Sunday, September 20, 2009

Rules of Publishing Comments

Behind pedophiles, nazi's, communists and trial lawyers are these little adult children called "internet trolls." And though the quickest way to eliminate them is to ignore them, I get complaints on a regular basis about how I

"Didn't publish my comment."

Now there is a very, nearly invisibly fine line between an internet troll and a leftist on my site in that they deem themselves entitled to have their opinions posted regardless of the quality of their post. And when I simply delete their posts/comments, denying them the light of day, I then get follow up posts or sometimes e-mails about how I am intellectually hypocritical, a liar, a cheat, a nazi, etc. etc.

So I thought it beneficial to all of those out there, not just on Cappy Cap, but other pro-freedom/capitalism blogs as to the logic or rationale most of us use to determine whether or not to make your post;

1. Insults - When you call the blogger a name or curse at him, it will not get posted. Not because we're insulted (we're not), but because what value does some anonymous guy yelling at us provide our readers? People don't want to read drivel, they want a point and they want it quick and they don't want to read through 30 comments of childish name calling to get to genuine true gems of knowledge.

2. Anonymous - Posting as "anonymous" will reduce the likelihood of publishing your comment by about 75%. Especially if you disagree with me. Want to know why? Because the MSM media and NPR already represents your opinion so much you don't need any more representation. My readers will not suffer repeat information they can get from Anderson Cooper. Also, now you get to feel what it's like to be unfairly treated. It's not a violation of your freedom of speech as other archaic and dying forms of media, as well as the White House and their MSM lapdogs constantly barrage the country with your points on an hourly basis. Now you get to feel what it's like to have the editorial board ignore any letters you may have sent into them in the past since they didn't fit the liberal stripe.

3. Crass/Racist/Sexist/Generally Distasteful comments - Regardless of what side of the political spectrum it comes from, if you make a post that insults people based on gender, race, ethnicity, etc., it's not going to get posted. I absolutely make commentary that is critical of different groups of people, but it is in a constructive manner intended to help those people and never blames a skin color or gender for those problems, but rather the culture or sociological phenomenon that correlates with it (for example, 67% of black children are born out of wedlock, this has nothing to do with the fact a person's skin is black, but rather a collapse in the social values attached to marriage in the "black community." Or the price of US weddings - absolutely unnecessary, absolutely a waste of time, money could be given to other more noble causes - children's cancer, scholarships,etc. - but it is largely driven by women, not men to have this profligate waste). However, insulting people saying "those stupid blacks" or "those dumb chicks" implying there is something inherent in being black or female or a jew or a muslim, etc., that causes these problems helps no one and will not get posted.

4. Cursing - In the same strain, cursing like a frat boy on daddy's dime will guarantee you do not get posted. However, I do believe the occasional curse word is called for in that at times it's the only word that carries the weight necessary to convey the severity of whatever it is you're trying to talk about. If this is the case, it will get posted. If it's just "filth and foul, foul and filth and frick and frack" forget it.

5. When I Know You're Wrong - This one is for the liberals. Yes, I know you think you're right, but when you make a comment and I KNOW for a fact it is wrong - ie- I know precisely where the data is on the OECD or FRED databases that would prove you wrong, you do not get posted. Now listen to me, because this is very important for you liberals out there, you HAVE NO CLUE JUST WHAT A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF TIME YOU ARE FACTUALLY WRONG. This is not an issue of whether I disagree with your opinion (say for example you say, "we need health reform now!" - that's an opinion). But when you say something factually wrong like "we don't spend enough on health care" when we spend 2 times the amount compared to any country by any measure, you're WRONG and your misinformed/uninformed, or just generally FALSE belief does not DESERVE to get published.

6. Illogical Arugments - There is no shortage of leftists that will tender arguments that are either wrong, based in false premises, or just plain don't make sense, but because of the complexity they think their argument will stand and is worth posting. THis is usually what you get from professors or idiots that claim things like "GDP isn't a good measure of economic production" or consider profit to be a bad thing. It doesn't make sense. And no matter how verbose or hoity toity and academic your response is, if even one premise violates simple logic, it doesn't get posted.

7. Intellectually Dishonest - These people are sick and twisted and need to be shipped off to the Arctic. Arguing for "social causes" when you damn well know implementing said policies will bankrupt the nation or otherwise cause greater harm to society means you're nothing more than a shill, a whore for a political party or cause. People like Nancy Pelosi or Arlen Specter who know FULL WELL things like lower taxes, balanced budgets, efficient government spending is what's in the best interest of the nation, but instead ignore those facts and tell the masses what they want to hear so they can get elected again is nothing more than prostitution. But what I don't get is while people like Pelosi and Specter are intellectually dishonest become so, so they can remain employed, why do internet trolls of the leftist stripe become intellectually dishonest when there is no value or payoff for them to do so? It is here that it borders a psychological problem when you have somebody arguing for socialism or free-health care or whatever, who does so, not because they have a vested interest in an outcome, but because they've joined a cause and what to feel like they're doing something, even though deep down inside they know it will bode ill for the nation OR (even worse) they don't know what the ramifications will be, but will still advocate it anyway because it "makes them feel good." I've developed a keen sense of smell for these types, the ACORN girls, the idiot who made the You Tube video on why we need health care, etc., but if you're just whoring for a cause AND NOT EVEN GETTING PAID FOR IT like Pelosi (or for that matter, all of congress), your comment does not get published (you also need psychological help).

