The WBC protest at Joe Paterno's funeral

Anyone who knows me, knows one thing.  I'm fascinated by those assholes from Topeka, Kansas.  The Westboro Baptist Church moniker is a bit misleading.  I refer to them as "the clan of Fred Phelps."  Although they are an abhorrent organization endlessly engaging in the most contemptuous, despicable behavior, I would never seek to limit their collective First Amendment rights.  As long as the United States supposedly has freedom of speech, you have to be willing to accept the bad with the good.  Despite their being the LCD (lowest common denominator) of society, I am completely committed to defending their right to "protest" anything or anyone they desire.  

For those that don't know, the WBC has a long history of taking their younger children (all ages) to these protests.  The kids are actually used as physical "shields." This logically keeps things from getting out of hand.  It's also perhaps the most blatant, routine act of cowardice in modern history.  It just keeps going on and on, again and again.

So I just heard they are protesting yet another funeral.  But this one's a little different.  The Kansidiots are going after Joe Paterno.  The surrounding high profile Sandusky pedophile scandal provides an unusual backdrop.  This put the entire university on the defensive.  That's a lot of people.  And their entire athletic department has been adorned with scorn.  The controversy was so great that even Graham Spanier was forced to resign.  I wouldn't normally know the name of Penn State's president, but that's a whole nuther story.  Incidentally, the new interim president is Rodney A. Erickson.  I plan on mailing him a letter in the near future.  Please forgive the tangent.

When a collective body of people are injured, they often seek mass retribution.  When an animal is injured and feeling defenseless, there is a greater probability that it will lash out.  Now multiply that one animal by 50,000.  And don't forget the earlier Penn State vandalistic rampage from November when the whole story broke.  That's what I'd call a convincing precedent.

So what's my point?  Saf, don't you always have a point.  Well... I think the WBC might really regret showing up in Unhappy Valley.  The WBC fucks might have finally bitten off more than they can chew.  When a giant mass of people are mourning the loss of a perceived loved one (especially a grandfather figure), they're all on a collective emotional roller coaster.  Add to the mix a ton of college age kids and there's a greater degree of unpredictability.  Now there's always potential for violence when the Phelps crew shows up to stir the shit, but this one seems like more of a powder keg.

All this is just a hunch.  The WBC often use the name of the deceased individual on their signs.  They did it with Michael Jackson and Steve Jobs, so I suspect they'll do it with Paterno.  IF one of their signs directly accused Joe Paterno of being a pedophile, I think that could be the match that lights the fuse.  The WBC has a certain amount of "imbecilic, repetitive hubris" that's hard to define.  Simply put, they take a licking and keep on ticking.  There have been several incidents of violence.  Some weirdo from Wheeling, West Virginia even had the chutzpah to promote something he termed "Soakapalooza."  

Here's a highly viewed youtube incident. Their minivan windshield gets smashed by an angry mob as they're trying to get the hell out of dodge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZGKx2pTBQc

Just something to think about.  Never discount the power of the mob.  Sometime soon, you might hear the phrase "in like a Nittany lion, out like a lamb."