Re: "Lawmaker Reads Crude Web Posts at School"

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Robert Cannon <rcannon100 () yahoo com>
Date: February 9, 2007 2:44:12 PM EST
To: dave () farber net
Subject: [IP] "Lawmaker Reads Crude Web Posts at School"

> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
Begin forwarded message:

From: Ross Stapleton-Gray <ross () stapleton-gray com>
Date: February 9, 2007 1:27:11 PM EST
To: dave () farber net
Subject: "Lawmaker Reads Crude Web Posts at School"

I suspect I'd disagree with Sen. Brown's opinions on
this issue almost entirely, but have to endorse his
right to call out his critics, even by name; the
antidote to bad speech is more speech, and he has an
invitation.  (My one caveat would be that posts on
Facebook may or may not actually be by those they're
attributed to, so he runs the risk of quoting someone
whose identity has been hijacked, but reading in
public comments made by someone on a
publicly-accessible web page? Go for it!  And we're
talking high school students... they may be minors,
but they're not unaware that their words have meaning,
and effect.)

Ross

**********

I do not agree.  The reference to "the antidote to bad
speech is more speech" is taken out of context.  That
slogan is in reference to government censorship - and
that censorship is an evil and does not achieve its
end; where government *permitting* more speech drives
towards a solution that is within a democratic
dialogue.

This is not about government censorship. This is about
an appropriate response of an individual to criticism
- even offensive criticism.  What Mr. Brown has
reportedly done is responded to verbal violence with
more verbal violence.  And he aimed his verbal
violence not at those who originated the violent
comments, but at an entire school assembly.  He has
made suffer those who have nothing to do with the
conflict the slings and arrows of his outrageous
violent words.

You say "we are talking teenagers here."  You appear
to have a particular view of what and who teenagers
are - apparently that this is no big thing to them.
Not all teenagers fit this mold.  There are those of
us for whom those words are violent and offense - we
do not choose to have them apart of our beings or our
lives.  We do not choose to be in communities where
such verbal violence is condoned.

Mr. Brown's words were violent.  He will not end the
violent words against him by returning violent words.
He might do well to take a long weekend and read up on
the teachings of Gandhi and his fellow former citizen
of Massachusetts, Henry David Thoreau.

While an appropriate government response to bad speech
may be permitting more speech, the appropriate
response of an individual to bad speech is not more
bad speech.

Robert Cannon


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