10 thoughts on “Not Quite As Susceptible”

  1. Sebastian makes the quite valid point that our corner of the blog world is probably less susceptible to that sort of jacktardery, due in no small part to the fact that if someone decided to break into my (or his, Bitter, Kim, LawDog, Tam, or any other gunblogger’s) house, they would most likely earn a bullet (or 5) for their trouble

  2. nobody’s committed any actual, physical crime of violence against this woman, Ahab. i’m not sure why you think that should matter, though; her life, and her family’s life, has been disrupted quite well enough by the mere threat alone. really, wouldn’t that be the case for _anybody_?

    even assuming a victim who *could* adequately defend themselves in their home, could every one of their family members also? including minor children?

    this particular woman, moreover, is a professional in software engineering who makes much of her living on the lecture circuit; if she can’t travel for fear of her life (or the lives of her children left at home), her livelihood’s wrecked. could she bring a gun for self-defense everywhere she travels?

    it’s not (necessarily) about being able to defend yourself against every credible threat. even if you are — and some people pretty much necessarily *cannot* be, without changing careers, as in this case — the credible threat alone may be enough.

  3. I don’t think Ahab is meaning to suggest that threats shouldn’t be taken seriously, but that cowering in fear is a reaction we don’t really understand. It’s certainly possible to get “the drop” on someone who’s armed, or go after other unarmed family members. But the needless to say the risks are a lot higher than someone not prepared to deal with a threat.

    I can’t speak for Ahab, but I can tell you that if I had someone actively threatening my life, there’s no rule or law that’s going to stop me from having a firearm with me at all times, even if traveling. Firearms can be checked as luggage.

  4. Sorry, but if knowing there are people out there that don’t like and may want to hurt you makes you cower in fear in your home, you won’t get any sympathy from me. I have only impression to go on for this next and it in no way applies to the subject of the hate mail because I simply don’t know anything about her.

    But, I get the feeling this would be the reaction of all those who want to invalidate all the sacrifice and service our people in the military and their families have endured to protect us and our nation. Yet that threat has been more plainly stated and more competently pursued.

  5. i’m sorry, but what on earth has the military to do with this again? Kathy Sierra is a *computer software user interface specialist*. i really don’t see the connection there. now, i’ve not been a reader of her blog ( http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/ ), but from scanning it i don’t see anything at all political on it.

  6. I’m not really seeing the connection either to be honest. I feel for anyone who is fearful of some deranged bonehead, and there are a lot of them out there, to be sure. I don’t want this to turn into anything against Kathy Sierra. It’s important for everyone to remember that she’s the victim in all this, and not in any way deserving of derision.

    My intention wasn’t to bring Ms. Sierra into this at all, just to make an observation about our community. Bloggers have to deal with this kind of stuff sometimes, and while most of us who are gun bloggers or who participate in this community have a hard time understanding living in that much fear, we still ought to have sympathy for it. No one deserves that.

  7. I’m with everyone else in wondering just how some obviously disturbed individuals making threats against a woman has anything at all to do with the military. Being concerned about one’s wellbeing when there are people posting absolutely horrible pictures of you and leaving threats in comments is in no way representative of her views on the armed forces.

  8. Norman, of course if you have a beef with me, I’d be more than happy to take it off of Sebastian’s blog and onto my own.

    That being said, Sebastian actually does nail my feelings quite well – quite simply I’m unable to process her reaction as rational or logical.

    I understand fear. I’ve been afraid of a lot of things in my life. I would be afraid if some fucking lunatic was threatening to mutilate and murder me, or any of my family. The problem isn’t fear itself, but it’s what you do with that fear.

    What upsets me about Kathy’s blog and what I posted about over at What Would John Wayne Do is that she is letting the fear control her decisions. By posting to her blog that she’s afraid, and hiding in her house, and canceling speaking engagements she is refusing to engage what scares her; the lack of desire to actively fight what she’s afraid of is what I don’t understand.

    Another thing (that Sebastian brought up as well, get out of my head) is that this is the internet. People get threatened with death. There are some photos floating around of me from when I was in the Coast Guard that have been photoshopped to show me being hung (as in with a noose).

    Bottom line. We’re all afraid of something. I simply can’t abide by people who let those fears dominate them.

  9. to be honest, Ahab, i don’t know if i do have a beef with you or not. ms. Sierra’s reaction isn’t one i would have, either (i’m more the “impotent righteous fury” type, myself — although i think i can understand witless fear too, somewhat), but neither is your counterreaction to her fear. what i read on your blog frankly seemed disproportionate; your disdain of her fear seemed to me as strange as her panicked incapacitation, and as unlikely to be useful. maybe i *should* have posted on WWJWD, now that you mention it. my apologies to Sebastian for choosing the wrong forum.

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