« Richardson Is In | Main | Snow! »
January 22, 2007
Answering the Question
I was thinking about Dianne's underlying question...What is it about us that seems to attract the most vile and disgusting people out of the woodwork desperate to challenge us? So I started making a list of the characteristics of the people that end up banned and I ran them through a Google search. And one type of person came up over and over again...A Bully. They have a very predictable targeting criterion:
* bullies are predatory and opportunistic - you just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time; this is always the main reason - investigation will reveal a string of predecessors, and you will have a string of successors* being good at your job, often excelling
* being popular with people (colleagues, customers, clients, pupils, parents, patients, etc)
* more than anything else, the bully fears exposure of his/her inadequacy and incompetence; your presence, popularity and competence unknowingly and unwittingly fuel that fear
* being the expert and the person to whom others come for advice, either personal or professional (ie you get more attention than the bully)
* having a well-defined set of values which you are unwilling to compromise
* having a strong sense of integrity (bullies despise integrity, for they have none, and seem compelled to destroy anyone who has integrity)
* having at least one vulnerability that can be exploited
* being too old or too expensive (usually both)
* refusing to join an established clique
* showing independence of thought or deed
* refusing to become a corporate clone and drone
Daffodil Lane is the living embodiment of everything they hate and despise. We are good at what we do. We are not brain dead zombies. We point out the flaws and mistakes of the radical right, so they hate us with a passion. We have thousands of readers from around the country/world. We've gotten involved in politics and we've been successful at it. We don't have the urge to sell out our principals. We are the living polar opposite of everything a Republican is and it infuriates them to no end.
Amusingly in 2004, when we were defeated, we didn't give up. We redoubled our efforts and in 2006 we successful. These people have preached their ideology of hate, fear and greed and they've lost and in their sad deranged minds we are responsible. Because we knew right from wrong and didn't surrender to their radical hate ideology. We will be successful in 2008 and 2010, and it will drive them even more insane. And even if we aren't successful, we are decent people and we will continue to fight on against evil because it's just our nature.
I found this quote particular insightful:
Despite the facade that such people put up, bullies have low self-confidence and low self-esteem, and thus feel insecure. Low self-esteem is a factor highlighted by all studies of bullying. Because such people are inadequate and unable to fulfil the duties and obligations of their position (but have no hesitation in accepting salary), they fear being revealed. This fear of exposure often borders on paranoia.Bullies are seething with resentment, bitterness, hatred and anger, and often have wide-ranging prejudices as a vehicle for dumping their anger onto others. Bullies are driven by jealousy and envy. Rejection (which cannot be assuaged) is another powerful motivator of bullying.
Since childhood, bullies have learnt that they can avoid the unpleasant consequences of bad behaviour through the instinctive response of denial, blame, and feigning victimhood.
It describes every single person that we've had to ban since we started the blog. So we know their problem, we know why they are here, the question now becomes what do we do about it? The advice with bullies is always the same...Stand up to them, which we do and ignore them which a ban defacto does. They recommend not giving back what they give in return. I'm bad about that, because I have an uncontrollable urge to fight evil, but all it does reinforce their insane notion of victimhood. I'm going to have to debate that approach for a bit. Ultimately I see no way to avoid the problem without crawling into a cave. Since that is not going to happen, they are sort of out of luck.
Read more about bullies.
Posted by Jamison at January 22, 2007 11:52 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.daffodillane.com/movabletype/mt-tb.cgi/7728
Comments
That was very interesting. I have had my run-in with a few bullies on my blog, too (as you guys have witnessed :) . I think you hit the nail on the head.
Posted by: Monica at January 22, 2007 2:42 PM