Can The Mods Just Ban Colyer Already? (AKA Why DOES He Hate AMERICA?)- Page 2

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 4:29pm

If people stopped responding to him, his posts will just drop off the board. As far as I can tell, Colyer's posting has increased dramatically since the board has banded in attack against him like a clique of mean junior high school girls. I have zero sympathy for him, but I don't think he's dangerous. He's pathetic. I find it creepy when this board does that, btw, gathering and publishing all the information that can be found on another poster.

I suspect that's why posts have been removed and Jordan was suspended - because of the personal attacks. I despise Colyer's beliefs, but I haven't seen him breaking any of this board's rules. All due respect, Jordan, I don't know why you weren't banned long ago. Between the cursing, the personal attacks, the thread-jacking while making personal attacks, the "funny" copycat threads and so on, you break this board's rules on a near-daily basis, and you're still here - and you want him banned because you don't like what he says, when he isn't breaking rules? Many of us have suffered bigotry in various forms. I'm also Jewish and from the south, and much older than you. I had a cross burned on my yard. I say dude wants to post his krazy krap, let him. And then ignore him. Especially if what he says disturbs you.

It's really simple. Ignore him. If he screws up and breaks a rule here, report him.

Don't. Feed. The. Troll. Same goes for mikey .

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 4:36pm

Edited.

You're not even worth a response.

Updated On: 10/2/12 at 04:36 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 4:44pm

I feel like such a loser because I haven't had a cross burned on my lawn. Once I gave a quote to a newspaper and somebody said "faggot" on answering machine after it was published. Yes. Answering machine.

I think we should vote Jim Colyer, White Supremacist off the island and let him extinguish his own torch.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 4:50pm

I missed your post pre-edit, Jordan, but I guess you may have made my point. I didn't attack you or say anything that wasn't true. I wasn't speaking maliciously. I'm sorry this guy upsets you so much. I wish you wouldn't give him that kind of power, because as others have stated, he very likely gets off on it.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 4:53pm

My, it is becoming like Lord of the Flys here!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 4:57pm

Don't forget: It's 4 weeks till a presidential election. This period of time is always like a huge Mercury-in-Retrograde, not just on BroadwayWorld, not just on the Internet, but throughout the entire United States.

Everyone's nerves are frayed, everyone is edgy and brittle, and lots of people are just SPOILING for a fight.

So it's a really good time to walk away from the computer, turn it off, sit and listen to a cast album or some Mozart, meditate, take a walk around the block, go to the gym, go volunteer for a political campaign or charity...do ANYTHING to break the pattern of feel-attacked-and-attack-back.

He only has as much power over you as you choose to give him. Ultimately, in the course of your life, he is NOT the equivalent of the Klan marching on your Hebrew school. (And if that really happened, sit down RIGHT NOW and start a screenplay about it. Seriously.)

He is just an idiot on the Internet. And he has no power whatsoever until you get upset. He's like a science-fiction character that can suck your life force from you--but ONLY when you let him make you upset.

He's just an idiot on the Internet.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 5:06pm

^^^^^^^

Preach it PJ.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 5:15pm

As Jennifer Connely told David Bowie at the end of Labrinth; "You have no power over me!"

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 5:16pm

Everyone's nerves are frayed, everyone is edgy and brittle, and lots of people are just SPOILING for a fight.

This.

Last weekend, my boyfriend and I decided to check out VeganMania in Chicago, though we're not vegans ourselves. Now, I don't know if it's the political climate or the lack of cooked flesh, but it was the most angry, bitter and RUDE group of people I've ever encountered. I was willing to slaughter a cow myself and set up a barbecue stand if it would at least get those people to be less hostile. Instead, we just said goodbye to their Seitan Gyros (with all the anti-meat sentiment, why do they constantly try to recreate it?) and got out of there.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 6:02pm

What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?

[Jane2]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 6:11pm

^ HAHA, you slay me!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 6:27pm

Okay, that was brilliant.

[Plum]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 6:41pm

Ah, the free speech defense on a message board. Look, if someone wanted to arrest this guy for saying what he does, I'd be the first to direct him to the ACLU. But this is a message board, not a public forum, and Colyer has spouted some of the the rankest misogyny I've ever seen here, so yeah, ban his ass. Online communities have to be tended and yes, trimmed, or they grow into the kudzu of YouTube comments.

