Senator Al Franken issued a Thanksgiving apology in the wake of new allegations.

All Franken and Leann Tweeden.

Courtesy of EW: 

Sen. Al Franken issued a new statement this week in the wake of several sexual misconduct allegations against the former Saturday Night Live star. Though Franken’s statement did not explicitly confess to groping or other inappropriate behavior, he acknowledged that some women felt disrespected by him, and apologized for that. 

“I’ve met tens of thousands of people and taken thousands of photographs, often in crowded and chaotic situations,” Franken said in the statement, per the Associated Press. “I’m a warm person; I hug people. I’ve learned from recent stories that in some of those encounters, I crossed a line for some women — and I know that any number is too many. Some women have found my greetings or embraces for a hug or photo inappropriate, and I respect their feelings about that … I’ve thought a lot in recent days about how that could happen, and recognize that I need to be much more careful and sensitive in these situations. I feel terribly that I’ve made some women feel badly and for that I am so sorry, and I want to make sure that never happens again. And let me say again to Minnesotans that I’m sorry for putting them through this and I’m committed to regaining their trust.”

This was in response to two more women coming forward and claiming that Franken was inappropriate with them.

Courtesy of HuffPo:

Two more women have told HuffPost that Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) touched their butts in separate incidents. These are the third and fourth such allegations against Franken in the past week. Leeann Tweeden, a radio host, wrote last week that Franken had kissed and groped her without her consent during a 2006 USO tour. On Monday, Lindsay Menz accused Franken of groping her at the Minnesota State Fair in 2010. 

The two additional women, who said they were not familiar with each others’ stories, both spoke on condition of anonymity. But their stories, which describe events during Franken’s first campaign for the Senate, are remarkably similar — and both women have been telling them privately for years. 

In a statement to HuffPost, Franken said, “It’s difficult to respond to anonymous accusers, and I don’t remember those campaign events.” 

The first woman, who spoke to HuffPost on condition of anonymity because she’s worried she’ll be harassed online for making the allegation, said Franken groped her when they posed for a photo after a June 25, 2007, event hosted by the Minnesota Women’s Political Caucus in Minneapolis. 

“My story is eerily similar to Lindsay Menz’s story,” the first woman said. “He grabbed my buttocks during a photo op.” 

The second woman told HuffPost that Franken cupped her butt with his hand at a 2008 Democratic fundraiser in Minneapolis, then suggested the two visit the bathroom together. She spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear that the allegation could affect her position at work.

One thing to be noted is that unlike Donald Trump or Roy Moore's accusers, these two women have decided to remain anonymous.

THAT does not mean that their stories are not valid, anonymous sources are often the backbone of journalism, however if does mean that they can say whatever they want with no real cost to them personally.

That second women's story, if true, seems to be the most damning of the four in my opinion.

If Franken actually groped her buttocks and then invited her into a bathroom that seems the more egregious charge.

However if there is an ethics investigation I would imagine that these women would be compelled to testify and I am interested to see how their stories hold up to scrutiny.

At least one former White House ethics attorney for the Bush Administration has some doubts.

We need more facts but much of this fits an old GOP playbook

Franken: The Obvious Setup and Liberals Took the Bait https://t.co/vduJtIcGr0

— Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) November 23, 2017

As progressives we are expected to take allegations like this seriously.

However if we start overreacting to every anonymous accusation, without first vetting it thoroughly, by demanding that the accused leave government or quit their job, we could literally see our biggest champions sidelined while the conservatives cover for their predators and maintain the upper hand.

All of this leaves us in a very precarious situation, and unfortunately the conservatives know that all too well.

Sarah Silverman's Twitter account was hacked after she endorsed Hillary Clinton.

Courtesy of Fox 25 Boston:

Confusion abounded Wednesday morning when comedian Sarah Silverman tweeted an anti-Hillary Clinton message just days after voicing support for the Democratic presidential nominee.

MY TWITTER ACCT GOT HACKED THIS IS NOT ME https://t.co/hmZYLdrjxi

— Sarah Silverman (@SarahKSilverman) July 27, 2016

A tweet sent around 7:50 a.m. from Silverman's account asked, "America, are you awakening?" 

