Dear Left in Alabama

Send at least $15, and we’ll reward you with some fun LIA swag – a mousepad, pens, and a notepad. Not to mention a handwritten thank you note, as well as the knowledge that you’ve helped boost a progressive voice in the state.

How are you doing today? How has your week gone? Are you happy this week? Are you sad? I am writing on this beautiful Sunday morning respectfully asking that I be allowed to participate in the informed, involved and progressive discussion at Left in Alabama again.

I have to tell you that I am very disappointed in you. I do not like what you have allowed others to do. Barring and banning me from the discussion enabled the non-informed, non-involved, non-progressives.

I can't promise I will not write or say something that might make you uncomfortable, or, that I will go along to get along, but I can promise I will be honest, thoughtful and fair

Remember when you said

Please consider this blog your own personal printing press. Each diary is a pamphlet. Click "New Diary" and start writing. Thomas Paine would be proud.

I have to ask, do you have a problem with how I deliver my message, or, do you have a problem with the message I deliver?

I posted at Left in Alabama almost since it's inception, and at your invitation, I might add. I argued my case with tenacity, conviction, and civility. I used my platform at Left in Alabama to be a voice for the voiceless, and even when I vehemently disagreed with the point of view of others, I never resorted to malicious personal attacks or insults.

We all respond to comments in our own way, and in our own style. Even when I strongly disagree with a point of view, I respect the right to express that point of view. I will fight with all that is in me for the rights granted to all of us in the First Amendment. Tolerant/progressive people can agree to disagree without being disagreeable. That is the philosophy I live by not only on LIA but in my everyday life.

discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based solely on their membership in a certain group or category. Discrimination is the actual behavior towards members of another group. It involves excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to other groups.[1] The United Nations explains: "Discriminatory behaviors take many forms, but they all involve some form of exclusion or rejection."[2] Discriminatory laws such as redlining have existed in many countries. In some countries, controversial attempts such as racial quotas have been used to redress negative effects of discrimination.

My position is this,  if you are going to regulate comments,  regulate them for everybody. Don't have one set of rules for me another set of rules for everyone else. That's discrimination. Banning me from participating in the discussion is censorship.

Sincerely,
RedEye