Blog sites are popping up everywhere. They can be on all sorts of subjects and our local political blogs seem especially popular. Just look at the large number of new blogs the Bellingham Herald, our newspaper of record, has created this year as part of its on-line edition. One prevalent characteristic of many blogs is the anonymous comment - and these have a sad and dark side.

Anonymous commenting on blogs, whether the Herald's or any other website, is a real disservice to public discourse. The "anons" may claim 1st amendment rights to use hateful statements, character smearing and inane remarks and I personally support that right of free speech. But as a practical matter, why waste time reading something that adds no value to the public discussion of real community issues and concerns. Each blog and media outlet has its own set of policies and rules, of course. For those outlets that subscribe to anonymity, and that are no cost to visit and read, one can just ignore them. Or you may find them entertaining in some way. So be it.

However, when it comes to our paper of record, to which I subscribe by the way, I am baffled by the inconsistency in its policy on anonymity and failure to check the authenticity of the writer. To submit a letter to the editor for the print edition, you must provide your name, where you live and phone number. The Herald will call you to verify that the letter was submitted by you. The Herald also reserves the right to edit your letter, and your name and town are printed along with your letter.

So what is with their on-line blogs and comments on articles? You can submit an anonymous comment the authenticity of which is not questioned. You can even put another person's name as the writer if you are that dishonest. The point being we know that the blogosphere at its worst can present false and profane information from unverifiable sources. At its worst it is merely entertainment of questionable value. It is a shame to see the Herald succumb to that standard. Come on Herald... you can be of great service to the community by maintaining the highest standards of accuracy and public discourse in all aspects of your publications.

So if someone tells me that there are scads of comments on the Herald's political blog on a particular topic or article, frankly I say "so what?" People who wish to submit serious comments should bemoan the dilution of the value of their contribution by this lack of authenticity. Very sad indeed.