*Similarly, if someone connects to your node and tries to hack the White House's website, the cops are going to show up on your door, confiscate your computer equipment as "evidence", and probably arrest you.*

I'm sorry, you're wrong.

I work at an office where we could be reasonably expected to hear about this sort of thing if it happened. It doesn't.

What may happen is that the FBI shows up with Carnivore wiretap equipment, or interview you, or ask you to testify. The "cops descending on your home and confiscating your equipment" doomsday scenario is inspired by Hollywood movies and the misbegotten Operation Sundevil raids of the early 90s, not the reality of today. In today's world, ISPs have clearly demarkated safe harbors for the actions of their users, as set out by the CDA, DMCA and other statutes.

In the real world, if you believe in a principle, you stand up for it, even if that means that bullies who "won't give a shit" take unilateral action to punish you. In the real world, principles matter. In the real world, the danger to free speech posed by abridging anonymity is far greater than the inconvenience of spam. In the real world, people who don't stand up for their principles get trampled. People who do have a chance of winning. In the real world, you can only win by pushing back. In the real world, the counsel of defeat can lead only to defeat.