Comments on: Hey Publius, sorry about revealing your identity

By: DRJ

DRJ — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 05:22:00 +0000

Groot Nadine aka The State of Groot.

By: nk who will call himself Nadine Groot for a while

nk who will call himself Nadine Groot for a while — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 03:01:55 +0000

Yeah, I’m streaming “Red River”.

By: Dana

Dana — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:00:31 +0000

Interesting perceptions of Whelan’s apology. I thought it rang true, had a good dose of humility as well as him seeming to be fully and painfully aware that the damage was indeed already done. A lot of people make bad decisions when they’re angry or their egos are involved. Too bad when the Submit button is involved.

By: PCD

PCD — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:25:36 +0000

One thing that bothers me is the idea that it is alright to be anonymous to do thing the anonymous person knows is wrong such as constant lying, passing fake but accurate documents like the faked Obama birth certificate as the genuine article,…

By: Patterico

Patterico — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 06:54:42 +0000

So that makes it ok? Ed gets a complete pass because, well, it wasn’t one of US he outed, so forgive and forget?

Who said that? I said I don’t agree with what he did; he recognizes it was wrong and has apologized; nobody is saying it’s fine and dandy. But it’s not the same as if someone were outed who would face real consequences.

By: nk

nk — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:51:45 +0000

And if this were my site I would ban you for something you said earlier on this thread.

By: nk

nk — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:49:52 +0000

Well, it’s just a nuisance filter, in truth, Scott.

By: Scott Jacobs

Scott Jacobs — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:28:24 +0000

So that makes it ok? Ed gets a complete pass because, well, it wasn’t one of US he outed, so forgive and forget?

By: Patterico

Patterico — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:22:00 +0000

This would be pretty different if the prof were likely to face some real-life blowback from this. But even he says that seems unlikely.

If he were a conservative, he’d be more at risk, what with academia being the way it is and all.

By: JRM

JRM — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:36:39 +0000

Scott:

I’m kind of with you. I think it was more of a real apology than you do, but it was the wrong thing to do. Insult me and get outed? Eh.

As I’ve said before, no one could ever figure out who I was unless they had internet access. It still seems rude.

I can see situations where outing would be appropriate:

1. Sock puppetry.

2. Fakery of views – if Sarah Palin were posting as HillaryGirl16 trying to get her elected in the last Democratic primary, that’d be relevant.

3. Certain types of hypocrisy by people in substantial power. This would be rare.

4. Actual criminal conduct. “Let’s all get together and beat up Jeff Flake for voting no on spending! Here’s where his kids go to school,” – you’re out.

I’m probably missing some scenarios, but I otherwise think outing is rude. Not criminal, not litigatable, but rude. Violators should receive some social blowback.

–JRM