Taking time off to put out fires leaves you missing out on so many strange and surreal events in this fast paced industry, like Cliff Bleszinski leaving Epic, Bad Company getting a TV series adaptation, and now this.
Recently Colleen Lachowicz, a Democrat from Maine, has come under fire by New England Republicans for - of all things - her time spent playing World of Warcraft.
The state's Republicans have created a website for the Democratic senate candidate, detailing their strange fascination and revulsion of her online hobby. The header of the website, found here, reads as follows: "In Colleen’s online fantasy world, she gets away with crude, vicious and violent comments like the ones below. Maine needs a State Senator that lives in the real world, not in Colleen’s fantasy world."
The site recently linked to a screen shot of her discussing the Orc Rogue she plays on Daily Kos. The screenshot highlights her stating that she, as her WoW characters, "stab[s] things...a lot..."
Another screenshot from one of her postings on Daily Kos reads, "Now if you'll excuse me, I may have to go and hunt down Grover Norquist and drown HIM in my bath tub."
The comment is in reference to Norquist's famous quote, “I’m not in favor of abolishing the government. I just want to shrink it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.”
The site is peppered with short clippings of Lachowicz talking about her Assassination spec'd rogue while occasionally tossing in some foul language.
On one hand, there is a case to be made against Lachowicz. Though the full context of the bath tub quote reveals a far less threatening message, few would argue that such wording is appropriate regardless of the context. Furthermore, the cost of publicizing your online persona in such a transparent way invites scrutiny, especially when one is a player on the political field. It is entirely fair to criticize some of her conduct as being immature, but I'm referring more to her conduct. The fact of the matter is that some of the comments she has made, for instance joking that she will have to stab anybody who sends her campaign contributions, paints her in an unprofessional light.
On the other hand, the fact that her WoW character and her discussions of said character are even a point of discussion is ridiculous. The fact that anybody went to such lengths to dig up dirt on her gaming hobby is absurd, but to then use that as a point of criticism is almost too difficult to believe. There are a lot of criticisms floating about that are valid, or are at least defensible. Saying that she is an unfit candidate because she enjoys a violent piece of fictional media during her down time is not one of those valid criticisms.
