Common Courtesy

One of the things I dislike about the Internet is the way it wears away at common courtesy. Some people in their comments  — blogs, product reviews, movie reviews —  just blast away, saying whatever they feel like saying, as rudely and bluntly as it comes out and who cares about the consequences!

One thing that I find especially irritating is when I post something political and people who have never commented before, whom I don’t know, suddenly appear with their negative comments about how wrong I am to have posted such a thing!  Sometimes their remarks do have something to do with what I said. Other times it’s some variant of Bush Derangement Syndrome. I have only to mention the subject in question and here comes the trashing. I wonder how they even found my post and have to conclude they are searching for particular subject matter. So they can go and pounce on some hapless blogger with their negative opinions.

WordPress allows me to moderate comments by first time commenters, and in general I don’t like to censor negative comments out of hand, so unless it’s really obvious they were just trolling for the subject, I approve them. That happened today regarding my Gov Christie post yesterday. Instead of acknowledging the courage and integrity the governor exhibited in the clip I showed, the commenter was on a mission to set me straight on my foolish claim that Christie was conservative. After I thanked him for the comment and noted that I’d not heard about the accusations he’d made, he proceeded to flood my blog with comment after comment on how Not-Conservative Christie supports cap and trade, amnesty and Obamacare, with plenty of links to support his assertions.

Well, fine. I didn’t know Christie supported those things, and a cursory investigation by means of Google indicates that he does indeed, at least to some degree. I don’t support cap and trade, amnesty or Obamacare but does that mean that I cannot applaud courage and common sense when I see it?  Good heavens, Christie’s the governor of Blue Blue Blue state New Jersey. I can hardly believe he’s even there. I doubt he could have been elected there if he were Ronald Reagan. And in any case, he IS a fiscal conservative, and I have watched him stand up to snarky reporters and angry teachers union activists with a backbone I’ve seen few others display. I admire that.

Still, seeing as the commenter was apparently from New Jersey, I can  also sympathize with his frustration. My senator, after all, is John McCain, Mr. I-was-a-Maverick-before-I-wasn’t-a-Maverick, who is also for cap and trade, amnesty, TARP and I can’t recall on Obamacare. I did not vote for him in the primary. I will in the general election, however, (holding my nose)  because his Democratic opponent will not bother to even  pretend  he’s conservative.  The bottom line is very, very few of our elected representatives fulfill all our criteria for Conservatism. And most of them cave immediately when pressured by the media or the unions. And probably by the DC social/political life, as well.

Besides that, Writing From the Edge 2 isn’t meant to be a political blog. I post about politics from time to time, because there are things I find interesting or admirable or exceptional, sometimes ironic, sometimes goofy, sometimes surprising or outrageous or even ominous. But I’m not into political activism and I’m not interested in getting into arguments with people who don’t like what I post, nor sponsoring political discussions in the comments section. There are many other blogs out there who welcome all that, but I just don’t have the time or emotional energy to do so.

In fact, I should be in bed right now. I did 4 hours of writing work today and hoped to get up early to do 4 more hours tomorrow. So I guess I’ll post this thing and stop second-guessing myself. If readers decide that’s it, they can’t read my blog any more because I censor comments I don’t like… so be it.

7 thoughts on “Common Courtesy

  1. Christina Adams

    I completely agree with you, Karen. Common courtesy is getting harder to find and you are right to crack down on those who don’t abide by it. This is your blog and, as one of your readers, I’m glad you take the time to monitor comments. After all, I subscribed because I wanted to read your thoughts, not some random stranger’s. : ) And you’re not just removing comments you don’t like, you are also protecting those who enjoy reading your posts. Thanks!!!

    Reply
  2. Donna Hagan

    Common courtesy is basically an oxymoron, eh? With an emphasis on the moron part – chuckle. Although none of us fall short of that whenever we consider ourselves over another. It reminds me of someone starting their own baseball team and a soccer player (yes I do enjoy baseball more – not a good or bad thing in case someone wants to say I have bias – hah) and while they are playing someone runs into the middle of the baseball field and starts kicking their soccer ball. Now, no one told them that they couldn’t play soccer but it’s just not enough to have the freedom to pick the sport of your choice and play on your field – they have to interrupt another groups choice of a playing field. Maybe that sounds crazy – and opposing viewpoint is always necessary as not a one of us is on our game 100% of the time – but you are right it’s not necessarily what is said – but the malicious intention(s) behind it. We of course should keep that in mind too when we are visiting and opposing the playing fields of others.

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  3. Lori

    I am always amazed at the people who, because they don’t like an elected official or cadidate, give the third-degree to others who support said person, especially those of the same party. You know the old saying, “The poor will ever be with us”? The same can be said of trolls (unfortunately).
    I liked your post and you know what? I like Gov. Christie. He’s not perfect, but he seems to be a decent fiscal conservative who’s got a bit more sense and courage than some others who’ve been in his office.

    Reply
  4. KC Frantzen

    We didn’t get into this “state of the union” overnight and it’s going to take some time to get OUT of it.

    If, in each election, we turn to conservatives, eventually we will turn the country back to the founding principles.

    We too will hold our noses and vote for the MOST conservative of the candidates we have a choice of, and next time, will work harder for candidates that we want to promote.

    Thanks for your blog Karen – Keep it up!

    Reply
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  6. Gayle Coble

    Bush Derangement Syndrome!! Love it!! Courtesy? The Law of Love. The Law of Liberty. The Law of Expectancy. Best of all knowing their meanings how to apply them so that they lead to courtesy. Think I am missing to fourth, but oh, that is how my brain functions these days.

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