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Free Speech and donuts: Good and bad

By JOHN MUNFORD

One of the fun things about working for a unique newspaper like The Citizen is the variety of feedback I get while out-and-about the county.

Among the rank and file citizens, one of the most frequent comments in the past few months has been, “I love Free Speech.”

The editorial feature allows persons to comment anonymously on current topics, unlike our letters to the editor where citizens back up their viewpoints with their name.

From a reader’s perspective I can see the value of Free Speech. It certainly scores high on a pure entertainment level. Eliminating names from comments seems to encourage Free Speechers to be more witty.

Free Speech can also be a great avenue for folks who just don’t want to see their name in print for their own personal privacy.

I’m not here to praise Free Speech, nor to bury it. On a cautionary note, however, one must take be careful when considering the source, especially when the source is unknown.

Take the self-entitled “Bard of Braelinn” and his political musings. It would be easier to digest the political fluff if we had a clue who this supposed observer is.

This county has a stable of courageous letter writers on both sides of controversial topics such as stem-cell research and gay marriage. By revealing who they are, those letter writers open themselves to criticism, not just from other letter writers, but from their friends and families.

Those folks are sticking their neck out there. Sending in an anonymous beef, especially one that appears politically motivated, just isn’t quite the same.

On occasions such as Veterans Day, we are reminded that our freedom isn’t free and that many brave soldiers died in defense of those freedoms.

In a vaguely similar fashion, Free Speech isn’t free, either.