By John Stark
I started my day by deleting blog comments. One person made an anonymous personal attack on a commenter who always posts under his own name. Not that this makes a difference–personal attacks and general bickering are subject to removal, anonymous or otherwise.
Another person is constantly posting unintelligible but long comments attacking county government, no matter what the topic. I have been deleting those for several days. Several of you were complaining about these comments, and I have no doubt that this kind of behavior discourages more desirable customers here.
Yes, you have a 1st Amendment right to express yourself somewhere. The stuff you post on my blog is subject to review by me.
Thanks, John. Comments should have some nexus to the topic, and if you want to disparage someone, some modicum of proof should be required.
I mostly wish the Herald’s online posting policy was consistent with its print letters policy–real names, standing up for what you believe by putting your own name on the line.
Thank you!
And as the more desirable comments come from many former, or current goverment officials, the modicum of proof as related to John Adams Sedition Act’s are obvious.
Like that recent YouTube Video, blamed for Bengazi Tripoli?
“Make no Law” where Making up Lies, is the motto of the Day!
Lived in Alabama Long?
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
(c) Factual error, content defamatory of official reputation, or both, are insufficient to warrant an award of damages for false statements unless “actual malice” — knowledge that statements are false or in reckless disregard of the truth — is alleged and proved. Pp. 279-283.
Thanks, John.
Paid Advertisements, from SSA, are perfectly legal, just in case your not from America.
(b) Expression does not lose constitutional protection to which it would otherwise be entitled because it appears in the form of a paid advertisement. Pp. 265-266. [p255]
Thank you for removing the comment.
There is, also, a ban button in the dashboard that I had installed.
I got my facts incorrect about Wenatchee. I should not have relied on the word of others. I apologize.
Thanks John. I really enjoy the blogs but tire quickly with the off topic, personal bashing that seems to prevail so often. Especially by those with “cutesy names” that only they think are cute.
Thanks again!
John, you would be my hero if you’d clean up this thread, too. Please? LB has gotten on my last nerve.
And, yes, I know you’re being tested, and I know you have to wait for the lawyers’ conclusion. I only hope you get better advice than the county and can put an end to this abuse.
At least on your blog. I hold no such hope for the main page, which is just a cesspool. But please deliver us here.
John it appears that Liberty Bell is testing you. I agree with Terry about LBs post.
Thank you John!
There is an uneven playing field when some people post under their real names and other do not and are free to make vicious attacks. This discourages those of us willing to stand behind our word. Get rid of anonymous posting altogether and you will generate more intelligent discussion. Thanks for a good start.
Notwithstanding 1st Amendment rights, but defending John Starks comment “Yes, you have a 1st Amendment right to express yourself somewhere. The stuff you post on my blog is subject to review by me”, I would agree with everyone EXCEPT Liberty Bell. He/she/it has decided that this blog is their OWN personal rant space. John. exercise YOUR right as the blogmaster and dump LB. Their contribution gives us nothing. (I wonder – exactly WHO is LB?)
real names is best .
Birch Bay Ray – thanks for correcting.
John and Ralph – I have left you emails and other messages. It is time to stop this stuff.
John,
Thank you for attempting to put an end to the personal attacks and the unrelated rants on your blog. I haven’t posted comments on the Bellingham Herald for a very long time, because I became fed up with the personal attacks by anonymous bloggers who do not have the courage to take ownership of the nonsense they post on this, and other blogs.
Hey, no need to ID people, let the words and ideas stand on their own merit. As for defamation, I think Mike Brady would say something like, if all you do is post multiple comments of incohesive thought fragments, the only person you’re defaming is yourself.
Moderated anonymous posting also has some benefit.
A larger amount of constructive dialogue can come out if people aren’t worried about being fired or isolated at work due to having voiced an unpopular opinion. If Stark & co are willing to remove the bad apples, a wider range of people will voice a wider range of ideas.
It will be interesting to see how John deals with this going forward. The issue is not unique to us, it’s occuring everywhere around the nation. You see it particularly after someone new gets an LTE published. If it’s a progressive view or opposed to industrial development, the slurs and attacks are hurled with the intent, I’m convinced, to frighten that person and others away from the public discourse.
We know if papers are to survive, it will largely be due to online versions, so whether and how they moderate conversations will have a major impact on public discourse. It’s clear the extreme right believes it’s important. Look at how much time they spend repeating misinformation over and over. They do it because, at least with some, it works (a recent poll found 48% of Republicans believe Acorn stole the election for Obama).
