After some fairly intense internal debate over the last few weeks, I’ve decided to go ahead and move out of the Facebook-Only comment system.

Unfortunately this means that comments made through the Facebook system over the last couple of months are no longer visible on the site (although they are not “lost”).  I am currently working on a solution for “Facebook Connect” and when that is properly dealt with the old comments MAY come back.

I can’t describe how much I regret the loss of these comments, as the last thing I want to do is give the impression that I don’t care what people have said, or that it isn’t important to me.  Unfortunately, the reality is that locking this blog in to Facebook is the root of that problem.  The whole goal here is to get LowGenius.Net properly integrated with the “social web,” and while FB integration does some of that, from a big-picture standpoint what actually happens is we’re locked out of every OTHER network, and those who choose no network, and so on and so forth.

I believe it is in the best interests of you, the readers and commenters, to have the widest audience possible and the best possible distribution channels.  There are many up-sides to this system, not the least of which is that if you have previously commented on IntenseDebate-enabled sites – which includes many local and national news and information sources – then your “reputation” and other info follows you here.  If you have an OpenID (which you DO if you have an account at Google, MySpace, LiveJournal, and a metric buttload* of other sites), you can log in with that as well. 

This change will, I hope, open up several new “worlds” to LowGenius.Net, and create some debate that is intense, indeed.

With that said, I will personally be participating much less frequently in those debates, although of course I’ll always be reading and will undoubtedly jump in when I feel the need.  I really love online discussion and debate, but the reality is that the more time I spend arguing one particular point with one particular person, the less time I have to create quality, original content for this site…and that is a death sentence.

I need to be very carefully clear, here.  I am not sponsored by a corporation, I am not advertised by a marketing group, I am not running automated systems to spam my links all over the net.  I am trying as hard as I possibly can to be an entirely unique, entirely independent, organically viral grass-roots voice in this world.  There is so much that needs to be said, and without throwing away all modesty, the simple reality is that far too many people have told me far too many times that they like the way I say things.

Unfortunately, in order to best say those things, I need to back out of being so “social” all the time.  I’m going to have to start creating some walls that I don’t like, but that are becoming unavoidable.

There is one thing that needs saying right now, and emphasizing as much as possible.  It’s unfortunately and immodestly up to me to say it first and get the point across to everyone so that you can have complete confidence in sharing this site with your social circle:

I am not some idiotic screaming talking-head/conspiracy theorist.  I don’t do a bunch of big flashy graphics with ominous music and insinuations of global conspiracy.  Sure, I’ve got a few things I think about, and some points of view that might surprise you or make you wonder if maybe I’ve lost it, but I work very, very diligently to keep a line drawn between fact and opinion, and to try to let you know straight up front when I’m engaged in speculation or analysis versus simply reporting a fact.  I can sit here all day long and play manipulative games like Glenn Beck or Alex Jones, but I don’t.

The reason I don’t is because unlike those guys, I don’t think my readers/viewers/listeners are blithering idiots, or marks to be fleeced, or stupid cowardly suckers who will pay me $500 for an autograph while complaining about the indignity of paying taxes so some “welfare queen” can eat or a “ghetto” kid can go to college or go to the doctor.  Yes, I have opinions.  Yes, some of them are strong.  Yes, part of my “gimmick” is to be angry and brash, to express the anger and frustration that I think a good number of people feel and can’t express.  Yes, I sometimes engage in hyperbole, and yes I will sometimes say things without qualifying them or a pre-emptive disclaimer for every single possible objection.

That is because in spite of the fact that I can get really irritated with stupidity and willful ignorance and cowardice masquerading as patriotism or even bravery, I really do respect most of the people who have followed me thus far, and I really do believe that it should not need to be spelled out every time I say that the sky is blue that sometimes the sky is gray or black or red or purple or multicolored.  Glenn Beck’s audience might need to have flashy graphics to catch their attention.  Alex Jones fans may need to have some ignorant screeching infant of a man asserting all manner of paranoid conspiracy theories so that they can think they’re “in” on something and “smarter” than the rest of us.

I don’t believe my audience is that f’king stupid.  I think you folks are smarter than that, and I think you deserve better than that.  I don’t think you need to be manipulated and lied to, and frankly I think that if you DO need that, then it’s my job in this world to break you of that need and teach you how to think and reason for yourself.

I’m not always right, and I reserve the right to change my mind.  I’ve always firmly believed that if you CAN NOT change your mind in the face of evidence that contradicts your existing beliefs, then you probably don’t have a mind to change.  I’m not a messiah and I’m not a politician.  Yes, I’m trying to make a living doing this.  Yes, I need every single dime that every single person can possibly spare to help me keep running this site.  Yes, I will eventually have things to sell through this site – not only as “fan” type items but other things that are totally unrelated.

But that doesn’t mean, to me, that I have to bullshit you into buying them or that I have to manipulate you into contributing.  Simply stating my case should be enough.  If I have to lie to you or engage in “hard-sell” tactics to convince you to contribute to me or buy something I’m selling, then I don’t deserve your money.

With all that said:  I need you to share this site constantly.  Every time you see something here that makes you think ‘hell yeah,’ I need you to tell as many people as possible.  Share it on your networks, use links to my videos and articles as rebuttals in debates on other site, “like” each new entry, watch each new video and "favorite” it.  I can not spread the word of reality as I see it without your help.  I don’t buy advertising – I can’t afford to buy advertising – and I don’t spam.  You are all the resources I have.  Please help me.

Thank you, and I hope you enjoy the new comment system and the continued growth of LowGenius.

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(*a metric buttload is approximately 1.1 short buttloads)