by Matt Siegel
Stupidity here:
http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/trejbal/wb/108160
My response to this stupidity follows:
God bless our freedom of speech and the journalists who protect it.
Shame on those people who would vilify a crusader like Christian
Trejbal, fighting to maintain transparency in government, and protecting
us from those in our community who are all too ready to do us harm.
My sincere hope is that you will continue to publish databases of public
information, like the criminal records of all our local elected
officials. Now that would be something worth reading. Better yet, how
about posting the criminal records of all the employees of the Roanoke
Times? It's public information, and we should know that about you.
I'm sure such an astute journalistic crusader Like Mr. Trejbal would
have no problem publishing his own address and phone number, criminal
record, tax returns, social security number, stock and real estate
holdings, for all of us to see. If you're not doing anything wrong,
then what are you hiding? I mean, if he is to be tasked with the
selfless responsibility of informing the public, then let's keep the
public informed.
Tell me what school his kids attend. I'm not a child molester. Look it
up. I'm not on the list. If his kids go to public schools, I have a
right to know that. I'm paying for their education. It's public
information. And if they go to private schools, this tells me a bit
more about the social and economic status of Mr. Trejbal, which informs
his politics, and ultimately, his journalism.
But after pissing off almost four-thousand local gun owners, I could
understand why Mr. Trejbal might not want to give out information about
himself or his family. People who are public figures have to place a
special value on their privacy. That's just common sense.
What's also common sense is publishing lists of all Muslims in the
area. About 0% of terrorism is committed by licensed gun owners, but
99.9% of terrorism is committed by Muslims. So, wouldn't it benefit me
to know who and where the Muslims are? I have a right to know, and it
is public information. It's called census data. It's not like anyone
would want to harm these people. No, we just want to know who they are.
But seriously, let's get down to business; Homosexuals. We need to
publish a list of homosexuals, because I don't want them making my kids
gay. Now the government doesn't keep a list of faggots, but people
infected with HIV/AIDS are tracked by the Health Department. I don't
want to get HIV, so I have a right to know who these people are so I
don't interact with them in any way. It would also be a good idea to
burn their houses down so the disease doesn't spread. It's for our own
protection.
Also, I didn't see the name of my cheating ex-wife on that list of gun
owners, so I know it's safe to get drunk, go over there, and give her
the beating she so desperately deserves. In addition, when I need to go
out and kill some Muslims, in self-defense of course, I see from your
list that my neighbor has guns. I'll just go over there and steal a few
when he's at work. I didn't buy them, so there won't be any legal
record of the sale, and my name won't turn up anywhere. I find all this
freedom of information quite empowering!
In closing, people who own guns legally are just ticking time bombs
waiting to explode. Why else would they own guns? Publishing a list of
them is a great idea. Even if they have never even been accused of
something, clearly they are guilty. I sincerely hope that when the
backlash from Mr. Trejbal's article hits home, he doesn't find himself
on that list of gun owners.
But just think, if something bad ever happens to Mr. Trejbal, he has
already published a list of the usual suspects the police can round up
anytime anything bad happens to anyone. And chances are, one of them
will be guilty.
Now that's investigative journalism at it's best!
Love you guys.
Sincerely,
Matt Siegel