Idaho state Rep. Stephen Hartgen (R-Twin Falls) is considering drafting legislation that would make anonymous blogging illegal, a bill that would be just as unlikely to achieve its stated goal as it would be to pass constitutional muster…
“Anonymity takes away the responsibility to say things in a civil and accurate manner. It provides a cover for the ugliness we see in the debate today. It’s hard to read political blogs any more because they are so inflammatory.”
What a fucking douchebag.
See, I’ve never blogged anonymously, and I have absolutely no problem sticking my name on a post, no matter how uncivil, ugly or inflammatory. So suck on that, Rep. Hartgen, you fascist, freedom-hating sack of shit.
Now, I know that there are those in the political and media establishment who would prefer that credibility be limited to those writing under a prestigious masthead and in the familiar, suffocatingly polite manner of the traditional family newspaper. But here in the new media we earn our credibility through the content of our words, not the number of letters in them or the byline above them. That’s why I am free to address Hartgen’s idiocy with the foul-mouthed blue streak it deserves, and without damaging my own credibility… because I’ve earned that right over four-plus years of providing accurate news reporting and thoughtful analysis, however salty my language.
But even if I had never attached my real name to my screen name—even if “Goldy’s” true identity had remained a mystery until this very day—my credibility would still not be diminished, because my nom de plume is as much a valid signature on my body of work as my actual, legally binding chicken scrawl. On the flip side, the bulk of the anonymous trolls in my own comment threads have no credibility at all, because they simply haven’t earned it, and when you write anonymously you start from nothing.
This is the irony that the sniveling, cowardly Hartgen misses entirely: anonymous discourse is often the most honest of all, because it is judged entirely on the quality of the content rather than the presumed reputation of the name on the label. (Here’s a thought experiment: put Mr. Cynical’s byline on Ted van Dyk’s columns, and see how eager the oh-so-respectable editors at Crosscut would be to publish his rambling, incoherent posts?)
But perhaps the worst thing one could say about Hartgen’s proposal is not that it is merely assinine, unconstitutional, unnecessary or even mind-numbingly stupid, but that it is downright unAmerican—an unpatriotic insult to the proud pseudonymous tradition of Publius, Anonymous, Mrs. Silence Dogood and other founding fathers.
If these great pamphleteers were alive today, they’d be bloggers all, and I’ve no doubt they’d join me, anonymously or not, in asking Rep. Hartgen the question that should be posed to all those who threaten the essential freedoms ensconced in our First Amendment: why do you hate America?
Silence Dogwood? Isn’t is Silence Dogood?
Conservatives talk about saving Western traditions from multiculturalism and Islamofacism. And yet their own politicans routinely undermine the rule of law, ridicule intellectuals (who are actually contributing and preserving culture), and some even question the basics of free speech.
i’m really danny westneat.
Republicans claim to love democracy-they just don’t want any of it here at home.
The Franken-Coleman recount is another great example. God forbid that all the legitimate votes should be counted.
Coleman is lawyering up to quash the recount as well as defend himself from his crooked dealings. Goopers can’t stand “activist judges” unless they are advocating for them.
Hypocritical douchebags-all of them.
Tyler @1,
Oops. I may be credible, but I’m a crappy proofreader and my fingers sometimes seem to have a mind of their own.
If anonymous blogging must go so too must anonymous sources.
“however salty my language”
I find that I am not bothered. Anybody that will call a Republican a “pigfucker” is alright in my book. Hell, I’d have had no idea that Republicans fuck goats if it weren’t for the salty language on this blog.
What do you expect from an Idaho Republinazi? They think flouridation is a commie plot, so they treat their drinking water with LSD.
Goldy:
“That’s why I am free to address Hartgen’s idiocy with the foul-mouthed blue streak it deserves, and without damaging my own credibility… because I’ve earned that right over four-plus years of providing accurate news reporting and thoughtful analysis, however salty my language.”
You are not a news reporter but only a blogger with leftist leaning reporting. Your articles have primarily proven that you lobby from your point view. So to try to ‘spew’ that you are providing “four-plus years of …accurate news reporting and thoughtful analysis” is misleading to the readers of your blog particularly using the words ‘accurate and thoughtful’ together. Maybe if you qualified that term with the adverb “‘Liberal’ or ‘Lefist’, your articles would be more acceptable and accurate.
Oh, BTW – all newspapers and other Mass Media outlets are in your same boat with the same ‘accuracy’ problems. Some are thoughtful such as some of your articles but many are not but that is dependent upon the point of view of the readers.
