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Comment by drenvuk | Hacker News Reader

I don't think the leader of the FSF should be making as many public comments about unrelated matters as Stallman has so I don't think he should be reinstated, but I also find that many of his comments are wrongfully interpreted. Logically and administratively, if quite a few of those ideas were followed through with we'd be better off as a society.

Have you read them? Every single one of them is freedom bent.

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Why should "the leader of the FSF" not make "as many public comments about unrelated matters as Stallman"?

This seems to suggest that a leadership role results or should result, ipso facto, in a reduction of its occupier's freedom of speech.

I don't follow that rationale at all, which isn't to say that I don't acknowledge that such comments can and obviously do in some cases lead to public distraction from the actual work of said leader, shifting the focus to the leader's perceived identity and moral fortitude.

That's a lamentable development to be sure, but to advocate abstention from public discourse as a precaution against the danger of becoming a distraction from the cause you advocate seems to be a clear case of blaming the victim. Stallman is not at fault here.

Whether you follow the rationale doesn't matter at all. The moment you become a public figure that leads an organization people will take a microscope to your life, using anything they can find as substance for juicy stories or their own agenda. It's not just Stallman. Pick any political figure. With the power and trust comes a target on your back. This is self-evident if you've see the news at any point in time in your life.

It sucks but it doesn't make it any less true.

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