The Coming Fight for the Blogosphere!
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For the past few months, it has become more and more obvious that there will soon be an all out effort by the Left in America to destroy the blogosphere. Why? For the same reason they want to reintroduce the so-called Fairness Doctrine. Oh, it will be packaged, as all things originating on the left always are… “For the Children”!
The left is now weeping and whining over the language used by bloggers and “commenters”, especially anonymous commenters. They claim children are reading those “cuss words” and, believing their use to be acceptable, they (the children) are using those cuss words themselves.
(Now… before I get an anonymous comment enlightening me that “cuss" and “cuss words” are NOT correct English… please be advised that here in the American South, not ONLY is it correct English… as well as ACCEPTED English... it is PREFERRED English! You see, we tend to reserve the word “curse” for such things as “spells” cast by witches, Voo Doo queens, root doctors, Native American Medicine Men, and assorted “others”. Cursing someone, in these parts, is considered far more anti-social behavior than cussing someone. Got all that?)
I would ask only, have you been to the movies lately? Have you taken your child, even to a PG rated movie, lately? How about TV? Do you allow your children to watch TV programs after 8 PM? See where I’m headed with this? The hypocrisy just drips from this accusation.
Here at IoF we make an attempt to keep the “cussing” to a minimum. We were rated “G,” sometime back, because the Blog Rating Service screening us found nary a cuss word. Of course, those comments you readers never saw were salted fairly well with Anglo-Saxon.
Now, I’m no prude and I can hold my own in a cussing contest. I’m fairly imaginative and can even make-up a few “wicked words” on the fly… especially in the heat of anger.
Some of the regular commenters at IoF, upon reading their published comments, have seen that some of their “bluer” words have disappeared from the text of their comments before being published. Gratuitous cussing ain’t allowed on IoF. Now, I will readily admit that, at times, only tried and true Anglo-Saxon cussing will amplify a point as that point should be. Then, it becomes a judgment call made by, yours truly… me. My call is final… at least here at IoF.
Up to now, we have allowed anonymous comments IoF. Most of you have been extraordinarily well behaved. Others have been horrible. The horrible ones never made it into the ether. My ”Delete” button sent them off to “comment Hell”… oops, make that “comment Hades”!
So, as of today there will be no more anonymous comments allowed on IoF. If you want to use a “nom de plume” (pen name), that’s fine. Some of us use nom de plumes because there are other writers out there with whom we share the same name, first and last. That is acceptable practice and has been throughout the history of publishing. In one case, with which I am intimately acquainted, a Blogger shares the same name with a well known writer in Washington, D.C. who happens to work for a Democrat politician, but they (the Blogger and the Congressional aide/ writer) do not share the same political philosophy. In fact, their politics are worlds apart! If you are looking for a real “mess” that’s as quick a way of ensnarling yourself in one as I can think of... at the moment.
So, here’s the thing: Comment all you want. The more the merrier. But, if you choose to comment anonymously, your comments will not be published on IoF. Sorry, but that is the way it is going to be. I see no reason to give those who would shut us down any additional ammunition with which to wound the blogosphere.
When the Blogosphere was created, as most of us old fuddy-duddies remember, it quickly became a joke. But then, imaginative people, writers and such, saw the potential therein and began to use the blogosphere in ways never imagined by the creators and those earlier bloggers. It has grown into a powerful engine and it serves as a moving force in politics, education, publishing, etc, today. The key word used, a few words back, is “powerful”. There are people in this world who feel threatened by anything powerful. The blogoshere is one of those things. They cannot allow it to live… at least… not in its current form. It will either have to be changed, or destroyed. Its destruction is what they want, but… they will settle for a less threatening form of blogoshere… an emasculated form, if you will.
So, prepare for the coming attack. For come it shall. I fully expect bloggers to fight back with all the energy of free men. But will it be enough? Frankly, I don’t know. I’ve seen Americans give up more of their freedom in my lifetime that I ever thought possible for Americans. So whether, or not, the blogosphere will survive is, really, up in the air. Be assured of two things. It will be an historical battle and it will last a very long time with the eventual outcome having lasting effects on, not only the Blogosphere, but on America herself.
Longstreet
© Commentary by Longstreet copyrighted, October 2007
For the past few months, it has become more and more obvious that there will soon be an all out effort by the Left in America to destroy the blogosphere. Why? For the same reason they want to reintroduce the so-called Fairness Doctrine. Oh, it will be packaged, as all things originating on the left always are… “For the Children”!
The left is now weeping and whining over the language used by bloggers and “commenters”, especially anonymous commenters. They claim children are reading those “cuss words” and, believing their use to be acceptable, they (the children) are using those cuss words themselves.
(Now… before I get an anonymous comment enlightening me that “cuss" and “cuss words” are NOT correct English… please be advised that here in the American South, not ONLY is it correct English… as well as ACCEPTED English... it is PREFERRED English! You see, we tend to reserve the word “curse” for such things as “spells” cast by witches, Voo Doo queens, root doctors, Native American Medicine Men, and assorted “others”. Cursing someone, in these parts, is considered far more anti-social behavior than cussing someone. Got all that?)
