On Notice on the 614 Dooce

Steven Gardner writes:

Lookee here! Stephen Colbert is back pointing at local types. Maybe you’re on here!

On Jan. 22 I wrote:

There is worthwhile commentary to be found at the 614 Division Street blog, but I’ve seen the author provide much information on it that threatens to reveal his or her identity. I prefer the mystery. At least, if the author gets outed I want someone else to reveal it. I don’t want it to happen because 614 gives too much away.

Too late it seems. The Kitsap News Group filed a request to see who had taken an extended leave based on information the owner of the 614 Division Street blog divulged. So, based on comments the blogger made in the past, the blog disapparated before the blogger got dooced.

I thought someone on the inside would do the outing first. We weren’t really dying to know who it was, but I can see why KNG decided to pursue it. I wouldn’t be surprised if the former blogger’s identity still gets revealed.

It’s a bit of a cautionary tale about going anonymous. It’s not easy to stay that way.

That of course ties into subject number two, trolls and sock puppets and jerks. We have been deleting more posts than was our past practice, though don’t assume it’s because you were either a troll, sock puppet or jerk. FYI, a troll just tries to get the collective dander up. Sock puppets are individuals posting as multiple people. Jerks is my term. In some cases we’ve deleted comments just because we didn’t want the conversation to go in that direction.

The Simpson’s Movie makes the list because it premieres this week, unfortunately timed after the premiere of a Harry Potter movie and a book. Many people have been fans of both, though The Simpsons has been criticized for losing its edge toward the end of its first decade. I’ll be attending another midnight premiere, but my enthusiasm is not what it would have been had it launched separate from the Potter business.

Local primary candidates are on notice, because after all these years it’s still worth noting that most of the campaigning should happen between now and when ballots go out late next week. You wait until the last three weeks and you lose potential votes in the mail every day.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, speaking to an audience assembled in Bremerton’s new Fountain Room, excused himself by saying “There’s my boat.” The ferry was clearly visible from the room and will be for speakers in the future who will surely believe themselves clever when they point to the ferry terminal to demonstrate how their ride has arrived. At some point Fountain Room audiences will be trained to say “It’s been done” every time some speaker tries that trick.

Traffic evildoers everywhere in Washington should be wary of future political developments. The same day the Bremerton City Council voted 8-1 to install red-light and school zone cameras, Seattle decided its program was so successful it wants more. Then, on Monday, soon-to-be-former state transportation boss Doug McDonald told 710 KIRO’s Dori Monson he wants traffic cameras on freeways.

Does it make you sleep better at night, or do you think this is “Big Brother?”

On hypocrites, many will expect this to be another lashing of those who don’t believe their own sermons.” Instead I’m asking if the term is overused. I believe soda is bad for me, as are a lot of the foods I love. I believe I should be more moderate in my consumption of them. To say so, however, risks making me a hypocrite, because it’s obvious to most that I’m often unsuccessful at moderation. Is Sen. David Vitter, D-La. a hypocrite because he speaks about the sanctity of marriage, yet gets outed as a prostitution client? Is Seattle’s Mayor Nickels a hypocrite because his fleet mileage didn’t seem to go down after he made major public pronouncements about cutting down on auto use?

This comes up because of a conversation I had with someone the other day. He said Vitter’s actions indicate he doesn’t “believe” in what he says. I countered that perhaps he believes it, but he’s weak, the same way chronic drinker who wishes to be a teetotaller is. Perhaps “hypocrite” is an appropriate term for Vitter. Perhaps he should resign. But “hypocrite” might apply to all of us, because we all fall short of our ideals at times.

Even America does, but Leonard Pitts Jr. has something to say about it.

Finally, Darth Vader is on notice because of his appearance at a Harry Potter screening I attended and at the opening of the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Dude, it’s time to change the ensemble. Surely with all your power you could find an imaginative tailor.

Remember, “You’re on notice” means “I’m watching you,” not “You’re dead to me,” which is a different Colbert subject. Send me your nominations for things or people you’re getting a little suspicious of, or getting a little tired of, or you think are not getting the attention they should. Feel free to duplicate other peoples’ nominations. If something gets nominated a lot, it’s more likely to get on the board.

Then again, this isn’t scientific and is subject to the blogmaster’s personal bias and sense of what’s relevant and/or funny. The board will be updated whenever we’re good and ready. We’re seldom both, so be patient.