It was actually kind of a scary experience, and I'd have preferred it all to have kept anonymous, in fact I'd have preferred not to have the media coverage at all to start with. I was just writing for my friends, but obviously blogs are public things.

All I could do was throw up my hands and say "oh well", I mean I did not have any pretense of thinking I had a "right" to anonymity. We all have a right to post anonymously and to try to protect our identities if we wish, but just the same others have a right to try to unmask us. And if they're successful, then that's it. All we can do is congratulate them on their sleuthing abilities.

A world where anonymity was legally protected would likely have all sorts of unintended consequences. For example, imagine thousands of government operatives all out there on the internet posting anonymously, inciting violence against enemy states, or against internal dissidents, their identity as government agents legally protected - trying to unmask them would get you arrested. That's just one example I can think of.

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In the example below, a young woman wrote a columnist at the New York Times seeking advice about a terrible situation. It's a moderated forum, but the writer said she'd had to delete only something like four comments out of over 600. In other words, the argument that people who comment anonymously invariably abuse the privilege does not fly.

And if you think the comments would have been of the same depth and honesty had everyone had to use his or her name I have a bridge to sell you.

[parenting.blogs.nytimes.com]

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People need to stop hiding behind their keyboards.

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What about people writing books under a nom de plume?

Damn that Dr. Seuss.

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I couldn't agree more.

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People have written political commentary under pseudonyms since the mind of man runneth not to the contrary. You are a public figure and should expect to be criticized publicly. To go after the commentariat should be beneath you; your work and your decisions as a public servant should stand on their own merit.

It was a bad decision to "out" Jon Blevins as publius. Thanks to coverage on sites like Gawker, more people will read his opinions of you. Even people who may have agreed with you politically will nonetheless have a low opinion of you for "outing" an anonymous blogger.

Regards,

An Anonymous Commenter

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