Banning CommentsI don't believe in bans, and I don't believe in bloggers who take their blogs too seriously. I have tried to politely respond to everyone's comments, including people whose views differ sharply from my own.
Nevertheless, I am forced to ban comments from a person (or at least the person's IP Addresses) who apparently has posted anti-Israel comments in the name of Rick Probstein, even including Mr. Probstein's e-mail address and web site information. I became suspicious upon learning, upon checking out the web site, that Mr. Probstein works for a pro-Israel organization.
I contacted Mr. Probstein, who explained that he had never posted these comments, and that he rejects the views expressed in those comments.
Expressing anti-Israel comments does not, of course, warrant a ban from this blog. Nor do I have a problem with using a pseudonym. Expressing comments in someone's name, even including that person's contact info, is something else entirely and is absolutely intolerable.
The comments in question remain, but Mr. Probstein's name, e-mail address and web site information have been deleted.
I believe the person who posted the comments owes an apology to Mr. Probstein.
posted on 3/11/2005