What Republicans want is an America they can control — one where they own everything, hold workers in bondage, and dictate what people can say and think. They don’t give a shit about the Constitutional, freedom, due process, or the Bill of Rights — as they’ve repeatedly demonstrated not only by their words but also by their deeds. At its roots, Republican political philosophy springs from a totalitarian sentimentality.
9:
Who broke the “Heckuva Job, Brownie” story about his experience with horses?
Goldy reports. You don’t have to like his “left leaning” bias. Tough shit.
me @ 9:
Goldy is up front about what he is. He is a blogger who can be described as “left of center” with some degree of accuracy. He also reports news, whether you like it or not.
Even Stefan Sharkansky reports news sometimes. Being a blogger with an self-identified point of view does not disqualify anybody — even you — from reporting news.
And I agree with the other Ivan, that Ivan-come-lately, :-) @ 2. The differernce between people who call themselves “conservatives” today and the self-identified “conservatives” of my youth is that the conservatives of today have a very aggressive authoritarian streak.
I learned the hard way that there are some real psycho cases out there, who are more than willing to pick you out of the crowd on the internet merely because you disagree with them and they then spend an extraordinary amount of time trying to ruin your life.
Once I got into what started as a civil disagreement on an on-line discussion board regarding history topics, the next thing I know this guy’s working very hard to get me fired from my job, and making false reports alleging I was guilty of copyright infringement, tax evasion, and a variety of other subjects which took some time and attention to disprove. At roughly the same time he did the same thing to a handful of other posters. In the end we had to start legal proceedings, discovered his identity (a psychotic individual who was on a mental disability and therefore had all day and night to dream up ways to get back at those who “offended” him), and eventually have a restraining order issued.
That’s why I don’t use my real name on this board, or any others.
@7 “Hell, I’d have had no idea that Republicans fuck goats if it weren’t for the salty language on this blog.”
That’s not salty language, it’s empirical observation — look at any Republican and you’ll immediately notice that one of its parents is a goat.
@13 And, of course, the s.o.b. was judgment proof so you couldn’t get any money out of him for the various torts he committed against you ….
Of course, being the liberal-minded lawyer that I am, I say sue the bastard and execute judgment on his wheelchair … oh, and take his computer, too …
@9 “Your articles have primarily proven that you lobby from your point view.”
So? What do you think the largely-rightwing-owned media does? It’s been so long since we’ve had objective journalism in this country that few people are still alive who remember what it looks like. Everything is a political blog now. The only differences between Goldy and, say, Lush Flimflam Man or Bill O’Lielly is (a) which side of the fence they’re on and (b) their paychecks.
The Republicans planned to control the political discussion, by purchasing newspapers (the Wall Street Journal) and radio outlets (most AM channels). They haven’t been able to purchase the big-three TV networks because the price tag is too high, but they try to neuter it by constantly complaining that it is “biased” so that it will effectively censor itself, and then publish their own propoganda under another network which proclaims itself as “fair and balanced” but makes no attempt at all to be unbiased.
But the internet has proved to be their undoing. The proliferation of self-published web sites have made it impossible for them to continue to pass their talking points out for public consumption without a quick and effective rebuttal. They are frustrated that they can’t buy their way out of this problem. So they are simply trying to make it difficult and dangerous to speak out in that forum.
What’s the harm? In my previous post I pointed out the harm that a single psychotic individual threatened to do to me and my family, as well as a handfull of others. We were pretty much radomly targeted. But what if bloggers were targeted based upon their postings?
I can easily imagine a rather well-funded campaign to silence bloggers who threaten to be effective spokesman against the Republican Party. A little research, and they could make a variety of false allegations which could cost you your job, your insurance coverage, your credit rating, your marriage, and result in never-ending tax audits, etc.
If you don’t think it likely, remember Valerie Plame and Nixon’s enemy’s list.
this blog is too serious. i should write another boring column about it.
Sure as soon as they pass legislation attaching names to ALL items added to bills in Congress.
The most amazing thing of all about this wacko (and utterly unconstitutional) proposal is that it came from a “retired newspaper editor” — who, of all people, ought to know better.
@ 13, RHP spewed:
That sounds alot like the behaviour of about half of Goldy’s marionettes posting here,RHP. Usually, Republican’s are too busy working to stalk people so your clumbsy assessment is way out in, dare I say, Left field. Nothing new under the sun there, though.
