If beacon draws moths, that’s okay too
Re: “Have your say, but focus on issues, not personal attacks”, Have Your Say, February 15.
Beware the censor! As an avid collector of derogatory personal abuse directed at me, and with a record 13 toxic insults generated by one of my letters last month, I have a reputation to uphold. I am thus compelled to defend The Nation against Percy Aaron’s allegation that the sub-editing is of poor quality. It is manifestly not.
In these days of increasing clampdowns on free speech, of refusal by the mainstream media to report events that upset their world view, any publication that allows the free exchange of views on important topics suppressed elsewhere is a beacon of light in a grey sea of deceit. The Nation is one such beacon, and the free-flowing insults that accompany the debates add spice to the whole. And take a look at where “Have Your Say” sits in the online edition, Percy – it’s bundled with the cartoons! So lighten up and regard the page as an ongoing comic opera in which the main characters hail from a fractious family of eccentrics. And if you don’t like it, stick with the cherry-picked, sanitised, fake news at AFP et al.
With much hubris, the UK’s Guardian and Independent imposed Orwellian controls on their readers’ comments a few years ago, and look what happened to their circulation. The Independent print edition is no more, and there is a begging bowl at the foot of every Guardian article. “Have Your Say” is fine as it is. Editors, please don’t let these intolerant liberal curmudgeons get you down!
Nigel Pike
