On the Attack Against Social Media ... and Thus Democracy

It's bad enough, as I've written below, that government is failing to interact with the public through social media. Some folks are on the attack against communication. Here's a link to a sad story about Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin who is suing AOL to find out the name of bloggers who have been critical of Godwin.

Spending money on such a lawsuit is a sad corruption of public resources. The blog itself, MPD Enforcer 2.0, claims to be a place where officers and others can gather to talk, and that right is rather protected in these United States.

There's no question that blogs, email and the Internet pose a challenge to government in certain circumstances. But not when someone starts a blog critical of government. To do so is an American right. That's not a challenge. That's an opportunity for democracy.

And most folks clearly realize that. Read some of the comments posted on the Commercial-Appeal site about the lawsuit; many are hysterical.