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.
I always see this accusation concerning those on the right when attacking someone on the left:
"many of them were using similar kinds of language that she is alleged to have used"
so, he is saying that people wrote in hoping that one of his family members died? For once, I would like to see them prove this accusation.
And CHILD WELFARE to protect that child!!!
Well, yes, though I suspect that she is even nuttier than ol' Ward.
# Desert Fox Says:
July 8th, 2006 at 10:10 am
Here is another comment by Deborah Frisch that she posted on the economists’ blog “Freakonomics”:
“I believe economists pose a greater threat to the security and well-being of the country than al qaeda. Ben Shalom Bernanke, Larry Summers and especially, John Graham scare me more than Osaddama.”
As they say, “Whatever.”
One of the soldiers who was "decapped and mutilated" (a LOT less fun than a decaf and milk, lemme tell ya!) was Thomas Tucker from Madras, Oregon. Tucker was tortured and murdered as payback for what other American troops did. What goes around comes around. Warrior karma.
In the article, she said her posts were in retaliation for being attacked. Even if that were true, she could have just walked away. My question is, what really started her on her sick rampage? Did she just rachet up the rhetoric as libs do because she was being smacked down?
I read Goldstein's blog this morning and Frisch's denials are completely unbelievable. The ip addresses track back to her account in Eugene, Oregon. And she doesn't even mention at the time that someone is impersonating her.
This female is nuts, but she "teaches" psych?
More lunatic 'Deb'...
July 08, 2005
Deb writes:
As we join most in the blogosphere today in expressing our anger at the Islamofascists responsible for the cowardly acts that killed and injured so many Britons, we also express our hope that the appeasers of Islamic terror will soon recognize that we are in a war for the survival of our civilization, and that the war is against Islamofascism.
I was waiting for some moron to play the "coward" card. You can call terrorists a lot of nasty things, but "coward" isn't one of them.
Islamofascists. I like it. Kissing cousins of christofascists like Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove and DeLay and judeofascists like Zackheim and Sharon.
I am not happy that more widows, widowers and amputees were created yesterday. I don't think the people riding the London subway yesterday morning deserved to be blown up because of the war crimes committed by George Bush and condoned by Tony Blair.
But I am glad that someone said phuque you to bush, blair and the other hombres who represent (sic) the G-8 nations.
Posted by Deb at July 8, 2005 08:33 PM | TrackBack
Oh yes and the ASPCA for that poor dog she has.
She will probably wind up in jail or in an asylum. Churchill is still useful to us as a poster boy, but Frisch is too far gone to be useful to anyone.
The lefties are all nasty, hateful, little people who claim to be soooo nice. Please...
More lunatic 'deb'...(she is also a liar)
It is extremely offensive to imply that the innocent people who died on 7/7 were collateral damage in sending a message to bush and blair.
But there's nothing wrong with seeing:
a. the ten thousand soldiers who died from gulf war syndrome in Bush War I
b. the uncounted Iraqis who died in that war and during ten years of sadistic sanctions
c. the thousands of Americans killed or maimed in Bush War II
d. the MILLIONS of Iraqis who are without water and electricity THANKS TO US
as collateral damage.
I'm sorry for being so despicable, dave.
Posted by: deb at July 10, 2005 07:05 AM
Keep 'em coming. What a catalogue of vile hatred and indignity!
Even worse, this kookette claims to own a pistol. Pity that poor child. DFACS should be doing a major anal exam on that entire "family".
Oh good grief..........words fail me.
Whether she and her "partner" adopted that poor child, or used a turkey baster, they are utterly and completely unfit to raise that poor child.
Flaming barking moonbat and one who is in NEED of psychiatric help!
July 08, 2006
faux newz, etc.
A guy from Fox News named Richard Carbery emailed and wants to interview me on the phone on Monday. It's almost as exciting as when I was interviewed by Richard Harris for NPR. I will try to find a copy of that interview and post it.
The dept head at the UA formally accepted my resignation this afternoon.
Rightwing nutcases with nothing better to do on the weekend might want to stop harassing University of Arizona administrators. Just a thought.
Looks like someone at TalkLeft is siding with Mr. Goldstein. But here's a commenter named bigunit12 who gets it:
On one hand, what she wrote was wrong. But, on the other hand, it was only word. How many dead Iraqi mothers,American and Iraqi fathers, and Iraqi children are conservatives responsible for?
It is unbelievable that a comment saying I would not care if harm came to your child is such a crime to the rightwingnuts when they've been happy as clams to send American dupes to murder, maim, rape and torture (yup folks - depriving people of electricity and clean water is a form of torture!) Iraqi children for four years.
Posted by Deb at July 8, 2006 07:45 PM | TrackBack
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