Infighting

I recently ran into the SF Bay Area Indymedia discussion forum on March 18, and could not believe some of the vitriol that was exchanged among individuals who all claim to be on the same "side".

I often see distressing comments here about how and/or why the anti-war movement as a whole is not actively progressing in intensity. I believe that I've found a very rational explanation:

A.N.S.W.E.R. is at the throat of UFPJ. While the anarchists and Black Bloc are at the throats of one another, all claiming that each is attempting to take down one another from within...it's just plain inexcusable.

With comments like these:

"This month, the worker's flag is blushing pink."

Easy to do, when you're so damn white.

"No, Bolshevik parasites can *not* freeload our efforts to provide a meeting place for anarchists. We put a lot of work into making this thing happen."

"But whoever it was, (s)he owes me a personal apology, in person, to my face, ASAP. (S)he altered my text without my permission. Worse, (s)he replaced it with misinformation, and refused to correct it until I started posting pointers to it so that people all over the net could see how fundamentally dishonestly they were behaving. Then and only then did (s)he correct at least some of the misinformation. Even then, (s)he changed the misinformation, or most of it anyway, only grudgingly. A say "some" of the misinformation because the fact remains that the text I posted was removed and replaced with something else. This is fundamentally dishonest and morally reprehensible. To cover it up is even worse. And that's what (s)he did.

This is not acceptable behavior, no matter who did it. It's wrong. It's dishonest. It's immoral. It's disgusting, a disgrace to journalism and to activism. Whoever did it should be ashamed of themselves and they should apologize.

It was done by *somebody* with an admin password to Indybay. I know this because that's how the software works. Only someone with an admin password could have done it. So unless and until they tell me which specific individual was responsible, I hold them all responsible. Even the ones who didn't actually do it are guilty because it is their collective responsibility to insure that things like this don't happen. So far, they have failed miserably at their responsibility, and not just in this case, either. This site is covered with dishonest crap that the admin crew here has not seen fit to correct. It's a disgrace second only to the prevalence of racist propaganda they publish here. It's a close second, too, very close.

Changing my text without my permission is no different than steaming open a snail mail letter I wrote, replacing it with one I didn't write, sealing the envelope back up and putting it back in the mail. It is fundamentally dishonest and totally inexcusable. It's not the first time this has happened, either. But it is the last straw."

http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/03/1806137_comment.php

...it's no wonder we aren't a million strong each and EVERY time.

edit: indybay url

but it sounds to me like someone or something has infiltrated their ranks. And if someone messed with a message posted on a board, well thats probably sabotage. Just my two cents!