I don’t advocate a neutral tone. I advocate a civil tone.

As I pointed out in my comments section, as the originator of Blog Posts in Need of Improvement you have a large glass houses problem.

Plus, I can see from some of your recent posts that you yourself fall somewhat short of the neutral academic tone you advocate.

So when you write something like “One would have to be either blind or willfully ignorant not to have noticed this” you can imagine how the person who disagrees with your position might not like being called “blind” or “willfully ignorant.”

I personally don’t find such language offensive (the blogosphere is a rough place where strong opinions are debated) when it is in the context of a post on the merits of an argument.

Edwize is the United Federation of Teachers blog. I imagine that everyone involved in education, at any level and in any region, would benefit from keeping abreast of the UFT’s thoughts and interests.

I’ll pass on forwarding you objectionable posts – there’s no reason for it. I think this entire discussion is ridiculous and nearly useless.

And if you really wanted me to forward to you every education blog post that’s intellectually dishonest, lacking in fact or logic, mean-spirited, out of touch, etc., your e-mail server would likely explode.

I’d like to nominate an issue for the next education poo-poo award, though. Perhaps you could write about how inadequate and offensive it is that the average administrator’s GRE scores are 427 Verbal and 523 Quant. Or perhaps how 28.5% of aspiring administrators score between 300 and 390 on the Verbal section [don't forget, folks, 200 of those points are for showing up].

Or you could continue to monitor the use of the word “jackass.”

Since you’re so bothered by an insignificant word, I thought I’d swing in the other direction and go for some inappropriate hyperbole. It worked!

Really, this bizarre milquetoast act is one reason why the general public has very little respect for the education field.

I hope you’re almost done with the Mister Manners speech here – it’s a real yawner.

And, for what it’s worth, I’d have cut you far more slack if I felt for a second that your sword was sharpened on both sides. You’re an education professional – you read Edwize, I’m sure. Apparently you thought Leo Casey using “anorexic” as an insult to Fordham’s staffers wasn’t worth a blog post, followup in comments, another blog post, and more comment followups?

Or maybe you’ve turned a blind eye toward folks like Jim Horn – or Susan O’Hanian, who disguises her contempt far better than Horn and others – who say unkind, undignified things about anyone who’s at least an inch to the right of Lenin. Maybe the next time they write a screed about how stupid, selfish, consumer-slavish, ignorant, unenlightened, etc. we are, you’ll toss them an award?

I’d also rather the Horns and O’Hanians just called me a jackass. Makes for a much quicker read.

MKT: Wow, are you serious?

So what I’m saying is that you’d have to be a contemptibly foolish person to endorse the bigger bolder manifesto. I gave five good reasons in the post. Five reasons that remain unrebutted by those taking offense. I think what we have is a bunch of true believers who don’t like being ridiculed by association and don’t have a good counterargument. I suppose I’d take or feign offense as well at least as a way to marginalize the argument.