Arctic Chicken’s Weblog

Lately you have heard the term online lynch mob or cyber vigilante in the Internet. Well, I have to tell you that the word lynch and vigilante is overused. Let us consult Webster Dictionary and see what those words mean.

lynch vt. to murder (an accused person) by mob action and without lawful trial, as by hanging.

Source:
Webster’s New World College Dictionary. 1997. Page 807.

vigilantism n. the lawless, violent methods, spirit, etc. of vigilantes.

Source:
Webster’s New World College Dictionary. 1997. Page 1488.

By those definitions, online lynch mob and cyber vigilantes are a misnomer. Lynching is when a person is actually killed. While vigilantes use violence that could result in a person getting killed. Those people who react angrily and call for violence is considered threatening and bordering illegal, but that is technically not using violence. If there were to be lynching, someone would be seriously injured and/or killed.

If you want to see real lynching, you can go back to the past. Lynchings were a somewhat common sight in 19th and early 20th century America. Most people think Blacks were victims of lynch mobs. Well, they were targets of lynching a lot, but not the only one. Many Whites were lynched and in some counties, Whites being lynched outnumbered Blacks. Often the people who got lynched were criminals or people who were different, mostly Catholic, Jewish, or even alcoholics. The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s used a lot of lynching on Whites and uppity White women who were seen as immoral.

Posting name, address, and phone number on a blog is intimidating, but it is not illegal because they are already public information, which one can find easily in the white page or county website. Okay, maybe in some states it is illegal, but that is just a few states we are talking about. People have the choice not to have their phone number listed on the white page.

The Megan Meier MySpace Suicide Hoax has raised the concern of online lynch mobs. I have to point out to those people who decry the lynch mob are very wrong. Those who are decrying it are contradicting themselves in many ways. By their thinking, they call Steve Pokin, who was the first to break the news in November an instigator and lynch mob leader. He was the one who brought attention about this case to the world. Well, he did not name the person for protection of the minor daughter. However, the name of the woman and daughter were revealed by a 20 year old Rhode Island blogger. From there, Lori Drew became the most hated person in America. CNN did not completely blank out the whole police report, which confirmed the identity of the hoax instigator. It even included the address of where the Drew family lives. So, do we call police and news media a lynch mob? Every police when they fill out a report, includes name and address of the person make the complaint. It is also in the public domain so anyone can obtain by request. There is something called freedom of the press in the First Amendment of the Constitution. The press has a right to report what is known. If you do not want to know, than just ignore it.

Another thing to point out, all those pranks and vandalisms on the Drews happened before Pokin even broke the news. Five of the six fake 911 calls directed at the Drews residence, brick being thrown at their window and paintball attacks. It could be perhaps unrelated and just a coincidence, since the vandals were never caught. Also, they did not get any death threats or hate mail from all over the world before Pokin broke it nationally. It was a just a case of rotten neighbors and community pariahs, which has exploded into a worldwide community. Now they have multiple entries at a blog called Rotten Neighbors and they have the most comments as of today. It is overwhelmingly against them, which is the case in many other blogs. It is unlikely the Drews will ever be on the Internet.

Lastly, had Lori Drew had been sorry and begged for forgiveness, should would not have been subjected to all the scorn she has been getting. This whole thing would of blown over rather quickly. She has only herself to blame for what she has brought on herself and family. Normally, I do not condone attacks against Lori Drew. However, I would have to quote what Jerry Seinfeld said, “Eh, that’s a shame.” It is her own doing for being the most hated person in America, which was is reserved for traitors, terrorists, and murderers. She has to owe up and take responsibility, not blame others. She joins an exclusive club call the Most Hated Club, which is made up people like Fred Phelps, David Cash, Michael Crook, John Walker Lindh, Madalyn Murray O’Hair, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, Robert Hansen, and OJ Simpson.