Back later. This for now

Family duties call so I won't be posting again until late tonight.

Meanwhile this: Raleigh News & Observer news columnist Ruth Sheehan, who wrote columns savaging the Duke lacrosse players for exercising their Constitutional right on advice of their counsels and demanding Duke fire coach Mike Pressler is receiving quite a few critical emails. Copies people have sent me are reasonable, fact-based and civil.

But instead of responding to them Sheehan's taken up the old scam of posting a few criticisms we could all agree are over the line and then saying in effect: "Do you see what my critics are like. Poor me."

Her whining following her attacks on the players, the coach, and the exercise of Constitutional rights led me to leave comments at a pair of posts where she played her scam.

I thought you might enjoy at least one of them so here it is:

Comment from: John [Visitor] · http://www.johnincarolina.com
06/16/06 at 08:42

Ruth,

While the 2 eamils you've cited here are ones fine citizens would write, you keep resorting to the "Poor me! I get emails from my critics" scam.

Some bloggers and journalists use critical emails as a means to gain sympathy for themselves and avoid serious discussion. I think you do some of that.

It's fairer to readers to write responsible commentary in response to critics who raise important issues as the 2 critics do here.

And while the 2 emails here are fine ones whose statements I endorse, you know anyone can send emails and say they're this or that.

It’s so easy to fake a persona in an email. Here, let's do a fun example.
________________________________

Hi Ruth,

Do you know John in Carolina?

A Phi Beta Kappa at 12, John became the youngest member of the Apollo 11 crew. It was John who pried open the stuck lunar lander’s door thus enabling Neil Armstrong to take his historic moon walk.

John later won 9 gold medals at the 1992 Olympics, and went on to believe everything he reads in the N&O.

From,

a friend
________________
Ruth,

McClatchy pays big money so its journalists can get training for their own "moon walks" from the one-way world of "we journalists will tell you" into the interactive blogosphere.

Don’t those trainers tell you about some Dems pretending they’re GOPers and emailing outrageous things to embarrass the GOP? Don’t they tell you some GOPers do the same in reverse?

If they don’t, surely you can do what a lot of us have done: figure it out for yourself.

I hope someday we solve the problem of physically threatening and undeservedly critical email.

But we all get it; and many of us get much, much worse than anything you’ve posted.

I may get some pretty bad emails just for writing this comment.

I hope you agree bloggers and journalists need to remind ourselves and our readers that in many cases we can’t be sure who’s sending us what.

I hope you no longer expect to savage people and not have others call you on it.

In closing, I wish things were different about email just as I wish there had never been that party the night of Mar. 13/14 at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd and all that’s followed.


Sincerely,

John