Elizabeth Lewis Pardoe is exactly right:
A taste:
Those who lambaste, slander, and otherwise scream into their screens seem to think the more outrageous their outbursts the more attentive their audience. Sadly, they may be right. Such commentators are the background noise of cyber-discourse.
Loud yet irrelevant distractions to the ideas under discussion.
Bluster and bombast were not born with the internet, but their ability to co-opt the conversation magnifies in proportion to the speed and ease of the technology. Broadsides took time to write, illustrate, print, and distribute. Letters to the editor waited for approval to appear in print. Those without the patience to wait and contemplate before they spread their vitriol, can throw out their ill-conceived notions as soon as they take root in their embittered brains.
We each have a choice. We can follow the golden rule; do unto others as we would have done unto us; and pause before we pontificate. Others will choose to spew without review. We can ignore them.
I missed that you had posted this. Thanks as always for the endorsement. You are – as always – my role model for blogosphere decorum!