The Cancer Is Spreading

Abdul Hakim Shabazz introduced a cancer to the Indiana blogosphere which is unfortunately spreading and bringing discredit to those of who attempt to maintain some level of professional courtesy and ethics in what we do as bloggers. I'm referring to the practice of some bloggers to adorn a hood and sheet like a bigoted Klansman and post whatever they want about another person or blogger anonymously because they are too much the coward to identify themselves or do so under the disingenuous claim that they must do so in order to protect their professional careers.

The bile from the underbelly of Shabazz came pouring out after last year's election when it was revealed that he was the person behind the IndyUndercover blog despite his sitting across the table from me and telling me he wasn't behind the blog and the fact that he watched in glee as this blogger was twice falsely accused of publishing the very blog to which he gave birth by others in the blogging community. This is the man who, once exposed, blamed the entire ordeal on an over-zealous Indianapolis police department determined to bring him down for investigating allegations that a prominent African-American businessman abused a child. As it turned out, Shabazz himself was the focus of the investigation for outing on IndyUndercover the identity of a confidential police informant in last year's arson investigation--a pregnant woman who feared for her life after being named on the blog. It is beyond my understanding why WXNT would continue to employ a radio personality so thoroughly discredited by his own deceit. It is only fitting that the station continues to anchor a place near the bottom of the ratings among Indianapolis' radio station market despite all the chest-pounding from the attention-seeking Shabazz.

The poison Shabazz has brought to the Indiana blogosphere has spread to the likes of Thomas Cook and Bil Browning. Both are paid bloggers who, like Shabazz, don't bother to disclose to their readers who's putting money in their pocket to flack for their cause. When they disagree with someone or wish to discredit them, they resort to the old Abdul tool of saving the meanest and worst they have to offer for posting by anonymous bloggers whose identities must be protected for the sake of protecting their professional careers. They go about carefully tagging each mean-spirited anonymous attack for maximum search engine value. The anonymous posts are nothing more than their dark sides showing through to expose them as the unethical and unprofessional persons who've they become.

As a blogger with many points of view, I fully expect criticism for what I write. I welcome it, and I enjoy the challenge of defending the positions I take. I'm not always right. My critics aren't always right. But I put my name to my thoughts and ideas. When people don't like what I write, they are allowed to express their opinions (within limits) in comments to my posts. Some people prefer to write to me off-line, while others telephone me. I've taken at least a dozen telephone calls from elected officials in this state over the past year alone who politely called me to discuss their differences with a view I've expressed on this blog. For some of those people, that wasn't an easy thing to do, but I respect the hell out of them for handling it in that fashion. It's just unfortunate that the cancer Shabazz introduced to our local blogosphere has become the tool of practice for some to the discredit of those of us who seek to do good through our work without any expectation of financial reward.