The logic of "outing" someone's "offensive" e-mails, tweets, etc

 It's now SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for the aggrieved liberals, social justice warriors and other denizens of the swamp to dredge up social media posts of those they don't like, and republish them so all the world can see that how horrible those racist (etc etc) conservatives are. 

Never mind how old the e-mail or tweet or Facebook comment was, or that it was made in confidence, or in jest, if it could possible be construed as offensive, the person who wrote it is guilty, guilty, guilty! There's no Statute of Limitations on "hate crime" and "haters"... right? Or should I say "left?"

Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert (which Walt reads every day!) had a very good comment on this today. I trust he won't mind our reposting it.

Ed. answers questions from the mailbag

Ed. here. It's been a long time since we answered readers' questions, so let's dig into the mailbag...

From Wynot NE, Chris P. Bacon writes: Sometimes I feel I want to comment on Walt's bloviations, but I never see a window where I can write my own astute observations. How can I cast a few pearls in Walt's direction?

Dear Crisp: Where did you get that word "bloviations"? Are you reading some other alt-right blogger, like Krauthammer? Walt is jealous. But to answer your question, if you're on the WWW home page, just click on the headline of the post you're reading. A new tab will open showing that post only, with a window at the bottom for your comment, whether a stoot or any other kind of animal.

Joe Mamma, of Superior Bottom WV, wants to know if Poor Len Canayen is our resident hockey jock's real name.

Dear Joseph: His name is just as real as Walt's. Actually his parents called him "Rich Len" (short for "Richard Leonard") but his investments (Studebaker, shale oil futures, Yahoo and pretty horses) haven't worked out so well so he changed the first part about seven years ago.

Agnes Day, from Bowlegs OK, asks for Walt's e-mail address, so she can enter the contests we hold from time to time. And why not? First prize in our most recent contest was a weekend in Buffalo. Second prize was a week in Buffalo.

Dear Angus: Nice to know folks of Scottish descent are reading our blog. Walt has about a pint of Scotch in his veins. His e-mail address is frereuntel@yahoo.com. It would be Yahoo, wouldn't it. But don't worry. Your e-mails to Walt are just as secure as anything else you do on Yahoo.

And finally... Dawn Vallée of Dildo NL would like to know what's really wrong with Hillary Clinton. Why, with just three weeks to go until Election Day, has she gone into hiding?

Dear Red Dawn: Those are excellent questions, albeit somewhat off topic. My suggestion: use the search feature at the top right corner of the screen and/or the tags at the end of each post to get more information on Hellery's ill health or any other topics that interest you. Click on "health issues", for example, and you'll see all the posts in which that phrase is used.

Dear readers, I trust the foregoing has defogged your fuzzification. You're welcome. Ed.

Laugh for the day: Hellery's e-mail "explanation"

Hellery Clinton's writers took a week to come up with her explanation for using her personal e-mail account rather than a government account during her entire tenure as Secretary of State. "It was for convenience," she told us, with a straight face (but somewhat fluttery body language).

The presidential wannabe says it was too much for her to juggle two "devices" and two phones, so she thought it would be simpler to just use the one, in spite of the legal requirement to preserve public records. Ms Clinton, being a college graduate, thought that she was capable of deciding which messages were personal and which were public, and FRA and FOIA be damned. Convenience trumps legalities.

Who finds this funny? Daniel Metcalfe -- that's who. Mr. Metcalfe was the most senior freedom-of-information official in the executive branch of the US government for over a quarter-century. It was his job to help four administrations — including that of Clinton the First — interpret the Freedom of Information Act.

When Mr. Metcalfe read a transcript of Clinton the Second's press conference, he told Canadian Press, "What she did was contrary to both the letter and the spirit of the law. There is no doubt that the scheme she established was a blatant circumvention of the Freedom of Information Act, atop the Federal Records Act."

Here's how he said he would have reacted if he'd heard about a cabinet member in his day setting up a personal email system — and deciding what got deleted and what got preserved as a government record: "I would've said, 'You've gotta be kidding me!"

Mr. Metcalfe said he knows from working under the Clintons [like Monica Lewinsky? Ed.] that Hillary — secretary of state, senator, 2016 presidential hopeful and lawyer — understands the Freedom of Information Act. "You can't have the secretary of state do that; that's just a prescription for the circumvention of the FOIA. Plus, fundamentally, there's no way the people at the archives should permit that if you tell them over there."

