Anonymous Attacks: Battling the kooks from Kansas with illegal hacks feels good, but we know better

Opinion: There's a church I've had to name when writing news stories. But since this is merely my opinion, I'm not naming it. I prefer to deny them the attention when possible. Then there's Anonymous. Not so anonymous, but not so identifiable beyond being some conglomeration of various activist ''hackerati.'' Unlike the unnamed church, these guys I generally don't mind. When governments can jail people in perpetuity and seemingly at whim, when ''neuromarketing'' takes consumerism to its most Pavlovian, some independent anarchists aren't such a bad idea. It's somewhat comforting to know that some unlicensed contrarians are roaming the wild, wild Web. The unnamed church also does some good. Certainly, its adherents must think of themselves as doing good, warning the world that ''God hates fags.'' When the Supreme Court upheld the rights of these foul bigots to speak freely, it offered an affirmation of our social system. On some small level, the decision let the bad guys win. In the big picture, it left them tilting at windmills while illustrating a societal good: We value free and open discourse to the degree that will defend all rather than stifle the most offensive. It's evidence we take these values seriously. ... (more)

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