Confessions of a Rogue Digger- Revisited

This essay is being reprinted with permission from its author. It is being reprinted due to the fact that when it was originally posted on digg by USArugula (Known affectionately as 'Salad Head'), it was done so by a leftist digg troll who misrepresented the essay by altering its title. The essay is being reprinted here and resubmitted to digg in its proper and original form. The original essay can be found at its home blog, the Liberal Heretic. The address follows. http://theliberalheretic.com/blog/?p=96

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**All accounts have been relayed by one anonymous digger who has tricked the system, and should not be taken as a representation for the aggregate of conservative diggers.**

With the latest talks of the Fairness Doctrine circulating in the media and the blosphere, it is no wonder why many outspoken conservatives are bracing themselves for an all out freedom of speech war. Back in 2006, digg.com was just another fledgling news sharing/bookmarking site. Personally I can’t say exactly what the site was like back in 06’, but I can provide the testimony of a man who has been using it since its inception. For this story he will be referred to as 007.

Like many eager Internet commentators, 007 found that commenting on various news sites was quite gratifying. The ability to express ones ideas in an open forum, especially when said ideas deviate from the norm, could be somewhat cathartic. 007 began commenting and using digg.com in mid 2006. He says that the site had an overwhelming liberal slant, but he enjoyed commenting in the unwelcome environment because there just weren’t any dissenting opinions, it was an echo-chamber. Now having a knack for political incorrectness, 007 found himself leaving comments that obviously angered the natives.. In his own words,

“I am quite sure that I was the first “in your face” conservative that they had encountered. The first time I got banned I was really surprised because all I did was make a joke about an exploding Palestinian kid. I remember on more than one occasion, getting 500+ profile views in one day (and my account would always be gone the next day), so you know that there are groups on Digg who “police” the comments and they have the ability to go in and bury people very quickly.”

So it was obvious to 007 that digg.com was definitely not a freedom of speech arena, it was a business, run and operated with people who had a certain agenda. Political correctness, when it fit their ideology, and censorship when it did not. 007 decided to keep on keeping on, and began to sign up repeatedly.

“Even though they did ban accounts back then, it wasn’t like it is today. Back then I could keep an account for a week or two….these days it’s one or two accounts per day. I’ve probably been through 400-500 Digg IDs.
If you read the TOS you’ll see that it’s entirely subjective. If they don’t want you on Digg they can just say that some people found you offensive”….which can mean anything. Since I usually try to be as offensive as possible, it doesn’t bother me that I get banned. There is and there always has been a huge double-standard on digg.”

007’s reasons for the in your face crusade:

• I want people to read my posts
• I want people who are just following the crowd, and not listening to their inner voice, to get our of their comfort zone

I want to force liberals to really think about what they believe

(Taking a cue from Coulter, intentionally adding stoke to the fire to incite critical thinking, not a bad idea)

**note- please reference the previous Heretic ‘Digg Unzipped’ story for the double-standards of what is deemed offensive on digg; it should also be noted that digg users have been reported for jokes about shooting Sarah Palin in the face, and nothing was done to their user status**

So there you have it, someone who has been on the site since its inception, been the victim of the subjective TOS, and fought back. His comments were straightforward, hysterical, on-point as far as conservative snarky discourse goes, and above ALL else they were politically incorrect. Political correctness, that nagging angel sitting atop ones shoulder, saying ‘Well now if you say that you might offend someone, you might offend the Siberian huskie mix Americans, or the people against the defamation of butterflies and unicorns’ (you catch my drift, it is all encompassing, and it squelches our ideas about issues, and our ability to get past some of the most difficult issues (ie:racism)). If people could just say what they wanted to say, not what other people think they should say, nor what the institution of liberalism thinks they should say, then maybe just maybe, people wouldn’t be so friggen meat-headed when it came to formulating their OWN ideas.

So my and 007’s ideas may not be popular on some news sites, they may not be popular in Applebee’s for f’s sake, but damn it they’re ours, and this country NEEDS dissenting opinions. Here’s the crux of the freedom of speech argument, there is no free press in this country, there are just businesses owned and operated by corporations. Digg.com, blogspot, the list goes on. These sites are funded by people with a clear agenda- stop the spread of politically incorrect speech at all costs, pander to the left and its anti-American agenda, and bring about speech that conforms to the new liberal oligarchy. People are getting kicked off of blogspot for the same reasons they are getting kicked off of digg, systematic interjection of the thought police. So this is what I want to say to all the freedom loving, politically incorrect, George Carlin-esque, Cheech and Chong fans out there-

‘We will not go gentle in that good night, we will rage against the dying of the light.’ If the powers that be, big fat bureaucrats in Washington, George Soros, the corporations like GE with a clear agenda, are going to push dissenting opinions out of their owned and operated outlets, well then we’re just going to have to fight back. So to digg.com, blogspot, any other outlet or liberal think tank that thinks freedom of speech applies only to those who kneel at the shrine of Obama- I don’t give a damn about your agenda or your feelings, this is the United States of America- Land of the Free, Home of the Brave. Men have died in order to protect my country’s freedoms, and I’ll be damned if anyone tries to turn this country into a muddied down version of Sweden. I will be damned. So fight my fellow Americans, fight to be heard.