Lies, Rumors, Allegations are made.  The individual does not respond.  The consensus is therefore - that it all must be true. 

1.         Consider - If they weren’t true you would think that the accused individual would certainly rush to defend themselves wouldn’t you?  Defend themselves to whom?  To a bunch of individuals who don’t know the half of it and who feed like sharks on the blood of others?  Who look around to see who is next to take down?  Who next won’t ‘live up’ to their standards so it’s ok to destroy lives and reputations?   While occasionally there are those who suffer from the Man of La Mancha complex, eventually the reality that a cause is just that – hopeless – and therefore wasted effort - sinks in.  After all - they have before them the example of their predicessors.  Why would they believe that the outcome would be any different for them?  And after all, the only ones that really matter are their friends and their family - who should know the truth or at least - know better.

2.         Consider - Perhaps the individual won’t dignify the false accusations by responding in kind.  After all, some people have a sense of honor and believe that 2 wrongs to not a right make.  Lowering yourself to the level of another only prejudices your own case.  People are going to believe after all, whatever they want and usually it is less than the truth.  Inaccuracies and sensational falsehoods often are much more easily believed than the truth…particularly when the truth isn’t of a pleasant nature or is so apparent that it’s too simple to be perceived as ‘true’.  And taking responsibility?  Why when it is so much easier to blame on someone else and thereby make yourself look even better and more blameless?

3.         Consider - Or perhaps the individual hopes that if they don’t respond to the lies and rumors being spread that the issue will just go away and everyone will forgive, forget or come to a different conclusion given time.   And how can that possibly happen when (as someone just posted not long ago on their journal) “they archive” and are fond of dragging it out upon every conceivable occasion?  Archives are funny things.  Many people keep conversations of what they consider might be important.  Important such as threats – implied or otherwise.  And since Archives can be altered, they are not considered ironclad evidence in a court of law.   And btw, these are the same individuals who accuse everyone else of being the drama queens.  Course its ok for them… 

4.         Consider – That wonderful ability to, even when presented with evidence from multiple sources, refuse to follow it to its logical conclusion or deny the conclusion?  Never having been one who was an ostrich with my head buried in the sand or a sheeple, I find this ability to not look at evidence objectively to be un-comprehendible.  Admitting an unpleasant truth to oneself is part of being a rational, intelligent individual, the process requires certain objectivity. This presupposes that arriving at the conclusion may not be either easy or pleasant.  So when faced with unpleasant truths the sheeple just herd off with that old refrain “So let’s just not examine it…independent thinking is just too hard.  After all, if we pretend it doesn’t exist then it can’t be true and we won’t have to do anything about it.’  And these are the same sheeple when something happens as it invariably does, that will moan and ring their hands and say ‘but no one told me’ or ‘you should have made us listen’, and my personal favorite ‘how could anyone do this to us after all we’ve done for them?’  Um...can we say....willing sucker?

5.         Consider – Perhaps the accused individual actually hopes that the accusers will one day wake up and realize that not only were they wrong, but actually have the guts to admit it.  Yeah right.  Like one day the sun will go round the moon but hope is a funny thing and in my years of life I’ve seen some pretty strange things happen, particularly in the long run.  I’ve learned not to say ‘never’ where the gods can hear me, because as perverse as they sometimes are – they have the habit of teaching mortals a lesson by presenting you with that very thing you ‘will not do’.  But some individuals only have that hope, they cling to it like a lifeline – it’s not a kind thing to deprive someone of hope when its all they have and not offer something else to take its place.  

It is said that patience is a virtue.  It is also said that revenge is a dish best served cold and savored.  Somewhere between the two is justice and that I do believe will come to pass.