The Opera Ghost really existed. He was not, as was longed believed, a creature of the imagination of the artist… Yes, he existed in flesh and blood, although he assumed the complete appearance of a real phantom; that is to say, of a spectral shade.

If you’ve seen the play, as I have, this Phantom is well known for his obsessive attempts to destroy his very own love- the opera. And I believe this is what some supporters of the FSSA protests are doing. Through faceless, personal attacks on the public faces and names. Jane F. Fernandes. I. King Jordan. Paul Kelly. David King. Bloggers like myself and others who either support or oppose the FSSA movements.

Did you know that last year, the Washington Post shut down comments on their blog? Their ombudsman, Deborah Howell, wrote that Hack Abramoff made direct campaign contributions to both clients (without explicitly disclosing that he had indirectly done so through his clients). Her column generated so much spitfire that the editor had little choice but to rein in the personal attacks. Deborah Howell later wrote:

…. It is profoundly distressing if political discourse has sunk to a level where abusive name-calling and the crudest of sexual language are the norm, where facts have no place in an argument. This unbounded, unreasoning rage is not going to help this newspaper, this country or democracy.

Amazon, when first allowing anonymous reviews, eventually had its own D’oh moment when finally realizing that authors often had their friends rave about their books with five-star ratings. Today, Amazon reviewers now are given the option of validating their identity; readers obviously give more credence to real names (which translates into “real” opinions).

There are still times when anonymity does work. Anybody remember Deep Throat? I look at this picture of W. Mark Felt, now in his nineties, and shake my head in sheer amazement. How could he have been the source of such heated, endless dissension.. that went on for decades? Admittedly, some Watergate fanatics (like myself) somewhat wish that Deep Throat had never revealed his identity- precisely because the constant guessing made the scandal seem bigger than what it really was!

As you know, DeafDC.com generates quite a voluminous share of anonymous comments. Very few brave souls use their full names, for perfectly understandable reasons. Some use aliases whose familiar (and sometimes humorous) nuances we grow to embrace. And then, there’s rest who are just, well, anonymous. Going even further into that category, you will inevitably find the guy who just somehow cruised by, decided to leave a ‘what the hey’ liner, and never returns. Or the scared poster who thinks she could lose her job by leaving behind tellable signs. And finally, we come to the malicious phantoms.

Who was that shape in the shadows? Whose is the face in the mask?

Masquerade! Every face a different shade. Masquerade. Look around, there’s another mask behind you!

Although not at all my intent to sound didactic in this post, I will tell you that it is no fun being victimized by cyber-bullies. Anonymous commentors tend to be much more aggressive than their honest-and-open counterparts. Sometimes their commentary can erode away at the credibility built by the blogger- or even destroy it entirely. Why is this so?

This loathsome gargoyle, who burns in bell, but secretly yearns for heaven. Secretly… secretly…

My guess is, they’re all trying to be Phantoms of the Opera.