The Old Dominion Blog Alliance and Their Tactics of Terror

By: joestanley24067
Published On: 8/28/2007 11:59:04 AM

The Old Dominion Blog Alliance is a loose collection of individuals who blog in order to promote a conservative political agenda. That, in and of itself, would be great if that was all it was.

Unfortunately, this group’s most vocal members are a coven of ill-informed, fulminating, bullies so overwrought with political passion that they have lost all sight of fairness, civility, and discretion. Their detachment from reality has led them so far off the path that they know no bounds, no extent, and no depths to which they will not stoop.

After these gutless invertebrate have spent weeks conspiring to destroy an individual for holding a belief or idea that was not pre-approved by the ODBA they then scurry and cry foul when responded to. The sanctimonious among them quote the Old Testament with forked tongues and their chief pettifogger steps away from busting rocks to promise frivolous lawsuits.
The less vocal members of this organization sit on their hands and shake their heads. “It’s not us! We didn’t say anything!” It somehow fails to dawn on them that they have lent this organization credence by lending it their names. Abraham Lincoln once said, “To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men."

These silent sheep are being used as virtual shields to protect the lowest of the ODBA.

In the early summer of 2007, I volunteered my services to Senator Roscoe Reynolds. I believe Senator Reynolds is a strong advocate for Southwest Virginia and all working Virginians. The extent of my volunteer services was to build a pro-Reynolds site. Quite frankly, Mr. Evans poor showing in this race leaves Senator Reynolds virtually unopposed. He has no need to even mention Evans’ name, much less talk about his character or lack thereof.

Unfortunately, Evans’ campaign manager and cowardly ODBA member Alton Foley spoon fed his fellow bloggers some reality-altering kool-aid. It is their fantasy that if they can bloody Reynolds on the net then they’ll beat him at the ballot box. Their first attack on Senator Reynolds was for “hiring” me and a rehash of their outrageous attacks upon me from the 2006 cycle.

What they don’t understand is that attacking the staff, much less a volunteer doesn’t push votes. That is process–inside baseball–and no one cares. When their attacks failed to take root they became harsher, continuing their attacks upon me and my business. They were very persistent and never let the facts get in their way.

Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. And Here.

Don't forget this one where Kat Wilton advises, "Politics is a hard-hitting and frequently rough arena for people to  play in, and if you can't take the heat, get the bloody hell out of the  kitchen!" I suppose that is a one way street.

It was apparent that the attacks were coordinated and getting more and more personal. When the ODBA cannot win by promoting their ideas, they try and bully everyone else out of the room. If they scare off the staff and volunteers, in their mind, what will Reynolds do? He’ll win. He will win either way because he is the best man in this race and one of the best in the Virginia Senate.

At some point, I was angered at being attacked for no reason and more so by having my business and livelihood targeted. I decided to speculate  the domain www.olddominionblogalliance.com. At that point I was still opposed to domain names of the individuals involved.

At no point did I ask anyone for their advice or consent on the path I was taking. What I do in my time is my business and my business alone.

I started to point it to a prominent Democratic site, but I don’t know of anyone who wants to be associated with these hate mongers and flat-earthers. I considered pointing the domain to a jihadist web site to draw a comparison on the extremism present in both groups. While I think the ODBA and their ilk eat away at the very core of what we are as a nation, I don’t think the ODBA is anti-American so decided to look elsewhere. One group stood out as equally loathsome and cowardly.

NAMBLA is an organization that advocates a set of beliefs that turn my stomach. Through misinformation, prevarication, and a false sense of earnestness, they pursue a predatory agenda that brings direct harm to countless innocent individuals. Their primary defense is the first amendment.

It is my opinion that the ODBA conducts itself in much the same way. While the end product is far less repugnant than pedophilia, no fewer individuals are hurt by the organization. The main distinction I can make between the two organizations is that NAMBLA believes in the first amendment, and ODBA only believes in their right to free speech.

I said as much to Jim Riley in an email when I was first asked about the domain.

This was not a joke, a prank, or any other kind of political horseplay. I meant the comparison. In short order, the ODBA proved my point once again. They were shocked that someone would fire back. I had sullied their “good name.” They quoted scripture, made fat jokes, threatened me  and promised lawsuits. None of this bothers me as I would expect no less from these miscreants.

