[I should just point out that in Australia we are currently governed by a coalition of two conservative parties, one of which is known as the Liberal Party of Australia; this is not the kind of liberal I am talking about... rather I refer to the much maligned liberal in american style politics, where the word is often used as a synonym for "bleeding heart" or "whining leftist"]

So, why be a liberal? Because in general you will tend also to be a more fair, decent and considerate person. At least that is the lesson I must draw from exchanges like this one between liberal blogger and cartoonist Tom Tomorrow, and [less well known] conservative guy who took umbrage at Tom’s latest cartoon.

In conservative guy’s post, he posts an email he sent to Tom Tomorrow, introduced with the snippy assertion "In what is sure to prove an exercise in futility, I sent Tom a little note". The thing is, Tom did reply via email, and conservative guy posted his reply (apparently without actually telling Tom he would be doing this). This tendency to villify those who disagree with you and post their correspondence without prior permission is something I have never seen on a liberal blog, but it is a practice used freely by at least some conservatives who appear to believe that intimidation and public humiliation is a valid form of discourse. Note that conservative guy also appears to be encouraging his readers to contact Tom directly, to express their negative opinions. In contrast Tom is not advising his readers to go and harrass conservative guy [although a few of them might, after reading the full exchange].

Honestly, what kind of asshole would I be if I publically posted email I had received privately simply because I disagreed with it?