From "I just returned from Falafel Bill's house"
If BillO's your hero, fine, concern-troll away all morning. Just please do me the favor of taking it to your own diaries.
First, I think it's important to note that BillO is anything but a hero to me - and to the other people who were unhappy with the driveway ambush described. BillO is a joke and a bully. Period.
Believe it or not, it is possible to loathe BillO and also loathe this stunt. In fact, it's entirely consistent. One of the reasons that BillO is beneath contempt is because of his schtick "journalism" tactics. He degrades the principles of journalism by using the label for himself; he does not seek to report the news, but to create the news. In fact, I suspect that one of his primary motives is to discredit the very idea of journalism to help feed the idea that you can't trust the media. Stooping to his same tactics says that those methods are legitimate.
I like to try to introduce people to DKos, especially those who think of themselves as more centrist. I send links to a pieces about topics they follow, with hopes that they'll explore the site further. They realize that what they've been hearing described as "fringe" actually reflects their beliefs pretty closely. Better still, once they're here, they learn a lot about ways to take action (and they get plenty of encouragement).
It's probably not possible to turn dedicated BillO supporters toward the light, so my concern (yes, there's that word) is not with BillO or his viewers. However, he's going to manage to get this story picked up by MSM, and it will not be spun our way - especially since it took place at his home, not his studio. (People react in a visceral way to being invaded on their home space, and this makes BillO a sympathetic character.)
When the story gets spead around about a "stalker" from DKos, that makes it a little bit harder to get people interested in clicking on those links. All of BillO's bullshit rantings about YKos and his over-the-top "hate site" accusations just made him look ridiculous and showed how weak (and scared) he was in the face of a powerful movement. By going over the line and confronting him at his home, this act has suddenly given legitimacy to the whole "hate site" bullshit.
So, sorry for the concern - but since this is going to get pinned on all of us, I want to speak for myself.