(x-posted.)
The growing consensus is that you should make the death of a divisive public figure you admire about you and the unruly lot of trolls whose trollish behavior angers you.
That the best way to pay respect to someone you purportedly admire is to transform the occasion of their death into an opportunity for you to vent spleen at ideological opponents.
That the best means of protecting the deceased's family from the inhumane remarks of anonymous strangers is to reprint them, prominently, on your website.
The mind reels.
Outrage at the existence of anonymous assholes on the internet is necessarily feigned. Therefore:
If you claim to be shocked by the behavior of trolls, you have an agenda.
If you claim to demonstrate the abiding truth about your political opponents via the behavior of trolls, your agenda is partisan and obvious to all.
If you claim to be defending the honor of someone who has recently passed away via the behavior of trolls, you are exploiting the death of the person you claim to admire in the service of your partisan agenda.
If you exploit the death of the person you claim to admire in the to forward your partisan agenda, you are behaving in a way decent people find repugnant.
If you claim you are only behaving in a way decent people find repugnant because trolls did it first, please consult this map to locate an appropriate venue in which to peddle your complaint.
Sadly, I think that the exchanges at the place that shall apparently not be named could be retitled "Adventures in Missing the Point," were that not already a book title used by Bruce MacLaren and Tony Campolo.
Posted by: David Block | Sunday, 13 July 2008 at 08:49 PM
I think some of the point was, at least in Patterico's case, that the L.A. Times claimed to moderate comments, but allowed the most horrible trash while not allowing the comment: "People who revel in Tony Snow's death are dicks." It's the hypocrisy of a institution like the L.A. Times which is at issue.
Posted by: Fritz | Monday, 14 July 2008 at 11:56 AM