Moving goalposts, pedophile Democrats and really annoying anonymous commenters. (Part 2)

[Comments temporarily disabled while I explain something here, so pay attention as I'm going to explain this only once.]

[UPDATE: Comments are back on. You've been warned.]

So, let's complete the thought that I started back here, shall we, in which I was explaining why some commenters are sometimes really too fucking stupid to breathe, and why there are going to be new rules for commenters.

As regular readers will know, I'm fairly accommodating when it comes to allowing comments as I allow fully anonymous commenting which, for the most part, works out fairly well. I do require you to type in a short string of gibberish but that's just to cut down on the spam so that has nothing to do with trying to filter or moderate comment.

In addition, unlike right-wing dipshit sites like, say, "Free Republic," I don't remove comments simply because I disagree with them. If you're looking for an argument, no problem -- that's what the comments section is for. But I do have my limits.

I reserve the right (and I have, in the past, exercised that right) to delete comments and to simply "ban" commenters if they start acting like assholes. This is not censorship of any kind. If you really have that much to say, you're always welcome to get your own blog and more power to you. So what constitutes being an "asshole?"

Quite simply, you've become an asshole if you start posting excessively and refusing to acknowledge logically valid refutations of your comments. Or if you're so stupid that you can't put together an even minimally coherent argument but simply keep posting the same stupidity over and over.

As a textbook example, the recent commenter "anonymous" (more on anonymous commenting shortly) recently left two new comments. Both of them were utterly asinine, so I deleted one but left the other where I can use it as a teaching tool. You can see the evidence here where, after I laboriously and painstakingly explained what it means to "move the goalposts," that same anonymous poster responded thusly:

Oh, okay. So you admitted that he was a Democrat and then moved the goalposts. Sorry. My bad.

It's not possible to have a conversation with someone who, after reading that entire posting, still manages to completely misrepresent its fundamental point. This is someone who is clearly an utter waste of time, as he is either unable or unwilling to understand the very basics of logic or rhetoric. For this reason, he will not be allowed to comment here anymore, but I will leave up that most recent comment of his just so others can appreciate the sheer and unadulterated dumbfuckery of this individual. But there's more.

I'm going to lay down a new rule for anonymous commenters that will make further debates here easier to follow. I have no problem with readers leaving truly anonymous comments if they just want to add a point to a discusssion. However, simply commenting as "anonymous" doesn't really work well if you plan on getting into an extended brouhaha here, does it?

So, the new rule is, I have no problem with anonymous comments if they're fairly innocuous. However, if you wander in here and drop a broad, inflammatory insult, you will need some kind of name or handle to go with it so the rest of us can properly refer back to it. You have a couple of choices.

Obviously, you can officially register with Blogger to get a real blogger ID. Your other option is, if you don't want to go that route, you're more than welcome to just make up a name on the spot and make sure you sign your comments with that. (Aforementioned anonymous commenter could, for instance, participate as, oh, "Obnoxious, mentally deficient wanker" or something to that effect.) I really don't care which option you choose, and it should be obvious that neither of those options requires you to sacrifice any anonymity. It just makes it easier to follow the bouncing rhetoric, got it?

So, to recap, if you plan on getting into extended discussions here, you have to establish some kind of handle (either official or unofficial, it's up to you, either way works for me.) And, more to the point, if you just plain start acting like a dumbfuck, you're history.

Do we understand one another?