They have fabricated my right to political free-speech into a scandal on their blogs. They even issued a laughable press release on a Saturday morning.

They have lied about and attacked my business associates, social acquaintances, and anyone even remotely connected with me. When that didn’t get them anywhere these jackals then attacked my deceased mother, and are now going after my minor-aged daughter. One member, a Portsmouth, Virginia police officer who has a daycare center operated out of his home, published my home address and phone number to the web while his cohorts made unspeakable accusations regarding my fitness as a parent.

The genesis of all this hysteria was a free, positive web site for Sen. Reynolds.

The ODBA is out of control. They need to be stopped.

Comments



Give 'em hell, Joe (bherring - 8/28/2007 1:16:10 PM)
Their nonsense is just the dying gasp of an increasingly irrelevant band of rabid mouth-breathers who are daily proving themselves more and more out of step with the reality of Virginia and its politics.  They're suffering defeat after electoral defeat, so they're fighting back the only way people with no ideas or coherent thoughts can: by attacking dirty. 

We are a movement.  They are a cancer.  Let's never forget that. 



I don't think your actions were justified (True Blue - 8/28/2007 1:58:43 PM)
But the individual members of ODBA you describe are odious.  They should have been taken on, one by one, and brought to account for their actions.  They weren't.

Now, your own actions have placed you in a position where it is very difficult to support you.  The fact that someone smeared you doesn't make it right for you to smear other inncoent people back just because they belong to the same loosely affiliated organization.  There is no such thing as "self-defense defamation," as you seem to think.

I understand you were attacked unfairly, and I think they drove you a little crazy, because frankly Joe you haven't been acting rationally.  By acting in the way you did, you empowered the ODBA, you didn't stop them. You gave them precisely the ind of red meat they desired.

I think that you might want to consider taking a break from politics to focus on your family and regain your composure.



I appreciate your comments but disagree (joestanley24067 - 8/28/2007 2:08:34 PM)
These people aren't acting as individuals. They are working as a single unit. It is the organization that gives them their strength.

They are writing the history right now whether you like it or not. Failing to respond to them will leave one side unrepresented. They aren't interested in diplomacy or courtesy. They are interested only in controlling everything.

Please refrain from insults because I disagree with your approach.

Respectfully, you haven't a clue how much time I focus on my family so you aren't in any position to comment on them.

Thanks again.



I do not think that you have shown . . . (True Blue - 8/28/2007 2:21:51 PM)
that the entire ODBA was involved in attacking you.  I think it was a subset of that organization--the usual suspects.

Joe, you are a computer professional.  You could have easily tracked the IP addresses of the people harassing you.  Quite a bit of what you describe sounds like it might have been illegal, particularly if the people who were doing it were doing it anonymously.  You should have documented their cyber-stalking and turned them into the authorities.  If you had, we might be sitting here reading a post about how a portion of the ODBA faced criminal charges for cyber-stalking. Instead, you took the law into your own hands and sought revenge in a childish prank.

I am profoundly sympathetic to your plight, having been the focus of harassment online myself.  But what you did was also wrong and you should not expect anyone to endorse or support your actions.

In football terms: I think you have allowed the people who wanted to hurt you to draw you offsides.  The sooner you recognize that you have crossed a line, the sooner you will be able to apologize for your actions and be forgiven and welcomed back.

You are correct that the cabal of bloggers who attacked you need to be dealt with, but the cruel irony Joe is that you yourself have taken away one of our best weapons: your keen wit and your artistry with digital images.



I disagree (Ben - 8/28/2007 2:30:24 PM)
True Blue, I respect your opinion on this, and I would agree except you are missing one critical fact.  The ODBA maintains a "secret" email list that they use to discuss, plan and coordinate these personal attacks.  It is NOT a loosly tied group of individuals misbehaving but a cabal that's sole purpose is to destory people.

Knowing that, I say GOOD FOR YOU JOE!