A video posted by Anonymous in 2016 titled "Anonymous - Message to Hillary Clinton," appeared with the tweet along with the hashtags #Hilary4Prison and #Anonymous. 

It was promptly deleted.

Gee one would almost get the idea that Anonymous is working along with Russia to help get Donald Trump elected.

Or is that just a conspiracy theory?

After Fox news receives questions from "Top Republicans" to be used to "hammer" interview subject Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin tweets a demand that they reveal who sent the comments. Seriously?

Courtesy of Media Matters:  

Fox News contributor Sarah Palin attacked Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace,demanding he release the names of Republicans who attempted to "trash" Senator Ted Cruz. 

On Fox News Sunday, Wallace revealed that "I got unsolicited research, and questions" from "top Republicans" in order to "hammer" Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) who appeared on the program to promote his effort to defund Obamacare. 

After Wallace's comments aired, Fox contributor Sarah Palin sent out a tweet calling on Fox News Sunday to "Keep it TRULY fair & balanced" and "Release the GOP names encouraging you to trash @SenTedCruz. No more anonymous sources."

 Can we see this so called "Journalism degree" you're supposed to have you idiot?

Revealing your sources, is something even too ignorant for Fox News to do.

What a complete and utter moron!

By the way somebody must have clued her in to the fact that she had just stuck her foot down her throat, because the tweet has now been removed.

Too late stupid. Nothing is ever erased for good off of the internet.

This frustrating lack of content brought to you by our friends in Congress.

Courtesy of Anonyops:

 Greetings United States gov, 

We are the Internet. Again, you are trying to pass this ridiculous CISPA law in order to control and censor the people. This will not stand. You already control the medias, the economy, the criminal underworld, your national plots and our energy. YOU WILL NOT GET OUR INTERNET! 

The U.S. law that would turn Google, Facebook, and Twitter into legally untouchable government spies just passed the House. 

This bill affects everyone — not just U.S. citizens. Anyone with a Facebook account could now have their data shipped directly to the U.S. government. That’s why Internet users overwhelmingly oppose this bill. Over 1.5 million people signed petitions against it. But Congress didn’t listen. This law broadened the state terror and repression of the people. By allowing corporations to track our every action on the internet the state and corporations will be merged and that we have seen before: it is called fascism. 

We are going dark on MONDAY April 22nd at 6 AM GMT for 24 hours to protest your illogical and terrorizing bill against the Internet itself. Even with the whole Internet crying out to stop this BILL, the US House of Representatives failed to do so blinded by lobbyist’s money and cum in your eyes. So we will take action ourselves and open your eyes. Every popular/mainstream websites will be black until you, Mr. DronObama promise us to use your VETO power to stop this bill at Senate. Take this as a protest or a warning, as you wish. One thing is for certain, neither you or anyone else in this world can control the Internet, so don’t even try. Stop wasting taxpayers’ money into doing these kind of shenanigans. 

We are Anonymous. 

We are Legion. 

We do not Forgive. 

We do not Forget. 

Expect us. 

Uh oh!

Anonymous attempts to find justice for yet another victim of sexual abuse. This poor child killed herself.

Courtesy of the You Tube site:

Anonymous engaged #OpJustice4Rehtaeh this morning in response to the suicide of Rehtaeh Parsons. Justice Minister Ross Landy says that it is important for Nova Scotians to have faith in their justice system. Mr. Landy, justice is in your hands. 

Anonymous has confirmed the identities of two of the four alleged rapists. We are currently confirming a third and it is only a matter of time before the fourth is identified as well. 

Our demands are simple: We want the N.S. RCMP to take immediate legal action against the individuals in question. We encourage you to act fast. If we were able to locate these boys within 2 hours, it will not be long before someone else finds them. 

We do not approve of vigilante justice as the media claims. That would mean we approve of violent actions against these rapists at the hands of an unruly mob. What we want is justice. And That's your job. So do it. 

The names of the rapists will be kept until it is apparent you have no intention of providing justice to Retaeh's family. Please be aware that there are other groups of Anons also attempting to uncover this information and they may not to wish to wait at all. Better act fast. 

