Why I did it

For the first time in B@B's 13 months of existence, I've banned a commenter.

I don't like to have to do this. I believe that intelligent people of goodwill can disagree. However, there are some who have made it their business to harass anyone who doesn't support the Bush Administration, and add nothing to the discussion.

I used to participate in a particular political messageboard. At one time, it was a fun, challenging, lively discussion board that kept people of all political persuasions on their toes. And I think at that time, there was an underlying tone that we all wanted the best for America, we just disagreed on how to get there.

As the Iraq war went sour, those who supported it, and who unquestioningly support this president, became more and more belligerent. They have so much invested in this Administration that to admit that it could do anything wrong is simply unthinkable. The more the situation deteriorated, the most hostile they became.

Blind support for the president is not patriotism, it is cultism. The cult of Bush is unlike anything I've ever seen in this country. Not even Reagan generated this kind of utterly blind loyalty. But still -- if someone wants to blindly support a president, it's their privilege. Just as it's mine to question. I questioned Lyndon Johnson when he was wrong. I questioned Jimmy Carter when he was wrong. I questioned Bill Clinton -- in fact, I railed against Bill Clinton when he was wrong, because I knew he was smart enough to know better. It's our job as citizens to demand accountability from our leaders -- they work for us, after all.

But there were people on this particular board who didn't think so. And as the level of that discussion on that board deteriorated, I became increasingly frustrated. At some point, I decided I could no longer participate there. I stopped posting, had my account removed, and never returned. One would think that would have been enough.

But no, some of the participants on that board have followed me over here to this blog. Not being satisfied with chasing me away from a public board, they want to harass me here in my own sandbox.

And that's OK, if this is how they want to spend their time, PROVIDED that they're here for discussion and debate. I'm not running a political WWE here.

One of our commenters has come very close to the line in recent days, including a gratuitously cruel smack at another one. I'm relucant to ban this particular individual at this point, particularly since he seems to be involved in a lively discussion with another commenter. As long as there's discussion, we're fine.

But in recent days, another individual decided to come here just to attack, attack, attack -- and add nothing substantive to the conversation. Ad hominem attacks are not debate, they are attacks, and they are intimidation. And they certainly don't add anything to the discourse. That isn't why I do this blog.

So this is where I decided to draw the line.

This isn't a highly-trafficked blog. On average, we receive about 200 visitors a day. This week it's up to about 400. In the larger sphere of Blogtopia, B@B doesn't matter a hill of beans. So I fail to understand what the attraction is here for those who think that if they come here and abuse those who have chosen to be part of this community, they'll drive us out of existence.

The individual whom I've banned hasn't had his free speech rights taken away. He is welcome to post anywhere that will put up with him. There are plenty of conservative blogs out there, and plenty of the larger progressive blogs are large enough that comments aren't moderated. But here, I make the rules. If you don't like them, don't patronize this establishment. It's one thing to get into an argument with the hostess or other guests at a party. It might be in bad taste, but it's a far cry from getting shitfaced drunk and then taking a dump in the punchbowl. And as far as I'm concerned, in his few comments here, this person has have behaved not like someone seeking to participate in a lively discussion, but like that mean drunk at the party.

This blog isn't a toilet. And I won't permit trolls to treat it like one.