When Hatred Trumps Honesty

There’s no denying the fact that political discourse has become far more heated in recent years, on all sides. The Internet has only added fuel to this fire. With the ability to mask one’s identity in an online conversation comes the temptation to abandon responsibility for one’s own words. In some cases, a participant in an online debate will abandon even the pretense of honesty. Herewith, a case in point…

I figure that if you are arguing for your viewpoint and someone threatens you with legal action to shut you up, you gotta be doing something right. That’s what just happened to me. My buddy Kender has decided he cannot argue with me, so he’ll just try to sic the law on me. Imagine how terrified I must be.

Kender claims I have posted “threats” — a revealing accusation, since Kender himself is known to make death threats. (See "We should round you idiots up and shoot you down".) It’s quite funny really: When Kender wants to discredit someone, he accuses them of acting exactly as he does. Kender also threatens to “report [me] to the proper authorities”.

Tell you what, Kender. I insist that you march yourself down to the local District Attorney’s office with those reams and reams of documentation you’ve collected, and demand that he bring me up on charges immediately. Here are some tips for your presentation:

1. Chop some onions just before you go see the DA, so your eyes are all red and puffy.
2. Carry a moist tissue in one hand.
3. Sniffle frequently.
4. Wear a calico smock, or possibly your footie pajamas.

Kender, when your position is so weak that you have no recourse but to accuse your opponent of moral turpitude, and you weave accusations of criminal activity out of whole cloth, you’ve lost the argument before you even started. And everyone reading your spew knows it.

POSTSCRIPT: I see that Kender or one of his friends has transparently and clumsily edited one of my comments to insert "threats". Compare the edited version (currently listed as comment #27) to the original comment I posted. Neither Kender nor any of his pals possess the intellectual courage to discuss the facts of the NSA wiretap scandal openly and honestly. They must lie in order to “win” their arguments. They really have no other choice. They are all too representative of radical rightwing bloggers… and they are to be pitied.

The lesson? Never engage in a debate where your opponent is (a) in control of the discussion forum, and (b) ready and willing to lie about anything and everything.