(Just to make it clear before we start, This Is From Glenn. I’d use the blink tag to say so, but that’s just so Mosaic 1.0.)
Having come to the conclusion that no one here is paying any attention to a certain individual’s commentary because of his abusive and abrasive style, and noting that it’s a real pain scrolling past all of his frequent posts, they’d best be shortened a bit.
So I yanked all the vowels. This makes his comments significantly shorter while making them only slightly less incomprehensible.
Does this mean it’s now forbidden to have arguments in PeterDavid.net’s comment threads? Not at all. Arguments are fine, including vigorous ones, as long as you maintain a civil tone. Does that mean you can get away with saying anything here, as long as you say it well enough? Pretty much.
If a case can be made by X-Ray that his posts should be restored, I’ll consider it. In the meantime, he can post anything except the letters a, e, i, o, and u.
Special thanks to Teresa Nielsen Hayden for the inspiration.
• 
The Left is always first to censor. Go figure.
The Left is always first to censor. Go figure.
Ignorance on display for all to see. Congrats.
But, yeah, I’d love to see a blog run by Ann Coulter.
Anybody left of Jerry Falwell would be banned from that site.
Ian S. says:
>The Left is always first. Go!
I agree 100%!
*Sorry, couldn’t pass it up.*
“The Left is always first to censor. Go figure.”
X-ray? That you pal?
Seriously folks, could you read what he posted before you come in here and open your yaps about “Censorship?” What he said in here was slanderous, libelious, and just plain rude, and he WASN’T censored, he had his vowels cut out. He can post an many comments as he likes anytime. Further, (and if you had READ this thread you would have picked up on this) nost of us disagreed with it. Mr. David supported it, but hëll, if someone had been that rude to me, I would have tracked down where he lived and punched him in the nose. Third, this is a PRIVATE blog. We are allowed to post here by the good graces of Mr. David. Fourth, he allows people to be as conservative or as liberal as they wish to be, as long as they are polite. Fifth, he has encouraged debate, as well as conservative posters (Such as Iowa Jim) by responding to their posts and even holding lengthy debates with them. Sixth, he is willing to put aside partisan politics for a principle. (see Chilling Effects, where he said that he would not like to see journalists give up their sources, even when that source looked to be Karl Rove.) So, all you accomplished is making yourself look stupid and fly in the face of mountains of evidence.
“I’d love to see a blog run by Ann Coulter.
Anybody left of Jerry Falwell would be banned from that site.”
Jerry Falwell? Hëll, anyone left of Michael Savage would be toast!
he WASN’T censored, he had his vowels cut out.
Then, in essence if not in actuality, he was!
Not allowing him to write complete words is a form of censoring.
I have no problem with banning some unwanted person from a site, but this is just ridiculous.
This was just another stupid Glenn idea.
“Then, in essence if not in actuality, he was!”
n0 dud3!! h@v3n’t y0v 3v3r b33n 0n @ny 0th3r w3bs1t3s?
I mean it ain’t exactly hard to get yr point acrss, evn w/o using mst lttrs.
Capiche?
his problem was that he liked insulting people while it was easy, but when the going got tough, the wimp just quit. If he was really so dedicated to “Policing the website, he could have done what I did at the begining of this message. Or he could have gone and gotten a different e-mail aderess. But he didn’t. So far. If he had been banned altogether, it would be censoring. if he had cut out the objectionable bits, that would be censoring. Leaving his posts almost as legible to anyone who wants to read them: hëll, thats just funny. And all you people who complain that it is juvenile: I presume you all hate the Three Stooges, The Marx Brothers, the Little Rascals, Laurel and Hardy, Abbot and Costello, and every other group or movie that uses any kind of pratfall or juvenile humor. Admit it. It is funny, and though I disagree with it I see the irony and humor in it. Also, Glenn said that if he could give a case to get his vowels back, he would.
QED: he hasn’t. the troll is gone. for the moment at least…
Wll, rspctfll, thnk glnn’s d s nt gd n. f y cn ndrstnd mch f wht jst sd, y r bttr t ths thn m. Y prbbl w’nt knw tht thnk Ptr Dvd hs, strngl ngh, md vr gd sns n nmbr f pstngs ths wk. h wll: H wll gt b wtht knwng t.
ot allowing him to write complete words is a form of censoring.
Last I checked, PAD was not a government agency.
Thus, he is not censoring, he is merely exercising his rights as moderator and owner of this forum.
I didn’t say that PAD was a government agency, nor did I say that he couldn’t do whatever he wants on his website.
But, the government is not the only ones who censor and since not letting someone’s full statements be shown is a form of censorship, that is what was done. I did not say that it can’t be done but just that it was stupid and that it is a form of censorship.
Know I’m getting to this thread late, but I have to agree with Luigi and others that this is silly. It is also ironic that someone who states repeatedly his support for the First Amendment, even with speech which they may disagree with…would basically muzzle a guy because he is saying things you disagree with.
