Oh, dear.
I do that just about every day, here.
In fact:
There I go again.
Posted on 07/10/2006 8:53:40 PM PDT by LdSentinal
An adjunct psychology lecturer at the University of Arizona resigned Saturday after writing to a conservative blogger she wouldn't care if his 2-year-old son was killed the way JonBenet Ramsey was.
Deborah Frisch's comments on the Web site www.proteinwisdom.com created such a furor she has been lambasted on countless conservative Web sites. Her boss at the University of Arizona also received irate e-mails calling for her termination, she said.
Alfred Kaszniak, head of the psychology department, said he has received close to 300 emails about the incident. "The majority were very angry and many of them were using similar kinds of language that she is alleged to have used, accusing myself and the university of all sorts of things," he said.
Frisch, 44, said she quit her $32,861-a-year part time position not only because she fears for her safety, but because she regrets the UA ended up in the middle of what was intended to be a "sick joke."
She had hoped by quitting her job, supporters of blogger Jeff Goldstein would stop their online attacks. If anything, she said, they've increased.
"These people think I should be incarcerated, that I'm mentally ill or that I should be shot," Frisch said during a telephone interview from Eugene, Ore., where she is living now. "This whole thing has been crazy to me. People have spent their whole weekend on this."
Frisch, who has a doctorate in psychology, has been using the Internet to post her political views since the 2004 presidential election. Not only does she have her own Web site, www.debfrisch.com, but she also loves to "troll."
"Trolling is a type of Internet behavior where you post inflammatory comments on blogs when you know they disagree with the blogger and their minions," Frisch said.
On July 4, Frisch found herself on Goldstein's blog, or on-line journal. Soon, she was trading barbs with Goldstein and others of his political bent. At first, Frisch said she was enjoying herself.
"I like to play with fire. I'm a left-wing Rush Limbaugh. I'm a writer and I like to fight with words. I'm a word warrior."
Suddenly though, Frisch said, the conversation degenerated into disparaging personal remarks, many of a sexual nature.
She said she asked Goldstein to tell the others to desist, but was ignored. Eventually, she grew frustrated, she said.
"I wrote something that would make him as queasy as they were making me feel," Frisch said.
According to Goldstein's blog, Frisch wrote "You live in Colorado, I see. Hope no one JonBenets your baby" and "I reiterate: If some nutcase kidnapped your child tomorrow and did to (him) what was done to your fellow Coloradan, JonBenet Ramsey, I wouldn't give a damn."
Six-year-old JonBenet was strangled to death in her Boulder City, Colo., home in December 1996. Her killer has never been caught.
Kaszniak said he was not aware of Frisch's blog or her trolling behavior before the incident. Had she not resigned, he said an investigation of her actions would have been necessary.
The UA's Handbook for Appointed Personnel includes "an obligation to respect the dignity of others, to acknowledge their right to express differing opinions, and to foster and defend intellectual honesty, freedom of inquiry and instruction, and free expression on and off the campus,"
Goldstein, in a telephone interview from his home in Colorado, also says Frisch suggested he kiss his son inappropriately and made disparaging remarks about his wife -- something Frisch emphatically denies. She says someone must have used her name and Web address to impersonate her; Goldstein said he traced the remarks back to Frisch.
"I should have just left the blog. It was a horrible, terrible thing to say and I hope his son never finds out about it," Frisch said.
University of Arizona spokesman Johnny Cruz Monday confirmed Frisch's resignation.
Goldstein, a stay-at-home dad, freelance writer and former English professor, said he has grown used to personal attacks since he began blogging following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"Debbie is unusual in that she used her actual identity," Goldstein said. "Usually I get people who hide behind anonymous names and fake e-mail addresses." Goldstein said he never felt threatened by Frisch.
He's not sure if his blog has seen an increase in the number of visitors, but he says attackers have managed to bring it down three times within the last week.
Frisch said the number of visits to her Web site increased from 25 hits a day to 30,000 in the past week. What saddens Goldstein is, according to him, an ever-growing number of people are coming out in support of Frisch.
"I'm seeing more and more people from the left embracing her as a heroine," Goldstein said. "Some of the liberal bloggers are apologizing on her behalf, but others sites are trying to justify what she said."
Frisch's comments were likely a calculated move to get banned from his Web site, Goldstein said. "Being banned is a badge of honor for hard leftwing commentators," Goldstein said. "That way they can say 'They censored me. They can't handle the truth.' " Attacking someone's beliefs is one thing; attacking someone's family is another, Goldstein said.
"I think this speaks to Debbie's character. She's someone who wants to be the victim, the martyr. She wants to be embraced by a political party," Goldstein said.
Goldstein denied urging his supporters to contact the UA. He said he simply posted her comments and the address of her Web site.
Kaszniak described the affair as "simply very sad. The comments that she is alleged to have made are highly in appropriate. I don't think that kind of language is in anybody's interest, regardless of the nature of the political debate. It's certainly not the thing the University of Arizona or my department supports in any way."
Now that she won't be teaching, Frisch said she plans to finish writing a book on decision-making. While she still hopes to fill the need for "edgy lefties," Frisch said the entire debacle has taught her where to draw the line.
She'll continue to write inflammatory comments, but she'll stay away from personal attacks.
"I don't want to get anywhere near that line again," Frisch said. "It's been scary, overwhelming and exhausting."
Star reporter Eric Swedlund contributed to this story. Contact reporter Kim Smith at kimsmith@azstarnet.com or 573-4241.
Here is her very first post to PW, on July 3:
Are you COMPLETELY out of your mind? Do you really not understand that George Dubya Bush threatens the security of the US a trillion times more than the NYT by continuing to order the occupation of Iraq?
Got neurons?
She came looking for a fight, and got her nose bloodied.
Thanks. That was very informative. Not too bright, is she.
I, for one, believe there is some imbalance involved here, if not a full-fledged mental illness. First, she obviously has serious issues in dealing with conservatives, or those with opinions that differ from hers. Second, she apparently has issues with men in general. This can be seen in her sexual preference as well as her combativeness with the UCLA professor, Jeff Goldstein, etc. Finally, she has issues with Christians and possibly Jews. Exactly where all these 'phobias' come from (if I use the proper term), I can't say. I'm not educated to say. Interestingly, she is (at least she should be based on her education). Regarding her decision making and whatever point she's trying to make, I don't think she's purposely trying to make any specific point (other than she's superior to anyone on the right). I believe she has made a decision in life. That is that she enjoys 'taking it to' the right and intends to operate on this level. I believe this was a conscious decision on her part. As to consequences, I doubt she's given that much, if any, thought. I believe she sees herself as right, that the majority of Americans will agree with her and that repercussions will ultimately be minimal at worst. This, of course, is all speculation on my part.
Lastly, I'm not sure she is functioning as a normal person in the real world. Oh, I'm sure she believes she is but that is ultimately irrelevant.
Too many issues here at play and I'm certainly not educated enough to work them out. All I can do, as others, is speculate. But this whole disgusting situation not only opens a window into the irrational mind, but into that of many on the unhinged left in general. She is NOT unique in that regard.
Yesterday, I went through a number of the replies to her outbreak that she didn't remove from her website. The one that sticks in my mind most (I believe it was on her site but could have been posted elsewhere) was a reply from someone who claimed to be a member of the 'progressive' community in Eugene, OR - where Fritsh claims to now live, or is moving to . Fritsh had stated that all she now wants is to become a member of the progressive left in Eugene and live comfortable (or words to that effect). Well, this replier flat stated that Fritsh was unhinged in her view, and the progressive community would want no part of her, thank you anyway. I believe Ms Fritsh has dug her hole and is going to find just how deep it is very quickly.
The post she most adamently argues against is the one about french kissing the child. Jeff Goldstein, in rebuttal, posts the entire sequence of posts, then also posts a graphic of the IT server timeline. She has no wiggle room on that.
And, I think you're right about this being something to be debated for years to come. Like it or not, she's become a part of Internet/bloger lore. A number of those who responded to her outburst at her site alluded to this. They told her about how this is 'out there' now, it isn't going away ever, and could well impact her locating another job; even going so far as to describe employers using Google to do searches on prospective employees. Whether that's true or not, I don't know. However, if one had a rational mind you'd think it would give them great concern. So far, it doesn't seem so with her. That, to me, is telling!
Excellent point. I think you could even delete the "I'm not sure part."
