Anyone else noticed that there are a lot of self-appointed "hall monitors" floating around on this blog nowadays? Citizen patrols who decide on what is and what is not "diary worthy?" I, for one, enjoy reading shorter diaries. Often I don't have time to ingest a novella in order to get someone's point. I like the free exchange of ideas. I enjoy humorous diaries be they satire, farce or the occasional cynical wordplay. That's what democracy is supposed to be about. Yet there are some among us (you know who you are) who feel compelled to comment and belittle the oft-well-intentioned efforts of others. These cyber-poobahs remind me of the condo commandos in South Florida, the ever-present bands of older ladies who are on the lookout for their fellow condo owners who may not be following the letter of the by-laws as they interpret them.
Sure, I've been zapped myself but I only felt compelled to rant after reading other diaries that had similar comments from the cyber gestapo. Comments like "Not really diary material", "There's an open thread over there" or my favorite "don't you know that when you post a diary it moves everyone else's diary down on the list"
Uh huh. And then you die and they throw dirt on the box and then they go have lunch...
I'm sure a blog-cop can rationalize their "suggestions" and say they are being offered up for the "greater good", but please - it is the same arrogant posturing, the same censorship, the same self-indulgence that we find so abhorrent on the far right. So whatever your intentions, remember, freedom of speech is just that and any efforts to stifle or mold it to a preconceived form is simply not freedom.
Let's just be good neighbors, okay? Check out this insightful piece by pastordan, it may help us to get our bearings
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/10/4/13314/5803
Passion, courage, generosity and love - the things I like to bring to the party....