Vince Demonstrates His Double-Standard

Vince Thoms runs a pretty incredible site, for a teenager. To be sure, he has his moments of irrationality, such as when he kicked off all of his co-contributors (not that the pseudonymous ones were much of a loss), but by and large, he runs an excellent, and obviously widely-read, blog.

He even aspires to higher standards, complaining today that he "feel[s] like a baby sitter here," and demands that the "bickering in the threads needs to stop," because "This is not the place for it anymore," and he has "other things to deal with than being involved in endless squabbling." He says that "Every comment will be deleted quickly," and he "will begin banning the ips that have made the comments." He says he is "going to clean house, and delete a whole bunch of comments in threads that are inappropriate [to] the topic at hand."

Of course, when one reads the comments, it is clear (to me at least) that the only comments that he has deleted are mine.

Here's a selection from the comments that good ole Vince hasn't deleted, from the time, as far as I can tell, when the personal attacks started:

April 27th, 2006 at 2:08 pm

36. “And tell me, AWCheney, when, oh when, have you or the BOCS EVER justified its profligate spending? Not in generalities, but specifically? What is that? Never? Hello! Anybody there, McFly?”

Like I have said before Mitch…just check your brains at the door. They just want to tell us how, and what, to think.

I can always depend upon JY to make my point.

—AWCheney

42. April 27th, 2006 at 2:21 pm

“So no, we won’t “tak[e] a page out of PWC civics and create a budget review committee,” particularly since: (a) those who have served in that capacity have made it perfectly clear that the budget is inscrutable…”

Well, gee…is this the consequence of modern homeschooling (not that I’m philosophically opposed to it)? Are our “new conservatives so mathematically challenged, with computers at every elbow, that they lack the wherewithal to dissect a budget? My father was the chairman of that old PWC Federation of Civic Associations Budget Committee (as it was then called), and he described it as, “putting a sharp pencil to it.” No computer, you see. Now I admit, I’m mathematically challenged, but there’s got to be some people out there who aren’t…expecially among those who complain the loudest.

—AWCheney

43. April 27th, 2006 at 2:28 pm

Hey, I just noticed…Jimmy boy called me a crone again. Thanks for the compliment JY! For the uninitiated, in researching the term I discovered that it meant “woman of age and great wisdom.” Now young man…why won’t you heed my words?!

—AWCheney

49. April 27th, 2006 at 2:37 pm

Well Jimmy boy, if you are so curious about this spending, why don’t you request a copy of the budget (which is your right) and you, and some of your cronies, go over it with that “sharp pencil,” then present your findings in a public BOS meeting. I imagine your cause might achieve a great deal more credence…and perhaps some POSITIVE publicity.

—AWCheney

52. April 27th, 2006 at 2:47 pm

Sorry…scratch that last comment. I misread what you said. But the research I did (Microsoft research), it was also defined that way in past lore, as well (apparently) in current. The point is, Jimmy boy, I’m simply not taking it as an insult any longer…but as a compliment.

—AWCheney

53. April 27th, 2006 at 3:06 pm

Seriously right now JY…doesn’t it bother you that you can never allow yourself to do the right thing in the right way? What is so wrong in presenting facts to people who might well be receptive to them? Then, if you feel the need to rant and rave, you at least have logical basis for your position. I hope you realize that at least some of these “anonymous and pseudynomous” posters view you as, at least slightly, deranged and capable of just about anything, which is why they do not post under their own names. You must be so proud of your part in creating such fear in the blogosphere. For myself, there’s been very few things in my life of which I was ever afraid, and I’ve certainly never feared people like you. You’re just a bully (perhaps because you were, yourself, bullied in life) and bullies are generally cowards. No one has anything to fear from a coward.

—AWCheney

61. April 27th, 2006 at 6:45 pm

Charles, perhaps you should review Comment #45 which lays out a very rational approach to conducting a citizen’s budgetary review. As Kathryn points out, it’s not an overnight process, but then the budget process itself is not an overnight thing, and it is highly complex. Are we to assume that there are no citizens out there capable of addressing the budget in a systematic, rational manner? That would be a rather sad indictment of the PWC brain pool, now wouldn’t it.

—AWCheney

71. April 27th, 2006 at 11:52 pm

Well Kathryn, you may have noticed that the only board member of the Taxpayer Alliance that has [apparently] chimed in here is Jimmy…even I don’t believe that he is representative! I actually believe that someone like Rick Hendrix, for instance, might be receptive to the idea of a budget review committee. We’ll see…maybe someone with a modicum of sense in the organization might actually act on the idea.

—AWCheney

72. April 27th, 2006 at 11:56 pm

“My guess would be a lack of resources…”

Since, essentially, the only resources being referenced are cerebral in nature, that’s rather an indictment of your group.

—AWCheney

75. April 28th, 2006 at 7:32 am

I guess they do have to put the county’s budget in crayons and pictures.

Here is the link (for the lazy Jim Young): http://www.pwcgov.org/default.aspx?topic=040024000110003526

Every dollar, every person, every program in detail is described.

How can they make it more transparent?

—Anonymous

82. April 28th, 2006 at 9:26 am

# 1 - I’m younger than you, fatass.

# 2 - I agree that too much money is spent.

# 3 - You and the taxpayer alliance would rather grandstand than get off your lazy collective asses and DO something about the budget.

# 4 - If your whole lazy, freaking organization put in an hour or two a week dissecting the budget and laying out a plan, then something could be done. Maybe you could spend all the time you now waste cruising blogs and invest that in something for the betterment of PWC.

—Kathryn

And here are the posts that he left, as far as I can tell, after he started deleting my comments, most in defense against the ad hominem attacks of the tax-and-spend Repubmocrat crowd:

98. April 28th, 2006 at 5:11 pm

“However, to make it abundantly clear, since you apparently need pictures and crayons, the definition of the term as I was using it is “old hag.”

Oh Jimmy boy, I’m so hurt. I hear that someone is calling you a troll over at BVBL…any relation to an “old hag?” Now, THAT would be an insult (having a relationship, that is).

BTW…thanks again for recognizing my wisdom.

—AWCheney

I suppose I could go one, but AWCheney's post get more lengthy, with more belittling appellations elaborate concoctions and accusations completely without basis in fact and/or reality. Yet they're still there.

Of course, when it comes right down to it, the only posts Vince has clearly deleted are mine, in defense. I guess there are some people who are allowed to post inappropriate comments are those who attack me. Now, I wish I could say that ole Vince is just leaving AWCheney's comments up to demonstrate what a bitter old fool she is.... but somehow, I doubt it.

UPDATE: Vince explains his actions in a comment.