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December 07, 2009 09:34 AM UTC

Tactcs, Ethics, and Acceptable Use on ColoradoPols.com

  • 20 Comments
  • by: JO

I ran across this “signature” line, or whatever it’s called, recently on this site:

“I would never want to be part of a club that would have you as a member” — JO  

1. There’s only one “JO” who appears here, it’s me; if there’s another famous “JO” I’d like to know who it is. (Maybe it’s me too.)

2. The quotation marks imply that I wrote the words; that’s what quotation marks are used for in the English language, for anyone who was absent from school the day that was taught.

3. While that statement may–may–be true for me in the case of the individual using it for a “signature,” I’m not aware of having written it.

4. No need to be uptight, although I’m not eager to have people in general attributing quotations to me that I didn’t write. Some might be flattered to have a supposed quotation adapted by a pseudononymous user in this particular way. In this particular case…. well, I don’t think this particular technicolor user was trying to pay a compliment, and I’m hardly flattered to be associated with the rest of this particular sigline. If he/she needs, I did provide some suitable descriptive terms in a posting the other day. Feel free, with attribution.

If that practice is okay with the proprietors of this site, especially when it references contributors to this site, then LET IT BE KNOWN RIGHT HERE. It certainly entertains a lot more interesting possibilities: made-up quotes attributed to other site users as part of sign-off lines. Hmmmmm.

[Note that silence implies consent in Anglo-American jurisprudence.]

Comments

20 thoughts on “Tactcs, Ethics, and Acceptable Use on ColoradoPols.com

  1. But certainly not in a court of law.  

    “Your honor I told him I was accepting his land as a gift to me–although he never offered it–and he said nothing, so it’s mine.”

  2. Another veiled threat to sue the Pols because your feelings are hurt? Do you ever wonder why you’re the only one who seems to have these problems?

  3. IF both the above two commenters could/would read as far as point #4 (something about “no need to be uptight…,” nothing about a “court of law” much less “suing”… [The “jurisprudence” angle might be of interest, though: IF a rancher asks, “May I run my cattle over your vegetable garden,” and the gardener, standing there, doesn’t say no, and the cattle proceed… What happens when the gardener sues?)

    IF the above two commenters appeared to have any practical professional knowledge about publishing….

    IF the above two commenters were establishing rules for this site (assuming there are any)….

    IF I were in 7th grade and wanted lots of people to sit at my table….

    IF it were MY problem when someone adopts such a sig-line, rather than a commentary on low wattage light bulbs in an era when original observations were harder and harder to come by (possibly an interesting topic in some circles)….

    However, enough. Let us proceed to more interesting topics.

    “We think it’s a good idea for corporate interests to buy off politicians.” ColoradoPols.

    1. I would ban you. Nobody forces you to come here, and people make fun of each other. Most people can take it, but apparently not you. There is an easy solution for that problem.

      1. JO attempts to work the ref, and fails.  Boo hoo.

        Pols is fine without a detailed policy position on every conceivable scenario.  Really, it’ll be OK.

  4. I had a running gag where my signature was an obnoxiously misattributed quote, e.g. “‘Eep opp ork ah-ah.’ James Madison”

    Nobody had any problem with it. And Laughing Boy had a cutely cropped quote of mine in his signature.

    Of course, you could just respond to one of redstateblues’ posts if you don’t like it, rather than posting a new diary about it. You’re much more likely to get someone’s attention that way.

    1. I don’t have a problem with it in the context. I just didn’t know that attributing made-up quotes to people currently posting on this site was okay (as opposed to James Madison, whose posts I haven’t seen lately.) Cropped quotes are one thing; at least there’s some basis in reality. Attributing false quotes to real, current people is evidently an issue in the publishing industry, rather than on whatever-this-is. Let the free-for-all begin, credibility be damned. How they want this site to be perceived is up to ColoradoPols; no one questions that!

      Anyway, you’re manifestly right about posting a comment instead of a diary, the part about not getting anyone’s attention I mean.

  5. It causes a lot of sock puppets.

    Anyway, I think we have started communicating and I can tell you sincerely that I don’t approve and did not come from anyone I associate with. If it did, then I would terminate my associatioon with them

      1. but I have no idea who either of you are.

        I post under my own name and have been seen in public frequently with politicians.

        I don’t believe in anonymous attacks, though, whether it’s JO or redstatesblue or any other name.  I guess that the rational is to provide a forum where people employed in the industry can say what they want to freely without fear of retaliation in the employment market.

        There may be some merit to that argument. On a practical basis our 1st amendment rights are limited by reality.

        I’ll continue to publish under my own name and I do not employ sock puppets. It’s easy enough to track ip addresses. A good hacker can by pass that, but most folks will usually use the same ip, or enter by the sane subnet range if DHCP is in use.  

  6. Ok, first of all, wow.

    Second of all, I’ll take down the signature line.

    Third of all, it’s fairly obvious that you can dish it out, but you can’t take it. This has to be the biggest freakout over the most innocuous joke in the history of ColoradoPols. Congrats, JO.

  7. 1. Public figures, United States senators running for election, as the figures of obvious (“obvious?” depends, I guess) satire are tantamount to individuals posting on this blog. “Be consistent.”

    2. Attributing a quotation to someone who never said it–par for the course. No problem in terms of “site policy.” I ain’t upset, folks; don’t get carried away with your own influence! I just pointed out what’s OK for one is OK for all, and this site is what its users make of it. Far from being upset, this practice suggested a whole new set of approaches that I hadn’t considered before. Stay tuned, and remember, “Be consistent,” you lil’ ol’ hobgobblins!

    Over and out on this topic. I think it’s fair to say that ColoradoPols, by not weighing in on this minor flyswatting, has endorsed a whole new set of behaviors. Cool.

    1. Which is, if I might say so myself, ample.

      JO: Threats and whining = how blogs should be.

      Everyone else: [eye roll]

      I think someone needs to let Galileo in on the secret–the Earth doesn’t revolve around the sun, the universe revolves around JO.

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