Published by
Dick Schaefer, Contributing Writer and Part-time Investigative Reporter
Today on the 4th of July,
Jeff Noedel posted the following comment on his blog
CNL ('Cheap News LIVE') ......
Real names for real opinions! Sun, 07/04/2010 - 12:06pm — J. Noedel-Publisher
I'm proud of you, Boob, for saying what you think and signing your name to it. On this July 4, it's refreshing to see a citizen accountable for his opinions. That goes for all our CNL commenters.
As we enter another County Commission election cycle, the cowardly Internet insults and slander are in full swing, 90 percent of it coming from one sick old puppy.
Anonymous, unaccoutable slander and hate-speech does not strengthen our democracy. It weakens it. One wise Hermannite has persuaded me that it can even discourage good people from volunteering for public service and running for public office.
How much bravery does it take to hurl insults and slander people from the safety of a fake name? Or 10 different fake names? Mean people suck. Mean people who hide behind fake names suck even more. Make no mistake, the worst of the Internet misinformation and slander is coming from a small number of local cowards.
But this is America, where even the crazies enjoy the right to free speech. God Bless America.
Jeff Noedel
Publisher, CNL
The Editorial Board and Staff here at
Hermann Hearsay agree whole-heartedly with Mr.
Noedel's point of view. People who comment on
Hermann Hearsay are always encouraged to use their real name (if they feel comfortable doing so) instead of hiding behind a fake name or just 'Anonymous'. If your prefer, however, you may comment under a 'username'. We understand that some people, particularly business people, don't want to take a controversial stand for fear that they may offend a portion of their clientele. Recently we have received some very hateful comments from an 'Anonymous' commenter or perhaps the comments have come from several 'Anonymous' commenters. Unlike
"Cheap News LIVE", however, we publish ALL comments received ....... those with real names and usernames. Heck, we even publish the hateful 'Anonymous' comments. And you don't even have to pay us $19.95 per annum (as is required over at
CNL) for the privilege of taking a gratuitous swipe at us! Nope, we invite you to do it for FREE! We have thick skin, and we know how to handle those 'Anonymous' comments.
Now why do we do this? We could easily reject any comments we don't like, the ones which slam us and attack us personally. But no, my friends, we publish ALL comments .... positive and negative! And I want you to know that we do so for the following reasons:
- We figure that our intelligent and sophisticated readers are quite capable of separating the "wheat from the chaff". We don't need to treat them like little children and do it for them. WE TRUST IN THE SOUND JUDGMENT OF OUR READERS!
- We figure that if someone wants to take a swipe at us 'cause they disagree with our point of view or they just don't like us, they should be afforded the opportunity to do so. Afterall, they DID go to the trouble of linking to our website, and they did take the time to read what we have to say. We are greatful for their readership! WE RESPECT ALL OF OUR READERS, WE JUST DON'T RESPECT SOME OF THE INDEFENSIBLE POSITIONS THEY TAKE!
- We figure that we wouldn't be a very credible 'news analysis and opinion' site if we refused to accept and tolerate the opinions and viewpoints of other people. Although we make no claims to being a "Cheap News Site" like CNL frequently boasts, we DO allow people to make their comments FREE of charge instead of charging $19.95 for the privilege. WE WANT TO MAKE PARTICIPATION AFFORDABLE FOR ALL OUR READERS!
We agree with
Jeff Noedel that cowardly insults should not be dished out via 'Anonymous' internet comments. Why heck, I myself have been the victim of such cowardly insults and defamation. Back on September 24 of 2009, a certain person who shall remain nameless right now but whom I may identify later if I become perturbed enough with him to do so, actually sent a defaming email to a well-known businessman here in Hermann. In the email, this gutless little weasel stabbed me in the back. In the email, this cowardly, back-stabbin', slimy slippery snail said the following things about me:
- ".... additional evidence is rolling in of Schaefer's likely insanity" - As far as I know, the person who made this "diagnosis" is not a licensed psychiatrist or a degreed psychologist. I do, however, admit to being about a half-bubble off perfect level! Ha ha ha!
- "I cannot imagine the noise that must be blaring inside his (meaning my) head." - Further psychiatric diagnosis! And I didn't even have to pay $200 per hour!
- "Do I think he is dangerous? Yes, I absolutely do. I think he is very dangerous." - Ha ha ha! Not only is my secret admirer a pscyhiatrist, it also appears that he is a highly-skilled criminologist!
I don't imagine the person who sent this email ever imagined that the businessman he sent it to would forward it on to me. But he did! Nope, I doubt that he thought that might ever happen!
Now I happen to know that the person who sent this email back in September of 2009 reads
Hermann Hearsay. He will now know that I know what he did. He will not be able to look me in the eye for he will now know for sure that I know that he is without a doubt a spineless, back-stabbin' coward.
Nonetheless, because I am a compassionate and considerate man, I have gone easy on this spineless, back-stabbin' slimy slippery snail, and I have chosen not to publicly "out" him in this article! It is enough for me to know, at least for the time being, that he knows that I know all about him! This gives me a great deal of personal satisfaction! He can wonder from now on who in this community I might tell about his gutless, back-stabbin', slimy, slippery snail-like ways!
Yes, my friends, I agree 100% with Mr.
Noedel!!! I agree that
"mean people suck"! I agree that
"mean people who stab you in the back suck even more"! I don't agree with
Mr. Noedel on much of anything else, but I do agree that
"mean people who stab you in the back suck BIG time"!
Performance Metrics:
Total # FREE Subscribers: 000,344
Total # Premium Subscribers: 000,029
Total # Ultra Premium Subscribers: 000,004
Total # Platinum Lifetime Subscribers: 000,003
Subscribers Currently Online: 000,083
New Visitors Currently Online: 000,032
Alexa U.S. Traffic Ranking: 274,275
Total # Subscriber Telethons, Raffles & Bake Sales: 000,000
Reciprocal Websites:
Non-Reciprocal Websites:
www.hermannadvertisercourier.com/ (The Hermann A-C)
.
