Dear Jack: That's a plan.

Over at Jack's Newswatch, Jack thinks a bloggers' code of conduct is just a peachy keen idea, and wants to hear your thoughts. How about this as a starting point, Jack: Don't write posts that make you look like a retarded asshole:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may well have committed a felony in traveling to Damascus this week, against the wishes of the president, ...

The Logan Act makes it a felony and provides for a prison sentence of up to three years for any American, “without authority of the United States,” to communicate with a foreign government in an effort to influence that government’s behavior on any “disputes or controversies with the United States.” Some background on this statute helps to understand why Ms. Pelosi may be in serious trouble.

Here's a thought -- let's check in on someone who isn't a retarded asshole (all emphasis added):

State Department Refusing To Say Whether Pelosi Trip Violated Logan Act
By Greg Sargent

As you may have heard by now, some of the wingnuts have been out in force for the past few days pushing this charge. It was lodged against Pelosi most visibly last Friday in The Wall Street Journal, has been kicked around by a battery of winger blogs, and even made its way into the reporting of at least one big news org when Matt Lauer of NBC aired it.

The charge has already been ably debunked by Joe Klein over at Swampland, and I have to say that it remains a particularly bizarre accusation. After all, State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack has repeatedly said publicly that while State disapproved of the trip, it briefed Pelosi and otherwise provided her with support for it. Is it really possible that the State Department would have helped Pelosi prepare and execute a trip that would constitute a violation of the law? Boy does that seem unlikely.

At any rate, we thought it was time to put the question directly to the State Department -- does it or does it not view her trip as a violation of the Logan Act? We posed the question half a dozen times to State spokesperson Nancy Beck. Each time, she refused to answer, referring us back to McCormack's previous statements on the question, none of which addressed this specific point in any way.

Bizarre, isn't it? State helps Pelosi prep for the trip, briefing her for it and providing her logistical support. But now it won't say whether it thinks her trip constituted a crime or not.

Yeah, I'm all for a bloggers' code of conduct. Rule One: don't post stupid shit that makes you look like a retarded asshole.

Rule Two: see Rule One.

EXTRA GOODIES: Chester, who is also not a retarded asshole, weighs in on the subject.

THE GOOD STUFF KEEPS ON COMING: Media Matters has its say.

WE'RE NOT INTO UNILATERAL DISARMAMENT HERE. In the comments, thwap wonders where went that whole civil discourse offer I made earlier. Simple: I made the offer, and haven't heard a peep in return. Until then, nothing changes.

Not only that, but I still reserve the right to slap the bejeezus out of whichever Blogging Tory I want. Civility will be doled out on a topic-by-topic basis. If someone wants to discuss some issue quietly and objectively, cool -- we can do that, and I'll promise to behave, and I'll demand that any commenters on that topic behave similarly.

But until that situation comes along, we're not going to start playing nice for nothing.