CANONS OF ETHICS IN THE

                                      WEBNETBLOGOSPHERE:

                                THE CASE OF THE AD HOMINEM

                                                     ATTACK

8. Be courteous. There will be moments of passion when things are said in anger. If you must attack, target the idea or the opinion -- but NEVER the person. Personal attacks are useless, tend to escalate hostilities and ruin the reading experience for everyone else. Such comments, even if isolated, are subject to deletion. An ongoing pattern of persistent violations will result in blocked access.

We again must thank Craig Crawford as we begin to examine this universal rule of decorum in the Netwebblogosphere.

It is really difficult to follow this canon in this day and age.

Let us take some examples from recent comments at TPMCafe.

I mean I will do an innocent blog about how it would be so much better if republicans would simply resign from office, join the NRA, go hunting together, form a circle AND FIRE THEIR GODDAMN WEAPONS INTO THE CENTER OF THE CIRCLE.

And I will inevitably receive a comment that is something along these lines:

You sir are a communist socialist liberal asshole who does not deserve a minute of my time.

Well...I mean can we not all just stick to the issues and at least attempt to don the guise of civility when we respond to a post at our friendly little Café?

Dom Irrera is a comedian who has been around for decades. He likes playing the Philly Italian. And one of his routines attempts to educate us in civility. He suggests we could soften the blows so to speak when we feel the urge to attack someone's person.

So Dom might make a comment like:

Let me tell you something ok? Your sister is a bit of a slut - now I don't mean that in a bad way - but she gets around if you know what I mean.

Or:

Your mother is so ugly you would think her face would really like to sit down, but I do not mean that so much in a bad way; if you know what I mean.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=I%20don%27t%20mean%20that%

20in%20a%20bad%20way

I have often employed this methodology myself when confronting a message in somebody else's blog that I was not that comfortable with:

Go and kill yourselves immediately, but I do not mean this in a bad way.
 
DICKHEAD, DICKHEAD, DICKHEAD...of course I do not mean this in a bad way.   
But does this discourteous and reprehensible conduct on the part of  us bloggers arise from nothingness?

From whence do we get this attitude? This need to attack someone else personally?

Let us examine the significance of this canon as we examine some goings on in the Main Stream Media:

RUSH LIMBAUGH:

Like the rest of the conservative media, Limbaugh promoted the third-party candidacy of Doug Hoffman over GOP candidate Dede Scozzafava (who ended up dropping out days before the election) and Democratic candidate Bill Owens. It was clear that Limbaugh preferred Hoffman by the way he absolutely trashed Scozzafava for being a Republican in name only (or, "RINO"):

LIMBAUGH: Scozzafava has screwed every RINO in the coun -- we can say that she's guilty of widespread bestiality. She has screwed every RINO in the country. Everyone can see just how phony and dangerous they are.

http://mediamatters.org/columns/200911060048

 

 

1. Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?

4. The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies.

6. [To an African American female caller]: Take that bone out of your nose and call me back.

Limbaugh has called Obama a 'halfrican American' has said that Obama was not Black but Arab because Kenya is an Arab region, even though Arabs are less than one percent of Kenya. Since mainstream America has become more accepting of African-Americans, Limbaugh has decided to play against its new racial fears, Arabs and Muslims. Despite the fact Obama graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law school, Limbaugh has called him an 'affirmative action candidate.' Limbaugh even has repeatedly played a song on his radio show 'Barack the Magic Negro' using an antiquated Jim Crow era term for Black a man who many Americans are supporting for president. Way to go Rush.

http://newsone.com/obama/top-10-racist-limbaugh-quotes/

 

"He is exaggerating the effects of the disease. He's moving all around and shaking and it's purely an act. ... This is really shameless of Michael J. Fox. Either he didn't take his medication or he's acting." --on an ad by Michael J. Fox endorsing Claire McCaskill for Senate for supporting embryonic stem cell research (Watch video)

"And don't forget, Sherrod Brown is black. There's a racial component here, too. And now, the newspaper that I'm reading all this from is The New York Times, and they, of course, don't mention that." --on the 2006 Ohio Senate primary race involving then-Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who is white

"This is no different than what happens at the Skull and Bones initiation...I'm talking about people having a good time, these people, you ever heard of emotional release? You ever heard of the need to blow some steam off?" --on the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal  http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/rushlimbaugh/a/limbaughquotes.htm

GLENN BECK

"This president I think has exposed himself over and over again as a guy who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture....I'm not saying he doesn't like white people, I'm saying he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist." -on President Obama, sparking an advertiser exodus from his FOX News show

2. "I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore, and I'm wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it. ... No, I think I could. I think he could be looking me in the eye, you know, and I could just be choking the life out. Is this wrong?" -musing about what he would do for $50 million

 

4. "The only [Katrina victims] we're seeing on television are the scumbags." -"The Glenn Beck Program," Sept. 9, 2005 (Source)

 

6. "I have been nervous about this interview with you because what I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies. ... And I know you're not. I'm not accusing you of being an enemy, but that's the way I feel, and I think a lot of Americans will feel that way." -interviewing Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim U.S. congressman, Glen Beck's show on CNN's Headline News, Nov. 14, 2006 (Source)

7. "Al Gore's not going to be rounding up Jews and exterminating them. It is the same tactic, however. The goal is different. The goal is globalization...And you must silence all dissenting voices. That's what Hitler did. That's what Al Gore, the U.N., and everybody on the global warming bandwagon [are doing]." -"The Glenn Beck Program," May 1, 2007 (Source)

8. "So here you have Barack Obama going in and spending the money on embryonic stem cell research. ... Eugenics. In case you don't know what Eugenics led us to: the Final Solution. A master race! A perfect person. ... The stuff that we are facing is absolutely frightening." -"The Glenn Beck Program," March 9, 2009 (Source)

 

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/stupidquotes/a/glenn-beck-quotes.htm

DICK CHENEY:

GO FUCK YOURSELF

 http://www.cafepress.com/vpquote

Cannot we all just live together in peace?

No kitty-cats or puppies or repubs were injured in the creation of this essay.