If you're a reader of the comments on this weblog, you will have noticed a comment recently appeared which responded to my posting about Chris Masters and his new book, Jonestown - an unauthorised biography of Sydney talk-back radio host Alan Jones. The comment was written by someone signing themselves "roobok" and was quite scathing of both Masters and his book. In situations like this I'd prefer people to sign such comments with their real name but as long as they fill in some of the details, such as email address or webpage, I'm willing to let it go.
I'm not in a great position to complain about this approach as I sign all postings on this weblog as being by "larrikin" rather than my real name. That came about in the early days when I didn't really know what I was doing here and didn't know if I should use a pen-name or not. I set up a login and the name stuck. Changing it is probably more trouble than it's worth. Anyway, if you go to "About Me" section at the very top of the right-hand column you can figure out who I am in real life.
But getting back to the comment under discussion: I like robust debate, and will approve comments even if I don't agree with the statements being expressed. We can't close our ears and eyes to opinions just because they don't fit our world-view. You might as well crawl into a hole and pull the lid down after you if that's the way you feel. So I'm happy about roobok's comment, and also about the responses that have followed. If it gets people thinking about the book and the situation then so much the better.
But...and yes, there's always a "but"...I won't accept anonymous comments as I've mentioned before, and I won't approve comments which I consider racist, sexist or libellous. And so, for the first time in nearly two years, I'm going to delete a comment I've received on these grounds. I've deleted lots of spam, and I've deleted comments which aren't directed to either me or a topic under discussion - these are mostly requests for access to a particular person mentioned here - yet this is the first time I've felt compelled to take this action.
Approving a comment for publication doesn't mean I agree with the sentiments expressed. On the other hand, deleting one indicates that the comment isn't acceptable in any form.