Regurgitated Roadkill will prove my point in exactly……3……2……1
Another case where a fucked in the ass republican makes the mistake of thinking anyone gives a shit what he thinks. In case you right wing morons missed it while hiding under your mom’s skirt – WE FUCKING KICKED YOUR MORONIC, INBRED ASSES! YOU LOST. YOU LOST BY A FUCKING LANDSLIDE! Nobody cares what you think. Your role now is to sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up. We’ll let you know when we give a shit about what you think. Until then remember – we fucked you in the ass. You’ve been REJECTED!
ah yes, the pavlovian response by one of the marionettes. Aren’t you proud to say you’re a kindered spirit with the intellectual infant @ 22 (aka ByeByeGOP), RHP6033?
Thanks for proving my point there BBGOP.
23 – It’s the truth little Rickie Dumbass. You said McSame had it in the bag. What a freaking loser you are!
Here’s some more truth:
http://republicanoffenders.com/
Your party is den of perverts and thieves.
Little Rickie Dumbass.
Just wanted to say thanks for picking up the story, and if you want to read some of my other work on that blog (which, sadly, doesn’t *only* cover Idaho politicians, but there’s at least three stories about them there now) see: http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/blog333497.html
I also write about Idaho politics, particularly during the legislative session, for http://www.newwest.com/stateoftechnology.
hey goldy, you fuck, did you see the picture of the creatin who they now said killed adam walsh? who do you think he got more breaks from the republicans or the democrats? you fuck
Best of luck Sharon, nice site. I was spawed in NW Montana. Both lovely places. Still too many militas and survivalists out in the woods there?
I saw the header and thought, Silent Majority? Just another neocon call for everybody to just shaddup! Having people answer them and ask pointy questions back really isn’t what they envisioned.
Having nothing but your words to support your position somehow, unfair.
WHAAH!
Spawned, I suppose I could try spawing. Is there an Idiot’s Guide for spawing?
You have no idea what you’re talking about Ed. Just because you were spawned there doesn’t mean you have a clue as to whether Militias and Survivalists are the norm. Hell, idiots and perverts are the norm here in Seattle, but I don’t suppose you’ll admit to that reality in Goldy’s Palace of Progressive Perverts and Probable pedophiles.
Rick D: Actually, the guy was as Republican as they come. His posts on the history forum insisted, among other things, that F.D.R. was a communist that had a secret meeting with the Japanese to arrange for Pearl Harbor so we could get into a war with Germany, etc.
But I didn’t mention it before because it wasn’t really relevant. The guy had a mental disease. Despite the aggravation he caused me and others, I had to remember that it wasn’t his fault, and part of me felt sorry for him.
But hey, thanks for making unfounded assumptions which feed your preconceived notions. As for me, I don’t have all day to harrass people, either. I work for a living. So are every Democrat I know – either working, or retired after a career of hard work.
Nicely stated Goldy.
I agree Hartgen is retarded. Using the same logic, I’ll have to assume Goldy and everyone else here would feel the same about the “fairness doctrine”?
I think you described yelling loser boy to a “T”.
WTF? The Internet is proving the libtards can’t sling their crap.
Most Powerful Example – Bill Burkett’s infamous CBS papers. Debunked by the Internet.
Second Most Powerful Example – Trig Palin was Bristol’s baby. Brought to you by the M O R O N S, friends of Goldy, with the kool-aid drunk by yelling loser boy. Dissected and destroyed by the Internet.
Has anyone really seen Kerry’s DD-214 yet?
Goldy’s Palace of Progressive Perverts and Probable Pedophiles. – Rick, I see you spotted Steve again. He likes young goats.
Dude, that’s your modus operandi on this blog 24×7
Many times I crack up laughing… Can’t LMAO as that’s for yelling loser boy. He’s all ASS!
They can take my keyboard when they pry it from my cold dead hands!
Yeah, just ask Dan Rather. He got booted from CBS after running with a false story on Bush pushed by his agenda driven producer Mary Mapes (and blindly accepted by him with his partisan glasses on) and it was completely desroyed by bloggers. Anyone that thinks the alphabet channels like ABC,CBS,NBC,MSNBC,CNN et al, don’t have a liberal agenda aren’t being honest or are completely delusional, plain and simple.
So RHP you use one instance of a “Republican” supposedly stalking you and now that somehow morphs into ‘they’? Nothing like stereotyping or anything there, RHP. As for “buying their way out of this problem”, I guess you’ve never heard of George Soros, Bill Gates, Ted Turner, et al. They’ve pumped Billions of dollars into liberal causes in order to push a misguided leftist agenda with groups like CAP, media matters, Moveon, which simply put out propaganda that are intended to prop up the DNC talking points.
Wouldn’t you agree?
All of this goat copulation would be alot easier to curb if Goldy would simply shut down the petting zoo he’s got in his backyard.