There are leftists that I respect, but disagree with. They would run like crazy from this kind of stuff. What frightens me the most, frankly, is that she was teaching AND that she is raising a child.
I'm not so sure about the child. While one appears in the kitchen photo along with her 'partner', there's no direct evidence the child belongs to either of them. At least I hope the child doesn't!
As for her teaching, she had an adjunct professor's job at UofA for which she was paid $32+K annually. Interestingly, there are two other people at UofA with her last name, one of which in in administration. She had earlier worked at the University of Oregon at Eugene, but lost her job there and wasn't given tenure. Apparently, her teaching career is far less than stellar.
One further interesting item is that on yesterday's DUFunnies thread about this very subject, a poster referenced an evaluation at 'RateMyProfessor' about Ms Frisch (or however it's spelled). The poster at RMP took her to task, stating that she only wants to talk about Bush, politics, etc. I just went to RMP to get the exact quote but it is now listed as 'under review'. I personally saw it there yesterday so I wonder if she's had some hand in having it removed.
I'm not so sure about the child. While one appears in the kitchen photo along with her 'partner', there's no direct evidence the child belongs to either of them. At least I hope the child doesn't!
As for her teaching, she had an adjunct professor's job at UofA for which she was paid $32+K annually. Interestingly, there are two other people at UofA with her last name, one of which in in administration. She had earlier worked at the University of Oregon at Eugene, but lost her job there and wasn't given tenure. Apparently, her teaching career is far less than stellar.
One further interesting item is that on yesterday's DUFunnies thread about this very subject, a poster referenced an evaluation at 'RateMyProfessor' about Ms Frisch (or however it's spelled). The poster at RMP took her to task, stating that she only wants to talk about Bush, politics, etc. I just went to RMP to get the exact quote but it is now listed as 'under review'. I personally saw it there yesterday so I wonder if she's had some hand in having it removed.
Excellent point, thanks for pointing that out.
I personally saw it there yesterday so I wonder if she's had some hand in having it removed.
Did you see her request to Goldstein about removing her pictures from his site—and then her response? Fascinating to say the least.
The leftists didn't see a problem. Late term abortions are OK until the child reaches 13 years old.
Oh, dear.
I do that just about every day, here.
In fact:
There I go again.
Since the little girl is wearing a (gasp) dress, AND it is pink, I am hoping she belongs to someone more normal than this
wacko.
Looks like you're the stalker, debbie...and quite the INSANE stalker, at that.
(BTW: The issue is whatever we choose it to be.
(That chick's nuts.)
That was one of the points I made earlier on this thread as well as on DUFunnies earlier this a.m. I think we're all hoping the little girl belongs to someone else.
Also, here's the link to the DUFunnies post about the 'RateMyProfessor'comment: DUmmie Funnies.
It's post #71, and the actual student remark is: "She repeatedly veers off the subject into hate-filled rants against Christians, President Bush and men. She has no business in a classroom."
I read somewhere on her blog somebody justifying her bitterness as including her being childless and now partnerless as well. That pic may have been taken during better times.
Now that's interesting. Can you find the actual post? Elsewhere on this thread, the partner is referred to as Cecile Mckee or McKnee, I believe. Somewhere, I saw that the photo was dated 2004 or 2005. I believe it came from an article in an Arizona newspaper.
Interesting also, is that someone on this thread (I believe - if not it had to be on the DUFunnies thread) that the partner was now going to seek employment to provide benefits for 'her' partner, meaning Deborah Frisch.
Frisch herself, to my knowledge, has never made any comments about her partner or the child in the photo. So, all this comes second hand and, for that reason, should be taken as unconfirmed. Anyway, that actual post would be helpful if you can find it.
i,m going thru all her replies again now. I hope i didn't read it on the one other linked blog i read. I'll keep looking but i did just come across this gem again.....
"PLEASE stay the hell out of Eugene, and Oregon. We have been building a solid Progressive movement here for many years and your ilk ARE NOT INVITED. You are at best severly mentally ill, at worst at NAZI REPUBLISCUM PLANT. S-T-A-Y-O-U-T. I have written to the editors at the Register-Guard, the Willamette Week, the Oregonian and other indie papers and alerted them to your actions and to attempt to dissociate you from the Progressive/Democratic movement in this state. STAY OUT.
Posted by erivet at July 9, 2006 01:30 AM"
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