Thursday, February 08, 2007

When It Gets Too Hot....

Greg gets out of the kitchen.

It seems there was a little exchange over the last couple of days on Greg Letiecq's website. It had its roots in another comment thread, in which someone --- probably someone like "t," a parody of that which he or she purports to represent --- suggested that "racist jews" were opposing Faisal Gill. Greg, of course, hater of all things Gill, decided that this parody must be representative of the Gill campaign, and a member of his usual, pseudonymous/anonymous "Amen!" chorus chimed in.

As did I, offering the observation that "I suppose that you COULD make a case that there is clearly bias at work here. Of course, given the tone of this blog with regard to Faisal, it is not 'anti-Semitism' which is the most likely candidate."

And oh my, how the hatred piled on! Jonathan Mark, a Democrat (rejected for leadership as a committee member in his own district in Fairfax), played the victim card, wrongly or dishonestly claiming that "From the beginning, Gill’s supporters have accused his critics of being racist."

And then, the little bastard called me a "race pimp," notwithstanding the fact that I quite clearly said only that one "COULD make a case that there is clear bias at work here." I didn't make the case, or accuse anyone of bias.

Well, it went back and forth for a while, with Greg editing a comment in which I called Mark a ... well, a sphincter muscle at the lower end of the alimentary canal, which is probably an insult... to assholes.

Well, Greg finally got sick of comments, and closed the thread. In doing so, and notwithstanding the fact that it was Mark who started the name-calling (but in support of Greg, and therefore, acceptably), and indeed, was --- save for my one transgression, which probably few saw --- the only one who did so. Nevertheless, Greg had to get one last shot at me in:

I try to walk a fine line between allowing hard commentary and reigning in what too often devolves into personal attacks between posters which only serves to lower the quality of the threads. It doesn’t escape my attention that this only seems to occurr when you’re involved in the discussion in some way.

Once again you’ve managed to change the topic of discussion on a thread and make me waste a lot of my time babysitting. I’m aware that you’re not responsible for all of this, and at other times you’re contributed valuable and insightful commentary on a lot of what’s been posted.

Well, Greg, that might be so. It has less to do with me than it does with the facts --- as opposed to guilt-by-association and innuendo --- that I bring to the conversation. You know: facts about people like AWCheney, who makes pretensions of integrity, but served as little more than pit bull with PMS for Harry Parrish's last primary campaign, by using the criminal justice system for political advantage. Facts about Faisal Gill, like the fact that he was cleared of any wrongdoing by Federal investigators.

People frequently resent one who demonstrates or illustrates their inadequacies.

I know these are historical facts sometimes inconvenient to whatever goal Greg seems to have. But they are relevant, and they are facts.

I also raise questions. Questions like why Greg is so hostile to Faisal, whose law firm represents Steve Chapman in a lawsuit against Greg which increasingly looks like it will be successful. Questions like why is Greg so focused on spreading negative innuendo against a Republican candidate, when he seems to have nothing positive to say about his primary opponent (at least nothing we've seen yet).

Yeah, Greg, I changed the topic of the conversation. I changed it from irresponsible defamations of Gill supporters as anti-Semites to noting that, if one were to search for racism, an argument could be made that it was better found to be underlying some of the attacks (though probably not Greg's) against Gill.

But Greg has demonstrated yet again that the end justifies the means. It's OK to call me a "race pimp." But suggest that Greg --- or more accurately, his posters --- might be motivated by racism, or simply that someone could see it that way?

That gets comments shut down. And that blame placed not upon the name-calling offender, but on the recipient of the bile.

Yeah, Greg. That's a very reasoned, rational discussion you've got going there.

UPDATE: Awww! No Greg has blocked me from accessing his little website. I guess if you're not part of the "Amen!" chorus, you don't get to participate.

With that level of maturity, it is little surprise that he's facing a lawsuit for his irresponsible defamations.

5 comments:

Charles said...

Jim, you are still welcome at my "boring" web site. :-)

James Young said...

Thanks, Charles.

Anonymous said...

Judging by the comments, it would appear that LI has joined BVBL and TC in the bottom 10% of the class when it comes to maturity.

James Young said...

Thanks, mom. I guess Greg just bans those he fears ... particularly those who bring a little rationality to his discussions.

Anonymous said...

No, it goes deeper than that and is probably symptomatic of what ails the the PWCGOP and to a different extent the committee in Loudoun. You get a couple of people (generally inexperienced in real party politics and behind the scenes machinations) who are real gung ho and believe they know best. The problem is then compounded when you have inadequate or elected leadership (see Lord Connaughton) who let them run loose or steer them respectively. In truth, BVBL is nothing more than a tool used at the convenience of all PWC GOP officials when his ideals suit their goals. This probably wouldn't be much of an issue if Kopko weren't a similar tool (see outburst during the last election). The system works much better when you have a professional or individual with no political aspirations running the show. You have to have somebody who look at all scenarios objectively and dispassionately to make the local committee work effectively, a Gipetto if you will but not one who also holds office.

Unfortunately, given the present situation, those qualified individuals who might otherwise make the sacrifice to volunteer their time and efforts are put off by the sophmoric antics of local party "leaders".

There may however be a light at the end of the tunnel as I am perceiving a bit of a shift in attitude among the conservatives fed up with the local circus. What it will take is a real hardass, one unconcerned with how he is perceived, to grab the party (and local representatives) by the throat and shake a little sense into them.

If that person exists, and is smart, he will move the focus from the divise hot button social issues and hone in fiscal responsibility, then the social issues will take care of themselves.