OFFERING POLITICAL OPINIONS

Ross Dolan

Ross Dolan

Well-known member
Contributor
Let me start by saying there is nothing wrong with having citizens offer their opinions on political questions. In fact, we should all be encouraged to do so.

I started offering opinions decades ago…in letters to the editor and op ed pieces to many newspapers around the country…and to national magazines.

One thing that was universally required back then was that your opinions had to be accompanied by your full name…and the town in which you lived. Very, very few opinions were published anonymously…and then only under the most extreme of circumstances.

It is time for congress to pass a law that requires every discussion forum and social media platform on the Internet to require that all postings be done under a verified name with a town or city of residence included.

The day of the kind of bullshit postings found here in JPP and in so many other forums should end. The only thing the anonymity does is to allow for bellicose, divisive posts to be made that foment and increase the alienation that currently is destroying this country. We have got to get that under control…and this would be a good way to start.
 
You share a very real concern. Anonymity definitely gives people cover to say things they’d never say face to face, and things turn toxic. I think there’d be pushback on privacy and First Amendment grounds if Congress tried to mandate it, but I agree the way things are now has plenty of negative consequences.
 
Ross Dolan said:
Let me start by saying there is nothing wrong with having citizens offer their opinions on political questions. In fact, we should all be encouraged to do so.

I started offering opinions decades ago…in letters to the editor and op ed pieces to many newspapers around the country…and to national magazines.

One thing that was universally required back then was that your opinions had to be accompanied by your full name…and the town in which you lived. Very, very few opinions were published anonymously…and then only under the most extreme of circumstances.

It is time for congress to pass a law that requires every discussion forum and social media platform on the Internet to require that all postings be done under a verified name with a town or city of residence included.

The day of the kind of bullshit postings found here in JPP and in so many other forums should end. The only thing the anonymity does is to allow for bellicose, divisive posts to be made that foment and increase the alienation that currently is destroying this country. We have got to get that under control…and this would be a good way to start.
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Agree. It would certainly keep folks from flame posting. Personally I'm here strictly for entertainment and don't take this place too seriously but I do believe there's posters here that genuinely hate each other and don't even know who the person is that they hate.
 
Ross Dolan said:
Let me start by saying there is nothing wrong with having citizens offer their opinions on political questions. In fact, we should all be encouraged to do so.

I started offering opinions decades ago…in letters to the editor and op ed pieces to many newspapers around the country…and to national magazines.

One thing that was universally required back then was that your opinions had to be accompanied by your full name…and the town in which you lived. Very, very few opinions were published anonymously…and then only under the most extreme of circumstances.

It is time for congress to pass a law that requires every discussion forum and social media platform on the Internet to require that all postings be done under a verified name with a town or city of residence included.

The day of the kind of bullshit postings found here in JPP and in so many other forums should end. The only thing the anonymity does is to allow for bellicose, divisive posts to be made that foment and increase the alienation that currently is destroying this country. We have got to get that under control…and this would be a good way to start.
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You're probably probably right on the money here. The question that seems to plague every issue is the how not the what of the why.
 
Ross Dolan said:
Let me start by saying there is nothing wrong with having citizens offer their opinions on political questions. In fact, we should all be encouraged to do so.

I started offering opinions decades ago…in letters to the editor and op ed pieces to many newspapers around the country…and to national magazines.

One thing that was universally required back then was that your opinions had to be accompanied by your full name…and the town in which you lived. Very, very few opinions were published anonymously…and then only under the most extreme of circumstances.

It is time for congress to pass a law that requires every discussion forum and social media platform on the Internet to require that all postings be done under a verified name with a town or city of residence included.

The day of the kind of bullshit postings found here in JPP and in so many other forums should end. The only thing the anonymity does is to allow for bellicose, divisive posts to be made that foment and increase the alienation that currently is destroying this country. We have got to get that under control…and this would be a good way to start.
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I don't use a pseudonym here, and I think everyone knows that. So, I'm already doing what you want, unlike virtually everyone else here. I assume you are doing likewise?

I don't know if the town or city would be helpful, but verification of the person being who they claim would be the useful standard.
 
Ross Dolan said:
Let me start by saying there is nothing wrong with having citizens offer their opinions on political questions. In fact, we should all be encouraged to do so.

I started offering opinions decades ago…in letters to the editor and op ed pieces to many newspapers around the country…and to national magazines.

One thing that was universally required back then was that your opinions had to be accompanied by your full name…and the town in which you lived. Very, very few opinions were published anonymously…and then only under the most extreme of circumstances.

It is time for congress to pass a law that requires every discussion forum and social media platform on the Internet to require that all postings be done under a verified name with a town or city of residence included.

The day of the kind of bullshit postings found here in JPP and in so many other forums should end. The only thing the anonymity does is to allow for bellicose, divisive posts to be made that foment and increase the alienation that currently is destroying this country. We have got to get that under control…and this would be a good way to start.
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Yeah, I look at it a little differently. I blow off steam here. I would never behave this way in public and everyone know that.

The problem here is that members take this place as seriously as if it was a true representation of the world. It's not! We are all extremists here. We're all primary voters.

Most people don't think posting on opinion forums is a good use of time. We are a minority. What happens here is fantasy and I'd like to keep it that way.
 
anonymoose said:
Agree. It would certainly keep folks from flame posting. Personally I'm here strictly for entertainment and don't take this place too seriously but I do believe there's posters here that genuinely hate each other and don't even know who the person is that they hate.
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We agree for once. This is entertainment for me as well. People who take posts here seriously should find something else to do.
 
anonymoose said:
In case who haven’t noticed I tend to troll now and again.
Problem is no one really knows for sure when I’m doing it.
Keeps things interesting for me though.
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To the bolded: Is that really what you think? NO ONE knows? LOL.

Ah delusions of grandeur! The superpower any megalomaniac :)
 
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