I could not disagree more. Thankfully, the US Constitution is on my side and not yours. Anonymous speech is essential to public discourse and the "marketplace

I could not disagree more. Thankfully, the US Constitution is on my side and not yours. Anonymous speech is essential to public discourse and the "marketplace of ideas", precisely because it enables dissenting opinions to be voiced without fear of persecution and heard without an a priori bias for or against the speaker: Anonymous speech forces ideas to be evaluated on their own merits. It's true: with anonymous speech, people will occasionally have to put up with libel without adequate recourse. On the other hand, without anonymous speech, unpopular or dangerous but critical ideas might never be heard, or be heard with widespread bias ("We have not only the right but the duty to rebel against the tyrannical King", "We should form a Federal Union", "The Pentagon and the White House have systematically lied to the American people about the Vietnam war for years and years", ...) Don't forget that the all-time best-selling book in America, the book George Washington had read to the troops the night before crossing the Delaware and launching the pivotal battle of the Revolutionary War--was published anonymously. Nor should you forget that the battle of opinions on ratification of our Constitution mostly played out in newspaper articles--again, published anonymously. Finally, consider that it has always been cheap to harm with anonymous speech. Graffiti is certainly nothing new. What scares you so much about an anonymous blogger?