Whether or not you agree with Joe's tactics (Lowell - 8/28/2007 2:11:35 PM)
the bottom line here is that the ODBA is on a crusade against Democrats, progressives, liberals, moderate Republicans, what they call "RINOs," anyone who looks at 'em funny, and most of all anyone who dares to stand up to them.  Isn't that what bullies always do?


But if we sink to their level we are no better than them (True Blue - 8/28/2007 2:24:38 PM)
It's not a question of whether we should stand up to them, it's a question of tactics.  The ends don't justify the means.  We have to be better than them, because if we aren't, then we don't deserve to win any more than they do.


We would have to sink a LONG way (Lowell - 8/28/2007 4:01:12 PM)
to reach the level of the Virginia right-wing blogosphere (with a few exceptions).


You cant be serious (novamiddleman - 8/28/2007 10:30:51 PM)
Lowell,

I had to sign on

The hypocrisy of your post is truely ridiculous

the bottom line here is that Lowell and a majority of the raising Kaine community is on a crusade against Republicans, constructionists, conservatives, moderate Democrats, what they call "DINOs," anyone who looks at 'em funny, and most of all anyone who dares to stand up to them.  Isn't that what bullies always do? 

The past several months have seen the blogosphere continue to sink to the point that I don't know if its even worth coming back



Completely backwards, as always. (Lowell - 8/28/2007 10:32:26 PM)
Nice job.


ODBA is an organized gang. (Bubby - 8/28/2007 3:08:49 PM)
Not content to let their ideas live or die in an open environment of free speech, the ODBA has formed a league or union where the cost of membership is adherence to a shared lie, and a fabricated moral superiority. Whatever the original intention, the ODBA has become the tool of thugs, and fascists organizing to coerce what their ideas can not win - respect and acceptance.

If it were possible to rationally, and honestly dialog these bloggers it might be possible to create amity and understanding.  But with few exceptions they have no interest in allowing dissenting viewpoints on their blogs - their purpose is to propagate a commonly agreed upon lie.



I don't disagree with that Bubby (True Blue - 8/28/2007 3:17:31 PM)
But I don't think we need to become the ODBA in order to defeat them.  The truth is we are beating the pants off them by being better than them in every measurable way.

Why behave in a morally questionable way?  We can beat them and stay on the high road.



"Morally Questionable"? (Bubby - 8/28/2007 4:15:22 PM)
The boobs don't purchase all forms of their name, Joe does and links them to NAMBLA's site.  What is "morally questionable"?  NAMBLE is a kook political organization looking to legitimize itself, sound similar? 

They may be squealing like stuck pigs about their "reputation", but a quick review will show that they don't have a "reputation" to covet.  They post and cross-post to snuff video, dead children, bathroom jokes, and impersonate attorneys to name a few. Oh, and they also talk about politics - and Joe.

But, do it your way: Start posting comments on the ODBA blogs and see how that works out.  I don't recommend trying to sing Kum Ba Yah with the the Christian lady she doesn't like  Whoreson, Jerk-Off, jackasse liberals and will most likely direct you straight to hell (in a Christian sorta way). 



A-Team? Ha! They're the A-Teens! (The Grey Havens - 8/28/2007 7:36:32 PM)
These are the same idiots who swarmed in favor of Allen's A-Team.

I must say, they do sing GREAT!!!

A*Teens - Super Trooper



More A-Team Magic... (The Grey Havens - 8/28/2007 7:40:39 PM)

Do ya luv it!?



For What It's Worth (AnonymousIsAWoman - 8/28/2007 10:27:29 PM)
Joe, you know I disagree with your choice of site, NAMBLA.  But I do feel that you are owed your side of the story.  I hope you don't mind, but I also put this statement up in its entirety on my blog.

Even though I condemned what you did (choice of website was the main reason) I always maintained that there were two sides of the story and these were not innocent, aggrieved victims.  And you did not act in a vacuum.

Also, the fact that ODBA won't let it drop convinces me even more that this was part of a concerted campaign.  If you hadn't purchased that domain and linked it to NAMBLA, they'd be posting and smearing ad nauseum about the cartoon and calling you an anti-semite anyway.  That was their original game plan.

Anyway, for what it's worth, I've given you the last word on this on my site as well.