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Monday, September 24, 2012

Guilty Internet Pleasure

I confess, I have something of an Internet guilty pleasure:  I torment people who post comment anonymously.  

Evidence HERE.

I find few thing more disingenuous and cowardly than having all these radical positions ("all insurance is a Ponzi...") and then, well, not actually wanting to be publicly associated with them.

Yes, you can knock me all you want for my beliefs and that's okay.  I'll survive.  But you know what?  When you encounter me you never have to worry about what my beliefs actually are; nor do you have to wonder if I have the courage of my convictions, because I do.  These things are not among my sorted character flaws.

Why do people post things anonymously on the Internet?  Is it because they are "closet ______" (insert racist swine, right wing extremists, left-wing extremists, born again Christian, Amway Agent, etc.) and they just don't want anyone else to know?  You know, kind of like being "in the closet".  Hey, that's an ironic analogy, especially given that most anonymous Internet commentators in NEPA are on the right-wing (most, but not all...).  Anyway, it's not due to a lack of mechanisms to post under your own name, as virtually every forum I am aware of allows you to create an account in something like 30 seconds so that you can use your own name.

Now can you argue that I merely deflect from issue(s) when I point out that an Internet commentator is posting anonymously?  No.  For me, it's about like challenging a witness in a court of law:  more than fair game, as it gets to the credibility of what is being stated.  For example, you can rightfully question my credibility when it comes to some issues, such as sports, because honestly I don't have much of a clue.  Question my knowledge of, for example, pension & retirement security issues?  Hell no.

In the end, it all comes down to character.  Or a lack of it.

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