Blogger Suits

Here is the story. A black woman who was in the Department of Agriculture, specifically the Director of Rural Development in Georgia, had been filmed talking about how she had not helped someone as much as she should have because he was white. The video was shown by a blogger. She then was let go by the Obama Administration very quickly.

A few days pass and she states how her speech was taken out of context because she was talking about how she was wrong to have done what she did and that she eventually ended up friends with the farmer and saved his farm. A few more days pass and she is offered a different and better job; but, she doesn't take it yet. A few more days pass and she decides to sue the blogger.

You are being led, the media is being used to manipulate you. The complaint she is making is that bloggers are dangerous, that we don't give all the facts and should be regulated. I have been talking about these issues because it is an attack on free speech.

Firstly, free speech means people will not give all the facts it is impossible. Secondly, she gave the speech in public and he showed part of it, the news always only shows clips. Thirdly, she admitted to having misused her position, it does not matter that they kept their farm. It also does not matter that she changed. Those things may speak well of her willingness to grow and learn, heck I hope we learn and grow cause we don't start out knowing it all. It is admirable that she had the courage to admit that she had been unfair in the past, she did not have to. The issue the blogger, it says, was addressing was that racisim exists on all sides and within the NAACP. The blogger should have shown the whole video and explained that she had changed; but, it is not a requirement and should not be.

I intentionally do not edit my source documents, I intentionally tell people to read the source documents and provide links. I then attempt to discuss aspects of what I have read. I am more interested in getting people to consider things than in leading people to a conclusion. By providing source documents the reader is encouraged to investigate for themselves. That does not mean that I should not be allowed to take positions and just show the parts that favor my position. My approach is my approach, others should have the freedom to approach things differently, nobody is all knowing or perfect and the truth is not owned by the mass media, we are all entitled to our opinion.

We must be careful not to slander others in public. IN PUBLIC. I do not cuss on my blog because it is public. It is not a question of privacy versus control, we do not have to choose between the two. Yes, because the internet is anonymous we do see people write some very false and obscene things. We should not regulate what is said on the net anymore than in the newspapers. This creates a problem, children do not know what appropriate limits are. Neither do many adults because they never had to address the issues before. Newspapers did have to worry about libel.

If people are allowed to publish anything, and the internet is publishing, they can seriously harm others. It is one thing to tell a friend that your ex is a whore, it is quite another to tell their boss (no my ex is not a prostitute, not about my ex) or to publish it. The possible consequences are vastly different. In casual conversation we do not choose our words precisely and people have a tendency to use the internet the same way. Many people who do not write for a living do not understand the difference. Yet, anyone can publish on the internet.

People get mad, we get angry and say things in private with people we know that are not meant to go beyond them. We do say things that are venting. Not long ago my "son in law" posted a comment on this blog. He said some very hurtful things even though I have done more for him than he recognizes. He posted to me, he did not plan for the world to view it, at least I do not think so. I removed my post and everybody's comments. I removed it because it was too public, I had wished that he had spoken to me directly so that we could have a complete conversation, the blog was not the place for it.

On a few occasions one of my friends has commented on posts and left names, when I notice this I remove the comments and post. I don't want to identify people, I moderate the comments because I care about privacy. If somebody chooses to use their real name as their screen name, that is their choice. I want people to speak freely, within the legal bounds and have privacy at the same time. If people choose not to be anonymous, that is their choice and I respect it. But I want us to have choices. And I have the choice of how I manage my blog.

On a side note, I was needed somewhere and had to stop in the middle of this post, actually towards the end. I have had pneumonia twice, both times I failed to take care of it in a timely manner. I sometimes suffer from bronchitis as a consequence. Today the sky is filled with smoke and ash, the ash dusted my car. I had a short episode of bronchitis and had to finish this quickly. My apologies, I am sure privacy and blogging will be in the news again and I will comment.