Dixie - In Memoriam
New member
I know many of you thought my last sabbatical from the forum was a result of the controversy over the APP board rules. It wasn't, but it may have been the catalyst for finally doing some things I had been putting off. I don't have to come here and post, I can move on with my life and enjoy it, without ever thinking about this forum. I can do this for a month, a year, doesn't matter. So when I do come here and post, it is because I want to, not because I need to.
I will admit, at first, it shocked me that Damo would call a board "above the fray" and present it as a fair objective alternative to the 'trash talk' in the other forums, then establish the "rules" so vaguely and understated. I couldn't understand why he didn't see that tolerating name-calling and "petty" insulting, was not "above the fray" but was precisely what needed to be restricted. It puzzled me for a few weeks, then I realized what was happening.
You see, Damo, and his sidekick Grind, are libertarian moderates. Being ideologues, they fear unbridled power by social conservatives as much as liberals, so they maintain this "sense of fairness and balance" which always gives the liberal the benefit of the doubt. By doing this, they maintain a public perception of being "moderate" while helping their ideological cause. As long as liberals and social conservatives can't resolve their issues, the libertarians can justify their ideology and gain progress in politics.
We can all clearly see how intellectual debates work here. Someone conservative posts something profoundly truthful and to the point, and liberals turn the thread into a trash pit of diversions, insults, personal attacks, off-topic rhetoric, anything BUT tangible rebuttal on the issue. This has become the standard "debate style" for liberals here. Find something unrelated to the topic, divert the thread conversation, lie about something they said once, talk about their mother, call them racist, and keep avoiding the actual debate of the issue, while proclaiming yourself victorious.
This is why Damo has to allow liberals the flexibility to insult and call names in the "above the fray" board, because they don't know any other way to debate! It would just put them at too much of an unfair disadvantage to require them to post without name-calling and insults. Damo has to make sure and keep it "fair" and can't really tie the hands of the liberals too much, they may start thinking of him as a non-moderate! So this is why we get the song and dance from Grind about how the rules work, rather than establishment of a truly "above the fray" forum.
Some of you will undoubtedly respond with the predictable charges, that I am full-o-sour-grapes or whatever, or that I can't let this go... but you see, I have let it go, now that I understand it! It took me a while to figure it out, but now that I understand it never was intended to be a real "above the fray" forum, I completely get it. I have also realized something else very important in the process. I don't have to observe Damo's phony labels, or Grinds bogus rules, I can establish my own "above the fray" forum.
From now on, I will only post in the "Current Events" forums, because what I have to say IS a current event. I have already begun a process of "banning" people from my "above the fray" forum, through the "ignore user" function. Eventually, I will "ban" all the people who can't seem to argue the substance of the issue on its merit, and have to resort to name-calling and personal insults. I realized that my system empowers ME, not Damo or Grind. I can make the arbitrary judgment of when someone has crossed the line with ME, and take the appropriate action. The best thing is, there is no appeal process, and I don't have to report it to anyone or explain my actions.
So, I'm good! Damo and Grind can carry on their little liberal circle jerk, and pretend they are moderate, fair-minded and impartial, and I can eliminate the jerks who piss me off. Everybody wins!
I will admit, at first, it shocked me that Damo would call a board "above the fray" and present it as a fair objective alternative to the 'trash talk' in the other forums, then establish the "rules" so vaguely and understated. I couldn't understand why he didn't see that tolerating name-calling and "petty" insulting, was not "above the fray" but was precisely what needed to be restricted. It puzzled me for a few weeks, then I realized what was happening.
You see, Damo, and his sidekick Grind, are libertarian moderates. Being ideologues, they fear unbridled power by social conservatives as much as liberals, so they maintain this "sense of fairness and balance" which always gives the liberal the benefit of the doubt. By doing this, they maintain a public perception of being "moderate" while helping their ideological cause. As long as liberals and social conservatives can't resolve their issues, the libertarians can justify their ideology and gain progress in politics.
We can all clearly see how intellectual debates work here. Someone conservative posts something profoundly truthful and to the point, and liberals turn the thread into a trash pit of diversions, insults, personal attacks, off-topic rhetoric, anything BUT tangible rebuttal on the issue. This has become the standard "debate style" for liberals here. Find something unrelated to the topic, divert the thread conversation, lie about something they said once, talk about their mother, call them racist, and keep avoiding the actual debate of the issue, while proclaiming yourself victorious.
This is why Damo has to allow liberals the flexibility to insult and call names in the "above the fray" board, because they don't know any other way to debate! It would just put them at too much of an unfair disadvantage to require them to post without name-calling and insults. Damo has to make sure and keep it "fair" and can't really tie the hands of the liberals too much, they may start thinking of him as a non-moderate! So this is why we get the song and dance from Grind about how the rules work, rather than establishment of a truly "above the fray" forum.
Some of you will undoubtedly respond with the predictable charges, that I am full-o-sour-grapes or whatever, or that I can't let this go... but you see, I have let it go, now that I understand it! It took me a while to figure it out, but now that I understand it never was intended to be a real "above the fray" forum, I completely get it. I have also realized something else very important in the process. I don't have to observe Damo's phony labels, or Grinds bogus rules, I can establish my own "above the fray" forum.
From now on, I will only post in the "Current Events" forums, because what I have to say IS a current event. I have already begun a process of "banning" people from my "above the fray" forum, through the "ignore user" function. Eventually, I will "ban" all the people who can't seem to argue the substance of the issue on its merit, and have to resort to name-calling and personal insults. I realized that my system empowers ME, not Damo or Grind. I can make the arbitrary judgment of when someone has crossed the line with ME, and take the appropriate action. The best thing is, there is no appeal process, and I don't have to report it to anyone or explain my actions.
So, I'm good! Damo and Grind can carry on their little liberal circle jerk, and pretend they are moderate, fair-minded and impartial, and I can eliminate the jerks who piss me off. Everybody wins!
