Dear GamerGate,

I know that you guys are starting to think about the Holidays, and what Black Friday stunt you can pull. I know, in particular, game developer outreach is top of mind right now with Operation Rebuild, where you attempt to send nice letters to game developers to let them know that YOU ARE ON THEIR SIDE. And that’s a tough deal for you guys, because in the past you have slutshamed them, brigaded them when they outreach, harassed them out of their home, released their hacked financial data, financially attacked their primary industry journal, tried to organize boycotts of their games if they disagree with you,and tried to get them fired if they tried to stop the constant slew of rape and death threats thrown at them on twitter. And many female devs still feel silenced by the very existence of Gamergate. It’s really no wonder that devs who aren’t too cowardly to hide their names have definitely broken in one direction on the subject. I guess what I’m saying is, ‘good luck with that’.

I know that it also seems like the world is against you. It’s your own fault, you know, for… er…. declaring that you were going to take on the world. Still, it’s a rough place to be. On your side is the insanely right-wing and hilariously incompetent Breitbart, the insanely right-wing Daily Caller, the insanely woman-hating Return of Kings and the other insanely woman-hating – to the point of falling for idiotic hoaxes – site A Voice For Men. And even they can be critical, as judged by RoK offshoot Reaxxion telling you all the ways you’re screwing up. I know you can’t always choose your allies.

But Jack Fucking Thompson? Seriously?

You may remember the two clownshoed idiots putting together the Sarkeesian Effect, a documentary considered a complete and total laughingstock by most observers (Fifteen THOUSAND DOLLARS!) to the degree that even many GamerGate fanatics have distanced themselves from the duo. Yeah, these guys have interviewed Jack Fucking Thompson for their film. They found him quite reasonable.

GamerGate, trust me when I say that one of the worst ways you can bring devs over to your point of view is to resurrect the defeated corpse of Jack Thompson, and bring him over to your cause. Jack Thompson is the enemy of games, and the enemy of reasonable discourse about them.

Now, it just so happens that I have recently been taking blog entries from my OLD blog, and importing them into this new one. And just last week, I got to 2005, which was prime Jack Thompson mania. Here’s a small sampling:

People really interested in this nutjob should really go through the archives of GamePolitics.com, which has tracked him for years. Jack Thompson’s early career was no better, being driven by a bizarre obsession with his political opponent, Janet Reno, and leading to his high-profile attacks on 2 Live Crew. Jack Thompson’s career ended in disgrace.

On March 20, 2008, the Florida Supreme Court imposed sanctions on Thompson, requiring that any of his future filings in the court be signed by a member of the Florida Bar other than himself.[7] In July 2008, Thompson was permanently disbarred by the Supreme Court of Florida for inappropriate conduct, including making false statements to tribunals and disparaging and humiliating litigants

So, no. Jack Thompson was not quite reasonable. He was a nutball. And he certainly was no champion of those who care about Ethics in — well, anything, really. But he was a nutball who got the topic of games censorship and violence in video games onto the television screen and into friggin’ Congress.

Those who compare him to Anita miss the point. Anita has never, to my knowledge, tried to politically or legally, have games censored. She’s attempted to sway minds with her ideas, her speech and her videos –and sometimes she’s right and sometimes she’s wrong. That’s how free speech and criticism is supposed to work. Jack Thompson was a threat to the very idea that games were protected speech under the first amendment. If Anita ever changes her mind and starts pursuing political and legal action against games, you can bet the game developer community will take back her Ambassador Award, and start heading her way as an angry mob. Just like we did with Jack. I’ll personally hand out torches and pitchforks.

Those distancing themselves from the Sarkeesian Effect are right to do so here. Fighting Jack Thompson was important to those who actually love video games. Defeating him was a significant victory for people who actually love games. And game devs are going to look at anyone who tries to bring him back to the arena as someone who does not.