| Ok, the buzz goes on in the forums, and some pretty nasty things are said about the Sheriff. I allowed most of it because he is a public figure, though I had some of it removed because I thought it crossed the line into libel. Most of it was a bunch of anonymous people complaining about a politician they didn't like. I didn't know how much was true, but I knew something was going on, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. So I hired Chet Zarko, and you can read about that here.
Once the ball got rolling, the Sheriff's people got nasty. Really nasty. First, it was little things. People popping up on the forums and on my web site and making snotty remarks and calling me names. Ok, whatever.
Then it was anonymous letters from someone at the Sheriff's church, being sent to my house. God loves me and all of the Sheriff's accusers just as much as He loves Jon Wilson. (The Sheriff's church was a powerhouse for right-wing candidates -- going FAR beyond issue advocacy -- but it settled down a bit in the past election)
Then it was someone showing up at my house in the middle of the night, to dump their garbage on my deck. I'll tell you, it's a horrible feeling to get up in the morning and find out someone was at your house while you were sleeping, and you didn't know they were there.
And then there was all the talk. I counted at least a dozen lies that people were telling about me, and that's just what got back to me. Horrible accusations that were absolutely baseless, that involved me filing for bankruptcy so I could keep my house while I went off to jail, me running a sex crime ring (which means I shouldn't be bankrupt, but, whatever), and me bringing little kids home for disgusting activities. I can't even repeat what I was hearing, it's just sick.
But I can't even put in to words what it was like to get in the morning and find this email from one of the anonymous people on the forums:
This website is bullshit. www.christinebarry________.com
(I removed the last part of the URL)
It was a wordpress blog, with my picture at the top. The domain name was purchased on the day that this aired, and each post was written within about 24 hours of something happening to the Sheriff. Sheriff got unfavorable Argus coverage? A post about me went up. Deputies launched a lawsuit? Post about me went up. It was sick and it was really personal, and totally a violation of Michigan law.
This particular post in question, was the one that got "her" sued:
My friends tell me Christine Barry is talking about how happy she is to be going to Denver to the Democratic National Convention. Of course, even the Democrats won't allow a ___________ like Christine Barry to be a delegate. How and why she should be allowed on the floor of the convention is beyond me? Democrats in attendance, watch your ______ if Christine is standing near you or she might just _______ you, too.
Is it common for U.S. political parties to allow __________ and criminals to attend their functions? (save your jokes about all politicians being criminals!)
The Shiawassee county Democratic Party must be so pleased with its little _____!
The author of the blog claimed to be a young girl named Isabella, from Spain, here in America for some kind of media class at some college, somewhere. I'm not going to tell you who I named in the lawsuit, but I'll tease you with this - what kind of people know what a convention delegate is? And who would hate the Democrats?
This was nothing but an attempt to intimidate me and anyone else who dared to speak up about the Republican Sheriff.
I sued, it was resolved, and I'm fine with it now. I'm really pleased that we didn't go to court, because I didn't want to be the poster child for bloggers rights in Michigan. Is a blogger a public figure? Do we have the same protections as reporters? And so on.
(Side note: since I made bumper stickers and was on the news, I probably would've been considered a public figure under Michigan law)
I also didn't want to go through a lawsuit and have my entire life opened up to the public. However, I feel I had enough evidence to convince a jury who put up the site, that it was libel, and that I was damaged. And since I hate bullies, I would have seen it all the way through to the mutually destructive conclusion.
(Side note #2: Since a blogger and a newspaper reporter were victims of this site, and this may have created new law in Michigan, I fully expected it to become a big story in the press. It would not have been a quiet thing, and therefore, all of the lies would have been repeated on the Internet and in the press.)
Because of the lawsuit, I was able to subpoena information about the people who were involved in the libel. This blog wasn't the only libel; there were other online incidents by other "people" ... "Lurker/WTF/AnonymousWriterOwosso" and "Scully." I'm hoping that all of these people recognize that I'm not embarrassing them by revealing their identities. I'm sure that they're still bitching about me to their friends, but maybe in private they'll understand that this is a gesture of goodwill.
See, the the Sheriff thing was like a divorce. You saw the absolute worst of some normally good people. I'm not the only one who was subject to character assassination. Deana Finnegan , George Braidwood, the Argus Press reporter who broke the story, some of our Commissioners, and our County Coordinator .... All of them were trashed in some way. As far as I know, I was the only one who sued, but I don't talk to the others, so I don't know how they handled their situations.
Was it horrible, what happened to us? Yes. Will it happen again? Probably not. So I don't see any reason to punish the people involved by humiliating them. I think enough is enough and it's ok for all of us to move on now. But I also felt that it was appropriate to write about this, so that we can all learn from this.
One thing I will mention is that a local ISP was involved. This reaffirms my belief that the Shiawassee County Forums can never be hosted in Shiawassee County, or by any local organization. The only way people can be free to speak up without some kind of administrative repercussion (losing their job, losing business, having the health dept. come after you, whatever) is to make sure that their anonymity is protected. (anonymity to speak the truth) If that local ISP had been hosting the forums, I'm sure they would have given the Sheriff information as soon as he asked.
But, months before this libel issue was resolved, Deana Finnegan won the Republican primary, and then George Braidwood won the general election. So we now have a Democratic Sheriff, which I honestly never cared that much about, except in the general sense that a Democrat in office is almost always better than a Republican in office. In fact, I never cared who the Sheriff was, until Sheriff Wilson turned this into a personal war with me. I wasn't trying to run Jon Wilson out of office. The fact is, those Deputies who helped me with Darth made me feel safe. I was scared when I went to them. I was scared of Darth and I was scared of them, and when I left, I wasn't scared anymore. That was a big deal for me, and I knew they were working in a bad environment, and I thought maybe I could do something nice for them. I thought maybe the Sheriff would stop the bad behavior in the workplace. It never occurred to me that the he would not be re-elected.
Ultimately, I do appreciate the irony that it was Mike Bishop got the ball rolling. George Braidwood could've won an election without my involvement, but if not for local grassroots and netroots efforts, Sheriff Wilson would not have alienated the Argus Press, and that's what really hurt him in the election. People just don't like it when you mess with their press.
And you know what else? Republicans don't like bloggers.
You can read the details about the Sheriff's saga here. |
Ok, on 
