Ohiosphere's Ralph King: A Decent Righty Blogger Loses His Way

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The frequently insightful and normally thoughtful conservative Cleveland-area blogger Ralph King has inexplicably started shoveling excrement on his Web outpost, Kings Right Site King is one of The Daily Bellwether's favorites; he has the sunshine of the mind. And the hope here is that he has only temporarily lost his way because he has been too keen-witted a conservative to pass off a disgusting effort at poop repartee as the equivalent of political satire or political debate. There is an old saying, "Nothing is politically right which is morally wrong."

King, of course, is free under the First Amendment to print pretty much whatever he wants. But he'll be hard to take seriously in the future if he's now throwing poop around to buttress his arguments. Usually, humans learn pretty early to stay away from that stuff, to not touch that stuff. Usually, they know it before they are out of diapers.

Worse, King has reprinted a diatribe that said the excrement should be shoved down the throats of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Leader Harry Reid. And why should they be forced to swallow human waste? Because they cannot be taken outside the Capitol and murdered.

Those kind of thoughts come nowhere close to civil discourse or dialogue. They are sicko. They reek with the threat of violence. No responsible bloggers -- on the right, on the left or in the middle -- should aid and abet language and commentary like that. It is political pornography.

I hope that King rethinks the post. The 'sphere should be a place were divergent opinions collide, where politics and points of view clash, where the right rips the left, and the left delivers its own licks. But where advocating violent acts -- or openly wishing one could commit a violent act -- is out of the question. There is enough cruelty loose in the world already. We don't need to add more in Ohio.