Name-calling weakens points

When responding to a letter to the editor, news article or column, rude, anonymous, personal attacks do little but weaken the responders position and water down whatever his/her argument might be.

Unlike letters to the editor that appear in The News and Sentinel that must be signed and cannot merely be personal attacks, comments on our Web site do not follow the same guidelines. The premise is those commenting on the Web will police themselves or others will report them as making abusive comments, which can result in the comment being removed and/or the writer being blocked from the Web site.

But such is not always the case. Not every abusive comment is reported and some writers make comments under a variety of user names, making them more rapidly than they can be reported.

Freedom of speech is a wonderful Constitutional right, but it comes with using it in a responsible manner, which many who make wild, anonymous attacks don't do. Unfortunately, as valuable a tool the Internet can be for sharing information, it also can be a plague of inaccurate, anonymous gibberish filled with hate, discontent and unconfirmable distortions.

Taking issue with a writer's logic by supplying confirmable informational points strengthens one's argument. Name-calling and personal attack only weakens one's point of view.