The Problem of Thin-Skinned Politicos

[FVZA_Colonel]

http://news.com.com/The+problem+of+thin-skinned+politicos/2010-1028_3-6046090.html



The problem of thin-skinned politicos
By Declan McCullagh

A New Jersey politician is hoping to outlaw anonymous speech on the Internet, claiming that civility must be mandatory in political debate.

State Assemblyman Peter J. Biondi, a Republican from Somerset County, recently introduced legislation that would require any "public forum Web site" to solicit the legal name and addresses of everyone who can post messages to it.

What irks Biondi, a top Republican in the state assembly, is the political free-for-all that has grown around the New Jersey Star-Ledger's discussion site at NJ.com. The site's forum for Somerset County--that is, Biondi's home district--is home to a slew of pseudonymous posts that tend to be less than kind to local politicians.

When news reports revealed that Somerset County Sheriff Frank Provenzano appropriated more than $5,000 from a petty cash account to pay for his dry cleaning, the NJ.com posts were not flattering. One message from "nodoubletalk" called Provenzano a "thief, plain and simple," while one from "xyzzy" quipped: "That's what we get for voting Republican."

[ixion]

1. the irony here is mind-boggling, as is so much of what

these so-called 'conservatives' propose.

Apparently, the fact that every right-wing 'pundit' has been slandering anyone who opposed the illegal invasion of Iraq has never seems to bother these pols, but heaven forbid you say something bad about a repuke. Then all of a sudden there are these calls for 'civility'.

It's maddening, I tell you. :grr: