Yesterday the publisher of the Bismarck Tribune announced that they were no longer going to allow public comment on most stories posted on the Tribune website. The reason given was that many comments posted by users “have been in poor taste and nothing more than personal attacks on either a person or group.” That’s an understatement.

I’ve often stated that if I start feeling too intelligent I simply have to go peruse the Comments section of the Bismarck Tribune website to knock off a couple dozen IQ points. It was serious tinfoil-hat territory, and it did as much to hurt the Tribune’s credibility as their editorial bias…but in a slightly less guarded tone.

I hit my teens during the dawn of the personal computer age. I remember calling local BBSs (Bulletin Board Systems) with my 300 baud modem nearly thirty years ago. Even then people were frantically pounding away at their keyboards, typing outrageous things they’d never have the nerve to say to someone in person. It was a valuable lesson to learn back then rather than right now, where everything you type is instantly available worldwide forever. Some would say I still step in it, but we can debate that another time.

Now how do I lower my IQ on demand? I don’t watch television. I guess I could still go to the Tribune website and meander through one of Clay Jenkinson’s rambling missives occasionally. Of such garrulousness I simply say, brevity is the soul of wit.

In any case, even though the local tinfoil-hat crowd has been silenced within the Tribune’s purview, I’m sure the Internet will provide a suitable alternative should the need arise.