Did You Know...

It’s been a while since I printed hate mail. You’ve seen one “Hey, BusHitler’s Asian whore, go home” letter, you’ve seen ‘em all. But this one’s such a prize-winner, I had to share:

from Joe Roppe
to writemalkin@gmail.com,
cc MalloyProducer MalloyProducer@aol.com
date Jan 9, 2008 2:28 PM
subject Crying Hillary
mailed-by gmail.com

Michelle Malkin,

I bet we could make your cry for real. Force you to eat a hamburger.

I often wonder what will happen when we progressive liberal adults take back our country.

The adults will stop wars for oil,
Everyone will have health care.
Everyone will have a roof over their heads.
Everyone will have a voice in our government.
Everyone will pay equal taxes.

The Republican Party will be a quaint memory to tell our children about.

The best part is someday you will die of anorexia or choke to death on your own purging. That’s my dream.

Thank you,
Joe Roppe
Stevens Point, WI

For those who know me, the trouble isn’t getting me to start eating hamburgers. The trouble is getting me to stop.

So, here’s the truly funny part. Joe Roppe of Stevens Point, WI is also the author of a letter published in the Stevens Point, WI Journal on December 31, 2007 decrying “cyberbullying” and lecturing about the need for “fostering an adult discussion” without personal attacks:

Cyberbullying is a tactic some people use to anonymously attack those they disagree with using the Internet through email or on message boards. It can include threats on a person’s life, sexual remarks, pejorative labels such as hate speech all of which are intended to harm others.

Since the Internet gives people a semblance of anonymity, they can act more aggressively than they would face-to-face. You should not reply to threatening emails or negative postings on a website. Even if you do, this is not justification for an unstable person to fly into a rage and step over the line.

Some of the posts on the Stevens Point Journal message board are patently offensive and come dangerously close to crossing the fine line between expressing their freedom of speech and committing libel. I can assure you that the posts following the publication of this letter will be designed to attack me personally instead of fostering an adult discussion of the very real issue of cyberbullying. Once you read the posts, the very nature of the nasty remarks will illustrate my point.

According to the National Cyber Alert System, you can protect yourself from cyberbullies. Be careful where you post personal information; avoid escalating a situation, document offensive remarks, and report harassing or threatening posts to the proper authorities. The Stevens Point Police Department and the FBI are good places to start.

A recent article in the SPJ demonstrates how cyberbullying can be taken to the extreme. Allegedly, a local resident is reported to have stepped over the line when a webpage on MySpace was used to request someone to shoot Mayor Andrew Halverson, and the home address of Portage County Social Worker, Danita Docka was posted including requests to kill or injure her and her child. This behavior exemplifies the need to stop cyberbullying. We can do this with laws we already have on the books.

Joe Roppe
Stevens Point

Yeah, see, the proper way to engage in hate speech and wish for their deaths is to sign your name like Joe Roppe did.

Sweet dreams, Joe Roppe.