Letter: Transparent commenting

Published: Thursday, Dec. 20 2012 12:00 a.m. MST

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Summary

What would have happened had the Declaration of Independence ended with signatures such as "TekyGuy45" or "TempleTroll" or "ObamaHater12"? Would the King of England have seriously considered the position of the colonists? Or would he have quickly moved to the next letter in the mail?

In our country, where freedom of speech is revered, bloggers wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning and work long into the night jockeying to make their voices heard. Who are these people? What faces are behind their names? If they have no face, do they have a voice? If I am not mistaken, not having a face means that a person cannot generate a voice.

Let's see who the bloggers really are. They should reveal themselves, show their faces, sign their names.

Daring to attach a name and face to what is said will boost civility in dialogue, engender careful thought and build men rather than tear them down.

Ben Watkins

Murray

Featured Comments

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Blue

Salt Lake City, UT

Our nation's founders used pen names extensively in their writing.

Keyword search "List of pseudonyms used in the American constitutional debates." You'll be surprised by the results.

Anonymity makes it More..

6:37 a.m. Dec. 20, 2012
Top comment

Kalindra

Salt Lake City, Utah

While the Declaration of Independence may have been signed with real names, a great deal of propaganda written during that time did not have real names attached.

Freedom of Speech prevents the Government from criminalizing speech, it does More..