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 8:03pm

Ok, here it is in a nutshell. I started the JC, White Supremacist thread in response to JC's hideous "Obama's mother is a whore" post. I decided to Google his name to see who this nutcase was.

I'm glad people are upset enough to have contributed to the thread. It shows that you guys care. Pal Joey is totally correct. Let's let this Colyer thing go now. If your'e pissed off enough, put your anger to work in joining forces w/an org that fights discrimination. Then you shall have the power.

Whether you choose to ignore or not ignore the "trolls", KNOW that:

The Southern Poverty Law Center,
The Anti Defamation League,
The FBI,
and countless other ANTI DISCRIMINATION WATCHDOG GROUPS monitor very closely ANYONE who has registered and posted on neo Nazi, White Supremacist websites. This is why these racists are SO STOOPID. They love to brag their hatred. It will bite them in the ass in the end.

For THIS, we can be grateful.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 11:22pm

I LOVE the Southern Poverty Law Center.


And this: the kudzu of YouTube comments.

I will say this about the outcome of the hostility, I think people for the most part are writing really thoughtful things around here lately. I found reading the past few weeks edifying, rather than mostly time-killing.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/2/12 at 11:40pm

And funny too: Plum's "kudzu of YouTube comments" and Reginald's calling Mister Matt's vegan-maniacs "seitan worshipers."

Those are funny.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 10/3/12 at 12:06am

Namo, I love the Southern Poverty Law Center, too. I crushed on a guy who used to work for them once.

I'm glad tiny reminded me it was the comments about Obama's mother that started this. Because those were truly gross and horrible. And not in a horrible Roxy of Goth way.

And I truly believe that anyone who is fool enough to use their real name on a message board really opens themselves up to it. I think it's kind of funny in the years of posting those songs, no one even bothered to do a moment's research on Jim Colyer, no one ever opened up a thread with those Jim Colyer lyrics and said, "I like the sound of this. Tell me more!" to even tip the iceberg of what's going on with him. His songs, despite being something to chuckle at (there's a Christmas song that I remember having particularly horrifying lyrics), generated negative buzz beyond those threads and yet there was this rich history just waited to be uncovered. I respectfully disagree with ghostlight's claim that it's creepy that it is being talked about here, because it was right there all along.

But I like so many of the comments in this thread, like Namo's and PalJoey's and Plum's and tiny's.





Updated On: 10/3/12 at 12:06 AM

[strummergirl]

Posted: 10/3/12 at 12:22am

Also kudos for tiny to bring up the post that triggered these threads. He said Obama's mother was a whore on account of her having relationships with two people of color. There have been plenty of stupid things said on here that include Xenia's whole 'Moochelle' meme that he kept doing that was pretty disgusting, but this was just beyond the pale as it was a thread about Romney's father being on welfare. How could he go from that thread to say that?

My whole issue with the posts saying it was inappropriate for people to post his profile. First those profiles are public, all in his name. He could have made them private. Plus, as PRS said, he has posted here for years spouting his conservative politics and posting his songwriting. He was made phone of between his silly profile photo to his pedestrian songwriting but nobody assumed he was nothing more than an idiot who seemed blissfully unaware of how out of place his posts were. We now know he is a racist idiot and it seems to happen as he posts with more frequency. He has to know about the reaction to his presence even if he does not directly respond to anybody calling him out. I don't mind shaming him and calling out his inconsistencies, especially when, as mentioned before, he chose to use his real name. Broadwayworld.com can be intense but it is child's play to what the people at 4chan and Reddit could do to somebody like him. I feel like that the shaming is more well-known throughout the message board now than a few weeks ago. Most people never saw his posts before.

I agree with PJ's sentiment to just ignore him- unless he says something mightily on par with what he said about Obama's mother. Then I think people can do what they want. Jim Colyer tires me at this point and there are just much more productive things to talk about.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 10/3/12 at 1:01am

To be clear, Strummergirl, I didn't say it was inappropriate, just that I found it creepy. It's less a "claim" than it is a feeling. I guess it comes down to whether you approve of reddit/4chan-style tactics. It makes me uneasy when anyone gets ganged up on and exposed, especially when I get the feeling that mental illness may be involved. I do agree this case is a little different, though, as you you and Phyl have pointed out, Colyer was stupid (crazy?) enough to use his real name.

