Opinion ISN'T "The News"

I'd like to take a moment to discuss what this blog is about, just in case there's anyone who doesn't "get it".

(And doesn't that "CNN font" look cool? I've been dying to find an excuse to use it.)

Anyway, a political blog is usually, by its nature, a place for opinion and commentary. It's not necessarily "news" in the traditional sense; although there ARE news blogs, notably the stellar "CT News Junkie" for instance.

But most political blogs are simply commentary and opinion. And, through the comments sections, they often act as a forum for the exchange of ideas.

Sometimes quite vehement exchanges.

There are usually two kinds of comments on a blog post. First, you get the "I agree, you make perfect sense to me" comments. Then there are the "you must be smoking crack to have that opinion!" comments.

And of course, there are also the rare "you are a (hypocrite/racist/anti-Semite/hypocrite(I see that one a lot!)/liar/traitor/etc)" comments.

Unlike most other local blogs, I don't put the comments into pre-moderation, or require you to set up a user account. I allow people to post anonymously and immediately, although I do ask them to use a handle so I can tell them apart. I can be less than charitable with anonymous commenters sometimes because if I get three anonymous slams in a row, I tend to see them as the same person. I've been wrong on occasion and lashed out at them, but generally I let their remarks stand. Once in a while I will delete a comment if it contains a personal attack against another commenter, or "hate speech", or threats. I try to explain why the comment was deleted.

My recent articles about the Gaza situation has stirred up a lot of strong responses in the comments. People are very divided on the conflict, and I think the responses I'm getting are somewhat indicative of the public opinion. There are a significant number of "why do you love the terrorists?" comments, along with plenty of "thank you for speaking the truth" comments. I see many more comments via email than appears on the blog. I think that's because people feel slightly uneasy with publicly agreeing with my position, because they don't want to risk being labeled "Hamas sympathizers" (or worse!)

Which, as any of you would know if you've been paying attention, is exactly what I'm NOT saying. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think this is a conflict that can't be solved militarily, and in fact will turn into an even bigger threat if it continues.

But if I'm going to err, I'd rather err on the side of peace.