Updated: I used to love My Left Wing. It’s a community blog that’s sort of a shoot off of Daily Kos. Well, except for the fact that I hate Daily Kos, but that’s not the point. There was a time that I could sit for hours and read the various essays and comments. Some of the members there are incredibly intelligent and can really get a good conversation started. Or rather they could get a conversation started.
Something happened to MLW after Kos did his blogroll purge (or “liberation” as he and other A list politicos said at the time). MLW was purged and Maryscott felt betrayed. She was angry and went on a rampage. It wasn’t long before she pissed Kos off and was banned from DKos. Pretty soon MLW became a safe haven for all those that were banned from the Big Bad Orange. Trust when I say it’s not hard to get banned from that place. It’s the reason I hate it. Moving along. Not long after the banned started coming to MLW and sharing their stories of betrayal and heartbreak, “I hate Kos and this is why” essays starting popping up like zits on a teenager. For a while there were very few non-Kos essays. Then a couple of others showed up and took over.
One of them is F… well, I’d hate for him to Google himself and land here with his wordy explanation of what he’s about. Though he probably wouldn’t make it past the spam blockers because of his love of linking to his own site (he’s such a blog whore, but don’t tell him that because he really doesn’t get what that means… heh). He was banned from The Orange Devil and has made it his life’s mission to take down Markos. It would be hilarious, except for the fact that he disrupts the entire community. And, by the gods, his rants are long and tedious. I can’t even make it through an entire essay without dozing off. Besides, the best thing about his postings are the comments. One person even went so far as to accuse Kos of playing a part in 9/11. Holy shit!
There were some calls for F’s banning, because he was tying Kos to death squads and CIA infiltration, all kinds of really slanderous things. But there was an uproar when Maryscott considered it. Unlike me, who would tell the guy to go back to his own blog (he really is a huge link whore. It’s comical.), MSOC asked the community what to do. Most of the long timers had gone away when F came with his rampages, but they piped up support for her so they could come back and be at peace. In the world that matters to these folks, they were humiliated because the site has become a laughingstock at Daily Kos. I became irate when F stated that MSOC was running a racist, apartheid site, because F is black and therefore anyone who dislikes him does so because of his skin color. Not the fact that he is a horrid slanderer who loves to see 55 paragraphs of his own crap strewn over 55 crosspostings. Gah! Anyway, many people thought it would be unfair of MSOC to ban F (the relatively new guy) to make the site more comfortable for the old timers- and really many newcomers, because many people were sick of F.
“Free speech!”, they say. They have to protect free speech at all costs. It’s an important progressive value, they say. They will counter F with facts and proper public humiliation. Except F just wants one more link for his spewage, so reading even to admonish him is just giving him what he wants. So, the conversation turned to “What about the rest of the community?” Well, the rest of the community can go elsewhere if they don’t like what they read, can’t they? “You can’t stifle F to make people more comfortable!”
Why not? When does the speech of one person become more important than the speech and enjoyment of the rest of the community? Is telling F to stop with the Kos bashing really destroying the spirit of free speech? It’s not about feeling “comfortable”, it’s about one man making it his mission to destroy another and taking down an otherwise decent site in the process. Why would it be wrong for the owner of the site to tell this guy to go the fuck on? How is that stifling his speech, especially considering he’s got two sites of his own?
My question then is when does free speech for one person trump the rights of the majority of the rest of the community? This goes for online and offline. Free speech is the most important right, in my opinion, but I believe there needs to be limits to maintain a civilized society- this is why we have laws and customs regarding speech. Should a person be allowed to go into someone else’s bar and tell the owner of that bar they’re no better than slave masters and still be allowed to frequent that bar?
Update:
F has been banned. After he posted MSOC’s email, accused her of being a slave master/supporter of apartheid, and then attacked one of her dear friends, she had enough. Personally, I’m happy. Good riddance.
“Free Speech” on community blogs
Updated:
I used to love My Left Wing. It’s a community blog that’s sort of a shoot off of Daily Kos. Well, except for the fact that I hate Daily Kos, but that’s not the point. There was a time that I could sit for hours and read the various essays and comments. Some of the members there are incredibly intelligent and can really get a good conversation started. Or rather they could get a conversation started.
Something happened to MLW after Kos did his blogroll purge (or “liberation” as he and other A list politicos said at the time). MLW was purged and Maryscott felt betrayed. She was angry and went on a rampage. It wasn’t long before she pissed Kos off and was banned from DKos. Pretty soon MLW became a safe haven for all those that were banned from the Big Bad Orange. Trust when I say it’s not hard to get banned from that place. It’s the reason I hate it. Moving along. Not long after the banned started coming to MLW and sharing their stories of betrayal and heartbreak, “I hate Kos and this is why” essays starting popping up like zits on a teenager. For a while there were very few non-Kos essays. Then a couple of others showed up and took over.
One of them is F… well, I’d hate for him to Google himself and land here with his wordy explanation of what he’s about. Though he probably wouldn’t make it past the spam blockers because of his love of linking to his own site (he’s such a blog whore, but don’t tell him that because he really doesn’t get what that means… heh). He was banned from The Orange Devil and has made it his life’s mission to take down Markos. It would be hilarious, except for the fact that he disrupts the entire community. And, by the gods, his rants are long and tedious. I can’t even make it through an entire essay without dozing off. Besides, the best thing about his postings are the comments. One person even went so far as to accuse Kos of playing a part in 9/11. Holy shit!
There were some calls for F’s banning, because he was tying Kos to death squads and CIA infiltration, all kinds of really slanderous things. But there was an uproar when Maryscott considered it. Unlike me, who would tell the guy to go back to his own blog (he really is a huge link whore. It’s comical.), MSOC asked the community what to do. Most of the long timers had gone away when F came with his rampages, but they piped up support for her so they could come back and be at peace. In the world that matters to these folks, they were humiliated because the site has become a laughingstock at Daily Kos. I became irate when F stated that MSOC was running a racist, apartheid site, because F is black and therefore anyone who dislikes him does so because of his skin color. Not the fact that he is a horrid slanderer who loves to see 55 paragraphs of his own crap strewn over 55 crosspostings. Gah! Anyway, many people thought it would be unfair of MSOC to ban F (the relatively new guy) to make the site more comfortable for the old timers- and really many newcomers, because many people were sick of F.
“Free speech!”, they say. They have to protect free speech at all costs. It’s an important progressive value, they say. They will counter F with facts and proper public humiliation. Except F just wants one more link for his spewage, so reading even to admonish him is just giving him what he wants. So, the conversation turned to “What about the rest of the community?” Well, the rest of the community can go elsewhere if they don’t like what they read, can’t they? “You can’t stifle F to make people more comfortable!”
Why not? When does the speech of one person become more important than the speech and enjoyment of the rest of the community? Is telling F to stop with the Kos bashing really destroying the spirit of free speech? It’s not about feeling “comfortable”, it’s about one man making it his mission to destroy another and taking down an otherwise decent site in the process. Why would it be wrong for the owner of the site to tell this guy to go the fuck on? How is that stifling his speech, especially considering he’s got two sites of his own?
My question then is when does free speech for one person trump the rights of the majority of the rest of the community? This goes for online and offline. Free speech is the most important right, in my opinion, but I believe there needs to be limits to maintain a civilized society- this is why we have laws and customs regarding speech. Should a person be allowed to go into someone else’s bar and tell the owner of that bar they’re no better than slave masters and still be allowed to frequent that bar?
Update:
F has been banned. After he posted MSOC’s email, accused her of being a slave master/supporter of apartheid, and then attacked one of her dear friends, she had enough. Personally, I’m happy. Good riddance.
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