I did see the post about Obama's mother, and I agree it was indeed vile. I believe it was deleted, as it should have been. I often see nasty posts and comments here, though. Personal ones, and not addressed to public figures, but to other posters. Sometimes they get deleted, sometimes they're allowed to stand. I really don't understand the moderation here. It's so random, and I completely agree with Romantico that pms should be sent to posters who have had posts deleted, explaining why.

As to this:

"I feel like that the shaming is more well-known throughout the message board now than a few weeks ago. Most people never saw his posts before. "

Are any of us the better for that? Colyer doesn't seem remotely shamed. In fact, he seems proud and unrepentant. The increased exposure has spurred him to bolder, more vile and frequent posts. Now he has more people reading his hateful spew than ever. I also agree with PJ that we should ignore him and his like. It's a waste of time trying to shame the shameless. Shun them instead.

[JbaraFan1]

Posted: 10/3/12 at 1:21am

Updated On: 10/3/12 at 01:21 AM

[strummergirl]

Posted: 10/3/12 at 1:38am

I absolutely don't condone 4chan or reddit tactics. Both scare me quite a bit, mainly because they put all of their energy into just being nihilistic provocateurs that maybe once in a blue moon do something mildly humorous. I am just pointing out that for a guy who posts the same exact things on a Broadway message board and a neo-Nazi message board under his real name, he is setting himself up to get that treatment because who is to say he would post on some board where some 4channer spends his time.

On whether his mental state drives these posts, I would feel bad if that is effecting him. But there is still nothing to that possibility. Yeah, his websites have rambling posts but none of it compares to the word-salad constituent letters I've come across working in government buildings, clearly written by people with mental illness (and we still had to report them no matter how implausible their threats were).

I personally think he was going to post stuff in that vein regardless of how many people prodded him about posting on stormfront and liking David Duke. It's an election year. He's always seemed to be blissfully unaware of the response to his posts whether it was that Dinesh D'Souza propaganda piece he posted or about ABBA or whatever.

I cannot really speak to whether we are better for him being shamed. Personally, I am fascinated by people of Colyer's ilk in general in the 21st century when the paper trail on the internet is immense. I can sort of understand how such a thing can be seen as creepy, but only when applied to the average person. Him, not so much. I feel it is deserved.

[Plum]

Posted: 10/3/12 at 2:01am

Just chiming in to reiterate the awesomeness of SPLC. I worked with them on immigration, not hate groups, but it was just another instance of them fighting the good fight.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/3/12 at 10:47am

I remember the first post of his tinged with racism was that weird essay on his stargazing trip in South America. When he was just posting lyrics, people looked into him a bit and found some crazy (he posted his bio in his profile), but the stargazing trip really started to rankle a lot of people. The Obama's mother comment pushed it over the edge. Like I said before, he puts his name on everything, so he can be sought out and identified, so it's not like there was any 4-channing going on. He specifically wants people to know what he says and who is saying it.

Updated On: 10/3/12 at 10:47 AM

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/3/12 at 10:56am

Yeah, I used to wonder why people were so unkind to him about his songs. Not that they were any good, and I don't like shilling without otherwise contributing. But the comment about the president's mother was so shocking. And then when others start pointing to his posts on other sites, it was really hard not to respond.

But I don't think he should be banned (though I wonder if someone made the same comment about Colyer's mother if THEY'D be banned) until/unless he breaks the rules here. And he's clearly enjoying the attention, since he's posted more--though still inanely--since the hubbub started.

[tazber]

Posted: 10/3/12 at 11:32am

He started with his songs awhile ago and I too just thought he was a shill.

But while I think he is odious and perhaps not all there I don't think any of this "shaming" has had an effect at all. He seems completely oblivious and just keeps "bombing" the board with his hate.

Plus, I have to defend his right to post that crap he posts. If he was banned because of his views, then who's next?

Everyone's going crazy about the intolerance for free speech in the Middle East and here we are suggesting the same thing.