Be aware that we will be organizing large demonstrations outside of your headquarters. The rapists will be held accountable for their actions. You will be held accountable for your failure to act. 

That is all 

- We Are Anonymous. 
The Corrupt Fear Us. 
The Honest Support Us. 
The Heroic Join Us. 
Expect Justice. 

You can read more about the heartbreaking case of Rehtaeh Parsons here. (Warning: It is quite disturbing.)

I am going to refrain from making any moral judgements on what Anonymous is doing in these cases, but feel free to chime in with your opinion.

I will say this however, and that is that this type of assault happens EVERY day in places all over the world. Rarely is anybody brought to justice due to the lack of evidence, the  hesitancy of the victim to pursue charges, or the mindset of the community about who is really to blame for these incidents.

If what Anonymous is doing stops even ONE of these kinds of attacks, it is hard not to stand with them in seeking justice for victims like Rehtaeh Parsons.

Steubenville high school football players convicted for sexual assault of intoxicated teen. A verdict that would probably have not been possible without the involvement of Anonymous. Update!

Watch More News Videos at ABC | Technology News | Celebrity News

Courtesy of ABC News:  

Two Steubenville, Ohio, high school football players accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl have been found delinquent by a judge -- the juvenile court equivalent of guilty. 

The teens could serve prison time until they turn 21. 

The verdict comes after a four-day trial that included tearful testimony from the accuser who said she was "embarrassed and scared" after hearing about the night she was allegedly sexually assualted while intoxicated. 

"I honestly did not know what to think because I didn't remember anything," she testified. The teen pieced together the night's events from Twitter, Instagram photos, a YouTube video, text messages and witnesses.

This is an absolutely horrendous case, as any of you have been following it already know, but the thing about it that is so disturbing, and ultimately amazing, is the part that social media played in the humiliation of this young girl and then ensured that justice was done on her behalf.

The troubling fact is that THIS kind of scenario plays out all over the country, in towns and cities both rural and  urban. It happens to young women, at the hands of young men, almost daily.

Most of the time we live in blissful ignorance of that fact.

But THIS time the perpetrators traded pictures of their deeds, and video of them bragging about it, with others, and that led to one lone blogger taking it upon herself to try and bring some justice.

That attracted the attention of the hacker group Anonymous, who hacked into the phones and social networks of the town and the teens involved and spread what they found all over the internet.

If that had NOT happened it is very unlikely that these teens would have seen any jail time.

However don't believe that this has really resulted in justice, according to what Anonymous uncovered this may in fact simply be the tip of a very disgusting iceberg:

Anonymous also claimed to have uncovered additional information suggesting a coverup. While the county prosecutor and the judge in the case recused themselves because of their ties to the football team, the hackers say there are more attackers, as well as more victims. Moreover, they claim the alleged rape occured at prosecutor Jane Hanlin’s home, and that her son may have been involved. They also point to ties between Steubenville law enforcement and the football team.

Like I said not necessarily complete justice, but still a hell of a lot more than would have happened without the "interference" of a group that has made a name for themselves by sticking their noses in places they are not welcome, but where often their attention may be desperately needed.

However it really falls the parents of these, and other, teenagers to educate their children that "No, means no!" and drinking until you are unable to make good judgement does NOT indicate that you are more grown up.

It indicates that you need more grown up supervision.

Update: If you can stomach it, you can read for yourself some of the horrific tweets blaming the victim of this incident here. And here.

And people wonder why victims of this kind of attack don't come forward more often.

Westboro "God Hates Fags" Church finally went too far, and Anonymous handed them their ass.

Courtesy of Fox 4:  

Thousands have signed two separate petitions that would classify Topeka’s Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group and strip it of its tax exempt status. The petitions were started after members of Westboro announced plans to protest a Sunday vigil in Newtown, Conn. 

After Westboro Baptist Church spokesperson Shirey Phelps-Roper tweeted plans to protest the vigil, “to sing praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgement,” the hacktivist group known as “Anonymous” threatened the church via video. In it, an automated voice says, “We will not allow you to corrupt the minds of America with your seeds of hatred. We will not allow you to inspire aggression to the social faction which you deem inferior. We will render you obsolete. We will destroy you. We are coming.” 

