"Incontinent Speeches", and those racist anonymous trolls.

I have been reading and hearing about these empty seats at Obama's kick- off in Ohio, recently. George Will had a snarky remark about O's ego and why there were empty seats at the event. Trudy Rubin wrote about it in her daily Romney Talking Points section, and wingnut radio hosts like Hugh Hewitt cant stop chirping about how his Oness is in trouble because of his poor start.

Anyway, I keep looking at that picture of Flipper's stadium debut, and I can't help but wonder what type of gas they put in the ventilation system in conservative homes. Whatever it is must have them seeing into some type of  parallel universe. Because, unless I am missing something, that bad boy is EMPTY!

Can you imagine if O had opened to a crowd like that?

The sad thing is that the national press is playing right along. I guess they will do anything to not appear to be in the tank for O. In sports we call this a make up call.

Still, if I was a wingnut I wouldn't start measuring the curtains at 1600 Pennsylvania, Avenue just yet. To stay with the sports metaphor: we are just in the first quarter. There is a lot of playing left to do.

Finally, I read an interesting article by Latoya Livingston and Kenneth Mallory from the online MMTC news letter.

They talk about something that we know all too well about on this blog, and what drives it.*

"It happens all too often: We read an interesting article and feel compelled to add our two cents about the topic, so we scroll down to the comments section only to be faced with a barrage of hate. Arguably, most people who write articles would love for their work to be a catalyst for discussion and learning. Unfortunately, many journalists have found the opposite, their words being a springboard for racists and Internet trolls to graffiti their work with odium.

According to digital scholar Vint Cerf, "The Internet is a reflection of our society and that mirror is going to be reflecting what we see. If we do not like what we see in that mirror the problem is not to fix the mirror, we have to fix society." But is this true? Are the vile words of so many on the Internet true representations of American society? And what effect does that have on minority broadband adoption and their desire to allow access to this type of expression into their home?

Several online events seem to call into question Cerf's remarks by forcing many to ask whether the Internet can engender racism not seen during day to day "real world" interactions.

Many have expressed outrage and shock at what they contend are racist comments made online regarding minorities portrayed in and producing popular media. These expressions of hate, from tweets to comments, which would never have been voiced in public or "mixed-company," thrive on the Internet"..[More]

Yes, "But if a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, did it really make a sound?" Look, I know they are out there, but I actually think that the racist and ignorant among us do more damage in the real world than they do on the Internet.  

Now once they start acting on their Internet urges we might have a problem.

Still, at least the Internet lets us know that they are out there, and that things aren't always what they seem. 

* Pic from MMTC Broadband&SocialJustice.org