Love is winning all over

Back when Michelle Shocked wasn't suspended from Twitter for trolling, spamming, threatening, and verbally abusing others, she'd sometimes end an especially nasty tweet with the hashtag #lovewins. I saw it as ironic. I vowed I'd retake the hashtag and use #lovewins anytime a victory was scored for the home team... the good guys and gals... the people Michelle often bullied.

Today, February 26th, 2014, has been a good day for love. AZ Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed a sinister bill designed to prevent people from suing if they are openly discriminated against. Elsewhere, a judge struck down a Texas law that banned same-sex marriage. More than that, staunch conservatives came out in support of the veto in Arizona. While some argue their opposition to the bill was based more on economics than a desire to reverse the state's anti-gay stance, that's how changes like this occur.

In 1957 one of the top rated shows in the history of television was cancelled because the network was unable to secure a sponsor. The reason: The host was African-American. In those days, it was financially unwise to align a product or service with a black man, even one as talented, successful, and adored as Nat King Cole. Advertisers refused to sponsor his program despite having millions of viewers across America. There was no money in supporting diversity. Times change. Thank God for that.

This week the first openly gay NBA player took to the court. The NFL is likely to draft its first ever openly gay player into the league. And as the NFL joined in the opposition to the Arizona bill, that they did so for economic reasons... is still a win for love. It is a win because we now live in an era when it makes economic sense to support human rights for all. This week might one day be remembered as a turning point in mankind's social\cultural evolution.

We are judging people by the content of their character. We don't judge them based on who they love -- we judge them on their capacity to love and be loved. It now makes good business sense to open your doors to the world, and civilization becomes more civil when we reject those who want to deny freedoms and liberties.

Just as there is fiscal economics, there is also social economics, and today we had a run on both markets. We invested in the future, and we guaranteed continued growth and change. It is now officially profitable to be kind and loving to all.

#LoveWins

The evils of Twitter

A fair complaint has been waged that this blog requires a certain context to fully understand it, that without the context it can be confusing. I direct your attention to the authors listed down the right-hand column of this blog for some of the backstory involving Michelle Shocked. But part of the reason this blog lacks context is precisely why this blog was created.

Michelle and her cyberbullies delete their hate speech shortly after posting it to avoid account suspension. It doesn't work, as evidenced by Michelle's multiple account suspensions, as well as scores of suspensions of her smattering of thugs. I began this blog to parse the divide between the public record and what has been deleted from the internet. This blog is the context for what you may see elsewhere, not the other way around. Nevertheless, here is some context for the context:

I started using Twitter shortly after Michelle Shocked's anti-gay outburst at Yoshi's. A friend told me she was continuing to speak out and interact on Twitter, and as a disappointed fan I wanted answers... an apology... something that would make me continue to like her. I was in for more disappointment.

Those of us who tried to be critical of what Michelle said were verbally attacked by a small, militant group of defenders. They were who you'd expect to rise to the defense of gaybashing: Right-wing extremists, homophobes, conspiracy theorists, and a few sad sacks who just wanted attention from a minor celebrity.

In the first few weeks and months following her Yoshi's gig, most people reacted by begging Michelle to get psychiatric help, assuming she'd had (and was continuing to experience) some sort of breakdown. Michelle and her thugs were relentless, however, and they threatened and insulted anyone and everyone who didn't bask in Michelle's glow.

I have an aggressive nature and when someone pushes me I push back. Another fair complaint has been waged that sometimes I push too far. I don't believe in a proportional response. If you are going to post repeated attacks against myself and others, you should not expect a timid reply from me. Nor should you expect me to allow you to continue to bully and harass others until they have to either make their account private or delete them altogether out of fear. All this began when people spoke out against Michelle's verbal attacks and condemnations of the gay community. Gay and straight people rallied to ensure her hate speech could find no home on a stage in front of a paid audience. In the aftermath, I exist to combat the insults and the bullying.

But that's only the beginning of the story. Nearly a year since Yoshi's, Michelle (along with Quad, Perrin, Jaimito, and Jeff) continue to openly target people, many private figures who have moved on with their lives. And lately Michelle and her gang of tools tried exactly what many of us suspected, to create a false version of events to whitewash what she said and why she said it.

Twitter's terms of use is fine with brazen lies. Accounts can't be suspended or deleted because users refuse to tell the truth, and absent someone vocally representing the truth, those lies could start to be believed. That's where this blog comes into play. I had tried maintaining a Twitter feed that did nothing other than repost exact quotes from Michelle Shocked. Ironically, it was suspended long before Michelle's actual account, because apparently she could abuse others, but I couldn't maintain a Twitter record of that abuse. Google\Blogger is more understanding.

I encourage new readers of this blog to go back to the first post containing the exact words spoken at Yoshi's that caused such offense, then work your way back to this post. If you do, the context becomes clearer, as does the reason for my very vocal opposition of Michelle Shocked. I surprised myself by finding many good people on Twitter who I've grown to like and respect, but that doesn't mean the evils of Twitter don't exist. Someone else recently pointed out that in the ever-changing world of social media, Facebook and Twitter are starting to look like fossils. They are hemorrhaging users. In order to keep their stock prices as high as possible, they have to keep as many active accounts as they can. Twitter needs every user it can get, even the ones who make threats and post hate speech. That leaves it up to the rest of us to keep those bullies in check.

My approach and my choice of words are not pretty. I am definitely NSFW. But I fail to see the point in treading lightly in the face of evil. Not only do I work to get bullies off Twitter, but I recently claimed one of the bully's suspended accounts and made it my own. Perrin Blackman openly threatened me using her @FreestateKansas Twitter account, but now it is mine, the spoils of victory against cyberbullying. Because bullies shouldn't lose a little bit... they need to lose it all. It is the only way to stop them. Evil has to lose. Love has to win.

What do you want Michelle?

You and your gang of thugs threaten others.
You and your gang of thugs crave attention.
You and your gang of thugs insult others.
You and your gang of thugs try to steal the spotlight from others.
You and your gang of thugs engage in cyberbullying and IRL stalking.
You and your gang of thugs spread hate.
You and your gang of thugs make no apologies for the hurt you have caused.
You and your gang of thugs make no apologies for the pain you have caused.
You and your gang of thugs make no apologies for the misery you've caused.

You lie.

You deceive.

You hate.

Why?

What do you want Michelle?

It isn't a microphone. If what you really wanted was to perform again, you could be focusing your energy to that goal instead of trying to ruin other people's lives. It isn't to be left alone, either, since you go out of your way to provoke and offend others. You don't champion human rights. You don't champion religious freedom. Your only cause is your own ego, so what would satiate your ego? What would it take to put an end to your bullying?

Answer the fucking question you sociopathic bitch. Because I'm sick of your bullshit.