In addition to the video, Anonymous hacked Westboro’s website and released personal information about church members including names, street addresses, phone numbers and email addresses according to CNET. 

Anonymous didn’t stop there. Using its Twitter account, Anonymous asked its followers to sign a petition that would investigate the IRS tax-exempt status of the church. As stated on the White House website, the petition claims: “The Westboro Baptist Church is better-known for homophobic displays, suing people and picketing funerals than for providing Christian care to a community. Due to their harassment and politicking, their IRS tax-exempt status should be immediately investigated.”

Anonymous did not stop with the things listed above either, they did much more:  

Today, Anonymous scored several more successes: godhatesfags.com, the website of WBC, went down, possibly as a result of DDoS attacks by anonymous members. Other high-profile hackers have joined in, such as @cosmothegod, who hijacked the personal Twitter account of WBC spokesperson Shirley Phelps-Roper and retweeted several posts about his victory. Anonymous’s official Twitter account also claims that its members managed to change Phelps-Roper’s desktop background to gay porn, uncovered alleged social security numbers of key WBC members through the doxing process, and successfully filed for a death certificate for Phelps-Roper. The group has since tweeted out the alleged hotel where WBC members were staying and offered an IRC channel specifically to talk about its #OpWBC movement.

Apparently, at least according to Anonymous, this was too much and the Westboro group high tailed it out of Dodge.

There are still many who question the tactics used by Anonymous, I am among those myself sometimes, but from all reports there were NO representatives from Westboro anywhere near the memorial on Sunday, nor have any shown up since. So though we can argue about their tactics I don't think we can disagree with the outcome.

“We will destroy you. We are coming.” Anonymous takes on the Westboro Church of hate.

Warning at around the 3:21 mark this video issues a high pitched sound that is extremely obnoxious.

Courtesy of Salon:  

Hacker collective Anonymous were swift to respond, releasing private information of Westboro members including email addresses, phone numbers and home addresses. This video, decrying the church for spreading “seeds of hatred.” The video warns, “We will destroy you. We are coming.”

I am not a fan of hacking, or spreading around people's personal information, but  if EVER anybody deserved this kind of exposure it is the Westboro ass clowns.

We Are Anonymous. 
We Are Legion. 
We Do Not Forgive. 
We Do Not Forget.

Works for me!

Did the secret cyber justice group "Anonymous" prevent Karl Rove from stealing the 2012 election? According to them they did. Update!

A few weeks before the election this video was posted on YouTube:

At the time I think many of us took the group's ability to affect the outcome of the election with a grain of salt, even though I think the majority of us also believed that Rove did DID indeed have a plot to steal it away from the President.

Later of course we all witnessed Karl Rove's breakdown on live TV as he slowly came to the realization that SOMETHING had gone awry.

However now Anonymous is stating for a fact that the fix was mostly definitely in, and that THEY were both the reason it did not work, AND the reason for Rove's televised tantrum.

Here is their statement in full:

Click for PDF.

 Now I have no way of checking as to whether this group did what they said they did, but the fact that SOMETHING went wrong with Rove's ORCA program was confirmed in an article for the Atlantic about Obama's "Dream Team" of nerds:  

The billing the Republicans gave the tool confused almost everyone inside the Obama campaign. Narwhal wasn't an app for a smartphone. It was the architecture of the company's sophisticated data operation. Narwhal unified what Obama for America knew about voters, canvassers, event-goers, and phone-bankers, and it did it in real time. From the descriptions of the Romney camp's software that were available then and now, Orca was not even in the same category as Narwhal. It was like touting the iPad as a Facebook killer, or comparing a GPS device to an engine. And besides, in the scheme of a campaign, a digitized strike list is cool, but it's not, like, a gamechanger. It's just a nice thing to have. 

So, it was with more than a hint of schadenfreude that Reed's team hear(d) that Orca crashed early on election day. Later reports posted by rank-and-file volunteers describe chaos descending on the polling locations as only a fraction of the tens of thousands of volunteers organized for the effort were able to use it properly to turn out the vote.

