Hello? Are you feelin' ok?

"Day after day, love turns gray like the skin of a dying man..."

In reply to: American Power: The Erin Andrews Flame War
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I suspect you're not going to listen to me, but it doesn't mean I shouldn't try. I don't expect you to allow this through the moderation filter either, but you're welcome to post it, if you wish.

Stogie (in the last minute comment you added to the top of this post) was right, and you should've listened to him. Sheeples, in her comment to this post, is correct as well. Perhaps you'll listen to her.

Granted, I'm loving every minute of this ass-whipping you're getting--& will probably continue to get, after this post-- (which itself ought to tell you something), but... well, it's bad enough when you treat political "enemies" like me as badly as you do... But when you start treating your "friends" this badly, it's a sign that something's actually wrong...

You really ought to listen to what Stogie, and Cassandra, and Miss Atilla, and the twin Daves, and... well just about everyone who's commented, here or anywhere else... is telling you, and take it easier, and slower, and turn down the dang heat...

It's ok to have folks disagree with you, Donald. And initially anyway, that's all that happened. It isn't the story that's an issue--though I personally think you pounded it WAY too hard. You've done what, 10 posts on miss Andrews, all with essentially the same info?--but that you posted a link to the illegally obtained & posted video, which many people believe further victimizes her. You seem to believe that it was newsworthy, and that that justified posting the link. Nothing more, and nothing less.

But rather than just disagree, you've called those who saw it differently than you, Victorian, radical feminists, hypocrites (for posting anything from Vargas-style pinups to male calendar models, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the issue was the consent of the model, not rule five in toto), and even, poor writers.

Look... I'd never be so foolish as to think you'd ever find accord with the likes of me, but you really ought to cut your friends (political, personal) some slack. If you really can't, you ought to figure out whether you need a good vacation away from partisan blogging, or something in the way of professional help.

Don't take my word for it... Ask the bloggers and commenters you trust to contact you (privately, so that they can tell you the God's honest, without embarrassing anyone involved) with their thoughts on how a few of your recent posts on the subject (& especially this one) reads. It ain't good, Donald. When Stogie & Sheeple (& I predict others, before long) are trying to wave you off, it ain't good.

That's all I'm gonna say...

(I have been working on my own post about this, for AmNi... ...but at the moment anyway, I almost feel too sorry for you (because I really do think there's something wrong... Stress?, depression?, ???) to finish & post it... We'll see how it goes... Hopefully, I'll get over it, and be the nihilist bastard you already seem to think I am.)
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Submitted for approval 7/30/09, 9:31 AM (AmPow blog time, or 12:31 PM here in IMonk-land) ((& may've been held from posting here at IM for awhile too, because it was written as a personal note (sorta), and right this second, I'm not sure I want to post it, at all.))
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Predictably, it didn't take long for Donald Douglas to engage in the very unmitigated douchebaggery for which he is making himself famous throughout the blogesphere. I no longer feel sorry for him, and will now hit the post button, a scant 2 hours after writing all that appears above. The AmNi post I referenced above may follow eventually, as well.

For a kick, also read Stogie's comment to the same post, submitted ten minutes after mine:

Donald, the best thing to do now is (1) Stop calling other bloggers names like "liar" (a difference of opinion does not necessarily make one a liar and it just inflames them more with no benefit whatsoever).

(2) Drop this ugly mud-wrestle and let it die; just STOP. Take time to COOL OFF.

(3) Take a vacation. You are stressed out and not thinking clearly. Suspend blogging for a week or two with a post titled "On Vacation." Go fishing. When you get back things will look better.

I bet that ain't the only one, either... Folks have to be writing him privately with their opinions, and lord knows what he isn't letting through the moderation filter... (Damned self-serving critic, that Stogie. Prolly a feminist, too. They all just suck.)

Those Damned White People!

In reply to: Riehl World View: Those Damned Brown People!

This time the issue isn't moderation, but the fact that I cannot add the comment to the post to which it belongs, for reasons I do not understand. (The post is only two days old, and the comment block is there to write in, but the "post" button is grayed out... Old posts at this blog say the comments are closed, and new ones have functioning "preview" & "post" buttons... This one appears to be in some kinda limbo between the two. Go figure.)
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I'm willing to give Dan the benefit of the doubt, and assume he just worded his post poorly as concerns being "the only American there in a DC suburb." (But then, I read somewhere that he's prone to Lunkhead Prose Reporting.) Contrary to his claims, the anecdote doesn't prove Dan does or doesn't have racist tendencies generally but, as anyone who's been in a similar multicultural multilingual situation will attest, it is a heartwarming story about human nature, and it made me smile. Perhaps once I read more of Dan's posts, I'll have a better idea of how racist he is or ain't, but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt unless/until he proves that wrong. (I've only visited occasionally, thus far... but loved his recent smackdown of some bloggers that richly deserved it. 'nuff said.)

