Anonymous, WBC, and mixed messages

[Nakor]

This has been interesting so far. First this comes out on the Anon website:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/anonymou ... stboro-chu

(Short version: An open letter addressed from Anon to WBC, which is basically an open threat that they'll KO the WBC site and propaganda and so forth.)

Then WBC fires back with this:

http://imgur.com/nh1kR

(Short version: Typical WBC "you're all going to die and go to hell" type fluff.)

Finally this shows up on the Anon website:

http://anonnews.org/?p=press&a=item&i=494

(Shortish version: the Anon site is set up so that anyone can post to it without any significant sort of check. This release states that Anon never posted the initial threat, and accuses the WBC of posting the threat so that other members Anon would get worked up thinking it was real or responding to WBCs response, take action and get sued, resulting in an easy litigation victory for WBC (which is basically what they thrive on).)

Of course, because of the AnonNews site's open-posting policy, it's impossible to really say for sure either way. On one hand, it's easy to accept that some of the anon trolls thought it would be a good idea to go after the WBC, and after WBC's reply and seeing how open their site is to attack, the smarter trolls among them backpedalled. On the other hand, the WBC is exactly the kind of organization that would pull the sort of BS that Anon accused them of in the last entry. Wonder if anything'll come of it.

[Frong]

What I wonder is not if anything will come of this, but how long the WBC wacknuts will continue to protest before a counter-protest crowd finally snaps and beats half of them to death. I know that wouldn't be the right approach, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen eventually. The morons are too far off the deep end to respond to anything but violence.

[Nakor]

What's apparently been happening is that people are simply setting up charity counters near wherever they're prostesting. The charities, of course, are anything that the WBC agrees with, so you get a smattering of GLBT ones, maybe a science education charity, interfaith/atheist ones, that sort of thing. Then all the people who might start something (and then get sued, thereby funding the WBC) can demonstrate their opposition, donate to a good cause, and make the WBC protest backfire all at the same time.