I agree, Richard, that there needs to be a balance. I don’t mind shy people or those who have personal reasons for remaining anonymous posting under pseudonyms. I do mind what LB is doing. I skim past those posts as do many, but how many leave the discussion because of that activity?
I have a lot of respect for John and will watch with interest what, if anything, transpires.
I wish to thank John Stark for taking care of the abuse that was hurled in the past two days. It is unfortunate that John has to spend his limited time being a monitor for those that can’t post civilly.
Excellent move John. Anonymous sniping brings down the general quality of conversation and does not move our community ahead with understanding some of the nuanced issues facing our community.
Thank you John. You are in a competive profession and the heat is on.
Frankly and honestly, I very much prefer the comments in The New York Times because they appear to come from real people with real names and are carefully screened for relevence and proprity. The teenagers have to go somewhere else to play.
The Bellingham Herld offers a venue for serious discussion of significant issues. Lets all agree to keep it on a high plane.
In the past, I posted here very frequently.
While most of the discourse was reasonable, one anonymous poster posted a link to my father’s obituary information in a post that contained other slurs.
Recently, a poster on this thread accused me of “spewing venom” without offering a quote to use as the basis for a rebuttal.
Life is too short to participate here without wasting time.
Thank you John – good move.
I agree with others that LB should no longer be allowed to rant here. He’s usually off-topic and seems to spend his days defaming elected officials. I don’t read his posts but they clog up the blogs. Between him and AFY it seemed like a colossal waste of time to even read the blogs much less take the time to post.
Wow, I don’t know what the exchange was about to create such a brouhaha but it must have been a doozie.
That said, some of these commenters come across as a bit self righteous; I can recall a few colorful comments that have been posted from some of you in the past.
But even I have tired of AFY and LB, and I agree that all comments should be posted at the discretion of the blog-masters.
Ps, btw, for personal reasons I appreciate the luxury of anonymity.
I’m not a politician or a public figure, and I usually play nice.
Some of the folks who comment here know me personally, and they recognize how insignificant my comments usually are.
Wow, what did I miss?
I know LB personally, and I too tire of the off point comments, but as I do know him well, he has a lot that he could add, that is valuable. Maybe a simple phone call would suffice.
He does make fun of politicians, but heck even Wendy gets in her digs on local politicians and the error of their ways. Making fun of politicians and their propensity for hypocrisy, has been an American freedom since Mark Twain and Will Rogers. elevated it to an American art form.
Some folks chose to stay anonymous not because they are ashamed of their comments, but to protect themselves from the politicos revenge.
Remember that our Founding Fathers were highly critical of government, and if they were alive today, I am sure that they could find plenty to protest. Many Founding Fathers protested from the security of anonymity also. It could be argued that if not for these anonymous comments of our Founding Fathers, America and its freedoms would not exist today.
Censorship by a newspaper, should be done with the greatest of discretion. or it will be the newspapers whose credibility that suffers.
LB tends to be factually accurate, just not on topic too often.
He is not the only one I have seen segue-way off into oblivion.
Dave I can’t believe you are still whining and lying about Jurgen and Shaun years later. This may come as a shock, but some of us remember the sexist and frankly asinine comments you made about Patty Murray’s weight and how she was headed for a heart condition. And how Jurgen, also a heart patient chided you for your sexism and insensitivity and hypocrisy by pointing out heart disease ran in your own family. You claimed he had stalked up you, and was lying that he only found that out by googling your name and finding your father’s obit about his death from a heart attack in 1968.
Even after he gave you the link you continued to lie about him and you got him banned. get over it Dave, you were wrong then and your statement here just now was also a farcical rendition of history.
And then after Shaun complained to Stark that someone was using his name, you didn’t take it seriously, but when Shaun used the name of AFY and LB and Dave (figuring one of them was using his name) to write humorous posts lauding him, something none of the three would ever do so that it was obvious; You John made nasty comments about Shaun and sent him insulting e-mails and have permanently banned him from even reading the blog for responding in-kind to your nastiness and using their names which suddenly out of the blue became an offense worthy of(how did you put it?) a blog death sentence.
And Lisa’s new position, for someone who used to snipe at others under a couple of anonymous names, like Susie Q is also worth a guffaw.
But to be anonymous or not to be, is a tired old debate and the new regime here, has had one notable effect. Few bother to come here anymore, it is little more than a club of usual bloviators and now there will be one less Shaun or Jurgen, or even now probably Hank, to kick around for having a memory and a sense of what has gone on before.
Happy Festivus to all……