37 Comments - Muddy trail - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 4:38 pm: Kudos to Capitol Fax for keeping those sheltering in place entertained. - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 4:40 pm: Sorry. Will do. - former southerner - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 4:43 pm: Thanks for running a “tight ship” Rich. Every time I almost subscribe to the Pantagraph I see what they allow in the comments section and realize I want nothing to do with supporting childish goofs. Capitol Fax is a huge breath of fresh, non-COVID contaminated air. - Enemy of the State - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 4:59 pm: It’s the Russians. They are practicing for November. - tom gooch - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 5:00 pm: Jusdt use your real names, folks. If it’s worth saying it’s worth signing your name too. Then people will know who to be angry with! - Pot calling kettle - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 5:00 pm: Kinda want to post something here as “Anonymous” LOL Keep up the good work, Rich(exclamation) - JoanP - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 5:07 pm: Thanks, Rich, will do. I truly appreciate everything you do to try keep the comments civil and on track. - Monadnock Pigeon - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 5:08 pm: Thanks for policing the comments, Rich (banned punctuation) It is appreciated. - thunderspirit - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 5:12 pm: My apologies for responding to the bait. I will endeavor to avoid that from now on. - skeptic - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 5:14 pm: tl;dr Don’t feed the trolls. Thanks, Rich for keeping this place worthwhile. - Grandpa2 - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 5:43 pm: Thanks. - @misterjayem - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 6:00 pm: “I’m asking all other commenters to not respond to the anonymous goofs.” In 2016, one of my new years resolutions was to try to ignore Anonymous commenters. My reasons, as enumerated at the time, were three-fold: 1) By and large, commenters too lazy to come up with a nickname are usually very lazy thinkers. In fact, they are rarely more than talking point regurgitaters. While I’m sure there are exceptions, I honestly can’t recall the last insightful post from an anonymous commenter. 2) In addition, anonymous comments are too time-consuming and tedious to engage. The discussion is relatively easy to follow when commenters use a nickname. There is the occasional atemporal cross-post, but it’s usually simply a matter of scrolling down to read comment, then reply, then rebuttal, etc. But with anonymous comments it is always much more difficult. Which anonymous commenter are your replying to? Some try to use the Anonymous+timestamp method, but that falls apart once the Anonymous in question responds. Which Anonymous+timestamp are they to be identified with? The original? The response? Who knows? And is it even worth the effort to figure it out (see reason 1)? Of late, I don’t think it’s worth the bother. 3) Finally, the Anonymous handle allows commenters to make contradictory statements and claims without any accountability. They can claim that Politician Jones was brave and brilliant to do X in one comment and then claim that Politician Jones had no idea about X when that is convenient. Internal logical consistency is a very low standard for discussing the issues, but it is a standard to which Anonymous commenters cannot be held. And I am no longer interested in having a discussion without minimal logical standards. There are plenty of commenters with whom I disagree who use consistent nicknames. I may think they’re wrong, simple, silly or dishonest, but I know that they care enough about the Cap Fax conversations and community to be minimally accountable, consistent and courteous. While I reserve the right to occasionally quote and dissect a particularly egregious anonymous comment, I intend to concentrate my attention on those who respect this forum enough to adopt a nickname. Ignoring anonymous commenters has served me well in the four years since and I strongly recommend that serious commenters consider doing likewise. – MrJM - 37B - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 6:16 pm: I’ve always thought “Anonymous” posters lead the league in trolling and drivebys. Although I’m generally undisciplined in my approach to life, it’s a point of pride never to have responded to an Anonymous post (even after being accused of being anonymous myself for employing a nickname. 37B: Pseudonymous, not Anonymous. - Eddy - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 6:47 pm: Will do Rich. Miss you buddy. Hope you and Oscar are safe and healthy. Take care - yinn - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 6:52 pm: Thanks for this — and thank you for being my moderator role model. I had wonderful participation at my blog and now as admin to an assortment of FB groups because of what I’ve learned from you. - a noun o mouse - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 6:55 pm: Watch V - Suburban Mom - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 6:55 pm: Siiiiiiiigh, fine, I’ll fight with trolls on facebook instead - The Way I See It - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 7:10 pm: The high quality of comments here keeps me coming here every day. Thanks for your hard work keeping it smart and civil, Rich. - Huh? - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 7:12 pm: “Jusdt use your real names, folks.” Um. No. Have handle going back to blago days. If switch to real name no one