So I will leave it to you to determine whether Anonymous is actually behind Rove's failure, or whether it was simply buried under the weight of high voter turnout for Democrats, or whether Obama's team of nerds simply outsmarted Turdblossom.

However I will say that if Anonymous is being honest, and they DID manage to sabotage this cyber attack on democracy, then I feel they need to immediately share their information with the Justice department, the Democratic party, and the American press. Because if they are right, then our elections are still incredibly vulnerable to this kind of hacking and that needs to be addressed and dealt with just as soon as possible.

Oh and Karl Rove needs to grabbed off the street and thrown into the darkest, coldest, most inhospitable jail cell in this, or any other, country, until his trial for treason. After which I expect to see his bullet riddled carcass dragged through the streets as a warning to ANYBODY who wants to impinge on the rights of America's voters to choose their leaders fairly.

Update: It looks as if Thom Hartmann is pretty convinced that Anonymous did indeed stop Karl Rove.

New York Senate bill aimed at destroying anonymity on the internet.

Courtesy of CBS News:

New York state lawmakers have proposed a ban on anonymous online comments. Called the Internet Protection Act (A.8688/S.6779), the legislation would require a web site administrator to pull down anonymous comments from sites, including "social networks, blogs forums, message boards or any other discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages." 

The bill states: 

A web site administrator upon request shall remove any comments posted on his or her web site by an anonymous poster unless such anonymous poster agrees to attach his or her name to the post and confirms that his or her IP address, legal name, and home address are accurate. All web site administrators shall have a contact number or e-mail address posted for such removal requests, clearly visible in any sections where comments are posted.

This is just the latest attack on free speech and privacy on the internet. I am sure that most of you remember the SOPA legislation that was proposed earlier this year and soundly defeated possibly as a direct result of a backlash from all over the internet.

Supposedly THAT legislation was designed to protect intellectual property and stop online piracy, but of course it would have done much more and seriously impacted our Constitutionally protected rights of free speech.

This time they found a different excuse to shut us up.  

Among the bills' sponsors are New York Assemblyman Dean Murray and Sen. Thomas O'Mara, who say the proposed law is to fight cyberbullying. "Cyberbullying has become one of the great tragedies of the Internet age," O'Mara said at a press conference. 

"Numerous national studies tell us that upwards of 40 percent of students have experienced some form of cyberbullying at least once, and they feel helpless in the face of it. Victims of anonymous cyberbullies need protection. We're hopeful that this legislation can be helpful to the overall effort to deter and prevent anonymous criminals from hiding behind modern technology and using the Internet to bully, defame and harass their victims."

Everybody wants to stop cyber bullying, myself included, but THIS is clearly just an excuse to take away the rights of citizens to spread information not controlled by giant media conglomerates as well as our right to speak out and share our opinions without fear of retribution by those who want to shut us up.

By the way I have little concern this will pass, but be warned that it is just one of many attempts coming down the pike to gain control of the internet, which in my opinion is possibly the greatest tool to ensure free speech since the invention of the printing press.

Hey guess who else shows up in this new batch of e-mails? Yours truly.

Now as many of you who have been around for awhile (Or who bothered to read the Important Immoral Minority posts on the right hand side of this blog) know I once did an impromptu interview with Sarah Palin back in January of 2009 with my friend Dennis Zaki. (You can read that a post about that experience here.)

This took place at the AT&T Sports Center in Wasilla, where Dennis and I had shown up on a whim as part of a series of interviews we were doing with people in Wasilla about Palin, and how they now viewed her since her return from the campaign trail.

As I write in my post, I had NO idea that we would run into the Governor.  But we did, and Dennis REALLY wanted to see if she would agree to a quick interview since she had avoided local press for several months by then.

After she agreed to the interview we could see that her thumbs were pounding away on her Blackberries and that she looked stressed, but we had no idea if it had anything to do with us, or if it was something else.

Well now we know.

What she was doing is revealed in a series of e-mails that can be found here.

Good morning my friends and welcome to November 5th.

Today could be quite an eventful day for those who are tired of faux news organizations and corporate banks lying to, and stomping all over the rights, of American citizens.

First we have the "Move your Money" campaign, something all of us can participate in,  that is encouraging everybody to move their money out of large banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America to smaller local banks or Credit Unions.

