Give Fake Political Attack Victim a Break
Tommy Christopher
Contributor
Posted:
10/24/08
Being a true liberal, I always try to see things from the other person's point of view, and perhaps gain some 
empathy and insight in the process.
It is with this in mind that I consider the case of Ashley Todd, who faked a report to police about being attacked and mutilated by a huge, dyslexic, but kinda skinny, black Barack Obama supporter.
Sure, there are some negatives to this story. Granted, she was likely trying to incite racial hatred in order to get John McCain elected. True, she probably saw this as "her" moment, ready for the proverbial Mr. DeMille to swing in tight. Had her story been believed, it might have inspired retaliatory attacks against truly innocent victims.
She also becomes another in the tiny stable of anecdotes that people use to disbelieve victims of real violence, especially women.
But let's step back for a moment, and give Ashley a break. She is, after all, the vic
tim of a violent fake attack, which means she's probably got all kinds of Post-Fake-Traumatic Stress symptoms. You know, fake night terrors, the occasional fakeback.
Let's try to look at the positives that came out of this.
Right off the bat, I see she's already wearing a hoodie that will go perfectly with her new jumpsuit.
Then, there's the actual construction of her hoax. We should all be grateful that she did it so unimaginatively, and dare I say, idiotically. From the scrimshaw-precise, mirror-image lettering on her face, to the B-movie foreshadowing of her Twitter updates, she couldn't have been dumber.
But telling the cops that the attacker was a 6 ft 4 in, 200 lb black guy? Genius, right out of the Susan Smith playbook. And he performed his body art at 9pm on a public street, huh? And you were so nervous about the area that you Twittered about it minutes before the attack, but somehow the guy still got the drop on you?
Another big positive is that, as David Knowles pointed out, it showed who was hateful enough to use an obvious hoax to gin up outrage, and who was the voice of reason. Some of those answers surprised me. Michelle Malkin, to her credit, was appropriately skeptical. Wonkette, to their credit, were appropriately hilarious. Both presidential candidates reacted as they should have. And only the most marginal of hatemongers tried to make hay with it.
All in all, this could have been much worse. While Ashley Todd may be worthy of some degree of scorn, even derision, I would urge an additional measure of compassion. Even if you have to fake it.
Update: One of Barack Obama's most strident and vehement critics, Darragh Murphy of PUMAPAC, has delivered the full-throated retraction done right.
empathy and insight in the process.It is with this in mind that I consider the case of Ashley Todd, who faked a report to police about being attacked and mutilated by a huge, dyslexic, but kinda skinny, black Barack Obama supporter.
Sure, there are some negatives to this story. Granted, she was likely trying to incite racial hatred in order to get John McCain elected. True, she probably saw this as "her" moment, ready for the proverbial Mr. DeMille to swing in tight. Had her story been believed, it might have inspired retaliatory attacks against truly innocent victims.
She also becomes another in the tiny stable of anecdotes that people use to disbelieve victims of real violence, especially women.
But let's step back for a moment, and give Ashley a break. She is, after all, the vic
tim of a violent fake attack, which means she's probably got all kinds of Post-Fake-Traumatic Stress symptoms. You know, fake night terrors, the occasional fakeback. Let's try to look at the positives that came out of this.
Right off the bat, I see she's already wearing a hoodie that will go perfectly with her new jumpsuit.
Then, there's the actual construction of her hoax. We should all be grateful that she did it so unimaginatively, and dare I say, idiotically. From the scrimshaw-precise, mirror-image lettering on her face, to the B-movie foreshadowing of her Twitter updates, she couldn't have been dumber.
But telling the cops that the attacker was a 6 ft 4 in, 200 lb black guy? Genius, right out of the Susan Smith playbook. And he performed his body art at 9pm on a public street, huh? And you were so nervous about the area that you Twittered about it minutes before the attack, but somehow the guy still got the drop on you?
Another big positive is that, as David Knowles pointed out, it showed who was hateful enough to use an obvious hoax to gin up outrage, and who was the voice of reason. Some of those answers surprised me. Michelle Malkin, to her credit, was appropriately skeptical. Wonkette, to their credit, were appropriately hilarious. Both presidential candidates reacted as they should have. And only the most marginal of hatemongers tried to make hay with it.
All in all, this could have been much worse. While Ashley Todd may be worthy of some degree of scorn, even derision, I would urge an additional measure of compassion. Even if you have to fake it.
Update: One of Barack Obama's most strident and vehement critics, Darragh Murphy of PUMAPAC, has delivered the full-throated retraction done right.
I am sorry to all of my readers who HAVE been victims of violence in any form. Jumping on the bandwagon like I did, with little regard for the trauma it might revive in the minds and hearts of those who really HAVE BEEN HURT was very unkind and irresponsible and insensitive.
I am also sorry to every black man who has been hurt, shamed, and diminished by this unconscionable lie. To fabricate the story of an attack is an assault by a shameless person on the compassion and good faith of everyone. To make up a story like that using the most inflammatory and racist stereotypes in our cultural skeleton closet is beyond the pale. Big scary black man (with very dark skin, natch) attacks small, defenseless, young white woman. Ugh. Who cares about my personal experience, right? But for the record, I have never in ALL MY LIFE met this "big scary black dude" who everyone claims is all over the place. All the black men I've ever met have been friendly, funny, indifferent, compassionate, or sad. Maybe I need to get out more, but that's my reality.
It almost makes me want to vote for Barack Obama. Seriously. If only to say that I will never defend the actions of Ashley Todd. She does not speak for me or for any decent person.
Tommy Christopher co-hosts "Unusable Signal",on BlogTalkRadio, Tues through Thurs at 10pm, and Fri, and Sat at 11pm. (Eastern) Click here for the Unusable Signal homepage.