I learned last week that Pat Sajak was conservative. I didn’t know. I thought you might enjoy his latest column for Human Events, Internet Goons:
It seems there is something about anonymity which brings out the worst in us. If you doubt that, come with me into the often-weird world of Internet chat rooms and message boards….The Internet was supposed to be a boon to reasoned debate because it allowed anyone who could get online a chance to participate. Unfortunately, the “screen name” was invented, and people were able to disguise themselves with cute little pseudonyms like CuddleKitty934 and CoolDudeJJ33.Participants not only create new names, they’re able to create entire identities. I suspect most self-described 18-year-old Scandinavian women named Inga who collect and wear string bikinis are, in reality, more likely to be middle-aged, pot-bellied guys named Lou who collect and wear string cheese.
That’s funny.
Anonymous online communication can be very liberating. While some people have legitimate reasons for using a pseudonym, the cowardly can hide behind fake names and say the kind of things they wouldn’t say to someone’s face. I often wonder what my obsessed trolls look and sound like.
I can’t imagine that they’re tall, handsome and successful. They’re probably overweight or short or meek. In my mind they are effete, ineffectual and unmanly losers. Leaving a comment on this blog is probably the most exciting part of their day. Sajak imagines them this way:
Ignored by his co-workers or neighbors, stuck in a job he hates (if he has one at all), he sits and seethes in front of a computer screen, where he is finally able to get some attention. People respond to him and talk to him and about him. His outbursts can change the course of any discussion on any topic. Finally, people actually care about what he says. He is somebody.
Yes, he is somebody, if being a troll on LBC makes you “somebody.”
Sajak asks:
Why should anyone take your views seriously if you won’t even identify yourself? The Lincoln-Douglas debates would seem much less compelling if they had been the LuckyLadyBug-hot2handle debates…Still, if you have to be called an idiot, a moron, or worse, it’s less hard on the ego to be called those things by someone who identifies himself as HotdogToGo543.
I’ll remember that next time I delete the latest troll dropping . 
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I think the more important question is: “Why should anyone take your views seriously if you are PAT SAJAK?”
Why not? He’s an ordinary person with an opinion, same as you and me.
In the dim days before the World Wide Web, we had a thing called USENET. Since in those days it took a fair amount of technical expertise to gain access to the Internet, most of the USENET posters were young male nerds. However, even then the kooks ruined a lot of good groups, and some say ruined the whole idea of USENET itself: rather than becoming a place for reasoned discussion and back-and-forth debate, it simply degenerated into flame-fests and provided whackos with a way to broadcast their nutty theories to a wider audience.
Spam and porn have pretty much turned USENET into a wasteland — a few good (moderated) groups survive, but it’s incredibly difficult to separate the signal from the noise.
At first I thought weblogs were a good modern alternative to USENET in a way that IM and chatrooms were not: blogs were personal spaces, where people of like mind would congregate and provide good, freewheeling, good-natured discussion. Alas, human nature being what it is, this is often not the case (as LaShawn can attest).
Too many people adopt anonymity as a cloak of invincibility — they say and advocate things in anonymous web postings they would never say (at least out loud) in public. And this is not just the racists and nutjobs; it’s often the more moderate folks who let their rhetoric get the better of them. I suspect that many authors of the most hateful screeds don’t really advocate the positions they purport to hold; yet because they are never called to account for their opinions, there is the natural urge to take a position as far as it will go.
I think the real problem is that etiquette has not been taught to many people. The incivility you see on weblogs and USENET boards only mirrors the rudeness you see in other areas of life, magnified by the protection that anonymity brings. It’s not about saying rude or mean or hurtful things — it’s about being adult enough to stand behind your own opinions, and having enough respect for your virtual host to deal honestly even in disagreement.
I use my real name on LaShawn’s blog because I respect her. In a real way, this blog is like her home — a place where she has invited me as a guest. I may disagree with her, I may feel strongly that she’s wrong on one topic or another, but there’s always respect. I am in her house, and if I don’t like it, I may leave — but I may not dictate to her what she may say or do in her own home.
Plus he knows a lot of secret words!
LOL! This is a kick! I’ve gotta come up with a good screen name…
I heard that Alex Trebek is too
Thanks, Monty.
Pat’s comments are mildly funny, I mean I think I’ve heard that joke b4. Although it’s good to see anyone in Hollywood (even if Sajak is only marginally “in”) be conservative. BTW, Love your blog Lashawn.
Now that is funny!
Another reason why I’ve always used my REAL name on all blogs in which I actively comment/participate.
Oops, La Shawn…
I forgot to close the tag wrapped around the first “that.” Sorry!
“He’s an ordinary person with an opinion, same as you and me.”