Customers are dumping their banks in droves ahead of the nationwide "Move Your Money" and "Bank Transfer Day" movements this Saturday. 

Given the recent spotlight on attempts -- and ultimate failures -- by some of the nation's biggest banks to tack on new debit card fees, thousands of disgruntled consumers have already either left or pledged to leave their current bank for a community bank or credit union, which are known for having fewer and/or lower bank account fees. 

At least 650,000 consumers have already joined credit unions since Sept. 29, the day Bank of America announced plans to impose its controversial $5 debit card fee, according to a nationwide survey of credit unions by the Credit Union National Association. That amounts to $4.5 billion in new savings accounts, CUNA said.

It looks like the movement has already had a significant impact on the banks.  It will be interesting to see if the banks make any policy changes in order to woo back disgruntled ex-customers. Though for me personally I am not at all interested in ever going back.

Today is also the day that the secret cyber group "Anonymous" claims that they will  take down Fox News.

PC Magazine has determined that Anonymous has a fairly good chance at successfully pulling this off:

OPERATION FOX HUNT 
 Another proposed Guy Fawkes Day operation, Fox Hunt, threatens to either take Foxnews.com offline or actually take control of the Web site, if some of the more boastful Anons are to be believed. The reason Anonymous is targeting Fox News is that the cable news network has been consistently critical of Occupy Wall Street and associated protests. Anonymous has attached itself strongly to the global Occupy movement and doesn't take attacks on it very kindly. 

Chances of success: Decent. Operation Fox Hunt seems much more likely to happen than Operation Facebook. Taking Foxnews.com down surely has a lot of support within Anonymous' ranks and would no doubt please many of the collective's Occupy allies. Anonymous has a long track record of taking down Web sites with distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks—and many believe the group now has more sophisticated tools in its arsenal for such operations.

Like I said before I am not usually a fan of hacking, or other cyber attacks, but in this case I cannot think of more deserving target. I will be watching for this with great anticipation.

For myself, since I have already moved my money and NEVER watch Fox News, I am going to spend some time today watching my favorite November 5th movie, V for Vendetta, and monitoring the many protests planned today.

I think we can treat this post as an open thread, and you can tell me what you have planned for this November 5th, as well as provide updates as to the success of the Move You Money campaign, and the Operation Fox Hunt.

Hmm how shall I sign off this post?  There's really only one choice, don't you agree?

Remember, remember the fifth of November
The Gunpowder Treason and plot
I know of no reason the Gunpowder Treason
should ever be forgot....

There is a storm brewing for Fox News this weekend. Time to batten down the hatches Rupert.

I have to say that I am pretty jazzed about this.

If these folks can bring down Fox News they will go down in history as American patriots.

By the way, is anybody else planning to celebrate the fifth by watching "V for Vendetta?"

Everybody mark November 5th on your calendars. It just might be a VERY big day in America.

Courtesy of Raw Story:

In a video statement carried recently by several official channels maintained by members of the hacker activist group “Anonymous,” a digitally generated voice explains that the online collective has decided to take down the Fox News website on Nov. 5th of this year. 

The date, Nov. 5, is significant for its dramatic placement in the film and comic book “V for Vendetta,” about a freedom-loving terrorist who destroys an authoritarian government that’s come to power in the U.K. “Remember, remember the 5th of November,” is his saying, hearkening back to the “Gunpowder plot” of 1604, in which the terrorist Guy Fawkes was captured and executed for his attempt to blow up Parliament. 

The mask used by the Guy Fawkes character in “V for Vendetta” has also become a ubiquitous symbol for “Anonymous.” 

To mark this 5th of November, the latest “Anonymous” video points to the network’s “continued propaganda against the occupations” as reason for vowing to “destroy the Fox News website.” 

“Since they will not stop ridiculing the occupiers, we will simply shut them down,” the digitized voice explains, adding that an Anonymous-driven “propaganda campaign” against Fox News would follow. 

“Fox News, your time has come,” it concludes. “Operation Fox Hunt. November 5th. May the hunt begin.”

