Eugene Volokh on Eason Jordan and bloggers as a lynch mob

This Volokh Conspiracy post is well worth reading. Eugene makes the case that bloggers really are not at all like a lynch mob, rather they are a 'persuasion bunch.' I think he has convinced me. Key conclusion:

We should love persuasion bunches, who operate through peaceful persuasion, while hating lynch mobs, who operate through violence and coercion. What's more, journalists -- to the extent that they love the First Amendment's premise that broad public debate helps discover the truth, and improve society -- ought to love persuasion bunches, too. When the only power you wield is the power to speak, and persuade others through the force of your arguments (and not through the force of your guns, clubs, or fists), that's just fine. Come to think of it, isn't that the power that opinion journalists themselves wield?

Very well said.