Dear Glenn Hunter:

Yes, I have disagreed with you more often than not. But this? As someone said, your latest post on Frontburner is the exact reason comments are good. Because you are so very wrong. Let's get past the fact that my initial reaction was visceral and involved a knee to your nethers. I'm even willing to try to get past the fact that - even when Frontburner did allow comments - you tend to lob a bomb and then run away, never coming back to engage the people who called you on some of your complete and total, ill-informed toro caca. So let's get down to business. 1) The family allowed the Twittering of the surgeries (read that TWO surgeries) because it also benefited them. With two surgeries going on in two separate hospitals, it was a good and practical way for everyone (whether they were at UT Southwestern or Children's) to get updates and follow the progress. 2) Under HIPAA, a patient's written permission can allow for disseminating of their current medical condition and status. Five seconds of Google found the answer to that, btw. 3) According to UNOS, there are 102,144 people waiting for organ donations as of 1:50 p.m. Eastern today. By Twittering this surgery, organ donation was demystified, which could in turn lead to a lowering of that number. So in conclusion, it wasn't bizarre (except maybe to a relic) and it wasn't contradictory. It was no different than the press conferences after sextuplets are born, faces are transplanted, or Britney is rehabbed. But you know what is bizarre? The fact that I had to use my blog to tell you all this.

In the meantime...

At a loss as to where to find your old Frontburner comment friends? Well, there's always right here, or Trey, or here .... or even here...or here...or here...or here... I also highly recommend here. Any other now former FB commenters out there on the Internets?

Probably Over It

So as many of you know, I've been a long-time commenter on D Magazine's Frontburner. In the halcyon days when I first began commenting, it was fun. There was some good-natured ribbing here and there, but it was a pleasant read, and I was genuinely excited about taking part in some small way in the conversation when the ability to comment was added. But nowadays, it's turned into a mean-spirited, modern-day Roman arena, where the object is more often than not to tear down and destroy, not engage in civil conversation. Take, for instance, Wick Allison's post about Rawlins Gilliland's latest KERA commentary for the New Year. What was meant - I hope - to be an acknowledgement of an entertaining and endearing commentary became a full-on assault on Rawlins' credibility and his reputation. It was vitriolic for no reason, insulting to the point of obnoxiousness, and a discouraging example of what commenting has become. That being said, I don't believe in wholesale censorship, as I've said before. However, in this case, we're talking libelous untruths, and I do feel that someone could've stepped in to address it. I hope - I do - that the purpose of Wick's original post was not to set Rawlins up for a full-on assault. I guess what I really wish is not for policing, but for a return to civility, which doesn't have to be boring. The debate can be spirited without having to affix the word "mean" before it. And until people figure that out and can behave as they would if they were in the room with that person, I'm hard-pressed to come up with a reason to continue participating in the conversation that I used to enjoy.

Best Pithy Response to Pathos-Laden Story

In response to the story of the couple from Arlington, married 75 years, who died within 5 hours of each other, Frontburner commenter Brian gives quite possibly the best response ever: