The cruelty of anonymous website creators: from poets to Showbiz insiders.

Whatever one thinks of the outspoken columnist Nikki Finke--who had a print career and transitioned to the DEADLINE website, which launched a seismic shift of Industry trade papers VARIETY and THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER from daily newsstand editions to online--she doesn't deserve this kind of treatment: http://nikkistink.com/

Anonymity used for the purpose of shutting up voices one doesn't want to hear isn't heroic or courageous--it's more cowardly and small than the person(s) being attacked.

War Against Humanity blog--updated with corrections.

First, I'll offer an apology to Rick Lupert: Rick did not create the War Against Humanity blog.  Rick and Amelie Frank were most helpful in terms of helping to ensure the situation with the blog was resolved.

From the earlier post:

"Not expecting too many people reading this to care, but the blog (another example of some in the SoCal community wanting me to "shut the fuck up" as was quoted in the previous post) caused a lot of needless stress and mental anguish to me.  And it was intended as a mixture of cowardice and malevolence: intended for the blogger to have lots of fun imagining me running around, making unfounded accusations to people, and with hopes that I might lose my temper in public--causing me to be banned from poetry venues and professionally/personally ostracized."

I did find out that the person (still wanting anonymity) sent Rick an e-mail apologizing for the trouble caused and stating that the War Against Humanity blog was taken down (which I noticed around 9:00 p.m. Sunday night).

The blogger's ironic pen name: Jesus Christ.

Here's what's really in the SoCal Poetry Pond (revised and edited).

Let's start this post with a haiku.  I didn't write it, but someone who posts the TERRY McCARTY'S WAR AGAINST HUMANITY blog did:
bitter man banned from

club. LOBs yawns when his output

makes hyenas sleep

My first response is this: if I were truly bitter and envious (presumably from wanting to be "let back in"--something I gave up on about a year ago in terms of making peace with certain intersecting SoCal poetry circles that want me forever banished), I wouldn't be posting occasional critiques/observations on how certain poets choose to use the power much of the community gives them.

I've never truly absorbed the lesson that if you ask select

"craft-conscious poets" beyond your station in the poetry community to sit down with you and/or answer certain questions, the poet(s) refuse(s) and you're a gigantic Figure of Snarky Fun behind other people's backs.

My previous post--putting up the Rick Lupert/Brendan Constantine "What's In The Pond" video--seems to have triggered the haiku outburst above.  I thought the video might be instructive to poets and nonpoets alike to see something with the musky odor of clubbiness and two talented practitioners of writing/working a crowd wasting five minutes doing stupid, lazy crap they were assured to get away with because of their Name Value in the community.  If two newcomers had read something like "What's In The Pond", it's highly doubtful that they would have gathered the laughter and applause rolling in appreciative waves towards the Brand Names at the mike.

 

Painted-pink donkeys, anonymous websites and me.

I can remember last summer when a poetry promoter/producer/poet and I discussed the Terry McCarty's War Against Humanity blog (something I refer to with grim tongue-in-cheek as my "nonfan club") at an Orange County poetry venue.

He offered to have someone with computer knowledge find out the identity of the anonymous WAH blogger.  Unfortunately, this never occurred.

More recently, I discussed this with someone else of high standing in the SoCal poetry community--and I was advised to get an attorney to send a letter to Wordpress (what the anonymous person uses to send his missives from).  I've thought of this--but can imagine Wordpress replying that nothing can be done because the blogger hasn't made actionable threats, just dropped loads of snark followed by links to specific posts of mine.

So, at this time, I feel a lot like the painted-pink donkey tethered last week on a busy street in Century City CA by the trendy Pink Taco restaurant.

But in that case, there's at least a name and a face linked to that offensive fiasco--Harry Morton, former playmate of Lindsay Lohan from the middle of the last decade.

The WAH blogger still hides--and won't be honorable enough to put his name on his blog and opinions.

On this blog, whether you like what I say or not, you know I take responsibility for it.

And this state of affairs proves that the SoCal poetry community isn't as much about poetry and community as it claims it is.

Brief coda to today's nonfan club post.

Re the Terry McCarty's War Against Humanity blog:


The proprietor of the blog has the right of free speech--even anonymous speech. But I don't understand why fearful, let's-make-Terry-angry-in-public-so-we-can-ostracize-him-some-more blog material is considered a valuable tool for creating a more harmonious Southern California poetry community.

And it ranks higher on the bitterness scale than anything I've posted.

My nonfan club is at it again.

http://waragainsthumanity.wordpress.com/2011/04/11/from-the-sacred-scrolls/

As for the apology post to Ben, Steve and Phil I made a couple of days ago: I took responsibility for my actions of seven years back, apologized, asked for reconciliation and reinstatement.

Whether or not it happens, I'm satisfied I did the right thing and can move on to the future.

Anonymous poster has reactivated my non-fan club.

http://waragainsthumanity.wordpress.com/

Latest post is titled "turdy mccarthy."

For all the stop-the-madness feedback I get in public and private about the SoCal poetry community and its former-members-living-elsewhere being good, mature people (and a fair amount of them are), it's fascinating that at least one member thinks he/she's fighting a moral guerrilla war by maintaining the above blog.

Talk about anger and bitterness......and spraying out fear and loathing akin to a skunk's odor.