Not a bad back in forth in general, but North Dallas Thirty is pretty out there with his assertion that if any liberal anywhere does something, all libs everywhere are responsible for it. The topic isn't comments made by some disgraced Dem mayor on his porch, or accusations made & recanted by black kids in TX, and even if it was, you got nothin' unless you have the lib you're accusing (which appears to be all of us, one by one) agreeing with the comments you believe to be racist.
Apparently, ND30 is one of those who believes that one cannot comment on any potentially bad act (racial, or otherwise) unless one also comments on EVERY potentially bad act that resembles it in any way... ...which for the record, is friggin' stupid, just on the time it'd take to comply with those kinda demands, alone... You start where you start, and you say what you can about those people/situations that're most recent, or most disturb you. Anyone who's shocked to find that partisan bloggers might have a partisan bent when doing that, just ain't paying enough attention to the world around them, and ought not to be taken very seriously as a result. I invite those interested enough (anyone? anyone? Buller??) to search ND30's blog for all of his condemnation of fellow cons for bad behavior. I'm sure he's posted oodles... ...y'know, in the name of fairness, and intellectual honesty'n'all... Happy hunting.
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Comment written (& posting attempted) around 8:45 AM, IMonk blog time

Reporting about crime is fine; becoming an accomplice after the fact, isn't

In reply to: Video of ESPN’s Erin Andrews nude? - The Daley Gator

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I'm pretty sure the issue wasn't Dr. Douglas' posting about the story, but his posting a link to the illegal video (so more people could "enjoy" Erin Andrews victimization, and the hits by the pervs looking for it could skyrocket), and his repeated defenses of same... especially his calling legit conservative female bloggers like Little Miss Attila and Cassandra of Villainous Company hypocrites and :::GASP::: feminists, because they don't think he should've posted the link.
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Submitted for moderator approval July 27, 2009 at 1:07 PM, (Daily Gator blog time)

The squeaky wheel...

In reply to: The Real Blogger Status: The Girl In Short Shorts
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The sad part is, as per your update, she did get an answer quicker than many of us do... (Potentially, anyway... Given the fact that she abandoned her blogger blog over the warning, there's no indication that she actually stuck around long enough to read it.)

Makes me wonder whether I (& as many of my blogger friends as possible) should raise more of a stink over my non-spam "spam" blog [Immoderate Monk] that's been marked--first by the CAPTCHA & question mark, & now removed/disabled--since late May... (j/k... Tempted as I am, I more or less get the situation... ...and I don't have nearly enough blogger friends to be effective, anyway...)

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For the record, I'm following your 3 step plan as laid out here [The Real Blogger Status: Blogs Are Being Removed For Just Cause] -- though

1) so far, no one's responded to any of the three actions I've taken, and

2) Mishka, another all-star BHF person, called into question whether one should wait 10-14 days after clicking the links for a review before submitting one's blog to the appeals database & posting in BHF "Something's Wrong." (In case you and Mishka want to get on the same page, that conversation took place here, yesterday: My Blog Is Labeled As SPAM, What Do I Do? - Blogger Help)

Anyway, thanks... I'll keep watching for positive results...
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Submitted for approval 22/7/09 13:48 (Real Blogger Status blog time)

Exploitation For Blog Hits

"Immoderate Monk" post, in reply to Men Being Assholes. - Little Miss Attila:
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As some folks here know, I'm not on your side politically, but I've been following this thing (and a related story about bigoted "jokes" and other commentary) on a whole bunch of blogs for the last several days...

Right or left, Cassandra's 4:01 AM post is right on target. One has to have standards of behavior, and one has to uphold them, whether the target (or the perpetrator) is a political/social friend or a foe.

While I like pretty women as much as the next guy, I find the whole "Rule 5" thing to be kinda distasteful because I see it as kind of a bait & switch. They come, they oogle, and the hit counters ding! as though they came for the politics. To me it's as though the blog authors in question are saying their writing isn't good enough on it's own...

But whatever one thinks of Rule 5, at least the women in question willingly posed for the snapshots that get posted (all the ones I've seen, anyway)... There's a vast difference between exploiting oneself and being exploited by others without consent, as the result of an illegal and sleazy act. The people responsible for getting & posting the video are criminals. But everyone who helped it get passed around, whether by posting the video itself or a link to it elsewhere are far from blameless, no matter how they justify it. And those who heard the story and then searched for the video really ought to take a good look at what that says about their own standards and values, as well.

The best post I've seen on this, Male category: You call yourself a man? Not while Erin out your fantasies online - CBSSports.com News, Fantasy, Video
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Submitted for approval July 21st, 2009 at 12:30 pm (Little Miss Attila blog time)

Permitting bigotry and offensiveness to pass unchallenged silently condones those behaviors

Immoderate Monk post, in reply to "whatever," @ American Power: Atwater Councilman Frago Sorry for "Stupid" E-Mails: Leftists Outraged, Blacks Reject Apology; Media Ignore Outburst of Democratic Race Insensitivity!
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Repsac3: "Permitting bigotry and offensiveness to pass unchallenged silently condones those behaviors."

whatever: "Alas, most seem only to find their voice when they know people like you will approve of what they have to say...which I believe is the point of this article that your liberal intolerance made you miss."

I don't think it's anywhere near as simple as that, whatever... Few are looking for the approval of "people like me" (whatever that means), but they are seeking the approval of their friends. When confronted by people in one's own circle "innocently" telling bigoted or insensitive "jokes," too many of us (myself included, sometimes) don't want to appear to come off as "better than..." by coming down on the person telling 'em. (Even though more than likely, almost everyone is uncomfortable when faced with off-color remarks--perhaps including the person making them, even.)

Unless you're traveling in a far different world than I, I'm pretty sure MOST people would approve of anyone who stands up for people against insensitive or bigoted comments... even people far different from me politically, religiously, or socially.

Individuals are bigots; most political or social groups are not (and the groups who are bigoted are pretty obvious about it.) In light of that, your "liberal intolerance" line makes no sense whatsoever, whatever...
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Submitted for moderation July 20, 2009 12:51 PM (AmPow Blog Time)