EDITORIAL: McDermott must put a stop to tampering with debate

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| Tuesday, July 08, 2008 | (14 comment(s))

Supporters of Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. who have been interfering with public discourse on Hammond issues need to be reined in. And the one to reel them is the mayor himself.

Unfettered public dialogue on the issues is one of the founding principles of democracy. It's important enough that the Founding Fathers put it in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

And yet that public discourse has been under attack in Northwest Indiana. Comments unfavorable toward McDermott have been under attack on The Times message boards.

Here's how it works. The Times allows users to remove responses on a message thread as a way to let the message board users police themselves.

But McDermott supporters have been too quick to click.

Times columnist Mark Kiesling and Online Editor Yuri Victor researched the vaporization of comments on The Times message boards, at http://nwi.com, and traced the Internet protocol address of the offenders to the Hammond city government.

McDermott says this IP address could apply to any of hundreds of computers. But the IP address is clearly that of Hammond's city government.

The mayor was quick to criticize Kiesling, who brought to light these actions by McDermott supporters. He has been less quick to criticize the supporters who have been censoring the comments on the message boards.

So here's an open invitation to His Honor: Tell your supporters to stop deleting responses critical of the mayor and his projects. Tell them you're a strong supporter of the First Amendment right to criticize the government, even when that means you yourself, as mayor, are being harshly criticized.

In the end, the truth will emerge. That's how the marketplace of ideas works. Tampering with the message boards is tampering with democracy.

Put a stop to it now.

Your opinion, please
What are your views of Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. and his projects?
Share your thoughts at http://nwi.com/opinion

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Fiat etc... wrote on Jul 11, 2008 8:43 PM:

" Thanks for your input. So the argument has shifted from "the devil made me do it" (i,e., it's the Times fault that they allow posts to be deleted) to the "Wizard of Oz" (pay no attention to that man behind the curtain). Non-issue? Freedom of expression is hardly a "non-issue". You may wish to revist your grade school civics text. And as for finding other things to be offended about, unfortunately, there is no dearth of opportunities there. But most of them don't rise to this level of (apparent) arrogance. There are no good outcomes from stifling legitimate debate. I'm open to some compelling counterargument, but it ain't lookin' real likely at the moment. Have a nice evening. And while you're going back and refreshing your memeory about free speech - however obnoxious - you may want to reread King Lear to get back in touch with what hubris is all about. "

Dear Fiat... wrote on Jul 9, 2008 9:33 PM:

" Please find something else to be offended about. This topic isn't worth the energy you've expended. It's a non-issue. "

Fiat Lux redux wrote on Jul 9, 2008 10:55 AM:

" It seems incredible to me that, somehow, the misdeeds of those who are deleting divergent opinions is in some way the fault of the Times. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should, and trying to rationalize this inappropriate behavior is just plain offensive. The ability to tell right from wrong seems to be in pretty short supply, at least to judge by the actions of some. To those of you engaging in this reopressive behavior, get this straight: It's not the Times fault - it's YOUR fault. "

dave wrote on Jul 8, 2008 8:46 PM:

" No one should be posting on the message boards from city hall. However,the Times should bear some of the blame for comments being deleted since they enabled the feature in the first place. Why hasn't the Times released the names of the people who maliciously sabotaged their message board?
If they are city employees posting on city time, offer some proof instead of simply blaming the Mayor for things he may have no knowledge of. "

Do we really need to rehash this wrote on Jul 8, 2008 7:17 PM:

" If the Times doesn't want messages to be deleted, it should make it impossible to delete the messages. It's as easy as tracing an IP address. "

DUH wrote on Jul 8, 2008 5:02 PM:

" "To the Times" is right. This is a problem of the Times's own making. Simple solution: don't allow readers to delete others' postings. Why would you expect an arrogant and dumb mayor to understand the issue, much less care about doing the right thing? "

edju tucker wrote on Jul 8, 2008 3:09 PM:

" Hats off to the Times for telling the mayor to stop allowing Soviet bloc-style censorship. McDermott's actions, or inactions, are like those of a banana republic tinhorn dictator. There is no defense of this type of behavior in Western democracies or even the People's Republic of East Chicago. "

Fiat Lux wrote on Jul 8, 2008 2:26 PM:

" It is difficult to believe that the mayor of any city, much less MY city, would be so defensive of such shenanigans on the part of the knee-jerk political ideologues with whom he's surrounded himself. I believe he and they have better things to do with taxpayer' resources. Unless things have changed lately, dissent is not only an American right, it is a tradition. Ultimately, we get better a better country and communities as a result. The last mayoral election should have been a clarion call to the mayor to rethink his M.O. The close race was by no means an endorsement of the ill-suited Repbulican candidate, but rather a reflection of the growing number of people here who would prefer any candidate - even a bad one- to the current mayor. This most recent episode underscores the fact that he didn't seem to learn that lesson. "

hispanic dude wrote on Jul 8, 2008 1:12 PM:

" Its the times board and if they dont like there rules then the times should change them. BTW not only anti-mcdermott posts are removed but pro ones also. "

To The Times wrote on Jul 8, 2008 12:22 PM:

" You created the problem. Simply don't allow users to zap one anothers' comments. Simple! "

Tim S wrote on Jul 8, 2008 7:30 AM:

" Over the years he's been mayor, McDermott has amassed one of the largest campaign chests the county has known. Why? How? He is not a person of exceptional ability, unless one counts presumptive arrogance and meanness. His misstatements and inappropriate comments are sometimes offensive. He has accomplished one thing. He's made Hammond into the public fund resevoir that East Chicago had been for decades. Hammond has probably directly, or indirectly, put more contractors to work in the past 5 years than most comparable municipalities. This during a time when the residents are facing unbelieveable increases in property taxes. In the area of cutting expenses he chose the Health Dept. Cutting that out gave him the most publicity as a budget hawk while accomplishing little savings, and eliminating a vocal critic. He represents the old political system of Lake County, as their children and grandchildren try to maintain their grip on the money and power. After 5 years of spending the boat money on pet projects he is reluctantly thinking about using it for tax relief. More could have been, and still could be, accomplished for the good of Hammond, with wiser fiscal management, less pandering to friends, and less paranoia. "

Way ta go Doug Co. wrote on Jul 8, 2008 7:12 AM:

" Hammond's Mayor just doesn't know what's gotten into the Times all of a sudden; their looking out for the citizens. This recommendation is right on target; but still not the intercession of the U.S. Attorney's office that is needed. Our founding fathers never perceived the governments we tolerate in Lake County Indiana. But it's the people at fault. They chose how they vote..or not. "

goldwater wrote on Jul 8, 2008 7:06 AM:

" Maybe I am confused, but aren't taxpayer resources (computers and personnel) supposed to be used for business related to operating the City in the interest of its residents? Thank you Mark, Yuri, and the Times for showing the voters exactly what the McDermott/Venecz admninistration is: Corrupt, visionless, endless dealing in self interest, NO ETHICS, and totally unwilling to operate the government in the best interest of the citizens. Unfortunately, it's too late to reverse Hammond's path towards a depopulated rust-belt carcass of a City due to unethical governance. "

Wet Hen wrote on Jul 8, 2008 5:38 AM:

" NO, McDip should be impeached "

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