If you haven’t noticed, a number of conservative leaning blogs have declared today a “Day of Action” in response to activities on the part of a number of notorious internet bullies, which have put their livelihoods and their voices at risk. Although NakedDC won’t be joining them, we thought it best to pass along some of the gorier details of the actions that led up to this step. You can find information and a timeline of the alleged blogger harassment undertaken by certain familiar characters here, on John Hawkins’ Right Wing News site, which once also defended us in a very pressing time of need.
Although many of the people affected are our friends and allies, once upon a time, we learned that going silent was never the right response to a bully. Such a situation took us offline for a long time, and we’d hate to see any other blogger, conservative OR liberal OR of any persuasion whatsoever, feel as though they need to censor themselves just to stay out of harms way. Our voice is precious to us, and it should be precious to everyone.
Brava!
I understand the current mood amongst bloggers and support their positions, even to the extent of making calls to elected officials to raise the issue. But as a talking head in a field fraught with antagonistic adversaries one thing I’ve learned through hard-won experience is you shouldn’t let the opposition dictate the dialogue.
Fighting every fight isn’t necessary but silencing yourself lets the other side say even more.
Bloggers have gained incredible voice in recent years but have yet to really break into the mainstream, everyday dialogue of the average person. Self-silence is akin to the one-handed clap or proverbial tree falling in the woods. When I saw it I agreed with the notion but had to ask, will the people who need to notice even care?