I am here

As I said a number of times before, I am not a fan of anonymous comments. Online commenters aren’t famous for their kind words. Two Republican New York State lawmakers want to address this problem by banning anonymous commenting. Problem: the right to speak anonymously has been upheld repeatedly as a democratic principle, in a number of cases that have made it as far as the Supreme Court (e.g., McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission, 1995). The right is not absolute, and using anonymity to defame someone else is already covered by existing legislation and precedent.

Quite a few people asked me lately to convert RochesterRepublicans.com into a blog, and they all mentioned how much easier it is to post a comment on a blog – as compared with an website. I suspect that the opportunity of posting anonymously was also a factor in their request.

All things considered, including the fact that I’m sitting on a trove of facts, photos and emails chronicling the political layer in the life of our community and deserving of being known, I believe that a new blog is a good idea.

Keeping alive the Rochester Republicans is not a bad idea either.

– Jon Dogar-Marinesco

June 2012