Village Idiot of the Day, June 4, 2009: Disappeared Anonymous Posters, te1995, danik69, DemocratNOTLiberal, BabyMom

Cantonians are an unhappy lot. There's an unwritten law among Reppies: complain about something until there's a remedy (or at least an attempt), then turn around and complain that something was done.

In no better place can this be better illustrated than by the subject of local crime. Things were so bad for awhile that the Rep disabled all comments on crime and courts, but recently is enabling some. Let no good deed go unpunished.

You can bet that as soon as there's murder in town our Reppies will be out in full force decrying the breakdown of law, order, and morals in the most lawless city in the US. These pronouncements will be followed predictably by anonymous fond memories of the accused killer(s) and the evisceration of the victim(s) portrayed as well-deserving of their fate. Commenters especially like to offer "proof" that the victim(s) were no better than the shooter with anecdotal accounts of the victim's bad behavior. Then, we have the criminal, convicted beyond a reasonable doubt of a crime, who a certain group of commenters will inevitably morph from robber, rapist, thief, or killer into a martyr subjected to unfair rules. (NOTE: if the perp is rich, all bets are off. See the DiPietro case. Many Reppies suffer from wealth envy.)

A perfect example of this topsy-turveyness can be found in two articles: Hundreds Mourn Two Men Shot to Death Last Week in a Southwest Canton Neighborhood and Profanity in Court Draws Judge's Ire: Man Goes to Jail After Brother Sentenced to Prison.

Hundreds Mourn is Lori Monsewicz's account (with video) of the Wednesday funeral of cousins De’Andre Ruffin, 32, and Jonathon Pierce,22, who with Melissa Pinney, 31, were shot to death in a senseless altercation outside the White Crown Cafe on 9th and Clarendon, SW. A teenage girl with them escaped injury. Edward C. Martino III, 24, accused of the murders, escaped to New Mexico and is in the process of being sent back to Stark County.

Before we proceed, though, we must give credit where credit is due. No one has said anything even closely nice about Martino in any thread. According to posters who know his family, he was a born brat, has a long arrest record (backed up by the Stark County Clerk of Courts online records and the Rep), enjoyed beating up his mother, and once set fire to her house.

Once upon a time, there was such a thing as "good manners." People kept their mouths shut, no matter what they thought of the deceased unless the dearly departed was Adolph Hitler or John Wayne Gacey. Those days are long gone in Canton, especially under the irresponsibility fostered by the Rep's anonymous poster policy. Nestled among genuine messages of grief and condolence were half dozen anonymous comments attacking the character of Ruffin and Pierce. I Hate Canton was distracted by other duties and should have, but didn't, archive these comments, and they are now gone. The jist however ranged from "they were no angels," "what can you expect?" and specious attacks on the families of the dead, to "that's what you get when you're out late at night and not home in bed where you belong." Reportedly, Jonathan Pierce's brother was involved in a murder at least a decade ago; thus, making any genuine sympathy for his family or disgust at his murder to be without merit. Remember this is Canton.

Reppie Harpies also demanded to know why not much has been said about Melissa Pinney and her family. The snoops finally brought out Pinney's family who wrote several times. Here is part of their first response:

Please understand we are trying to think of whats best for the children they are young an don't understand any of this We want to keep them out of the papers the pictures an the camera as much as possible We are mourning the same as everyone else but we just are trying to do whats best in a situation that we never expected Melissa will always be missed.

Not content with a family statement"te1995" blasts away:

te1995
Hundreds Mourn Two Men Shot to Death Last Week in a Southwest Canton Neighborhood
I feel bad for both families but why is there a large article everyday regarding these two black guys when obviously they were 'looking for a fight' because they stepped out of the car and was ready for a brawl? What about Melissa? We haven't heard anything about her since the rep said she was shot dead in the driver seat. Can anyone tell me if Melissa is white and that's why we don't hear of her or her family?

followed today by"danik69" who wink-wink tells us that the real reason Pinney's family isn't in the paper is that they are ashamed that she was murdered in the company of two black men aka "people." (This remark may disappear soon).

danik69
Yes...that poor woman was white....you got that right!....she made a mistake of being with these 'people' and she sure paid the ultimate price. I truly am sorry for all involved. I wouldn't want any coverage at all if she was a member of my family...good move Pinney family.

As I Hate Canton was filling in the links, we saw that DemocratNOTLiberal has chimed in:

DemocratNOTLiberal
If Melissa would have stayed at her home with her kids, she would be going to a funeal, not being in one.

I Hate Canton is waiting for somebody to pop up and remind us that Canton is not a racist town.

This brings us to Profanity in Court and the unhappy tale of Lance D. Wells, 34, sentenced by Judge Lee Sinclair to 17 years in prison for aggravated burglary and felonious assault in a Bedford Ave., SW home invasion. Taking a page from OJ, the defense claimed that Wells believed the victim owed him money. Wells denied the assault and did not testify on his own behalf.

Wells' brother Lonnie took offense to the hard time doled out by Sinclair. From the Rep:

When Wells’ brother, Lonnie Wells, reacted with profanity to the sentence, Sinclair held him in contempt, and ordered five days in jail. Lonnie Wells responded with more profanity, and the judge doubled the time.

Most commenters agree that Lonnie needs a time out. But not BabyMom who sounds as if she's Lance Wells' Baby Mom.

BabyMom wonders incredulously, that it's against the law to shout naughty word bots at a judge during court. Frankly, I Hate Canton is incredulous that BabyMom is so stupid. Perhaps BabyMom should contact one of our local legislators to introduce a bill to make cussing in the courtroom legal.

BabyMom
Profanity in Court Draws Judge's Ire; Man Goes to Jail After Brother Sentenced to Prison
Once again, unfair rulings. I urge those of you who are so quick to applaud Judge Sinclair to actually know the details of this case. Naturally, those facts were not reported. This judgement is unfair and biased. Especially to the family of Lance and most importantly his two babies. Now it will be left up to the family to try and explain to these innocent children (who dearly love Daddy) that their Daddy is gone because of the states mistake. As for Lonnie, that was a crime? Since when was loving your family and showing emotional reaction illegal?! Another example of our justice system at work.

I Hate Canton names all the anonymous posters who beat up on De'Andre Ruffin, Jonathon Pierce, Melissa Pinney, and their families with our Grand Prize today. If we had their names, we'd post them (and their comments). Although some of their remarks were made today, we especially honor te1995, danik69 and DemocratNOTLiberal for continuing the tradition of racism in the Repository.

We send our condolences to the Ruffin, Pierce and Pinney families and congratulate the Pinneys for keeping a level head instead of saying what they probably really want to say to our winners. Even Judge Sinclair would probably agree.

On stupidity alone, BabyMom is granted an Honorable Mention.