the dick jokes are fun also.They prove it in a million little ways and I, for one, am grateful for it, even if I do not always agree with everything.
KM's reaction speaks to the writer's intent in shining a light on these things. Yes, the content - dick jokes and all - is intended to entertain while it informs, but the snark acts as a sort of anesthetic that's sorely needed for both the writer and the audience when reporting on topics like these. While the details can be difficult for people to mentally and emotionally digest, reporting on such stories is still important because bringing attention to them is one of the few effective ways we have as a society to try make them happen less, and that's definitely worth doing.
If no one had Made An Issue about the alleged assault, it almost certainly would have happened again (if not to the girl in question then to someone else), and to who knows how many other people as well before circumstances finally forced the alleged assailant to stop doing it. The fact that death was the softer option than exposure from the standpoint of the accused implies just how damaging he thought the truth would have been had he lived to see it all come out.
Dick jokes aside, Wonkette's audience gives its writers a position of influence greater than most individuals have. Given this influence I think it's not a bad thing that the fallout after something like this - for which I don't believe for an instant that KM bears any responsibility - doesn't always rest easy, and it shows just how seriously she and Wonkette's other writers take their work.
For KM: Be kind to yourself. Should we blame the last snowflake that fell on the mountain for triggering the avalanche, or should we blame the snow that was already dangerously piled up and ready to tumble down the slope? If your article was enough to make the difference in the outcome given the circumstances and after other outlets had also reported on this story, then the pile of crap looming over him was already stacked so high that it was going to come crashing down at some point no matter what.
In death, as in life, Mr. Johnson's actions were both vain and delusional, in that he cared not for their impact on others, and thought he could deflect the consequences thereof to unrelated causes. Having gone down the rabbit hole on this man's back story just hours before he shed his mortal coil, we, too, felt a bit icky about - but not responsible for - the outcome. You are wise, insightful and kind, Kathleen, and your lovely sentiments should give KM some much-deserved comfort.
(tear drop) Cheers
All you have said above is true and wise. Don't change.