would know who I am. Secondly, when real name is 28 letters long, run out of room in tiny boxes. - Rare Commentor - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 7:19 pm: How about commentors are limited to one comment per post? - Token Conservative - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 7:28 pm: What do we do about Willy? - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 7:35 pm: ===What do we do about=== Meh. I’m not on your blog, or lawn. “You’ll be fine.” - Been There - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 7:52 pm: ===Jusdt use your real names, folks. If it’s worth saying it’s worth signing your name too. Then people will know who to be angry with! === I don’t know about this. Two of my favorite commenters on here were Bill and Wordslinger. We didn’t learn of their identities until their deaths but it made me appreciate them for their insight (or humor) rather than on what their motivation could be because we knew of their jobs or backgrounds. They were both great and we miss them even though we didn’t know who they were. - West Side the Best Side - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 7:57 pm: Can’t really limit commenters to one comment because sometimes there just has to be a follow-up. Someone accidentally or purposefully misconstrues what you’ve said, snark is not recognized, there are updates, all kinds of reasons. But I do follow MrJM and don’t respond to anonymous commenters, no matter how badly I’m misconstrued or humor which sounds good in my head doesn’t turn out that funny in print. And thanks Rich for your service in these trying times. - @misterjayem - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 8:05 pm: “What do we do about Willy?” If history is any guide, you’ll probably bellyache. – MrJM - Leslie K - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 8:07 pm: Thank you, Rich. It’s your approach to moderating that keeps this not just a top notch source of information (which it would be without any comments), but also a place for thoughtful conversation. Many of the regulars have opened my mind on topics; not a single anonymous commenter ever has. - May Soon Be Required - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 8:11 pm: Raises the question as why my witty use of May Soon Be Required or Willy slang for (I can’t say) is better than anonymous. If you want disclosure May Soon Be Required - danray - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 8:15 pm: Lost my virgi…anonymity a loooong time ago. - Flapdoodle - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 8:28 pm: “just use your real name” . . . . unfortunately I can’t remember it any more - Cadillac - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 9:04 pm: === - tom gooch - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 5:00 pm: Jusdt use your real names, folks. If it’s worth saying it’s worth signing your name too. === You have no idea the number of state workers here. Too easy to line up the comments with the time cards. Never happen. - Captain Who - Wednesday, Apr 22, 20 @ 10:21 pm: Thanks Rich for all you do. I don’t comment very often and When I do I try to not step in it. Sometimes I need to try harder. - RNUG - Thursday, Apr 23, 20 @ 12:11 am: == “Just use your real names, folks.” == == You have no idea the number of state workers here. == While I am retired, hence my handle Retired Non Union Guy aka RNUG,I still have close relatives working for the State, with at least one in a fairly high position. If they ever retire, I may switch to using an abbrevation of my name … or not. And for what it is worth, probably at least 15 or 20 people besides Rich know who I am. Most of my former co-workers picked up on my writing style. - ArchPundit - Thursday, Apr 23, 20 @ 12:35 am: == “Just use your real names, folks.” It’s not a secret, but most people wouldn’t know my real name. But seriously, it’s fine to stick with a regular name so people ‘know’ you and not the anonymous. RNUG, Willy, and MrJM are, as examples, pretty well known by their handles to not be a problem. Even if someone new joins, using a pseudonym is fine as long as they are consistent and not difficult. - ArchPundit - Thursday, Apr 23, 20 @ 12:36 am: ===, I may switch to using an abbrevation of my name … or not. That would just be confusing. I’m feeling left out on knowing you (just kidding) - Ccapilla - Thursday, Apr 23, 20 @ 8:31 am: I am a very infrequent poster so this was likely always bound to happen but, some years back, I used (what I thought to be) a rather witty nickname that was still anonymous but would at least track with me. Being somewhat infrequent, I went quite a while without making a comment and was then surprised to see a comment under my name on one of the new posts. I guess that’s what I get for not using my actual name - confirmation that I am not so witty after all. So I switched to this one since it should be uniquely me. And now if I find a comment under this name and I didn’t make it, I’ll really know one of you is up to no good. - Soccertease - Thursday, Apr 23, 20 @ 9:11 am: If we’re not using our real names we’re all kinda anonymous. Certain commenters anonymous nicknames are well known but they are still anonymous and sometimes feel empowered because of that. I sometimes read CF but that’s why I largely quit commenting - XonXoff - Thursday, Apr 23, 20 @ 10:04 am: Comment moderation can be a real lot of work, even sans politics. IMHO, you’ve managed to maintain an exemplary comments section on CapFax (and especially given the content matter.) It’s refreshingly reminiscent of web 1.0 communities. Thank you, Rich. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.