I will admit to having conflicted feelings concerning "Anonymous,"  but if they can pull this off they will forever be heroes in my book.

In my opinion, considering the damage that Fox News has done to journalism, politics, and the future of our nation, NOTHING short of physical harm, or murder, should be considered off limits in taking them down.

By the way have any of you ever seen my avatar on Twitter?

A hint...

Remember, remember, the Fifth of November, 

the Gunpowder Treason and Plot. 

I know of no reason 

why the Gunpowder Treason 

should ever be forgot...

The power of anonymity and why it should be preserved.

Getting named the local paper's Person of the Year was supposed to be an honor for small-town politician Dean Zuleger. But the award only enraged many townspeople.

Readers anonymously flooded the Wausau Daily Herald's Web site with comments bashing Zuleger's salary, his management style, his weight. One person suggested his third chin should have been nominated.

"I have just two words for Dean Zuleger, and they are ... A) anger management. B) salad bar. C) Rod Blagojevich. D) all of the above. The correct answer is D.," one posting read.

Zuleger, administrator of the Wausau suburb of Weston, demanded to know who was saying all those nasty things about him, and the paper did something unusual: It handed over one critic's e-mail address. The politician then sent a letter on official stationery telling the commenter, businessman Paul Klocko, to stop the personal attacks and "come out from behind the cloak" and meet him.

The episode has added fuel to the debate over anonymity on the Internet and how far readers who aren't willing to use their names should be allowed to go.

My answer to the above query is; "When it comes to simply expressing their opinion, an anonymous commenter should be allowed to say whatever they want as long as they are not threatening anyone, or making up falsehoods about an individual. And if they are found to be doing either their comment should be removed by the webmaster, but their anonymity should remain intact."

The argument for allowing a person to comment anonymously is illustrated quite effectively in the above article. Once the identity of the commenter was revealed the politician immediately tried to intimidate them into silence.

(If that does not do the trick perhaps they will have their lawyer send an e-mail with a cease and desist order. We all know how well THAT works.)

The internet is a place where words are the instrument through which we define ourselves.

It allows the timid to be verbose, the bullied to find courage, and the downtrodden to discover hope. Through the web we can connect with others who feel our pain, share our concerns, and even dream our dreams.

And we can say the things that we dare not say in the presence of authority.

There is a reason that ballots are cast without names attached, why notes in the suggestion box are unsigned, and why "anonymous" is most often the name attached to comments on this blog.

Because anonymity empowers that person to be honest. To say, vote, or suggest what is in their heart without fear of retribution or embarrassment.

Sure there are some who will abuse the privilege of anonymity. They will lie, attack, and insult at will without fear of discovery. But that is just an infinitesimal portion of the people who take the time to write, or post anonymously. And isn't that a small price to pay to allow others to speak openly and honestly?

As for those who DO leave a comment with a name attached, I believe most of us realize that more often then not it is not their actual name. And if it happens to be, then clicking it rarely reveals a great deal about the person. So to one degree or another almost everybody on the internet is pretty anonymous.

And speaking for myself, how anonymous was I really?

The people who visited here knew my views on religion and politics, how I felt about current affairs, which were my favorite movies, and my favorite kind of food (pizza).

They knew the depth of my love for my daughter, how much I enjoy living in Alaska, and how bad I am at marriage. Trust me you all know a lot more about me then the people I work with ever will.

And it is not that I don't take ownership of my opinions, nothing could be further from the truth.

THAT is what the comments section is for. And as many of you know I usually let the bad in right along with the good. (I apparently have a thicker skin than Dean Zuleger in the above article) It does not mater if they know how tall I am or the color of my eyes (baby blue). What they agreeing or disagreeing with are my ideas, not my looks or occupation. And that is just about as personal as it gets.

And regardless of what people have learned (or thought they learned) about me, the fact remains that I will ALWAYS be Gryphen on this blog.

Just like AKM forever remains AKM to her loyal readers, I am now and always will be simply Gryphen.

And I will continue to be defined by what I type on this keyboard, and that is far more revelatory than anything you could possibly learn by meeting me on the street.

But if I failed to adequately make my point about the importance of anonymity allow me to refer you instead to someone far more eloquent than I.