Anonyblogging

Blois Olson, the person who is suing the blogger that runs MDE, has a column in today's opinion section of the Star Tribune. I can't say that I agree with his rather negative assessments of anonymous bloggers. I don't think I need to teach a history lesson about the role that anonymous political writing played in our nation's history, or point out that the first amendment to the constitution protects anonymous speech. However, it seems that some people need to be reminded.

I am most puzzled by the statement, "In the blog Minnesota Democrats Exposed, a former GOP research director has written anonymously for the last year and a half attacking Democrats at every turn." So what? Lots of people get paid to attack Democrats at every turn. Everybody has a choice to listen to them or ignore them. I don't see what being a blogger or being anonymous has to do with it.

Blogs are not perfect. Blogs will contain falsehoods, just like op-eds, discussions with your crazy family members at Christmas, or talk radio. It's up to individuals to determine the facts, and it is up to the media to do that fact-checking. Anybody who buys into a blog 100% deserves what they get. It is just another method of speech, nothing more, nothing less.