Goaded finally into comment by The Spin Starts Here's repeated, and wrong, claims that I somehow had something to do with some "bounty" once offered for "Caz" & "The Hack"'s own real identities to finally be uncovered (as they so often do to others), I've commented on a thread over there. I just couldn't resist.
I know perfectly well that all that happens when someone criticises "Caz" or "The Hack" is that they escalate the conflict to a truly uncomfortable level, one which they know their opponent can't match. I know that, to be honest, they can do me a lot more harm than I can do them. But, frankly, when the alternative is meekly just sitting back and taking it, sometimes it's worth making a stand.*
You know, "Hack", you really are a coward. You dress your contempt for other people's privacy in this "hey, if we can discover your details, then we're totally justified in exposing them!" bullshit, and dare others to do the same to you. But you only do this because you know that you and Caz, being the paranoid psychos you are, have an advantage over most other bloggers - you always intended to be part of spiteful internet wars, so you protected yourselves from day one. Most of the rest of us never expected to be part of anything so unpleasant and childish, foolishly believing that no-one would ever really be so unbelievably vindictive as to try to harm our real lives and families beyond the internet.
Of course, you were right, and we were wrong. As you and Caz so ably demonstrate, time and time again, there are vicious vindictive pricks on the internet who delight in acting like high school bullies and directing the mob to mock and torment those who present as easy targets. Like your fine work with Samuel Gordon-Stewart. Bravo.
Of course, every time you do it you just come across as the cowardly hypocrites you are, knowing that you're safe from the treatment you dole out to others.
You know what, though? I bet this site would be massively changed the second your real names were out there. You spout all this crap about how people you cast as "fuckwits and cunts" deserve to be exposed simply because you can - but you only do it because you're protected by your own anonymity.
Go on, "Hack" - if people's real identities are in any way a legitimate target*, then take the plunge. Put your real name to The Spin Starts Here. If you can't - if you recognise that there's some danger in having your own real details publicised so every nutter out there can see them, then for god sake have the decency to recognise the harm your regular campaigns have on the people you target.
Or continue being the loathsome and dishonest hypocrite you are. Your call.
I'm just sick of the fear and meek compliance they inspire in Australian bloggers everywhere.
There are plenty of TSSH readers and commenters who feel uncomfortable with some of their excesses - but god help them if they express that discomfort. Even in the mildest way. No-one is prepared to take TSSH on, because "Caz" and "The Hack"'s fury and vengeance knows few limits. (And by "take TSSH on" I mean "express the slightest disagreement on any subject whatsoever" - they'll turn on their own in a second.)
And, hell, most of us have lives outside this blogging lark. Who wants to risk TSSH publishing their names and addresses and work details and causing real harm? No-one. So "Caz" and "The Hack" get away with it, ruling over their little corner of the internet like the petty little tyrants they are.
The funny thing is, as I noted in the comment, that all their bravado would vanish in a second if the same treatment they dole out to others was ever effectively returned. Their own names, addresses, work details plastered all over the internet (as they've done to others)? Large swathes of TSSH archives would be deleted overnight.
Now, I'm not generally in favour of people's real identities being exposed. Hell, I use a pseudonym. The name of the site is "AnonymousLefty". But those who take delight in exposing others' identities? I don't think it's too mean-spirited to feel that they deserve a taste of their own medicine. Not just because it'd be nice for them to be on the receiving end - but because these people are cowards, and once their own details are out there, they'll inevitably tone down their antics.
And I'm not convinced that would be such a bad thing.
*Metaphorically, of course. We are just talking about a blog comment, after all.
PREDICTION CONFIRMED (26/5/2008): Oh, look. Someone has finally given "the Hack" (Jamie Roddy Duncan) and "Caz" (Caroline Hamilton) a taste of their own medicine.
And they've fled the interwebs like the cowards I always suspected they were.
