Two-Lane Bloggin'

Go ’way from my window
Leave at your own chosen speed
I’m not the one you want, babe
I’m not the one you need….

But it ain’t me, babe
No, no, no, it ain’t me, babe
It ain’t me you’re lookin’ for, babe

Bob Dylan

It has been four years since I quit my job as a newspaper reporter. I always wanted to be a professional journalist, always wanted to have a salaried job with (partial) benefits, cool employers, quality co-workers and a flexible schedule – and that is what I had.

But, I never wanted to play head games. Never wanted to hurt people, highlight their downfalls, expose their mistakes, be caught up in politics. I never wanted to take on the WV State Police, or deal with the the underbelly of society.

In fact, I thought that “getting a real job” would save me from the underbelly of society.

But the truth is, this underbelly is classless. It is found in every social level, in every business, every office. If you look for truth, look for justice, you will discover that every where you look you will find something that isn’t on the up and up.

I’m not making judgments. The truth is, bad things happen to good people. Bad people happen to good people. Good people aren’t perfect, and sometimes make bad decisions or develop bad habits.

We are all human after all.

I however, in addition to my past responsibility as a reporter “meddling in community business”, am a freak magnet. I haven’t quite figured out what it is about me, but it’s true. My Mother once said you could put me in a room with 100 people, and before the end of the night, I’ll end up surrounded by the ‘worst’ of the bunch.

I’m drawn to under dogs. Right or wrong, I can’t stand to see someone going it alone. Good or bad, left or right, black or white — I am instinctively opposed to thinking anyone is dealing with life’s blows or boosts alone.

But, I digress…

I’ve been observing the blogging world of Central West Virginia since before blogging hit Central West Virginia about seven years ago. Blogs, in many ways, are like lone voices in the night, like virtually bottled messages bouncing around on the waves of the Internet’s ocean.

Sometimes, those bloggers become a community, as they did at journalscape.com, where I launched one of my earlier blogs. But sometimes, like any community, they exist with a dark underbelly.

So, six years ago, I was a newspaper reporter, and a freak magnet, with a blog on the Internet. Can you imagine how this will go?

First, I was approached by Johnny Richards, aka “The Lone Meth Ranger,” an alleged (and charged) meth dealer who was blogging about setting up and screwing with the real Meth dealers of the county. A listed sex-offender, (for which he often publicly apologized) he ALWAYS treated me with respect, actually did fairly solid research, wrote well, and in my humble opinion, was a master at propaganda. But he was finally convicted (for theft, not meth) and is now in ill health, and no longer on the scene.

Please note: He and I have NEVER met in person.

Now, The Lone Meth Ranger was the sworn enemy of Todd Smith, aka “Hot Toddy”, a true low-life piece of trash that I cannot slam or insult near enough. Now, Todd, in being frustrated and aggravated by the Meth Ranger, agitated by another blogging entity, “Crooked County Crooks,” decided to attack any and all who appeared to be “allies” with the Ranger.

Now, this is where it gets freaky. Because the Ranger showed public (online) respect for me, and because one day I saw a man push another man on Main Street and asked, “who is that?” (it was Todd) – I became a target.

Now, I am by no means, an angel. Family and long-time friends know that I had a really rough patch in the mid-90’s. I’m sure there’s plenty of truth out there to cause me public humiliation. But no. Todd had to make things up – but he was skilled enough to blend in just enough hints of truth to really get it convoluted.

I attempted to press charges. There is no law against internet harassment in this state. I could file civil charges for slander (or libel) but then was burdened to prove that anyone would believe such a piece of crap, and also prove damages.

On my salary? No way could I afford that. I ended up running into him in person on the court house lawn one day and totally lost my cool – cussing him up one side and down the other in a scene that was just hot-fire along the gossip lines that week.

