Ok, so like almost EVERYONE else who uses the internet, I watched the KONY 2012 video & I was really moved. SO moved, in fact, that I made a
blog post. I did get a little squirrely when the "swag" presented itself for purchase & I did have my doubts that it was important for me to buy a bracelet or post a sign in my yard, but as I stated in my blog & in my facebook post, if you have an issue you think needs attention, you can tell your friends and by all means, call & write your Congressmen, Senators, Representatives, etc. It's your right & if you believe in that sort of thing, your "Moral Duty."
Suddenly there was a BACKLASH. Who is this "Ken Doll" looking mofo using an emotionally manipulative video on youtube, the playground of easily swayed adolescents or bored people who haven't slept all night? Who is this Pied Piper getting all of these people to blindly post/tweet/blog about this Kony person & the LRA? Hasn't the LRA already LEFT Uganda? Well, sure, but they have gone to neighboring States & have not stopped their horrible practices. (The logic that the KONY Campaign was "worthless" because the LRA Army is no longer is Uganda is FLAWED.) Think about it this way. Say your neighbor is a murderer. He kills, kidnaps & rapes 50 people in your town. He also forces others,
children, to do the same things with him. Everyone is traumatized. People want to do something about it, but he moves & resumes his "business" in another town. Some people STILL want to stop him & bring him to justice so they make a documentary to spread the word about what a horrible person he is & how he should be stopped. But people who watch the documentary say, well, he isn't in that original town anymore, so your outrage is unfounded. REALLY? Doesn't make much sense, does it? Some thoughtful responses to the backlash were presented on the KONY website, as well as proof of how their money is spent. Seemed like things we going ok for a second.
But now we have this latest, terrible development. Apparently, the founder of this KONY 2012 Campaign, Filmmaker Jason Russell, has suffered some kind of massive public breakdown. One report from NBC San Diego claims he was "found masturbating in public, vandalizing cars and possibly under the influence of something,"
The official word from Invisible Children's CEO
Ben Keesey in a statement released Friday at 1:40 p.m. was:
“Jason Russell was unfortunately hospitalized yesterday suffering
from exhaustion, dehydration, and malnutrition. He is now receiving
medical care and is focused on getting better. The past two weeks have
taken a severe emotional toll on all of us, Jason especially, and that
toll manifested itself in an unfortunate incident yesterday..."
WOW. What? My first thought was, apparently he's freaking out big time, for some reason. Either it's the stress of this upcoming "event" in April where cities are supposed to be covered overnight in Kony posters, or the stress of the recent backlash, or maybe he IS a fraud & is scared of being uncovered? (I kind of doubt that, I don't know, I just have a hard time believing that. I could be wrong, though.) But if it is just stress, seriously, why isn't this man taking better care of himself? How do you get to THAT point without your friends, family or co-workers going, Hey, man, SLOW DOWN. Have a sandwich, have some juice, go take a nap. I would be interested to know if perhaps he was using some sort of Doctor prescribed medications to be able to relax or sleep, like Ativan or Ambien, which can have MASSIVE side-effects & cause people to act insanely. I don't know any facts here, I am just throwing out ideas & asking questions I would like to know answers to.
I have already noticed on message boards & even on facebook that people are delighting in this. It's like people can't get enough of seeing people fail. Naysayers of the KONY Campaign will use this as proof that the whole thing was a scam
from the get-go. Hey, it may or may not be, I don't know yet. I will admit it gets harder to take
it seriously when the "clean cut figurehead" of the campaign is acting
insane. I
will say I am very disappointed that this happened because it obviously reflects badly on his entire cause. All that is known for sure, is that once again it's
shown that there are no perfect people in this world. There never can be
- it's impossible. Yes, it's embarrassing to know he had a freak-out & is not the person he may have appeared to be, but people are fallible & stress/stuff happens for
whatever reason. I am not trying to DEFEND him, I just don't want an important message to get lost because of one man's personal meltdown - or for people to get the feeling they can never trust anyone who comes to them for help ever again. I watched the KONY video & I was in absolute tears because I hate to see
people suffer, anywhere in the world. Some people I know & have grown up with all my life have said things on facebook, like, "I don't care about anyone anywhere else in
the world." I had people come at me with this same attitude when I was upset about the Japanese Earthquake & Tsunami. This callous attitude shocks & repulses me. I cannot even
imagine being able to view an atrocity & say, "I don't care."
So, finally I will say, this is just a giant mess but I do think it's good to learn more
facts before making any final judgements. I am interested to see how
this plays out. This doesn't stop me from still wanting to help people
who need it or doing what I feel is right in my heart, whatever the
situation may be.
