Jim Conte, a Long Island Iced Tea Bagger, is a member of the New York State Assembly. (note to Europeans and other non-Americans reading this – the number of Americans holding elective political office is staggering. In addition to all of the blithering idiots in Washington, every one of the 50 states has it’s own little mini-circus going on, and then there are town councils, zoning commissions, school boards and crap like that. So, the odds are approaching inevitable that, in any given week, one of them somewhere will do or say something incredibly stupid, just because of the numbers. It’s also true that a significant number of Americans are dumber than hammers, but that’s not the only reason our politics suck).
James Conte
Jim Conte thinks bullying is a terrible thing, and I agree with him up to that point.
But Jim Conte thinks the solution to the problem is to make everybody sign their internet posts with their real name, and of course provide their real address, IP number and phone number to their provider.
Not only is it blatantly unconstitutional, it’s also seriously unworkable and contrary to the basic personality of the internet which the government didn’t invent. Well, I guess, actually, they did, but we’re beyond that point now. The internet is used all around the world, in more languages than most people even knew existed. Sure, countries like China and Iran ban a lot of sites, but the internet moves on, finding ways around that.
It’s all about anonymity and being able to say whatever you want, even some pretty offensive stuff.
Anyway, I don’t see anybody being helped by this proposed law, except for those people who don’t mind putting their real names up with their posts. Pillars of the community such as Hugh G. Rection, Heywood Giablomi, Ben and Eileen Dover, Rae Jean Cox, E. Tobago Dix, Anita Biggun, Harry Balz, Peter Burns, Mike Hawk, Mike Hunt, Amanda Hugandkiss, long time partners Ben Doon and Phil McCracken and our old friends from grade school Seymour Butts, I.P. Freely and A.B. Normal.
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