Garrison - Rogue Cartoonist: The Internet Perils of a Citizen-Muckraker

Many concerned

young people urged me

to publish this book.

I dedicate it to them.

2015 Ben Garrison. All rights reserved.

www.grrrgraphics.com

Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this book, except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, which is considered fair use.

Special thanks to John DiLiberto and Kevin Conroy, Muckraker Inc. of Blanco, Texas

ISBN-13: 978-0-692-44582-2

ADVANCED REVIEWS

Troll comments that were harvested verbatim from anonymous message boards:

This actually could be the kind of thing a bookis written about when you think about it. Anonymous

Picture a man in his mid 50s fuming about teenage Internet trolls as he hammers away on some antiquated typewriter. This book is going to be a riot. Anonymous

His book is going to be a glorious train-wreck and will probably make him look even sillier (if thats even possible). Anonymous

Ben ben ben. Poor deluded ben. You were never going tochange the world with a cartoon because you arent us ben.But we changed your world didnt we ben? Anonymous

He is nothing without us. Anonymous

Maybe Ben should get a real job like being a Wal-Mart greeter instead of thinking he could make a living off of some MSPAINT tier hate speech doodles. Anonymous

I used to feel a little sorry for this Ben Garrison guy,but if he believes this shit then fuck him. Anonymous

Im honestly surprised old benny boy has lasted this long without hanging himself. Who knows, maybe his libertarian paradise awaits him on the other side. Anonymous

Cartoonists do not change society. Ben Garrison was nothing but a two bit doodle artist, and nothing he has ever penned could be considered hard hitting. Anonymous

The only way Ben can escape this is with a legal name change and cosmetic surgery. Anonymous

So it seems that Fake Ben has officially moved on from being a dumbass lol cow to being an outright scumbag. Not only is he defensive of fags, but hes also a feminist and openly pro-SJW. Anonymous

His life is completely ruined but its so hilarious. Anonymous

Ben Garrison is an ignorant fuck faced freak. I hope a Jew sets him on fire, puts him out and then throws him in acid. [It] would be hilarious. Anonymous

Ben Garrison is a old crazy man whos just going to blame everything on whatever seems convenient, like most conspiracy nuts. Anonymous

Ben Garrison is unfunny. To be a cartoonist, you need to be funny. Anonymous

Ben Garrison perpetrated this whole meme himself and hes really a modern version of comedic genius madman Andy Kaufmann. Anonymous

Kill yourself. Anonymous

In 2008, the big banks were bailed out. Like many Americans, I was outraged. We angry citizens wrote our senators and congressmen and demanded our representatives vote NO! We were ignored as most of the politicians voted yes anyway. One of my senators at the time, Patty Murray, made a condescending statement to us voters. She admonished citizens, saying, Eat your vegetables! This kind of contempt toward voters made me even angrier.

I decided to do something about it. To illustrate the corruption, I began drawing editorial cartoons in 2009. I wanted to become a citizen journalista muckraker. At first my cartoons were a big success. I needed neither marketing nor a publisher. Thanks to the Internet, some of my cartoons were seen by millions of people from around the world.

Then the trolls showed up. I had unwittingly snapped a wet towel on the butt of a merciless lion of hate. I didnt realize I was about to become the most trolled cartoonist in the world.

Friends, family, and acquaintances have all informed me that its my own fault for poking a stick at a hornets nest. They said I should have ignored them. Only I didnt poke a stick at anything. The hornets spewed from their hives of enmity and began stinging without provocation. They attacked not only me, but also my family. They targeted my business. Hackers were encouraged to target my email, Facebook, and PayPal accounts. They even defaced my fine art. Ignoring the trolls is a strategy that hasnt worked for me and neither has it worked for many who are bullied by them.

Trolling has always been a problem on the Internet... and its growing worse. Cyberbullies are a more virulent type of troll and derive pleasure from attacking people online whom they dont even know. Hate speech and impersonation plague social media. Trolls create spiteful memes that, with endless repetition, can go so far as to sway young minds into actually believing it might be okay to murder people. These hateful memes permeate social media. The irresponsible trolls have created conditions that will likely tempt government to step in and end anonymous free speech altogether.

I am a humble artist with limited means. Unlike mainstream media cartoonists who have access to big shot lawyers, Ive had to combat the harassment mostly by myself. I did seek advice from several attorneys. The first one gave me a free consultation and informed me that I could not sue sites such as Facebook because of their ironclad disclaimers. Id have to go after the anonymous perpetrators instead, I was advised, which would be costly and difficult. Basically, he told me that nothing could be done. I coughed up a lot of money and hired a second lawyer. His contract stated that he promised no results and I received none. He eventually returned my money after informing me that such cases are very expensive and time consuming. Most likely there would be little chance of compensation should the case be won. I have not given up on pursuing a case, because to me its more about justice than obtaining money.

I paid for a consultation with a third lawyer. She flatly told me that nothing could be done without spending a fortune because Internet libel is the Achilles heel of lawyers. She advised me to launch a PR blitz that might include writing a book. She thought it might help clear my name. Here is that book.

Id like to thank all of those who have helped me along this journey. Many strangers have written to offer help, encouragement, and suggestions. One young man even wanted to send me money to help with legal expenses. I couldnt accept the offer because he was in college and struggling to make ends meet, but I was touched by it and by his concern. I appreciate the few bucks that strangers have contributed via my cartoon site, which includes a donate button. Fellow libertarians have also helped out. One was a cyber investigator who expertly tracked down several of the most brazenly offensive trolls. The difficulty lay in proving that they were the ones anonymously posting the libel.

I want to thank all the people who have helped me remove libel from Facebook. Some are Jewish. I know they probably dont agree with my politics, but they have been tireless in their reporting efforts, regardless. They are some of the smartest and kindest people Ive met, and I have come to experience firsthand the kind of hate and bigotry theyve faced all of their lives.