Maybe Belly is right - there is a decline in civil debate.
Ammonite,
There is a decline in just about everything to do with human mentality. A large amount of this is due to incompetent authorities making life far too difficult for people. Also, there are an awful lot of spaced-out ignorant academics pushing their way into decision making circles & stuffing up many peoples' lives. What the experts need to not forget that ordinary blue collar society is way smarter than the experts but because of the political system are powerless to act without becoming criminal.
It all boils down to the one fact that there are far too many hangers-on in modern society & the old fashioned provider is simply getting tired of exploitation.
Civil debate has no place when discussing with rotten egg characters.

I wouldn't have thought Tim Blair would be cited as a paragon of civil debate. Though he's not quite as bad as his stablemate Andrew Bolt, one only has to look at the standard of commentary at his blog to see some of the most egregiously 'uncivil' discourse from his fans. Bolt's blog is even worse.

While I think that debate on the Internet would be much more civil if people didn't operate under the illusion of anonymity, it's a bit of a furphy. People who break the law online are generally quite easily traced and are regularly brought to account.

Actually, I think that the decline in civil debate is more symptomatic of a decline in socialisation of young people in their upbringing these days. To encounter good manners in everyday life is becoming the exception rather than the norm, and perhaps the Internet is just reflecting that.

Leap,
I wouldn't bother even to find out who a poster is. Being anonomous simply makes it easier for some to vent their spleen.

Ammonite,
The revelation that the ANU 'death threats' was a ploy to gain public sympathy is further evidence that climate scientific credibility is questionable. It is no wonder that people have become sceptical about the climate claims. Tim Flannery has yet to get anything right.

Frankly it is far more concerning that we have convicted some 20 persons for plotting terrorist acts. These were home grown and it is not likely that we have caught all that think that way.

Our political leaders do not set a good example of integrity in debate. Question time is worse than a kids argument. Former PM Rudd claimed the climate change was the greatest moral challenge of our time, but then abandoned his ETS because it became electorally unpopular. He had also used a couple of hot days in Adelaide as 'proof' of global warming. Does 'never,never a GST' or 'there will be no carbon tax under the government I lead' ring a bell.

Look at the involvement of Abbott and Beattie in the railroading and jailing of Pauline Hanson, simply because she was a political threat. No compensation to her for her unwarranted jailing either.

Because I have views against Multiculturalism I have been subjected to much name calling, which doesn't affect me as i know those that attack the person have no other arguement to put forward

morganzola,
I would not say either Blair or Bolt were paragons of virtue in debate either, but if what they say goes unchallenged by the Fairfax press you can say it has some truth in it.

In relation to the ANU 'death threats', there has been no such challenge to Blairs view. Looks very much like the 'death threats' were a publicity ploy. Where is the integrity?

Threats to officials and politicians are not unusual. It is surprising how common it is, so I don't doubt there have been death threats around climate change given the emotions this topic stirs. "Bob's bitch" type slogans from the Tea Party camp is one example. But the other side of the climate change debate can be equally as dismissive.

I reckon Glover was on the money.

First we had those who supported the concept of AGW calling sceptics - "deniers", "red necks" and worse, then the opposing side mobilised their media machine and now we have death threats to believers and a swing in the empahsis of the campaign. Such is the nature of propaganda. The truth gets lost in the melee.

Civil debate has declined but I reckon the normal dinner time conversations of the past when people were thumping their fists on the table on some political point has just been transferred to the internet and media thanks to modern technology.

Morganzola is right about the decline of manners and how this is reflected in any medium. The more society becomes accustomed to uncivil behaviour the more 'normal' it becomes.

Sadly I see our country slipping down the same path as Americans are where so many people are brainless and insecure enough that the zealously fight on behalf of some political group- with such severity that they feel the need to threaten to kill people for merely challenging their hero's Spoken Truths (And challenging their narrow understanding of the world).

I blame it on the culture where factions actually project stakes of their party being the only thing upholding the very livelyhoods, security and safety of their supporters, and were they ever to be voted out the nation would collapse and enter a new age of communism or nazism or some rubbish- but people believe it.

I'm not one to compliment the Liberals or Labor, but we see this with every election; If Labor gets in we will spiral into a massive recession and then they will socialize all businesses because they're really communists- and if Liberals get in we will have police states and cut-throat dog-eat-dog business etc.
You name it- whichever side is not in, their plan is to secretly do things to make your life miserable;

Yet, we've seen plenty of both to note that things don't really change THAT much. They both put in the same effort when the global recession DID happen (though Australia's material independence is mostly to thank)- Labor didn't open the floodgates to refugees when they got in, and the Liberals probably aren't going to try Workchoices so eagerly if they get back in- because deep down they actually want to get voted back in by the public and aren't going to try any tricks they don't think they will get away with.