Small postscript on the election

'World of Warcraft'-playing candidate wins election

Despite what the Republican Party of Maine might want people to believe, playing "World of Warcraft" does not make a person unfit to hold office.

Or so Colleen Lachowicz proved Tuesday night.

Lachowicz plays "World of Warcraft" as a level-85 orc named Santiaga. She is also a newly elected state senator in Maine.

Lachowicz, a Democrat, beat Republican incumbent Thomas Martin Jr. to become the senator-elect for Maine's District 25 — this after the Republican Party of Maine launched a campaign to out her love of the fantasy role-playing game.

Maine's GOP had accused Lachowicz — a 48-year-old health-care worker — of living a "bizarre double life" and set up a website revealing her participation in "World of Warcraft." Not only did the site show off a picture of the orc rogue assassin character she plays, it also dug up online comments she made about her love of the (sometimes violent) game. The Republican Party also sent out mailers as well as a press release claiming her "disturbing alter-ego" had been "revealed."

Glad to hear she won despite the smear campaign against her.

Apparently the Republicans (surprise) don't get computer gaming, and I think in this case it's going to backfire on them

This is absolutely ludicrous, let me just say that as a preface.

'World of Warcraft'-playing candidate: 'I'm a real person'

Colleen Lachowicz is a long-time health care worker who works with teens and young adults. She is a wife and a step-mom. And she likes to knit.

But this week, the 48-year-old Lachowicz — who is running as a Democrat for the State Senate in Maine — abruptly found herself a the center of a Republican smear campaign because of one of her hobbies. No ... not knitting.

Lachowicz is a gamer. More specifically, the Republican party of Maine discovered that Lachowicz enjoys playing the online role-playing game "World of Warcraft." And, on Thursday, the party launched a campaign to out what they are calling her "disturbing alter-ego" and her "bizarre double life."

The Republican Party not only launched a website, they sent out post cards to voters in her district and even issued a press release — all of which showed off the level-85 orc named Santiaga that Lachowicz plays in the game and also highlighted online comments she had made about the game....

Is her opponent's campaign so weak that it can't handle things like, oh, issues, and has to try to get voters to think she's a horrible person because she takes on a role in a fantasy world? Doesn't that just mean she's creative? Or that she's playing with people from all walks of life, all over the world. That's good, as far as I am concerned, from a political viewpoint. Or that she's somehow aberrant because she is a gamer (one of millions who play games online, on gaming consoles, or gee, the type I play, where you sit around a table with pencil and dice.)

Gee, I thought Mitt Romney was out of touch with real people. Seems the Republican party in Maine is as well.

If I played World of Warcraft (and I do think about it, as I enjoy such things)

I would really have to check this out:

The Libraries and Librarians Guild in Wow -the Largest On-line MMORPG Game in the World

There are great pictures of the avatars of various librarians, too.

Sick

Words fail me to comment fully on this story and what should happen to those involved.

Mom Describes Killing Girl, 2

I cannot understand how anyone could beat a two year old severely, plunge her in water repeatedly, throw her across the room to impact tile, cause three skull fractures, and then put her body in a plastic container for a couple of months before finally disposing of it in Galveston Bay. Texas authorities had been looking for the identity of the child since her body washed ashore last month. The mother and her companion, who have been arrested (the father lives in Ohio and was not involved), met online through World of Warcraft. Seems to me they could't tell the difference between an innocent child and a monster to be hacked apart. Their mug shots are a little chilling in terms of expression--it's like there's no soul there.

Riley Ann Sawyers' life and potential were taken away from her by sick acts of violence. I can only hope she is at peace and that when she is reborn, it will be to loving parents who will cherish the precious life of a child.