The Black Republican

I was reading The Belmont Club yesterday and found something I could relate to. This doesn't happen too often for me at Belmont Club - not because I disagree with Richard Fernandez very often, but I just find his lengthy essays a bit too dry for regular consumption. But yesterday's very brief post mentioned that he was considering changes to his commenting policy due to some "pretty tasteless and... downright offensive" comments.

I don't have a lot of problem with that sort of thing here, but out of curiosity I thought I'd take a peek at what the first few visitors had to say in response to that post. Almost immediately, one commenter begged the other guests to consider what comments can do to a blogger, then linked to this.

One of the things I noticed during the last two weeks was that I had something of a feeling of relief. It's sort of like the feeling you have when you suddenly notice that your hiccups are gone, or that the throbbing headache you'd been feeling was suddenly over.

I don't actually get very much hate mail. Most of my mail is at least polite, though in some cases it approaches the indignant.

But nearly every article I write draws anywhere from 5 to 50 letters containing corrections, disagreements, comments about things I "left out" because "I didn't know", or other forms of kibitzing.

In the last two weeks, that has trailed down to nearly zero. (Not all the way, however. Yesterday I received a letter from someone who wrote 3000 words trying to refute something I posted two and a half years ago. At the end of his letter, he asked whether in light of his comments, I might now want to retract and rewrite my post. I answered thusly: "Nope.")

It's been almost a year since Steven Den Beste hung up his phaser, and I'll bet he's enjoying retirement. And though I'm nowhere even considering a halt to my blogging, and my feelings about what I write and why are slightly different than he explains in that post, I can seriously relate.

A couple of weeks ago, I received a comment from a recently-frequent comment-writer who wanted to continue the hand-to-hand combat we were engaged in. The first thing he said was, "I can play the cut, paste, and criticize game too...."

Something funny happened when I read that. First I groaned - out loud. Since the comment was posted without using TypeKey, I'd have to read it, trudge my way through a response, approve the comment, then post my rebuttal. Almost instantly I heard my own groan, realized how utterly stupid it was to feel any grief about this, and fell down laughing. I decided I'd put off responding for 24-48 hours, then tackle it when I felt the desire.

Five days later, long after I came to a feeling very similar to Mr. Den Beste's, I received another comment in the same thread:

Chris, I did write a response that took 40 minutes to write on Friday and was disappointed that it wasn't posted. Got the confirmation page that it had been received, so something must have gone haywire -- so I will rewrite and resubmit.

At this point, I knew I'd hit paydirt. "If I can just keep this person rewriting the same post over and over again," I thought, "maybe I can prevent him from causing anyone else grief, too." (Please pardon the italics, but courtesy requires me to censor myself.)

On several prior occasions, I've pointed out that this website is an expression of my free speech, and that it's a form of expression intended to prevent me from kicking my monitor screen in from excessive aggravation, when I would be so inclined. But while speech is free, webspace isn't, and while the First Amendment allows anyone to do the same thing, it doesn't require me to give anyone else a platform to spread what I believe is their misunderstanding, ignorance, or (in extreme cases) outright lies.

So this entry is simply a long-winded notice to certain people that they're not being censored. They're being ignored.

I may eventually get around to approving their comments and responding when I feel like it. Or maybe not.

UPDATE: I've received a curious response from the individual in question, though in email, not in a comment.

After 3 weeks of posting resulting in zero published posts, it is apparent that this is a site that chooses to censor and select what gets activated in the form of a debate. If I were posting profanity and insults, then it would be understandable why this is happening. However, theblackrepublican.net has proved to be, these past weeks, the kind of site that desires a one-sided debate and shuns any views that happen to differ from the individuals who created the site.

This is YOUR site -- you certainly have no jurisdiction re: what gets inserted into my personal site - free country and all.

I find it curious, of course, because I have not only responded to these points, but highlighted that response in a post dedicated just for that purpose. Did you not read it before you sent your email, Walter? Or were you simply so incredulous at my failure to engage you directly that you chose to ignore it?

I have never promoted this site as a debating society - far from it, I have repeatedly said that it is an expression of my personal beliefs, and is used as an outlet when I desire my own chance to speak. It is not "one-sided" to foster a place where a second point of view gets its first chance to be heard.

I readily await your unmoderated response in the comments - after you've registered with TypeKey.