Well if the reaction over here has been anything like the backlash at BG, the moderators here deserve an influx of donations to rival the Great Flood. I've never seen so many fans turn against a celebrity so quickly; so many wicked innuendos and paranoid theories and accusations flying. For a solid week BG was like the lab full of monkeys infected with the "Rage Virus" in 28 Days Later.
I understand the disappointment - god am I disappointed. I work nights and Art was one of the best tools in my toolbox to keep my mind engaged while I'm being creative. And he's great company. I had high hopes that with our support and patience, his freakshow stalker would be caught and we'd get back to business.
I hadn't anticipated the viciousness of the backlash though, nor do I fully understand it. Many many posters questioned the events that led to his respite from the show: I call them "Art Bell Truthers." They refuse to believe that it happened as told, and there's no reasoning with them. Perhaps it's easier to lash out against Art if you convince yourself that he wasn't being honest.
But there's no rational reason to question his honesty, Heather's honesty, and the Nye County Sheriff's Office's integrity. Art is the victim of these crimes. It's appalling to see him victimized even further on fan forums.
I think we should be outraged by the depths to which our country has slumped in recent years; by the prevalence of whack jobs with guns, and by the disintegration of civility and responsible discourse. Art doesn't deserve our outrage and certainly not Heather. They both have my full support and always will - these are good people facing a bad situation. They deserve our understanding and patience.
It saddens me that the ugly remarks of one particularly vile sociopath at BG severed our last lines of open communication with Art, but perhaps if the animosity hadn't been so intense in general over the last week, our compassion and understanding through this hard time could've brought him back to the show eventually. But the way the events of the last week have played out, I now feel that it's very unlikely that it will work out as it should have.
Perhaps time will eventually heal all wounds. But until then all we have is each other, and our bright and kind new host at Midnight in the Desert keeping the show alive. I hope we can make it work. It's in our hands.
Good luck everyone, and let's try to have a good time discussing our favorite subjects.