The Banality of Evil (and the Boredom of Daniel Moran)

 

When you imagine a stalker or a nemesis, pop culture trains you to expect a challenge. You imagine a Bond villain who is sophisticated, dangerous, and perhaps a bit mysterious. You expect a battle of wits.

Instead, we got Daniel Moran.

Dealing with Daniel Moran (aka "Daniel Rumanos," "Ron Mephisto," and whatever other wizard name he pulled out of a ratty hat this week) is not frightening. It is not thrilling. It is, quite frankly, excruciatingly boring.

The Tedium of the Troll

Moran wants us to be terrified. He wants us to believe he is an "Intergalactic Agent" with the power to destroy lives. In reality, he is an unemployed man in his mid-50s with too much time on his hands and a wifi connection he probably isn't paying for.

His attacks are not clever. They are repetitive, intellectually stunted tantrums thrown by a man who has never been told "no" by reality without retreating into a fantasy world. Reading his emails and comments is not a psychological thriller. It is a chore, like cleaning gum off a shoe. He recycles the same delusions, the same fake legal threats, and the same tired "I am a powerful Magician" shtick that didn't work in 1995 and certainly doesn't work now.

The Source of the Rage: Impotence and Inadequacy

Why is he like this? Why does he spend every waking hour harassing strangers?

The answer is pathetic, but simple. He has nothing else.

Moran has no friends. He has no career. He has no car (as confirmed by his recent trudging down Eastern Avenue in Essex). But more deeply, reports from an ex-partner—who was tragically young when she knew him—have shed light on the root of his hostility. She wrote openly about his sexual and physical impotence.

This explains everything. The "Magick," the "Spells," the obsession with "Hebephile Pride," and the desperate need for control are all overcompensation. He cannot perform as a man in the real world, so he tries to dominate people in the digital world. His rage is the misplaced anger of a man who knows he is inadequate in every measure that matters. He screams at us because he cannot scream at the mirror.

We Are Not Afraid (We Are Just Annoyed)

Moran seems to believe that his comments damage our reputations. He thinks that by calling us "antisemites" or writing bad sci-fi about us, the world will turn against us.

Daniel, look around. No one believes you.

When a man who claims to be a "Space Alien" and lists "Zionism" and "Hasidism" next to each other on a mail-order ordination certificate attacks us, it doesn't hurt our credibility. It confirms his insanity. We do not worry about our reputations because the source of the slander is a known, documented, delusional troll. It is like being insulted by a parrot. It is noise, not critique.

Why We Reply

If he is so boring, why do we keep posting? Why do we reply to his comments?

It is not because we are angry. It is not because we respect him as an opponent.

We reply to warn the others.

We reply because somewhere, a young girl might search for "Starlet Dreams Talent Agency." We reply because a parent might look up the guest on "The Tiberius Show." We reply so that when they Google "Daniel Rumanos," they don't find his fake "Magician" bio. They find the truth.

We are not fighting a villain. We are putting up a "Wet Floor" sign. Daniel Moran is a hazard. He is a slippery, gross, inconvenient mess that the community needs to step around.

So, Daniel, keep commenting. Keep walking down Eastern Avenue pretending you are a king. You aren't scaring anyone. You are just reminding us all how lucky we are to have lives, jobs, families, and dignity. These are everything you lost a long time ago.