Banning anonymous Internet comments and cheering the New York Yankees

The Yankee pinstripes make the athlete proud. The anonymous quote allows the writer to feel so ashamed and embarrassed by his or her work that a real name could never be used because the writer does not ever want to be publicly associated with the work.

The Yankee pinstripes give the athlete a place in the lineage of a great tradition that lifts the quality of play to live up to the standard. The anonymous quote breeds the fantasy of an existence divorced from the realities of life. It lowers the standard of discourse because there is no accountability for the comment.

When a commenter is discredited, the commenter just adopts a new false name.
Many commenters write under multiple false names simultaneously, having a fantasy pep rally with oneself.

The Yankees are not the only team with the high standards and ethic. The Boston Celtics, Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers and other teams have their own ethic and standard. Choose your favorite team and apply their ethic.

But when it comes to the anonymous comment, the result is a license to lie and slander and act in a way that one would never act in “real life” where there is accountability and reputation involved.

If it were my call, I would end anonymous comments and have people put their real names on their work. I would limit commenters to one identity, their real name. It would lift the quality of discourse from the right and left immediately and substantially. But that is not in the cards, because lies and smears done under phony names are good for business because they generate traffic.

On the other hand, if some quality news organization would start a blog where only real names are used, I predict it would be a blockbuster success, attracting high-quality writers and commenters alike, with huge traffic.

In the meantime I hereby predict the 28th World Series ring will soon land again with the New York Yankees, the greatest team in the history of sports. And as always, I put my real name on this thought.