No no no. He’s the guy who hosted WHEEL OF FORTUNE, for Pete’s sake.
WHEEL OF FORTUNE! “Can I buy a vowel?”
The man is a human joke.
Pat Sajak is pretty funny.
Dada Head:
The man is a human joke.
So he hosts a game show; would it make any difference to the point at hand if he were a particle physicist or a plumber?
The messenger and the message are different things. I read the article as a humorous (and accurate!) little screed about the flamefests that all too often pass for discourse on the web.
Now, if he would only buy the Orioles from Angelos things would be great.
Re: Dada Head “The man is a human joke.”
Yes, he is human and he does tell good jokes. He is however an accomplished businessman and you only wish you had his net worth.
Actually, Pat Sajak does more than host Wheel of Fortune now. He has his own talk show on Foxnews, if I remember correctly. I’ve known for quite some time that he’s a conservative. Didn’t he write a book? I think that’s really cool for him and for us.
As conservative credentials go, Pat Sajak is on the Hillsdale College Board of Trustees. I learned he was conservative when he came to Hillsdale a few years ago.
Two questions for “dadahead”:
1. If the host of Wheel of Fortune espoused views against the Iraq war or in favor of affirmative action quotas, would you still consider him to be silly?
2. Are you an 18-year-old Scandinavian woman who likes to post comments on websites while wearing a string bikini?
Forget Buchanan, I’ll take Sajak: Go, Pat, Go!
Yes, sometimes anonymity is necessary. sometimes it is just for convenience. However no matter if a commenter or commentator is using an alias, a pseudonym, or their real name everyone deserves to have their opinion treated with respect even if you dont agree with it as long as it (the opinion) is given with respect and class as well. I use “The Geek” because for my 10 years in the USAF that is what my friends and compatriots called me …. but for today you can also call me by my real name … Larry S Hicks ….
Again LaShawn its a great BLOG and the one i never miss reading no matter where i am or what i am doing …. keep going and K10
Thanks for the kind words, Geek.
I’m prefacing this by saying that I rarely comment anywhere and that, if someone really wanted to, he could find out who I am just by looking at my email address.
Anonymity isn’t always a bad thing. I like it because I am extremely shy. I will only voice my opinion in the presence of people who know me well. My brother in-law is my polar opposite in terms in political views, but I enjoy discussing politics with him, so this isn’t about me being terrified that someone will disagree with me or have a better argument.
I’ve been going to the same university for four years now, and, because of my extreme shyness, I’ve only managed to make two good friends and a few acquaintances here and there. That’s how pathological I am (I do well around strangers in very shallow settings, but not when it comes to opening my mind for all to see).
Anonymity can be good because it means people like me can stop sweating and shaking for once and enjoy a little healthy discourse. While I do agree that many use it as a way to safely transform into trolls, that’s not true for all of us.
Like Monty, I use my real name when commenting here at La Shawn’s blog and the others that I read regularly. If I don’t feel I can use my real name on a blog, then it probably isn’t worth my time to read or comment on.
By the way, DaDa Head, I generally don’t take what most celebrities have to say about politics and world events very seriously at all, but Sajak’s comments were about real things he and others who blog or chat have experienced. He seems to be a pretty normal guy in spite of his years in show business. Make fun of his being the host of wheel of fortune all you want, but it’s a sweet high paying, long lasting gig.
Whenever I get to see FNC at some hotel or another, I’ve enjoyed watching his show. Sort of has a laid back atmosphere. At least he knows/gets the online scene which is more than most Hollywood types.
Andy,
Why should “Hollywood types” care anything about the “online scene”?
I may be shamed into revealing my true identity if this keeps up. I dunno what to do. Clark Kent, Peter Parker and Britt Reed never caved in to the pressure, did they?
Sincerely,
HuggyBear2
HuggyBear2. Hahahahaha…
Geek, Monty, LaShawn,
I too remember the old days… back when only us nerds with mainframe accounts could get online. Remember when Archie and Veronica were the coolest thing on the net? The Well?
Anway, I’ve used SCSIwuzzy since before the net was the net, so it’s kinda stuck. More people know me online as SCSI than as Will, so that’s been another deterent to using my real name on blogs. I’d get accused of pretending to be somebody else! (and it has happened, when typekey was passing on my name not my handle). And then, there is the issue of my professional life… between security clearances and much of management being not very open minded about politics… I don’t go out of my way to show up in Google.
However, LaShawn, you pegged me on one thing… I am short. Though never have I been called meek. And sadly enough, just before reading this post, I had just consumed a chunk of string cheese.
Just to be clear, I’m describing anonymous TROLLS, guys, not people using aliases for what I consider legitimate reasons. People who come onto this site using fake names to tell me off and/or spew venom are the ones I imagine as losers.
