Time to do something about bullying at blogs

This country claims to care about the little guy. It says it cares about equality and tolerance. Yet it allows the bullying treatment of commenters—some of the most vulnerable and powerless people in our society—to run rampant at blogs such as this one. Shouldn’t something be done? See the exchange starting here in the entry on New Jersey’s “Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights.”

To make this easier to follow, I’ll copy the exchange here:

Ron C. writes:

The NYT reports: “Each school must designate an antibullying specialist to investigate complaints; each district must, in turn, have an antibullying coordinator.”

VFR should have the same. I have been bullied and intimidated so many times posting contrarian opinions at VFR by the authoritarian Austerman and his pack of wolves (snarling sycophants). I suggest that VFR nominate a neutral observer as ombudsman, say Mr. Ken Hechtman, to judge posts fairly and impartially. The aggressive coercion practiced by the Very Frightening righteous inhabitants of this site has nearly crushed my confidence in rational debate.

LA replies:

I’m not sure if the commenter is joking or not. I don’t remember receiving a comment from him before.

Iona T. writes:

There you go again, demeaning Ron C. Sure you don’t remember any of his posts. Does a bully know anything about his victim? You probably censor him or throw away his emails. VFR does stand for Very Frightening People.

LA replies:

Thanks for setting me straight.

Perhaps, following New Jersey’s lead and Ron C.’s suggestion, there should also be an Anti-Blogging Bill of Rights.

UPDATE, 10:17 p.m.: Is VFR on the cutting edge of societal evolution or what? A half hour after posting this entry I came upon a story published tonight at Newsbusters entitled: “Journalists Warned in NYT: Beware of Conservative Bloggers Targeting You.” It seems that bloggers are actually reporting true, damaging facts about mainstream journalists that are getting the journalists in trouble, and the Times, to which we all look for leadership on matters of right and wrong, is duly alarmed by this bullying, unfair treatment of such a vulnerable, powerless segment of our society. Shouldn’t something be done?

Posted by Lawrence Auster at August 31, 2011 09:20 PM | Send