Also, PAD, the whole “poetic justice” thing is beneath you. X-Ray got so obnoxious I actually agreed with Bladestar on something when he stated he was a “pathetic f—ing child”. He disagreed with a form of free speech you feel should be protected, so you feel he should “know what it feels like”. It is this kind of thinking that has fueled ethnic, religious and general hatred for centuries.
Taken to an extreme, ridiculous extension, this argument could lead to someone saying, “Hey, PAD likes public housing and the poor so much, let’s take a dump in his backyard”. (this actually happened to my uncle when a Section 8 family moved in next door). “Because, then, you know, he’ll KNOW HOW IT FEELS.
This is your site. You can do whatever you dámņ well please with it. I just think it takes away from the example you usually set with the First Amendment and makes you seem a bit petty, especially when others have bashed entire groups of people you disagreed with, others use profanity, a certain liberal poster has called Christians “sub-human” and other such discourse has gone on, and you say nothing. Not even a “Keep it civil, guys”. But someone who can easily be ignored is basically banned and one of the reasons is because he not only got your goat, but others here of all stripes decided to respond to him? Such behavior is beneath you, PAD. It really is.
“It isn’t hard to maintain the high ground with tone-deaf fools, but this may be more a matter of snarky fun than any kind of wisdom.”
Can’t it be both?
“It is also ironic that someone who states repeatedly his support for the First Amendment, even with speech which they may disagree with…would basically muzzle a guy because he is saying things you disagree with.”
That’s bûllšhìŧ on a huge scale, Jerome, and you know dámņ well it’s bûllšhìŧ. If I muzzled someone solely because he was saying things I disagreed with, you’d have been gone months ago and I wouldn’t have shed a tear.
The idiot in question made it repeatedly clear that he was not interested in discussion, in debate, or even in simply expressing an opinion. He was here purely to attack me, and flat out stated he didn’t give a dámņ if he were banned. He had no appreciation for courtesies extended to him…courtesies that I was extending when other people on this board were begging me to get rid of him. And y’know what? If you don’t appreciate free speech, it gets taken away from you. That’s the lesson Glenn endeavored to drive home to him. Which he probably didn’t get, but again…no tears here.
PAD
I find all this umbrage directed at protecting the free speech rights of someone who has no interest in protecting free speech to be touching. And his “right to free speech” hasn’t been removed. He just needs to decide how badly he wants his šhìŧ-stirring voice to be heard. He wasn’t interested in dialog, he was interested in causing trouble. Peter and Glenn went out of their way to accomodate him. And now, he’s going to have to go out of his way to accomodate himself. Is it really such a hardship to actually have to work a little to get your voice to be heard?
Well, wouldn’tya know it? Ann Coulter does indeed have what appears to be a blog or at least a “chatroom”, which can be found at:
http://www.anncoulter.com/phpBB2/
…..for those who wish to know…..
Freedom of speech, per the Bill of Rights, guarantees one to have the right to express ideas and views, in public, without fear of retribution or restriction from the government. It does not, however, guarantee one unlimited or unrestricted access to any location or forum in order to express those ideas and views. I won’t further mangle the “shouting fire in a theater” example that’s been a staple of numerous other threads here, but here’s one anyone should be able to relate to: if someone comes into your neighborhood at 4 a.m. and begins reciting a lengthy dissertation proving that George W. Bush is the Anti-Christ, you won’t lay in your bed, smile, and think, “That’s nice – there’s a citizen exercising his right to free speech.” No, you call the cops to have his ášš hauled off for disturbing the peace.
It’s been rightly stated by several others here that PAD’s site is his private forum and he can rightfully set any rules that he wants to control entry or discourse. Yet, he allows anyone to freely enter without having to pay a fee or reveal any identifying information about themselves, making it tantamount to a public venue. He throws out a topic and says, “Discuss amongst yourselves, and I’ll put in two-cents every now and then when I have time.” He does this with the understanding that several participants will become heated and angered due to certain topics, even to the point of attacking him personally or threatening to boycott his works or employers. Though I can’t speak for PAD as to exactly why he offers up topics that he knows full well will draw fire upon himself, having read and occasionally participated in this blog for several years now, I surmised from the beginning that he’s willing to suffer a few figurative bricks thrown at him as a price for setting up exchanges that allow people on either side of a fence to express opinions, offer little known information, or just vent as a means for everyone to have access to a wide-range of ideas concerning the topic. He knows full well that he won’t change any hard-line opinions on any particular subject, but I’m sure that everyone who participates regularly has learned much that they wouldn’t have known otherwise – I know I have.
