True or false

[thebitterguy]

Inspired by a letter in today's Star:

[Poll #867643]

Comments

[viktor-haag.livejournal.com]

This old saw is one of the most pernicious bits of nasty rhetoric known to humanity. And so simply dismantled:

"The issue is not whether you think you've done anything wrong. The issue is whether anyone else has thought, is thinking, or ever will think that you've done something wrong."

Gah. I mean, it makes me feel sick to my stomach. It's right up there with "you're either with us, or you're against us", which I've seen coming out a lot lately in the past few years as well (thanks to that odious garden gnome, Dubya, and his gang of lucre-filthy cohorts).

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

You are safe only if the powers that be AGREE that you have done nothing wrong.

[brand-of-amber.livejournal.com]

Or if you aren't easily cowed, intimidated, or embarassed.

Because dressing up like a jedi and running around your house making lightsabre noises isn't all that wrong, but how horribly humiliating would it be to have a video of yourself doing that be the top download on YouTube?

I mean government and corporate evils are one thing, but common household humiliation is another good reason for a little privacy.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

And let's face it, a smear campaign can be every bit as damaging as the actual effects of wrongdoing through the court systems. I can think of two teachers off the top of my head who had nasty accusations leveled at them by teenage girls. They were innocent, and the judges ended up reprimanding the girls for their slander. But in the meantime, they lost their families (the CAS wouldn't let them see their kids without supervision) their careers, their reputations - everything. You don't get those things back.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

I'd tack on to the end of the second paragraph the following: "...regardless of whether you've actually done anything wrong or not."

Otherwise...

[noizangel.livejournal.com]

I saw that letter. I wanted to kick that person.