Purposeful pseudonyms for Tennyson Wells

Fri, Apr 22nd 2016, 11:00 AM

Dear Editor,

Those of us old enough to still remember when Latin was taught in some schools and spoken in some churches have a few Latin words for the learned former Attorney General Tennyson Wells: argumentum ad hominem.

In contemporary language, argumentum ad hominem is a logical canard in which an argument is rebutted not with facts but by attacking the character, motive or other attributes of the person making the argument, or maligning the persons associated with the argument, rather than attacking the substance of the argument itself.

Tennyson offered up a dissertation on "cowards" who appear anonymously in the newspapers under a pen name.

I remind the learned member of the bar that in 1786 when the United States was just 10 years old and grappling with the ratification of its new constitution, articles began to appear in New York newspapers under the nom de plume "Publius". This was a brilliant play on words being as how it was derived from the Latin word for "the people".

Publius proved that keeping one's identity concealed could force readers to focus on the quality of the arguments, rather than on personalities. Scholars have since found that the use of a pseudonym serves a good purpose in promoting public discourse.

There is no argument that the Federalist papers written by Publius are today as important to U.S. jurisprudence and governmental affairs as are the constitution and the bill of rights.

We now know that Publius was Nevis-born Alexander Hamilton, who became the first U.S. secretary of the treasury; James Madison, who became the fourth president of the United States; and, John Jay, the second governor of New York and first chief justice of the United States.

As one who has studied English jurisprudence, Tennyson ought to be able to recall the pen name "Junius". Under this name the writer contributed to a series of letters to the Public Advertiser (formerly the London Daily Post) between 1769 and 1772, a decade before U.S. independence from Britain.

Tennyson might recall, if he read history, that Lucius Junius Brutus was the Roman patriot when led the overthrow of the Roman monarchy. The Letters of Junius were written to inform the public of their historical and constitutional rights as Englishmen and to highlight where and how the government had infringed upon these rights.

Perhaps Tennyson has a general problem with the fourth estate - an institution so vital to the functioning of a democracy that it has become an integral component of democracy itself. But he ought to know that a functioning democracy requires informed citizens.

The informed must be those elected to sit in government as well as those of us who are governed. The governors (small g) need to be knowledgeable of the issues they are called upon to rule, and similarly the governed must be informed.

Tennyson has sat in Parliament so he must know this. Perhaps what he has forgotten is that the press plays a double role in our democracy.

Our newspapers today inform citizens and act as a feedback loop between the government and the voters. They do this by throwing open their editorial page and offering space to columnists.

I am pleased that this "letter to the editor" feedback loop is open to all citizens with only the basic editing to weed out libel or indecent language. Anonymity allows ideas and opinions to germinate and gives rise to public discussion.

Anonymity serves the public well in other areas of our daily lives. The police rely on anonymous tips from the general public to help them deter crime and to catch criminals once crimes have been committed. In some instances without the cloak of anonymity perpetrators would never be caught because few would risk life or/and treasure by using their real name.

Another case is the famous whistleblower laws that have been enacted around the world to protect the identity of people who report malfeasance, particularly in government.

The question of anonymity came before the Supreme Court of the United States back in 1995. The now retired Justice John Paul Stevens wrote at the time: "Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. It thus exemplifies the purpose behind the bill of rights, and of the first amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation - and their ideas from suppression - at the hand of an intolerant society. The right to remain anonymous may be abused when it shields fraudulent conduct. But political speech by its nature will sometimes have unpalatable consequences, and, in general, our society accords greater weight to the value of free speech than to the dangers of its misuse."

Amen, Mr. Justice Stevens. Tennyson might object, of course.

I would have no problems with Tennyson signing his letters to the editor under a pen name. Might I suggest he use the nom de plume "Benedict Arnold"? Arnold was an American general in the Revolutionary War who, because he was passed over for promotion,  became embittered and turned coat.

- The Graduate

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