Bill O’Reilly wrote a wrongheaded “Talking Points Memo” that claims the internet has become “a sewer of slander and libel, an unpatrolled waterway, where just about anything goes.” and concludes with “So which is the bigger threat to America? The big companies or the criminals at the computer?” That criminal would be me (and you if you are a fellow blogger, or chatter, or forum poster). I supplied my answer to my local paper’s similar compaint five years ago — that Solomon guy was on to something when he wrote there isn’t anything new under the sun — in a letter they actually published. Rand Simberg has fashioned his own satirical reply to Mr. O’Reilly and it’s a doozy. This was my comment at his site:
The best defense of the internet is a clear demonstration of its worth, and you have done so. You have achieved a rarity – three birds with one stone: people who want to curtail second amendment rights, people who want ot curtail first amendment rights, and Bill O’Reilly. Okay, Bill’s a soft target, but it’s still an impressive achievement.
You’ve also raised a knotty question for the EU’s enforcement of internet equal time (though I doubt they’ve thought of it): Who gets equal time after satire? Here, the form would say first amendment supporters, yet the meaning would say Bill O’Reilly and second amendment suppressors. Only the lawyers will profit from such a requirement.