While I have long advocated against blogs allowing posters to hid behind pure anonymity, legally requiring name disclosure is creepy.
On this, Goldy and blogger Mike Reitz at Evergreen Freedom Foundation’s http://www.LibertyLive.org blog are of one accord. I’ll chime in with a hearty, “Amen!” too.
As a matter of personal taste, intellectual integrity, and the tort of defamation, I believe pure anonymity is inappropriate. But getting the state, with its jackboots, truncheons, and re-education camps, to enforce such a policy is a goose step in the wrong direction.
We have way too many laws, not too few of them – let’s repeal most in order to restore freedom to the people, not start regulating whole new areas of speech and conduct.
See, Goldy, us free-market types can and occasionally do find common ground with all of you socialist destroyers of America…;~}
The Piper
Well it seems Obama wants to ban personal questions about Blago.
OBAMA: John McCormick?
McCORMICK: Thank you, Mr. President-Elect. First of all, given the situation here in Illinois, do you favor or oppose a special election to fill your — your vacancy, and secondly, you told us at your first press conference after the election that you were going to take a very hands-off approach to filling that spot. Over the weekend, The Tribune reported that Rahm Emanuel, your incoming chief of staff, had presented a list of potential names…
OBAMA: John, let me — let me — let me just cut you off, because I don’t want you to waste your question. As I indicated yesterday, we’ve done a full review of this. The — the facts are going to be released next week. It would be inappropriate for me to comment, because the — the — for example, the — the story that you just talked about in your own paper, I haven’t confirmed that it was accurate, and I don’t want to get into the details at this point. So do you have another question?
McCORMICK: There’s no conflict between what you said was your hands-off approach and the possibility that —
OBAMA: John —
McCORMICK: – aides presented somebody —
OBAMA: John. I said — The U.S. attorney’s office specifically asked us not to release this until next week.
McCORMICK: What about on a special election? Given the kind of chaos here in Illinois?
OBAMA: You know, I’ve said that I don’t think the governor can serve effectively in his office. I’m going to let the state legislature make a determination in terms of how they want to proceed.
McCORMICK: Do you or Duncan have a better jump shot?
OBAMA: Duncan, much better. That one’s an easy one.
Was it an anonymous blogging source who told the Tribune…
Actually, the Dan Rather story does prove my basic point – that the proliferation of blogs, often with information provided by anonymous posters, helps public debate in the long run by quickly testing claims for their truth, and dissecting them in open discussion in the spirit of John Stuart Mills. But a lot has happened since the 2004 election.
Through the 2004 election, and pretty much halfway into 2005, the mainstream media tended to pick up only stories carried on “mainstream” web sights and their associated blogs, such as the Drudge Report. This allowed Karl Rove to incorporate it into his traditional “whisper campaign” strategy. He would start a rumor on the internet, have a right-wing site such as the “Drudge Report” pick it up, at which point the mainstream media would feel compelled to report it as a “controversy which exists” or “charges have been made”, without scrubbing the rumor for veracity. The effect was to put the target of the rumors – usually a Democratic candidate such as Kerry – on the defensive with an obligation to “disprove” the rumors without any proof of the rumors themselves. Of course, disproving a rumor is impossible, as the rumor itself will morf constantly to avoid each element as it is addressed, thereby keeping it in the public discussion (which is the main point of the rumor).
But Goldy’s site deserves a lot of credit, because in my mind the press changed the way it responded to blogs in 2005, with Goldy’s reporting about Brownie’s suspect credentials in the wake of the failed Katrina response. With every aspect of the Katrina disaster being covered 24/7, the question of “how/why” was on everyone’s mind, but no answers were forthcoming other than the Bush administration’s feeble defense that it was an “unprecedented natural disaster” that “no one could have anticipated”. But Goldy’s report showed that rather than being an isolated disaster, the failed Katrina response in fact the easily predictable result of the Bush adminstration’s policy of hiring unqualified political toadies to disembowel FEMA and many other government service agencies, out-sourcing their functions to companies that were politically favorable to the administration but completely unprepared to supply the services required – other than to reap huge profits in the process of sub-contracting the actual work.
In the intervening months and years, this proved to be a pattern across-the-board with the Bush administration, as political considerations were shown to have ridden rough-shod over every decision and process made by the administration, including Iraq and the economy.
And through it all, the media has acquired a love-hate relationship with the blogs. It hates the competition, prefers to believe it is at least a step or two above them in quality of reporting, but it relys on them now for much of it’s original story sources – albeit with a bit of investigation in between.
