I don’t get to express my opinions often. I’m a reporter. I write news stories that are balanced and keep my opinions out of them. Are they completely unbiased? No, but no newswriting is.
That’s why I have this blog. I like expressing my opinons. I express them here proudly. I own them and I will defend them to the best of my abilities. They are my opinions.
But some people don’t want to stand by their opinions. They don’t want to own them. They don’t want to defend them. They will post anonymous comments on blogs, newspaper Web sites, political Web sites. They will spew hate and racism behind the comfortable curtain of a message board handle or screen name. They will blame foreigners and liberals and conservatives and democrats and republicans for all the world’s ills without even giving those they blame the chance to know who is blaming them.
And that’s a crock. If you have an opinion, you should own it. If you truly believe it, you shouldn’t fear people knowing that it’s your opinion. If you’re not proud of your opinion, you shouldn’t need to hide behind a handle or screen name. You should be proud of it. I may not agree with your opinion, but I respect people who are proud of theirs and defend them well more than I respect people who hide behind anonymous comments.