So, my last year as a reporter, I was the target of a social predator, I was on the state police’s “bad” list, The Ranger was in a legal corner and stopped blogging, but Crooked County Crooks and their sister site “CalPatty Press” had taken his place offering public respect for me on the internet, and offering defense for me against Todd’s attacks.

(That was also the year Frank and I got pulled over by a bully cop, one of our prominent citizens shot himself in the head, a new murder case evolved and an old murder case was granted an appeal. A reporter’s dream? Perhaps. For me? A nightmare.)

In frustration and desperation, I sent a letter to the public to CalPatty Press to address the things posted about me by Todd. They even put links to my sites on their site. At the time, I thought that these hyperlinks to my site from theirs were fairly harmless. I wrote a disclaimer on my blog noting that I was NOT one of their “Secret Seven” and supported their right to free speech, that they could link to whomever they want, blah, blah, blah.

But that was then, when their posts were most often attacks on Todd or confusing rants about estate cases, or slams on judges, cops or affiliated with those cases. You would think, four years after quitting my job as a reporter, that these somewhat job-related issues would just fade away… Remember, I have NEVER MET any of these people in person. I cannot even name, with any conviction, a single member of CalPatty Press’ Secret Seven.

But, I see now, by allowing those internet links, I opened the door for links on other levels. CalPatty Press somehow feels a link between us, treats me as an ally, and presents me as an ally. And over three years, their audience has grown from a few hyper local underground readers to a level that outnumbers all local newspapers combined.

Their posts have become more than rants about specific people affiliated with a specific case. They have set themselves as the “exposers of corruption and local wrong doings” by ruthlessly gnawing at the reputations of the local sheriff, prosecutor, and judge. By attacking the marriages of people I consider to be my friends, by posting nearly pornographic pictures of the children of their targets. By stooping to levels so low that I can barely look.

I am more than offended by it. I am disgusted. I am repulsed.

And yet, the links from their web sites to mine are still there.

To be honest, I have feared the consequences of “falling out of their good graces.” But in my disgust at their recent behavior, I am beyond that now. I have requested they remove the links to our sites, noting that they have gone beyond any level I want to personally or professionally be affiliated with.

It has been a day since I have made that request, but the links are still there. They might be removed, they might not. Remember, I don’t KNOW these people! There was a time when CalPatty would honor my meager requests to have my name removed from comments, even once I asked for questionable photos of a dead person be removed and they were — for about two weeks – before they were put back in place.

When a group of people acts without boundaries or limits, and is willing to “go to the mattresses,” how can you predict anything?

So, what are my thoughts from this convoluted experience?

1. Be careful who you link to, and who links to you online.

2. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I ever opened the doors for this connection, I’m sorry for the things they’ve posted about people. People I know, people I don’t know, people who are not perfect, who have somehow drawn the ire of an anonymous group of bullies.

3. The state of West Virginia needs to implement Internet Harassment laws. Honorable judge, prosecutor and sheriff who have been attacked on their site — Can’t you use some of your influence to get that ball rolling? These people aren’t journalists, they are bullies. There is a line, and they have crossed it. What they are doing isn’t publishing, it’s harassment and intimidation, flat out. There isn’t any political, constitutional discussion required here. Internet, print, online, offline, truth, lies – NONE OF THAT MATTERS IN THIS CASE NOW. It’s harassment, plain and simple, and there should be legal charges for such behavior – in person or online.

And thus, I realize, with those words, I am sure to fall from the graces of The CalPatty Press, and I am thankful that cell-phone cameras didn’t exist when I was in college. I worry about what they might post about me, but with those two simple links from their site to ours, the damage has already been done. I am guilty by association, and I find it difficult to disassociate myself from people I can’t identify, don’t know, don’t see, don’t knowingly interact with, in a virtual venue that has no tangible boundaries.

In many ways, I too have been a victim. I am tarnished when they offer compliments, soured when they show their respect. I know there are readers of their site who believe I am one of them, but it ain’t me.

There is little or nothing I can do about it now though.

I guess this blog post will have to do.