A week ago, I shut down the comments feature beneath articles because it had become a never-ending stream of aggravation for me. I've put a new comment feature in, but BE WARNED:
In June of 2009, the United States Attorney for Chicago had me arrested for an Editorial I wrote about a court ruling dealing with gun control, in Chicago. The US Attorney said my Editorial was a "Threat" and argued to the courts that MY words were a "threat" because of YOU.
Yes, YOU!
They cited to the court, some of the comments made beneath web site articles, and described those comments as "violent" and "hate" and "extremist."
I went on trial in December, 2009. Hung Jury. Went on trial a SECOND time in March, 2010, Hung Jury.
They put me on trial an astonishing THIRD time in August, 2010. By that time, I was Bankrupt from being unable to do my radio show or be on the Internet (by court order) and had to get a public defender. Big mistake. I could have done a better job defending myself.
I LOST that third trial and was imprisoned for 33 months in federal prison -- because of my READERS comments!
Oh, and those Readers . . . NOT ONE of them donated money for my legal defense. NOT ONE of them showed up at my trials. NOT ONE of them even wrote to me in prison.
I'm not going down that road again.
You see, while it's real easy for you to shout "freedom of speech" it's __ME__ they put in prison for what you write.
So here's the deal. The comment area is back and we'll see how it goes. BUT . . . if you post comments that a US Attorney can describe as "Violent" or "Hate" or "Extremist" or "Terroristic" then YOU are outta here.
I have zero interest in any of that nonsense. I do not advocate violence and will not have that on my site. I do not advocate hatred, and will not have that on my site. I do not abide extremism and will not have that on my site.
So watch what you post and watch carefully because I am watching; and my eye is keen to not being thrown in prison again over what YOU write.
If it's a choice of your "freedom of speech" or my "freedom from prison" you lose. Period. Full stop.
This new comment module uses darker typeface, for those whose vision is less than stellar (like mine is now).
You can edit your postings.
It is much faster, very neat, and less cumbersome to follow than the old.
Lastly, this is not YOUR web site, it's mine. Do not use this comment area to post things UNRELATED to the story above just because YOU think the public should know this. If YOU want to publish things that YOU think the public should know - then YOU go out and get YOUR OWN web site, build an audience on your own like I did, and then post what YOU think on YOUR site. Not mine.
Oh, and about YOUR site, these comment areas are not for you to advertise YOUR site. More than a few of you have zero interest in what appears on this page other than to repeatedly post links to YOUR site. You are not going to use my site as a cheap, sneaky method for advertising your site.
Enjoy ------ but be very careful what you post.
