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Steve Rubel described my interactions with Jeremy Pepper as a “raging debate.” I’d hardly call it that, as it is neither raging nor a debate.
In a comment yesterday, Pepper — in his inimitable style — insulted me one too many times. He’d already called me “clueless,” “rude,” “idiotic” and other words that are simply unacceptable in my home or on my blog, and accused me of having the “myopic view of the New York elite” when I disagreed with him. Yesterday, I reacted by banning his IP, therefore banning him from commenting on my blog. But I’ve changed my mind.
Here is Jeremy Pepper’s comment policy, with which I agree:
“This is not a public forum, this is My Blog.
This is very much my personal place. Please act as if you were a guest in my home, and I will treat you as one.
Opposing views are welcomed.
I will, however, delete your comment if you descend into personal attacks, excessive profanity, mouth-foaming hatred, or other such immature behavior that I deem unacceptable in my home.
Please craft your contribution accordingly.”
So as you can see, Jeremy thinks it is ok for HIM — but not other bloggers — to moderate comments. Interesting.
Today, Greg commented on Pepper’s post:
“Comment moderation can be a slippery slope. As you delete hateful or venomous posts, you can reach the point where you begin to kill of incendiary dialog just because you, the blogger, disagree with it. If someone responds with a dumb comment, other readers or you will call them on it, or it will be recognized for what it is: dumb and idiotic.”
Greg makes a great deal of sense. So, upon reflection, I have un-banned Jeremy Pepper and will let readers decide what a nice guy he is – or isn’t. But I sure as hell won’t debate with him.