The buck stops where?

Sebastian has a post up, which links to a post from Instapundit, which finally links here. Go ahead and click the link, but if you’re like me you’ll end up angry in about 33.2 seconds. The short version is that the female author of the blog has been receiving death threats and graphic photoshopped images of her in sexual, abusive, and/or mutilated positions. Okay, so she’s pissed some people off.

Sebastian makes the quite valid point that our corner of the blog world is probably less susceptible to that sort of jacktardery, due in no small part to the fact that if someone decided to break into my (or his, Bitter, Kim, LawDog, Tam, or any other gunblogger’s) house, they would most likely earn a bullet (or 5) for their trouble.

Now, despite the awful things said and posted about the author of the blog in question, the actions of the little scumbags that perpetrated this aren’t what really pissed me off. No, it was comments from the blog author herself, reproduced below for your reading pleasure.

I have cancelled all speaking engagements.

I am afraid to leave my yard.

I will never feel the same. I will never be the same.

Now, I can understand being afraid, that is a perfectly reasonable response to having people threaten you with rape, mutilation, and death. What I don’t understand is the cowering in fear part. She talks a lot about how the threat made by the disturbed people is what really does the damage, in that it makes her wonder how deranged they really are, and what they’re capable of. Wondering what they are capable of is what has now reduced the author to staying inside her house.

I have a cure for your fear, madam. It is called “action”. Take steps to protect yourself. Take steps to protect your family. The police cannot protect you 24/7, and will probably not be able to arrive in time to stop a violent crime. Purchase a firearm, and learn how to use it. By living in fear, you only grant additional power to those who make threats against you.

The best cure for fear is action. When it comes to protecting yourself, and protecting your family, the buck stops with you. It would be very difficult for someone to act on their disturbed fantasies about you with a pair of .357 holes in their boiler room.

You will continue to be fearful for only as long as you allow yourself to be consumed by your fear.