What Mr. doesn't fully appreciate is that laws, rules and regulations don't apply to the Clintons, just as they didn't apply to the Kennedys, back in the day. In the increasingly unlikely event that Hellery is elected to head a second Clinton administration, he will find that out.

Don't be afraid to say something!

Walt here, after a much-needed break for some r'n'r. (To Michael Matt, I mean "rest and relaxation", not "rock 'n' roll"!) Thanks to Len for keeping WWW going in my absence, and Ed. for his carrying the hose the whole time. (Fans of Walt Kelly's Pogo will know what I mean.)

We had a delightful eyeball-to-eyeball at our cabin in the woods last week, with Agents 3, 9, 78 all in the same room with Walt, Len and Ed. Drink was taken and much discussion ensued, anent the dreadful state of the world in general, the Church in particular and other subjects of interest.

Agent 9 said he couldn't understand why we don't see more comments following our outrageous and quasi-outrageous posts. I suspect that it's because a lot of our readers are just looking at the pix. (You know the ones I mean.)

Ed. wondered if readers feel constrained by his policy of moderating all comments which are submitted. In reality, not that many comments come in, and most of those do get published, even if they're critical of our stand on (for example) homosexuality. Even if ye disagree with Walt, as long as ye keep a civil tongue in yer `ead, ye shall be heard... or read.

How to get the comments box open. If you're on the landing page -- the one with the latest half-dozen or so posts -- you need to click on the title of the post you wish to comment on. That post only will open up in a new window or new tab. The comments box will appear at the bottom. Knock yourself out.

If you want to give us feedback on anything at all, click here to e-mail Ed. The spam filter works, so don't bother. If you feel like writing nothing more than a suggestion that we perform an anatomical impossibility, go ahead. We know all those words and treat them with the respect they deserve.

One last thought... If you follow the links from WWW to other blogs and websites, and are moved to contact them, tell them Walt sent ya! Thanks for reading.

Word of advice from Ed. to spammers

Ed. here, with a cautionary note to people who send comments containing links to other blogs or sites.

The platform we use here is Blogger, which is part of Google. When you submit a comment, Blogger detects the presence of a link, and automatically blocks it. Walt doesn't even see it! So don't bother.

However... if you've got a worthy product or organization or blog or website that you think Walt should know about, you're welcome to e-mail us. If you send us something good, it'll find its way into this space. If you do so regularly, you might become one of Walt's agents!

By the way, there's a spam-blocker in the e-mail system too. But you already knew that...

I... AM... CANADIAN!!!

Let me just make it clear.

I was born in Canada...in Toronto, in fact, and how many present-day residents of Toronto can say that? I grew up in a small town, now a small city with all that implies, in south central Ontario.

I have lived and worked in the land of the free and the home of the brave...also in the USA. (Just kidding. I meant the USA.) I have also lived and worked in Europe, Africa and the Orient.

And now I'm back in Canada, where, like about 80% of my compatriots, I live within 100 miles (160 km) of the US border.

Canada is my home. For all its faults, inanities and insanities, it's still the best country on earth.

Walt

Now you can e-mail Walt!

Fine. You read an article and you're wondering how to contact me without posting a comment. In response to upwards of two requests, I got a Yahoo! account, so...

Feel free to e-mail me at walt.whiteman@yahoo.com. I won't promise to answer, but I do read my messages assiduously. (Look it up.) Knock yourself out...

Welcome to Walt Whiteman's World

Greetings and salutations, dear readers. I'm tired of posting comments on mainstream media websites, only to have them censored. And I'm tired of copying and pasting into personal e-mails my comments on the news and the horrible state of the world. And I don't tweet or twitter! So I've decided to dip my pen in vitriol, as it were, and set up this blog.

Perhaps no-one will read it. I suspect very few blogs get much readership. But this one will be "out there" for those who care to read the other side of debates on politics, race, religion and other topics not fit to discuss at the dining table.

I am not trying to start a dialogue, only a monologue. My opinions are my own, not necessarily those of any party or organization to which I may belong. You are welcome to disagree. You won't be the first. You're also welcome to send me your comments. Unless they're incredibly stupid, intemperate or unhelpful, they'll appear in due course.

If you have something to say but don't want it published, you can e-mail me: walt.whiteman@yahoo.com.