In the case of X-Ray, it’s hard for me to believe that anyone who’s been here a good while thinks that the reason PAD and Glenn are screwing up his text is because they think he has no right to express himself, given what they have put up with over the years. Personally, I think he did cross line a while back when he declared that he was “policing” this site, trying to elevate himself to a level above the other participants here. I’ve seen trolls on many other sites, and, depending on how just disruptive they are, they’re dealt with in a variety of ways, including “shrouding”, text-jumbling, or out-and-out banning, at the discretion of the site owner. I don’t think there’s any one absolute method to deal with such idiots, but of course, the other participants here free to express how they feel X-Ray should be dealt with, just as PAD and Glenn have the right to make the ultimate decision on what to do about him. As I said earlier, no one has an absolute guarantee to have a forum to express themselves, but if one is truly serious in having his opinions put forth, he’ll do so in a manner in which people will be prone to listen. X-Ray in no way made it clear that he wants to have any meaningful exchanges with anyone, he just wants to lurk and lash out in ways which I’m sure he thinks are witty and righteous, but ultimately just sink into obtuse bullying. If anyone here thinks that X-Ray should be allowed to keep posting here, continue to say so, not so that Glenn and PAD will let him rant on as before, but so that maybe, just maybe, if he knows there are people here who want to have coherent discussions with him, he’ll reciprocate in a way in which we won’t have to wonder how long he’s been off his meds.
L.H., I tried to engage X-R y early on. It became clear after only a few posts (it was actually clear prior to my attempt) that he had no interest in any actual debate or exchange of ideas. His goal, pure and simple was to attempt to disrupt this community by engaging in the bloggers equivilent of the 4 am diatribe. Since it’s easy for me to skip over his posts, I don’t really care one way or another whether he’s banned, restricted in his posts, or what have you…but he does take up bandwidth, and I’ve no problem with Glenn/PAD (not that they need/want my opinion or vote on this) taking action to remove or encourage him to go elsewhere.
You want a site that ACTUALLY censors its posts? Try http://www.proudtobecanadian.ca. They actually WORSHIP Ann Coulter, and if you say anything that isn’t prostrating yourself in front of an idol of her, you get BANNED.
I first registered for the forum because there WASN’T A SINGLE DISSENTING REPLY OR POST. Iposted a couple of times, and quickly found out why this was so. ALL posts are vetted by moderators before going up. A moderate friend of mine had to try 8 times to get a post published, and the one time he did was when he agreed with every dámņ thing said. It’s less of a discussion forum more of an idealogical mášŧûrbáŧìøņ venue.
“You want a site that ACTUALLY censors its posts? Try http://www.proudtobecanadian.ca. They actually WORSHIP Ann Coulter, and if you say anything that isn’t prostrating yourself in front of an idol of her, you get BANNED.”
You know what we should ALL do? Go register on Coulters “Chat” site, http://www.anncoulter.com/phpBB2/, and just be the Voices of reason. All of us. We could take it over if we did it at the dead of night. It would be hilarious. And the best part is, we could be all polite, and make them look like idiots.
(Of course, I have been known to do things like call into G. Gordon Liddy’s show. And bring up Nixon. That was more fun than should be leagally allowed.)
Try http://www.proudtobecanadian.ca. They actually WORSHIP Ann Coulter,
Isn’t that about as bad an oxymoron as “Microsoft Works”? Or just plain contradictory?
I mean, why would any proud Canadian like Coulter, much less worship her?
“I mean, why would any proud Canadian like Coulter, much less worship her?”
Half of the site’s regular posters are American.
The tagline of the site is “proudly conservative”.
The major thing is, the people on it are NOT proud to be Canadian. Were Joel Johannson (the site’s master) able to cede the entirety of Canada to the personal estate of G. W. Bush, he would do so without pause.
I just feel like pointing out, s/he undoubtedly will go on to the other sites s/he does proudly trumpeting his/her “martyr” status. I like the idea (just because of how much of a complete áššhølë s/he was), but just pointing out this might be kind of used as ego mášŧûrbáŧìøņ; saying, “See! I was right!”
I expect PAD knows censorship when he sees it. Many others posting here seem to think censorship somehow isn’t censorship if it isn’t being done by the government. That’s about as bright as the people, usually particularly radical activists for the less advantaged, who proclaim that it isn’t possible to be prejudiced or biased if one is not part of the oppressor class. That is stupid: All it takes to be prejudiced or biased is to form prejudices and have biases. All it takes to constitute censorship is to censor. What is being done concerning X-Ray seems completely permissible, but perhaps ill-considered, as this is a private site on which everyone posts only at PAD’s sufferance. If it is ill-considered, that is because the “disenvowelment” creates an additional means for an otherwise objectionable jáçkášš to proclaim his victimhood at the hands of PAD – which he is sure to relish doing. Saying, “Enough! I don’t have to read any more of this drivel. You’re hereby banned, X-Ray.” would give far less of this opportunity, and seem less like an action taken only because PAD and Glenn have the power and ego to do so. PAD said above that it can be both wisdom and snarky fun to take the disenvowelment step. We have to disagree: I don’t think it is wise.