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The Post's Delicate Feelings
The Washington Post has finally upgraded their comment boards to allow the use of standard punctuation - but they're using the opportunity to crack down on commenters by getting more information about them. One of their columnists published a long whine about the necessity for making commenters use their real names (incidentally referencing my home town, Westport, CT), and I couldn't resist commenting:
"Courts have ruled that both anonymous and pseudonymous posters have 'qualified privilege' under the First Amendment that protects their identities and puts a high legal bar in front of subpoena seekers."
HAHAHAHA! Excuse me while I try to regain control of my bladder. Mr. Grubisich is a comedian of rare talent.
It wouldn't be so funny if the last six years hadn't documented so conclusively that the vast majority of ISPs and webhosts couldn't be more eager to release any user information they can, without requiring the government to say so much as "please".
Not to mention the Bush Administration's frequently-demonstrated penchant for attacking and destroying whistle-blowers by any and all means possible. Valerie Plame, anyone? And she's just one among many. But perhaps Mr. Grubisich doesn't read the Post.
Seriously, if Post staff and columnists had spent ONE-TENTH as much time and effort investigating and exposing the Bush Administration's pre-war claims about WMD as they do whining about bloggers and commenters, we probably wouldn't be in Iraq now and many thousands of people would be alive and unmaimed - including, of course, many US troops.
But that's not important, of course. No, what really matters is that the big bad anonymous world of internet commenters is sometimes RUDE and DISRESPECTFUL of Washington Post columnists and reporters. Why, some of them even fail to drop to their knees and tug their forelocks when David Broder issues another "Bush Rebound" pronouncement from his perch high up on Credibility Mountain!
The mere thought of it makes me weep. There, Mr. Grubisich - your post has moved me to both tears and laughter. Surely you've earned your salary today!