I would ask only, have you been to the movies lately? Have you taken your child, even to a PG rated movie, lately? How about TV? Do you allow your children to watch TV programs after 8 PM? See where I’m headed with this? The hypocrisy just drips from this accusation.
Here at IoF we make an attempt to keep the “cussing” to a minimum. We were rated “G,” sometime back, because the Blog Rating Service screening us found nary a cuss word. Of course, those comments you readers never saw were salted fairly well with Anglo-Saxon.
Now, I’m no prude and I can hold my own in a cussing contest. I’m fairly imaginative and can even make-up a few “wicked words” on the fly… especially in the heat of anger.
Some of the regular commenters at IoF, upon reading their published comments, have seen that some of their “bluer” words have disappeared from the text of their comments before being published. Gratuitous cussing ain’t allowed on IoF. Now, I will readily admit that, at times, only tried and true Anglo-Saxon cussing will amplify a point as that point should be. Then, it becomes a judgment call made by, yours truly… me. My call is final… at least here at IoF.
Up to now, we have allowed anonymous comments IoF. Most of you have been extraordinarily well behaved. Others have been horrible. The horrible ones never made it into the ether. My ”Delete” button sent them off to “comment Hell”… oops, make that “comment Hades”!
So, as of today there will be no more anonymous comments allowed on IoF. If you want to use a “nom de plume” (pen name), that’s fine. Some of us use nom de plumes because there are other writers out there with whom we share the same name, first and last. That is acceptable practice and has been throughout the history of publishing. In one case, with which I am intimately acquainted, a Blogger shares the same name with a well known writer in Washington, D.C. who happens to work for a Democrat politician, but they (the Blogger and the Congressional aide/ writer) do not share the same political philosophy. In fact, their politics are worlds apart! If you are looking for a real “mess” that’s as quick a way of ensnarling yourself in one as I can think of... at the moment.
So, here’s the thing: Comment all you want. The more the merrier. But, if you choose to comment anonymously, your comments will not be published on IoF. Sorry, but that is the way it is going to be. I see no reason to give those who would shut us down any additional ammunition with which to wound the blogosphere.
When the Blogosphere was created, as most of us old fuddy-duddies remember, it quickly became a joke. But then, imaginative people, writers and such, saw the potential therein and began to use the blogosphere in ways never imagined by the creators and those earlier bloggers. It has grown into a powerful engine and it serves as a moving force in politics, education, publishing, etc, today. The key word used, a few words back, is “powerful”. There are people in this world who feel threatened by anything powerful. The blogoshere is one of those things. They cannot allow it to live… at least… not in its current form. It will either have to be changed, or destroyed. Its destruction is what they want, but… they will settle for a less threatening form of blogoshere… an emasculated form, if you will.
So, prepare for the coming attack. For come it shall. I fully expect bloggers to fight back with all the energy of free men. But will it be enough? Frankly, I don’t know. I’ve seen Americans give up more of their freedom in my lifetime that I ever thought possible for Americans. So whether, or not, the blogosphere will survive is, really, up in the air. Be assured of two things. It will be an historical battle and it will last a very long time with the eventual outcome having lasting effects on, not only the Blogosphere, but on America herself.
Longstreet
© Commentary by Longstreet copyrighted, October 2007
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5 comments:
Good morning ole buddy. I wuld think that the govament be more knonserend wit mis-speling on sutch a large scale rather than the "swearing". I am quilty alot when in a herry and I'fe seen udders that can't spell too good either.
Hay, thas a gudun frank. I think the govmunt is skeered ov us. If that saem govmunt payed more 'tentun to ed-u-k-shun wed we a hole lot betr off!
Longstreet
Which is worse, this or the government wanting bloggers to pay a tax to the federal government for having a blog or even a non-commercial website? Politicians in Rome have proposed such a bill for Italian bloggers. I just wrote a post a couple of days ago in regards to this.
Ann
Some of the far-left groups are trying to censor our free speech, to protect us from "hate speech" and to, of course, "protect the children". The real motivation is that they want to control what is being said, so their worldview is prominent and isn't challenged by the truth. And they want to take over our government and change how it works.
I hope people wake up to these things and stand up for our freedoms. We've got to get past voting for the party that our parents voted for, because things are very much different now. Some of the candidates plan to do destructive things to America, although they try to make it sound good. They want the government to run everything. And they want to decide what is moral and good, while telling us that there are no absolute morals. We've on a very slippery slope these days in America, and we must be really careful!
Some of the far-left groups are trying to censor our free speech, to protect us from "hate speech" and to, of course, "protect the children". The real motivation is that they want to control what is being said, so their worldview is prominent and isn't challenged by the truth. And they want to take over our government and change how it works.
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Wrong agin, it is far right dictator George w. that enacted an executive order that in leimens terms states any speech that could in effect change the status quo of our government could be seen as home grown terrorism. So if you don't like what the government is doing, speek out, if you get a following willing to vote for you, you can be locked up.... B.S. right wing dictators must go, get smart, get educated, get liberal. Maybe Beppo it's a gopod thing that Democrats aren't the party of your parents, Democrats actually want to PROGRESS into this millenium.
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