As a short and overweight Conservative, I believe I’m offended. Methinks I need to set up a pseudonym and troll you now, just to live up to expectations.
A pseudoname online is no different than giving someone your real name online. People still will not know you from Adam until they’ve actually teken the time to talk to you enough where some of the internet anonymity breaks away. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but just like in real life every opinion should be taken with a grain of salt wether the person is using their real name or a pseudoname.
For most people there are two types of opinions they are willing to take without reservation: their own and those of people they trust and know. It shouldn’t be any different for online opinions. Just because someone gives us something resembling a real name should not make an opinion more valuable. La Shawn Barber could be using that name just because she doesn’t like the one her parents gave her (not that I’m saying you are or didn’t like the name your parents gave you
). I’m fairly sure most people haven’t taken the time to actually research wether she has or hasn’t, but we still trust her opinion because of her past posts which have given us a way to know that we like and trust her.
It’s all well and good to say how manners go out the window when some drive-by troll comes by with some rude comment, but in reality there are plenty of people who would do the same in real life just to get attention. The internet hasn’t added to their behavior so much as magnified it and made it easier. If this wasn’t true then it would be nearly impossilbe to keep all the trolls out because they’d be multiplying daily!
-David Music (yes my real name)
Sajak’s Fox show usually is a late night Sunday thing with some incredible guests. He displays fabulous interview skills and is always on top of the current issues.
There is far more to this man than just WOF, just like there is far more to each and every one of us than what many people see.
Now if I could just get rid of parent trolls when I coach as easily as I can on the internet, I’d be set.
Stan, why shouldn’t they care? Since we’re on that tangent, methinks most H-T fear it. They probably think it’s crawling with pirates seeking to loot their precious “brand”.
Isnt PAT SAJAK a game show host didnt he do for the updated version of CONCENTRATION? or what ever i do miss game shows i never missed them when i was a kid
It’s hysterical!
LaShawn,
I think I even still have the videotape, in which Sajak relinquished his show to Rush Limbaugh for one night.
The show was immedately hijacked by a pro-choice contingent of would-be rioters. I remember this one, rather corpulent woman who accused Limbaugh of “killing women” through his views. She was shaking like Linda Blair, and would have probably met those demonic criterion even further, had Limbaugh not faked the end of the show, then taped an actual ending with an empty studio.
Sajak continued to be a friend to Limbaugh, and made no hay of the fact that the show went into very disturbing territory, between an inexperienced television guy and an audience bent on mutiny.
The guy could have just had a comic fill in for him, and avoid the whole mess, but it seems the guy has mettle–far beyond that of the poltroonish, “human jokes” that host shows of parallel, but liberal slant.
-T
I started out as Tigger, then OldTigger — now I’m me. Tom Grey. I think fake names is OK, but I’m tired of “devil’s advocate” kind of posts. I try to say what I believe.
I really like a lot of LaShawn and wish for ever more success. If she becomes a blog “leader” for blacks, and for women, that will be fine — better than Wonkette!
Lately I haven’t been here as often as previously, since the Linking competition of Glenn and Hugh and PowerLine gives them the edge — and what I’d like MORE of is LaShawn ideas about the big issues.
(I try not to feed trolls.) How to tell funnier jokes? (start with some jokes?) I don’t know how.
Just for the record La Shawn, whenever you have commented on my site, you have used your real name – La Shawn. Come to think of it, you are on your way to becoming a first name person, recognized by La Shawn without the need of adding Barber for people to know who you are. That is quite a feat for a conservative and one you can thank your parents for, for giving you such a distinctive first name.
Grace and peace.
William,
I couldn’t agree more…LaShawn is someone I *LIKE* to read (her comments/columns)…She’s intelligent, insightful and more often than not, right on the money (as far as I’m concerned).
Keep going LaShawn!
Dan
I’ve read Pat Sajack before. He’s smarter than he looks!
I use a “net-name” because I am conservative. I avoid computer data bases like the plague! Just look at the behavior of the left during the last election. Slicing tires, attacking Republican polling places and other criminal acts make one rightly fear the left.
Drudge points out a mega-hack at Lexis Nexis today. I will not trust in the left’s sense of fair play. There is none! We all have seen what these people will do. (Remember the nut who chased down the Mother and daughter because they sported a BUSH sticker on their car?)
A larger issue is one of Character! The folks described by Mr. Sajack and others on this thread are the same folks who give the finger to other drivers while driving but would NEVER do anything like that face to face. I call it Bad Character and it’s been taught at public schools for decades!
Dada:
I’ll take anyone seriously if their points are well made. Pat Sajak makes some serious points well and with humor.
