8+6+Anonymity=Scumbag

WARNING: This is a long post
As all of us have recently heard there is a woman who had octuplets in California and it was recently released that this woman already had six children. It's not my place to pass judgment on her, but it is my place to pass judgment on the people passing judgment on her. I was surprised by how many children this woman has, but I didn't feel disgusted or annoyed by the news, because really..... I don't care; it won't impact me, and other than the short feeling of sympathy for the long years she has, working really hard for her family, I won't even think twice about this woman or her children, but apparently I am the only person who is so passive about this story. One change that has been made to online news that makes you lose hope in human kind is that now people can leave comments after news stories. Every article turns into a forum in which people can express their opinions on a story. Some opinions are well thought out rebuttals and thought provoking, others are less than that.....much less than that. I read the article in the Arizona Republic about this woman who had octuplets who already had 6 children and read people's responses to the article. I was shocked at how mean and simply horrible people were to response this woman's story.

The following are comments made in regards to the article and my response to each comment.

"great so how much of MY taxes are going to pay to these 14 kids? people need to be more responsible"
- Ok, maybe starting out with a valid point, but instead of offering sympathy, this person immediately thinks of themselves. It doesn't matter if these children were born into a loving or abusive home, you are just pissed because you might have to drop some pennies into their coin jar.

"The woman had enough kids. I just don't understand"
-Understand that people can have as many kids as they please and your understanding should not limit people's lives or how many children they have. I am sure if the world was limited by your understanding we would be living in a very dark place.

"If she pays for them, takes care of them, then she can have as many as she wants."
-Thank you to the one reasonable person on the first page of comments (note that these comments are not a selection, but rather just the first page of comments of 34 pages of comments.)

"whats there to understand? you only need to know that people in this world are idiots. Theres no explaining their behavior."
-One of my favorite things in the whole world is when someone fails to use apostrophes in contractions while they are calling someone else an idiot. It's hard to call someone else stupid when you can't get the grammar right in the attack.

"This woman is a G.D. NUT!! Who the hell would want MORE kids, if you already have 6?????"
-Ok, that's just plain mean.

"A mormon!!"
-And here comes the Mormon bashing. No where in the article did it mention the church but people with their prejudices are never happy. This is the same person that demands respect for their beliefs, but won't provide the same for others, and what if they are Mormon? Then the kids will be taught to love their neighbor, not to drink or smoke, or do drugs......HOLY CRAP! That would be terrible!

"Anyone with an ounce of brains knows that fertility treatments often result in multiple births. Besides, why would anyone with 6 kids want fertility treatments in te first place? Big families are nice if you can afford them, but no doubt, the taxpayers of California will be footing the bill."
-What is wrong with you? Why does someone who has a lot of children deserve to be called named and belittled? And why do you automatically assume that she can't afford the children. Everyone wants to be the victim, so instead of just saying, "wow, that must be rough" they immediately turn it around and make themselves the victim.

"Where is the father in all of this is my question? I am assuming there was one if she already had 6 children..."
-The article mentioned at least 3 times that the woman used in vetro fertilization, but apparently it is not requisite to read the article before one passes judgment.

"Yeah - or perhaps not 1 but 6 fathers..."
-Again, just wow, people are cruel. Do you think you are being funny by being so mean? Of course you do, you are just anonymous internet bully and if you actually had to give your real name and contact information you would not dare to be such an insensitive jerk face.

"There was no mention of a "father" except the woman's father (the babies grandfather) who is going back to Iraq. I would try to escape also. What a mess... and no father figure. I wonder if she has a job besides being a baby factory??????????"
-More insults and more comments by someone who didn't read the article. (It's at this point that I was just shocked. It wasn't one person being mean, but everyone. I don't know what emotion I should feel toward this woman, but it should not be hate or malice.

"Already had six kids and lives with her parents? Looks like someone was trying to get on Oprah to get a bunch of handouts."
- The father of the mother stated to the media that they were going to move and the media would never know where they lived, which is a pretty good indication that they aren't looking for handouts or "help from Oprah," but it's easier to be malicious rather than reading and making an intuitive comment.

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I wish these people could be sued for slander, but no, the internet in all of its anonymous glory actually accommodates this kind of just plain mean behavior. If we are judged by our news forums we will be remembered as insensitive selfish bullies who find themselves the victim even in the most fickle headlines. These people are pathetic.

I didn't have any feelings about this story or woman before I read the comments, but now I hope she has kids until she is as barren as Death Valley in July, and then I hope she has 2 more kids, just to spite the pretentious commentators who think they are victimized by how others choose to live their private lives.