So...
As some of you know... I am active in the I/P series of diaries (I know... my first mistake). Through that I have made a few friends and unfortunately some non-friends. I have talked with people on the other side and sometimes that has not worked out BUT, in those cases though there are unfriendly exchanges here at DKos, it has never gone to someone's personal email or phone. It simply has disappeared from both my part and their parts. THAT is the way it should be. When one's contacts cease to be friendly, it is time to put those away and simply move on.
Oh, but if that were the case with former friends.
At one point I was friends with the now banned, user Karmafish. At the time I did not realize he was this hateful type of person. I tried to see good in him and that blinded me to some very sad facts that others did see. We even did a couple of talks together presenting information from the opposite sides of the political spectrum. The talks addressed a variety of I/P and domestic issues related to Jews and President Obama. Me taking the Liberal/Progressive side and him taking the Conservative/Reactionary side.
All was fine and good until he decided to call me out at his blog and then after I responded on his blog he came back with some savage comments calling me a "Nazi Sympathizer", "Jihadi Lover", and "Traitor to the Jewish people". Along with calling me "vile scum". You can see all of his racist commentary at his blogspot (sorry for the link - I am just illustrating what a true hate site looks like - ONLY click on it if you have a strong stomach)
Jump the squiggley thingamabob
Now... none of this would be a real problem (racist shitheads calling me names) IF it did not get personal and cross from the intertoobz to "real life". BUT unfortunately it did.
The guy decided that after his complete breakdown that he would stay cool for a bit. And he did, until recently when he decided to start referring to myself and others here that knew him as "Ostriches", wimps, and other names. Of course, I responded on his blog (mistake #2) by pointing out that not only is he woefully unaware of the subject matter of which he writes but he is indeed being a racist.
However, on his blog my comments were more condescending than insulting and again, my responses to him were only on the blog.
So last night I get home and I see an email from him saying:
"Get off my blog, scum".
Now this was not sent to a private email. It was sent to my home email. The email that my wife and children see.
Then today on his site is a message about civility I get this picture:
Notice the quote: "If a man would challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him"
Now... is this guy threatening me? Not unless he was really, really stupid, but, I can't be sure considering he emailed and continues to email my home address. Of course he denies that it is a threat but then continues his name calling all while hiding on his blog.
Anyway, the moral of the story is to be super careful with who you connect up with on the internet. Unfortunately, this is one of those stories where we see the worst in people. It is my fault for letting someone this insane into my life. I take the blame for that.
I am friends with a number of people here now and in none of them do I see this level of vitriol. Even with people that I do not consider friends I don't see this. They, at least are sane and I am pretty sure that they would say the same for me.
So, I write this as a cautionary tale to those that consider connecting in "real life". Be smart, and be safe (use only hotmail, or gmail type accounts). If you meet people do it in a public place and check things out. Don't let your families be exposed to this kind of nonsense.