Hmmmm, I’d avoid speculating about the physical aspects of internet trolls. Mentally they may be stunted, but physically?
I use my real name, LaShawn, but you’d still likely be disappointed with what I look like!
pajamazon, that is another good point. There is also the “outing” that many on the left blogosphere are obsessed with. Heaven forbid you are {insert group name here} and don’t toe the party line. That is, if you belong to a group that AmericaBlog, Kos etc think are the protectorate of the left. They have made it their mission to out gay conservatives, not just on the web, but in their personal and professional lives as well. Given how we’ve seen bloggers fired for blogging, how long before just disagreement is the criteria for the outers to call your boss, and make your online opinions and activities the topic of conversation?
My hat is off to those that are willing to stand up and be counted as themselves… but as long as work for company that bows down to the PC movement, I’ll keep my handle
I can’t see what difference using a name like ‘nobody important’ or ‘John Smith’ makes. Each is just two strings of alpha text separated by a space. One reads like a real name, the other doesn’t. How would anyone know the difference? If I legally changed my name to ‘nobody important’ would that make what I write any better? Would people then take my posts more seriously than otherwise?
I chose my on-line name because I am nobody important (and it’s important that it not be capitalized). I have a very common name and it would convey no useful information. Whereas ‘nobody important’ is my attempt to deflect any concern as to who I am and focus attention on what I write. If you think my thoughts are worth reading and responding, fine. If not, that’s fine, too. After all, I’m nobody important.
I have had W.NM. for sometime (sorta like SCSIwuzzy) and it isn’t even my initials. It is an anacronym for a play on words, I have continued using it, it just kinda stuck.
I’m no troll, I’m not short or overweight . . . but I am kinda . . . furry! At least my wife still loves me!
Keep up the great work LaShawn and know that your excellence, integrity and honesty is what drives the trolls “batty” Your existence threatens them and their existence proves how powerful a voice you have become.
Hat’s off,
W.NM.
I don’t post anonymously, but I don’t grudge someone else doing it. And I don’t take them less seriously based on that, either. Why should I?
I read the comments on my blog individually and decide them based on their merits..not what their nick is.
It seems to me that Mr. Sajak lacks a lot of depth if this is his criteria.
Andy.
By far the biggest amount of activity online is just empty chatter and opinions of one kind or another. Hollywood types are too busy making movies for the purpose of taking your money and TV shows for the purpose of taking your time. Most folks by far still get their news from the Big 3 and their local news, be it print or TV. Other than the Rathergate thing, I’ve seen nothing on blogs that is original or breaking news. Conservative bloggers are preaching to a conservative choir and liberal bloggers are preaching to a liberal choir. There’s not much happening in between. A person who can think for themselves will always be better informed if they watch news and analysis on TV and read some of the larger newspapers. The thing about blogs is that most of them give folks like you and me an opportunity to go back and forth with our opinions. But even most of them on La Shawn’s lists have very little activity and aren’t making a dent in anything. La Shawn is always on top of her blog and keeps things going. She hits relevant topics but doesn’t write on and on and on like so many. She stays to the point and writes with authority. Even most of the conservative brotherhood don’t have much going on. La Shawn is the exception. I wish she would let a few more of the dissidents, even trolls, express themselves and engage them in serious debate and let us do the same rather than showing them the door. I think it would be good for all of us to learn to engage in serious and heated discussions, while learning to maintain civility but it’s her blog and it’s her call.
Stan, sounds like we’re talking past each other from the same page on this issue.
Basically, it’s nice to see that there are some H-T that aren’t so wrapped up in themselves and your money that they actually have a clue about the online scene. For example, Babbling Striesand has her own webpage, does anyone really think she engages anyone online?
Once upon a time, I had a job where I had the luxury of reading at least 2, sometimes all 3 DFW dailies cover to cover (except for Sports) and do a puzzle or two, plus being a CNN junkie at home. With that kind of time on my hands, I also could filter out the garbage.
These days, I don’t have the time of day to even pick a paper up, let alone read it. I get all the news I need to know from surfing both the web & local TV, even then it can be a chore to filter out the junk. Thankfully we have the various RSS feeds, so when I see something interesting scrolling by, I can check it out.
If you want to see a free for all, we have Freepers on one side and DU on the other. By all means, feel free to engage there, just make sure you have a thick skin. It gets serious & heated but you won’t find civility. I think it has something to do with the lowest common denominator.
I don’t think the Queen has a problem with dissidents, she has a problem with idiots who detract from the debate and pollute her corner.
Okay LaShawn,
I’ve now taken most of the anonymity out of my blog, without sacrificing the moniker. I see your point.
Andy,
Thanks.
Stan,
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