Princess Diana :: Dear Britney.. No, Make That: Dear Paparazzi.. :raises left eyebrow:

A few months back, when I did not have keyboard under hand, I shockingly witnessed your unbelievable harassment, nay, endless emotional abuse of Britney Spears as she experienced her mental health crisis so publicly before us..

Walking in the very Shoes I do, the emotions your reprehensible treatment of Britney evoked were so intense as to become a harsh trigger that set off, at the very least, an overwhelming empathetic wave reminiscent of [panic disorder].. I could naught but turn off the television and wait for said wave to pass..

Some of the more arrogant among you said we didn't have to look, just turn off the tv set.. That was "cute".. Not.

Didn't matter if we turned off the box or not, as every [bleeped] time one turned around, your own captured images of your own perversed exploitation of a young woman with mental illness purely to line your pockets were everywhere.. Supermarkets.. Drug stores.. Our radios..

From the very first moment of witnessing via cable satellite what you all were doing, so unreal as to seem surely a LifeTimeTV movie, shades of the circumstances surrounding the untimely death of our precious Princess Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed repeatedly came to Mind.. With the breaking news just now that a jury has ruled Di and Dodi were unlawfully killed through the reckless actions of their driver and the paparazzi, apparently I have been in good company..

So I now say to you, dear Paparazzi, please, you need to step.. back..

You need to take a good.. long..... look at yourselves and your motivations along with the consequences of your actions with respect to the Lives of those you stalk..

When what you do involves a person with mental illness, as is so publicly well acknowledged in Britney's particular case, you yourselves are the ones with your forefinger on the trigger.. From this moment forth, you will, each and every one, be held personally, legally accountable for those you harm..

The abuse of even one individual, regardless of whom, will.. not.. be tolerated.. Through such ready access to the advocacy tools the Internet increasingly provides, the next wave of protecting Human Rights, Civil Rights, and Disability Rights along with the sweeping wave of Grinch-squooshing Open Compassion is upon us..

Period.

End of discussion.

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock with a special one going out to {{{Britney}}}..