Earlier this week, I asked if I should publish an anonymous letter I received. Despite the poll results (74% in favor), I have decided against publishing the letter. Much of what was raised in the comments to that post was what I struggled with before asking for opinions.
While comments here often are posted psuedononymously (and on PilotOnline, I might add, which prompted this musing by editorial page editor Don Luzzatto), I chose to post here and elsewhere under my own name. Good, bad or indifferent, the reader knows who is writing.
The thing that bothers me more, though, is the fact that the writer of the letter felt compelled to be anonymous in the first place. That we have a political climate here that is unwelcoming of criticism, one that generates enough fear of retaliation that attaching your name is to be avoided is downright disgusting.
Have you thought that they might have sent the letter to you in hopes that you would post it and wake people up to the political climate “that generates enough fear of retaliation that attaching your name is to be avoided?”
They might have been looking for you to be their voice.
Just a thought…
Posted by Sara Houston | Friday, March 20, 2009, 8:29 amI agree that’s probably why they sent it.
Posted by vjp | Friday, March 20, 2009, 9:22 pmSome people are braver than others. Some people have more to lose.
“Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose.” -Kris Kristofferson
Posted by Anon E. Mouse | Friday, March 20, 2009, 10:44 amMouse – now you’ve got me hunting for Janis Joplin singing that song
Posted by vjp | Friday, March 20, 2009, 9:29 pmHow about P!nk?
Posted by Anon E. Mouse | Saturday, March 21, 2009, 1:18 amNaw. You gotta have Janis singing it. I found some recordings but none that included real video.
Posted by vjp | Saturday, March 21, 2009, 8:55 amYeah, I agree. Janis and Kris were friends, and the world was different back then — a lot bigger. Bobby McGee is a cell-phone call away now, no matter where in the world he or she is.
Posted by Anon E. Mouse | Saturday, March 21, 2009, 11:16 pm