Sunday, November 28, 2010
Who Are We?
Numerous people have asked us who writes Washington's Blog and why we write under a pen name.
In fact, some of the leading writers have used pen names.
As one of the best financial writers - Tyler Durden of Zero Hedge - points out (edited slightly for readability):
Though often maligned (typically by those frustrated by an inability to engage in ad hominem attacks), anonymous speech has a long and storied history in the United States. Used by the likes of Mark Twain (aka Samuel Langhorne Clemens) to criticize common ignorance, and perhaps most famously by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay (aka publius) to write the Federalist Papers, we think ourselves in good company in using one or another nom de plume.I am a busy professional, a former adjunct professor, an American and a family man. I am post-partisan: I don't think either the Republican or Democratic parties represent the interests of the people as opposed to the big banks, major corporations, and the military-industrial complex.
Particularly in light of an emerging trend against vocalizing public dissent in the United States, we believe in the critical importance of anonymity and its role in dissident speech.
Like the Economist magazine, we also believe that keeping authorship anonymous moves the focus of discussion to the content of speech and away from the speaker - as it should be. We believe not only that you should be comfortable with anonymous speech in such an environment, but that you should be suspicious of any speech that isn't.
But my background is less important than the fact that I provide links to document everything I say, so you can check its accuracy for yourself.
17 comments:
→ Thank you for contributing to the conversation by commenting. We try to read all of the comments (but don't always have the time).
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→ The following types of comments will be deleted if we happen to see them:
-- Comments that criticize any class of people as a whole, especially when based on an attribute they don't have control over
-- Comments that explicitly call for violence
→ Because we do not read all of the comments, I am not responsible for any unlawful or distasteful comments.
Posts
Works for me. You have a great blog. Keep it up!
ReplyDeletewell put - roundly, in their teeth... thereby to defeat the Richelieus that, disregarding the Golden Rule (notwithstanding its newly discovered foundation in science), embitter this world and sow discord hatred and hypocrisy. an it were signable, i would straight...
ReplyDeleteAnyone who says, "I am a busy professional, a former adjunct professor, an American and a family man. I am post-partisan: I don't think either the Republican or Democratic parties represent the interests of the people as opposed to the big banks, major corporations, and the military-industrial complex," cannot properly assert the ad hominem argument.
ReplyDeleteThe other shoe must drop, and drop it will -right here-.
Every one of those arguments says you are a person to be wildly respected by Internet-reading-rabble.
I do not respect anonymity on the Internet. It has no credibility.
It should be obvious why the ad hominem argument is excluded once this sort of phony-credibility-statement (as above) enters into the public domain.
If you cannot make a logical argument, then abandon the pretense of it. There are fools everywhere. They can be convinced of just about anything.
For those with weak minds -the reason for excluding every ad hominem argument defense should be best discerned by learning what the word estoppel means.
Furthermore -asserting you are a pedigreed caretaker who sweeps up the monkey dung at some unnamed educational zoo... You could have worked at Dartmouth of Princeton for all I -know, -and- -could care less to know-.
These places are full of lies and misconceptions.
The credibility lent this sort of dissertation made of a long string of non-sequitur is totally disingenuous, -laughable!
My name is Don Robertson. I was born in January of 1950.
And I am totally in favor of the end to everyone in this despicably heinous regime of supposed intellect, -and I mean all of it-.
This is just swill coming from Princeton and Dartmouth and from every other community college too. They are creating feeble adults -unable to think- all over the planet.
The people on the Internet do not know what they are talking about so incessantly, boom-bada-bing!
Bloggers as a class are self-censoring populists -who have somehow justified their fantasies of becoming a rock-star-genius for the world made of Internet idiots and buffoons.
If you want to impress me, -try-.
But don't ever tell me I should be impressed.
I'm not. These are parlor tricks and high "C"s you get along with -here on Washington's Blog.
Your fans applaud, "Bravo! Bravo!"
They will applaud a drunk falling face-first into a puddle too. Hooray!
You just tally for yourself what these fools will applaud.
You are the brightest star at the bottom of a wishing well. Look up.
Those stars are not anonymous.
Anonymous-
ReplyDeleteBrace yourself. The guy trying to sell this "high quality video" on the Internet is just like you.
http://www.inewsit.com/video/gallery/Five-people-suspected-to-be-witchcrafts-were-bruterly-murded-in-kisii-Nyamataro-Village
They didn't teach you this at school -did they.
The problem is, it's people like you who justify what is transpiring -right now- all around us. Well, of course, this all makes perfect sense!
Do you have any idea how many people have committed suicide in this country in the past year?
A- Way more than man the despicable government in Washington D.C.
-Don Robertson
I totally support your anonymity. I try to judge always by actions (in this case reports, articles, information, opinions...) and not mere tags. Actually I do not care if you are a busy professional or an unemployed "loser", if you have a nice family or are the most solitary person I can imagine, if you are a man or a woman, black or white, gay or straight, all I care is that your blog is a nice informative read and that you are obviously not any neofascist moron.
ReplyDeleteSo keep it up "George Washington".
I understand why some choose a pen name.
ReplyDeleteI also understand why some like Don above rant; then hide their profile. lmao
Pen names are great...retaliation by "them" takes longer!
ReplyDeleteDon - tl,dr, yajizzrag.
ReplyDeleteI love this blog, it's the internet's best.
I would like to add you to my links if I may. I am www.wisdomofaged.blogspot.com. All are welcome. I am 72 and see things in a larger prospective.
ReplyDeleteI don't see a blog roll of blogs that mention Washington's Blog. I'm 74, remember many things that younger people haven't experienced, and a back-link would do me more good that it would you. But I've given backlinks to blogs that have zero followers and appear at times no more than monthly. But we're on the same side, and blogging is a 1 + 1 = 3 game, not zero sum, as some bloggers with a big following seem to think. I have 9 followers on Google Friend Connect and promote my blog vigorously. See my twitter newspaper, which comes out twice daily, at http://paper.li/theobannionbyme
ReplyDeleteBest,
Seamus O'Bannion.
PS - If you have a twitter acc't, or FB acc't, what are your handles, so I can follow you.
Pussy. Take responsibility for the things you say.
ReplyDeleteJanuary 22, 2011
ReplyDeleteHola! I still believe it is good to have a direct contact of one kind or another. I believe in the concept of Peaceful Revolution in the USA.
Contact Information: Peter S. Lopez AKA Peta_de_Aztlan
Email~ peta.aztlan@gmail.com
Website~ http://help-matrix.ning.com/
Twitter~ http://twitter.com/Peta_de_Aztlan
Facebook~ http://www.facebook.com/Peta51
c/s
@Don Robertson: to attempt to make touch-down with your argument, go ahead and attempt an ad hominem attack on GW based on the background information revealed. (You will likely just make an ass of yourself.)
ReplyDeleteAnd a counter-example: Eliot Spitzer had a great message and a great mission. Where is he now??
[Now listen to people protest that he had bad morals and was unfit to be anywhere near justice or politics. Anything but discuss the fraud prosecution of the Wall St miscreants who have trashed the USA.]
Stick to the message, folks.
(Love your blog, George!)
"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth" -- Oscar Wilde
ReplyDeleteA different American view.Very good job!
ReplyDeleteThankyou for continuing to provide relevant and credible information on so many of the issues we as a species are forced to contend with on a daily
ReplyDeletebasis.Many of us do appreciate your efforts.
Those of us who gave our lives to the government; know the high cost of using one's name. I dont care if I work again for the devil.
ReplyDelete