8. Do you have a point? - I will post any comments that have a point, whether they agree with me or not, especially if they are unique or (on the rare occasion) that I have been misinformed. It is here intellectual HONESTY pays off, especially for leftists. Every once in a while you guys do have a point and can actually advance the conversation we're having.

9. Do You Agree with me? - Hell yes, I'll post you. Sure, why not, what does it hurt? Besides (and again notice the "INTELLECTUAL HONESTY") I will fully admit I'd like to give back to the MSM and newspapers of yore what they gave us for the past 50 years. Editorial pages that made it look like the country was full of communists. I want people to visit the site and feel like "My god, am I the only liberal?" You can see how it feels.

THat's about it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go for a motorcycle ride with a cute girl on the back of the bike.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have been lurking your site since at least last January... and 95% of my comments are always published... Then again, I never really violate rules 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9.

Also, about your women... Bambi, Candi, and Sindi look way too suggestive. Only Natasha has a normal, "hey, look I am just smiling" picture.

Have fun on your motorcycle.

Anonymous said...

The only reason I post as anonymous is that OpenID doesn't like to take my AIM screen name. That said. I think the only argument you NEED to not post a comment is that it is your blog to which you own the responsibility of comment control. In the same way I wouldn't expect to be invited into your house and say every rude thought that crosses my mind, I wouldn't do the same here.

PeppermintPanda said...

Just a question about #6 ...

You used the example that "GDP isn't a good measure of economic production" as being a bad argument but (from my very limited understanding) doesn’t GDP include all “Productivity” regardless of whether there is really any benefit from it? For example, if you paid 1 Million people $1 Million each to spend 5 days a week digging holes and filling them in wouldn’t that represent $1 trillion in GDP regardless of it being pointless busywork?

Doesn’t it make more sense to measure exports and a means of determining the productivity of an economy being that it represents production that people are actually willing to pay for?

Anonymous said...

Peppermint,

I assume that you're talking about products, what about services? The guy fixing fords with spare parts is providing a service. The guy assembling a computer network is providing a service. Even the guy flipping burgers in the diner is providing a service. Each person is doing something tangible for the economy, yet is doing something that can't really be exported. In short, exports valuation is biased towards productions and against services industries. Even that will show you which place the money is going at a particular time, not necessarily why.

In a free market, your worker's wage will closely follow its real worth unless you have something causing imperfect competition.

Unknown said...

Panda,

I think the term you're looking for is civil service. The fact of the matter is that we already have plenty of people getting paid "digging holes and filling them in" and they do add to the GDP, but this is only one component of the GDP. GDP is essentially the total amount of money that changes hands over a year in one nation; including exports since they represent money coming into a country and excluding imports since you're buying from another nation.

Ideally, in a capitalist country everyone is productive, and everyone is a consumer making GDP for most industrialized nations the best measurement of economic production.

David said...

" but if you're just whoring for a cause AND NOT EVEN GETTING PAID FOR IT like Pelosi (or for that matter, all of congress)"

I find your comment to stereotype all of congress. I think Ron Paul and a couple others still have some balls :)

Dr. Bob said...

I have a google id, open id, wordpress id, typepad id, aim id and blogger id, and I can't get ANY of them to work.

After about a year, I finally figured out that if you click on Name/URL, you can put almost anything in the name, don't have to put in a URL and no password is needed.

Duh!

But, since anyone can put anything in there, somebody can submit posts under somebody else's name - I think that spoofing of someone else should be added to to your list of reasons for not posting.

I think sometimes my poor, addled brain tries to make things too difficult.

mdchris said...

I didn't read this entire post as it was fairly lengthy, and i didn't really care to read it :P

What I will say is that at least half of my comments have been to disagree with a point you've made or to criticize your point of view on something, and every single one of them have always been published.

This can only lead me to believe that you are fair about choosing which comments to publish and which to delete.

Not surprised you get lots of complaints though. We do live in the "nothing's my fault and the world owes me everything" generation after all.

Jack Golding said...

When I read #6 I my first thought was Keyne's example of paying people to dig up money you buried - which is what PeppermintPanda said.

Time to start using the old blogger account I guess.

Elizabeth said...

I stumbled upon your blog this weekend... in some ways, you remind me of Scott Adams (Dilbert guy). Fortunately, you are funnier and a hell of a lot better looking than Adams. Great blog!

Mark W said...

If only the MSM would read this. I read where Barack Obama makes up new definitions for what constitutes a tax and I wonder, will anyone call him out on this? If you have to pay more money to the government, your taxes went up. That is not opinion, it is fact.

Pointless said...

It's somewhat pointless to exclude a comment just because it's anonymous. After all, anyone can just make up a name or even a Google profile at will.

I think the best argument for banning Anonymi is that when people respondto them it's harder to respond back. So rather than declare all Anonymi will be moderated out, judge whether it is truly just a troll of someone wishing to remain anonymous.

Suppose you like a comment but don't want to publish it anonymously. You can copy it, paste it into the comment block, give the person some embarrassing name, and then publish it youreslef. You can also censor small parts of an otherwise good post in this way. Just copy, paste, redact, and then post with their original name in the Name/URL box. If you want, you can indicate where you removed profanity, ranting tirades, insults, etc.

Sometimes even a foul idiot has a point.

Captain Capitalism said...

To Elizabeth,

Aw, shucks!

;)

though I don't know how ugly/goodlooking Scott Adams is.

Andrew L said...

You should consider linking to this post the same way you linked to the sites on your blogroll; that way it will always be visible to anyone reading your blog.