Modified On May 17, 2006
Just got the following from an anonymous source, in an email signed only with “CP”:
I feel the need to report that Jay Davis used his clout (uh I mean Dane Cook‘s clout) to get my account cancelled at myspace. As much as you probably love this, so much for free speech. There were no legal violations on the page, just my opinions.
(Curious, though– We hopped on over to the Myspace page in question and, as near as we could tell, there was still a page there. Some of the negative blog comments about comedians were taken down and, in their place, was a lengthy screed about censorship. So, if the site is truly suspended, we’re puzzled. Perhaps Myspace has the decency to allow suspended accounts a few hours to drive their “friends” to a new location.)
We’re not sure what happened, and we’re not convinced that it was Jay Davis or Dane Cook who was responsible. And, while these self-appointed arbiters of comedy taste may not have exactly violated the Myspace Terms of Service, Myspace is most likely entirely within their rights to tell them to take a hike.
It is more than just a little annoying that this weasel, in his/her parting shot on Myspace, exhorts all to “TAKE A STAND AGAINST CENSORSHIP” and that he/she “SHOULD NOT BE DELETED BY PEOPLE WITH POWER FOR NOT VIOLATING ANY LAW BUT TELLING THE TRUTH AND BRUISING AN EGO”
Annoying because:
1. This reprehensible creep has missed nary a beat by continuing to peddle the same slime, only this time via a blog (The address of which will not be divulged here)
2. This reprensible creep has continued delivering his/her bile anonymously.
In this country, if you have a beef or an opinion, an accusation or a criticism, you attach your name to it. You own your opinion, you let the target of your wrath know exactly who you are. That way, the object of the criticism, or the people and/or institutions assailed in the opinion, know exactly where to go with a response or a rebuttal. (And observers of the whole imbroglio can decide for themselves whether or not the accuser has an ax to grind, an agenda or a motive that may not be readily apparent.) It is the only way that decent people know how to conduct this kind of public discussion.
Also: For this former Myspacer to say, as he/she does in the above quoted email, that we “probably love” the idea of this awful Myspace profile being suspended, is wildly inaccurate. If we wanted the profile suspended, we would have called for it. What we did instead was voice our opposition to the concepts involved, called for any decent people to shun it and hope that, after the ensuing debate, the whole enterprise would quickly shrivel away to nothing– a victim of the laws of supply and demand and mute testimony to our persuasive powers and the basic goodness and sensibility of the majority of our readers.
And, you’ll recall, we posted that with our smiling faces just to the left of that post, with our names in bold underneath those faces.