And getting back to Dan Rather – I will be supremely surprised if ultimately it isn’t shown that Dan and CBS were set up in the national guard story. The internet posts discussing font styles came in awfully fast – as if the posters already had copies of the letters before the story was run (which could have only happened if they worked for CBS or if the Rove campaign had supplied the letters as part of a disinformation campaign).
@40…Puddy…
When you watched the video of that Q & A, were you able to hear the unmistakable sound of clicking heels and achtung?
And what about rumors that pretty soon this holiday season, there will be no Rahm at the Inn since he cozied up to Blago in an effort to make him the fourth king in a pseudo gift-of-the-Magi scenario?
Was’t Blago hear humming as he was indicted wearing a running suit:
At least Blago would have access to a prison barber – get a better ‘do than the one he has now.
The Piper
rhp6033: R U into revisionist blogging now?
Above, you were attacking:
Then after Rick and I provide the Bill Burkett papers which proved CBS as SEE BS you now claim:
Ummm no your basic point was blogging helps destroy the “Republican planned to control the political discussion”.
Puddy calls BULLSHITTIUM!
Piper@42:
Hilarious! You know I thought with Obama’s superior intellect bragging an IQ of 125, he would have learned something about forthrightness and instant truth telling. Why didn’t he tell the press upfront Rahmbo had met with Rod Blago?
Butt alas, when you are trained in Chicago and Illinois politics you think you are above the common people.
Wait a minute… that’s the same argument the libtards use on Bush. Well I guess the flying shoe fits.
43 – Nothing but a fool shouting. rhp’s argument is consistent.
The internet can serve the right’s purposes too – but the right wing is wedded to crazy bullshit.
Reality itself has debunked your bullcrap. No one believes you crazy fucks any more.
I see the HA court jester is awake@45.
Let’s see yelling loser boy… Daily Kurse trumpets a blog entry Trig Palin is Bristol’s child here, here, here, here, and here.
CNN runs with the story with kudos to Daily Kos (they took down the video but the link is on HA archives and Bill Bennett destroys CNN for it.
So another worthless yelling loser boy comment destroyed by Puddy. Just like going to the fair and putting the water stream into the clowns mouth to burst the bubble. Except this time the clown is yelling loser boy and the stream is truth consciousness. The balloon is his single celled mind.
A battle of wits was called but yelling loser boy thought it was a battle of shits, so he exclaimed:
“I win this one all the time. I leave the biggest pile on HA everyday.”
HAR
HAR
HAR
HAR
HAR
A battle of wits was called
LMAO!!! I don’t take orders from the likes of you.
What a moron!
@39
Sure thing, lets start with the defense of marriage act.
@39
.
And yet, you want a law that says the government has a right to force women to carry a pregnancy to term.
@49…Michael…
No…I want the lives of unborn children protected against wholesale and wanton slaughter.
Tell you what, though…trade you the Defense of Marriage Act for the Environmental Protection Act, the Critical Areas Ordinance, and the Growth Management Act…
Scrap ’em – all of ’em.
Trust me…I can out-libertarian you any day of the week and twice on Sunday…
While we’re at it, privatize Social Security. Even with the current downturn, the markets are a better investment vehicle than SS.
No more nanny state…
The Piper
Apparently Piper would trade the lives of the unborn for fewer government regulations. I reckon the lives of the unborn are just a bargaining chip to our wing-nut stooge. At least he knows his priorities.
My bad, Poops, I misread your post. It was your morals you were will to sell off for fewer regulations, not the lives of the unborn. But since you’re willing to sell, what price do you put on the unborn?
#50 if you won’t give in on abortion, you’re not out-libertarian’ing a whole hell of a lot. You’re willing to pick and choose, just like everyone – except most of us are up front about it.
@53…EGT…
Not at all…I simply believe in rights for all, including the unborn who deserve legal protection against getting sucked down a sink.
Most lefty alleged libertarians really believe not in liberty, but license.
When it comes to economic liberty – really, where the rubber of libertarianism meets the road of reality – they check out in favor of massive government statism.
C’mon you HA Happy Hooligans…admit it…what you really want is freedom to indulge appetites, not freedom to stand on your own two feet without government bailing your sorry selves out of trouble each time your indulgences cause you grief.
You’re libertarian when there’s fun to be had, but complete Marxist-Leninist-Stalinist-Maoists when its final reckoning, bill-paying time.
The Piper
Libertarians? They’d be anarchists if they had balls. They don’t, so they stand for nothing.
everything you loonie leftys say looks like it was approved right from tel aviv
Piper, if you’re really concerned about the lives of the unborn, and not just concerned with trying to control women, then I assume you’re also in favor of making birth control and information about it much more widely available?