Time for a "free speech" primer?

(Note: This is in response to comments by Laura Oates, as posted here previously.)

Laura (in bold): That "eerie silence" is the sound of a life full of lots of things that require my attention, and many things I wish to give my attention to.

Roger (in italics): Laura, read my comment again. Nothing in it suggests that you don’t have a life. We all have lives. My point was, and is, that for all the fears, anger and melodramatic angst vented by the anonymous posters to whom you cater, none of them would say anything until you told them it was okay. I find that very odd, that’s all.

As typical, a quick visit to your "Confidence is mine" blog revealed a rather lengthy commentary that serves no purpose but to take personal shots at people.

Confidence is defined as a “feeling of assurance,” and “the state or quality of being certain.” It isn’t exclusively mine, though, and there’s no reason not to share it. In fact, everyone should have confidence in his or her abilities, don’t you think? That’s what education is all about. It’s what makes us better people. Isn’t that the whole point of self-improvement?

Meanwhile you continue to make digs at me and the Speak Out Loud NA blog. Calling it a "trog blog" is nothing short of being nasty. Now tell me what do you think will come of such name calling? What is your quest?

In the sense that I’ve been using the word “troglodyte,” it is taken to imply “a person considered to be reclusive, reactionary, out of date, or brutish.”

When engaging in polemics, as I tend to do (and unapologetically, at that), my “quest” is to be read, to be provocative, and to generate debate and dialogue. I want my readers to visit your Blog, read the comments (especially the anonymous ones) posted there, compare the gist of these comments with the meaning of the word “troglodyte,” and decide for themselves whether my use of the word is proper or not. If not, my readers will tell me so, and we’ll discuss the matter.

Mainly, my point is this...I am asking that you immediately remove the "Trog Blog" link to Speak Out Loud NA as a courtesy. Show SOME propensity for respect.

The “respect” that you demand I show a “propensity” for is, in my mind, a daily given in NA Confidential. It is a respect for the mind, period, and furthermore, a respect for the mind of the reader, and a respect easily grasped by people who will accept certain fundamentals of discourse as a starting point.

If by “respect” you mean making a promise and not keeping it, as was the case with my becoming a “team member” at your Blog, then I’m afraid we’ll have to agree to disagree. You made the call, and it’s yours to make, but the intrinsic inconsistencies of your stance are starting to become evident.

But don’t take it from me – consider instead the thoughts of one of your own frequent (and anonymous) posters.

First, he or she demanded with outrage that I remove the link to my NA Confidential city council article – at a time when you were too busy to provide coverage -- and you duly censored it as an “advertisement” on my part.

Then, seemingly unaware of the contradiction, the very same person demanded that I post the very same article, which might have been accessed through the now censored link, on Speak Out Loud NA so that he or she and his or her anonymous cohorts could attack me anonymously on their home court.

Now, I’d dearly love to do so and indulge this confused person’s wishes, but have been prevented from providing what he or she wants by my being muzzled by you at Speak Out Loud NA (i.e., where everyone in NA can speak out, but when I try to do so, I’m censored according to some precept of “free” speech that has yet to be clearly defined).

To review, for me to post a link to my site on Speak Out Loud NA is wrong, and you censor it, but for an anonymous poster to demand that I come on over and provide an excuse to be rhetorically mauled is itself a brilliant manifestation of free speech and must be protected from meanies like me.

Laura, I was wrong once – about Mayor Garner’s competence – and I (a) thought it over, (b) admitted my mistake, and (c) set out to correct the error. Your views with respect to the nature of “free” speech are inconsistent and illogical … but as the song goes, “it’s never too late to start all over again” and get it right.

Yes, I will modify the “trog blog” reference in my links section, as you’ve requested -- as soon as I see NA Confidential in the links section over at your place, as you indicated earlier.

After all, as President Reagan said, “trust but verify” ... and you’ve already burned me once.