Okay, I’ll weigh in on this “outing” of anonymous bloggers thing

I wasn’t going to, but since Legal Insurrection, Little Miss Attlia, Ann Althouse, The Other McCain, Jonah Goldberg and Memeorandum, among many others, are paying so much attention to it…

…well, who am I to deny the ebbs of the blogosphere?

Look, everybody has the right to blog anonymously, just like everybody has the right to speak a foreign language in public.

Everyone also has the right to be a total prick. You can say nasty things about those people over there if you want, whether they can hear you or not. Whether they can understand you or not. You can write nasty things about other bloggers (some of us call that Rule #4), if you want. Go ahead. Be a prick. It’s a free country.

But. Anonymity and asininity go hand in hand. One of the problems endemic to the internet – we all complain about this – is anonymous jerks spewing crap because they know they can without repercussion.

People like that aren’t just pricks. They’re pricks squared. Exponential pricks. And I have no sympathy for them if they get “outed.”

Note: I don’t read this “Publius” guy. Nor do I read Ed Whelan. Thus, I have no idea if either of them counts as a prick, and my comments should be taken in the generalistic context in which they are meant.

Note #2: The line between legitimately bloggish snark and over-the-line prickishness is an amorphous one, subject to the eye of the beholder and proximity to the intended target. I use the Grandma Rule: don’t say anything you wouldn’t say in front of your Grandma. Except for this post, that is, in which I use the word “prick” because no other word seems to have the appropriate connotation.

Note #3: You may have noticed that I’m not exactly coming down on one side or the other in the Whelan/Publius dispute. If so, well, how very perceptive of you. I’m not taking a side. And I’m not gonna, because I don’t care. I’m just jumping on the blogosphere bandwagon while there’s hits to be had. I hope.

UPDATE – Well whaddayaknow, Whelan apologized. And Publius accepted. How very boring of them. And then Publius has to go and say: “Let’s talk about Jon & Kate Plus 8 instead. I’ve heard they hired attorneys.”

Barf.