Patronizing Editorial, Part 2

"The prevailing argument for anonymous comments touched on freedom of speech. If I may summarize, anonymous comments allow people to say what they truly think and believe without a filter, the fear of losing a job or some other personal reprisal, including physical violence. Anonymous comments may come with ugly warts, but it most accurately represents a cross section of our community.
The other side argued that anonymity permits offensive, personal attacks that diminish the value of discussions about important community issues.
Many of you who favored anonymous posting said you wouldn’t visit The Olympian website if we changed the rules, while those who favored public identification said they currently stay away to avoid exposing themselves to crude and vile rants.
It sounds like a no-win situation for the newspaper. Yet, I’m hopeful we’ll find a satisfying middle ground."

George Le Masurier, publisher of The Olympian, can be reached at 360-357-0206 or glemasurier@theolympian.com

Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2010/08/08/1329618/anonymous-online-posts-strike.html#ixzz0w1zj2U47

This is just about enough to gag me.

Earlier last week, as you all recall, I endured attacks by "Cheeseburger" and "glenn" about allegedly drinking beer at Fatso's. I went out of my way to enflame the conversation to catch the attention of Tweedle Dum, moderator of the day. I gave them both plenty of rope with which to hang themselves. A couple of hours along, Tammy shows up and levels a warning about "getting back on subject" and slowly begins the process of deletion. Of course, as "Cheeseburger" and "glenn" know, you can't unring a bell.

As to the subject matter, I have an opporunity to drink alcohol every day that I awaken, but I choose to not do it. My drinking days ended 22 years ago, and I've sufficiently recalled, on numerous occasions, the damage my drinking caused. I have no need to create that kind of havoc in my life all for the taste of alcohol, from which I repel anyway (grabbed the wrong glass at a party once). My obsession has been lifted, thanks to the friends of Bill W. Truthfully, I'm almost amused when people use my sobriety as a weapon because the only person I have to satisfy on a daily basis is ME. As a person that travels all over the Puget Sound region, if I wanted to drink, as I did in the past, I certainly have 1000s of possibilities other than a bar in my local area.

The real point in this post is to observe that The Olympian knows the answer - MODERATION, continual and around the clock. It's the price they pay for enjoying the revenue they make of the online hits they report to advertisers. They will not do this. They'd rather leave their forum a breeding ground for defamation and run to corporate attorneys for a game of greenmail when called on their neglect.

Meanwhile, I'm comfortable enough in my own skin to take on any subject dealt out on The Olympian forums. Only cowards hide.