Mr. Henninger is probaly well-intentioned here.
But I have a question.
Exactly, WHO is going to be the arbiter of what is and what is not "civil"?
We already have censorship of conservative videos on YouTube, and conservative pro-American, pro-troop, anti-terrorist blogs on Blogger.com*
Do we want to encourage that, using "civility" as a cover?
Modern Liberals label people who merely disagree with them as "racists" "bigots" "homophobes", "baby-killers", and "nazis". Do we suppose they will stop short of labeling them "uncivil" if there's a chance of silencing or censoring them?
Nice thought, sweet idea, BAD policy.
The Gunslinger
*Full Disclosure: Host of this blog
Joebama American citizens 2024 print
11 months ago
I think perhaps you're being nicer and sweeter than you're giving these people credit for. The way in which they portray bloggers is not only puerile and nasty, but inaccurate and obtuse to boot. The idea that civility must be forced misses the point of civility completely, to my mind. If anything, civility in an unrestricted blogosphere will have infinitely more worth than civility as a response to an enforced Code of Conduct, as the former is the result of actual... well, civility, and the latter just a result of compliance to threats and bullying.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I'd rather have my freedom, even if it does mean constant bellyaching from the bad losers in the MSM.
Well, of course, "civility" would never be the point of the censors. They'd just have another tool to ruin people who expressed views they disagreed with.
ReplyDeleteWhat a damn surprise.