Author's note: This will really be the last post I waste on the hot air at the Daily Konfluence Ship of Fools Show. I think the article linked on this post says enough about blogs like DK, and Cannonfire for that matter (Big Joe is so busy making love to his anti-Israel invective, quoting me out of context, etc, that he has confused my blog, which has been around for two years, with a new blog created by colleagues of mine after the nonsense at the Daily Konfluence, that you all know as The Widdershins. This is what happens when you live with your head up your ass I suppose). Riverdaughter, you just go on ahead and keep telling everyone how I can't discuss Israel without mentioning the Holocaust to emotionally manipulate everyone. Tell a lie often enough and people will believe it. Ironic that Hitler said that, isn't it? And for the record, I removed the blog roll link titled "The Confluence" that took you to rate my poo dot com out of respect for one of my readers who felt it to be just gross. That's what people do who respect their peers, instead of lying to their readers. Also, for the record, the opinions written here on the whole Konfluence fiasco are none but my own. My colleagues who were also involved in the situation are more than capable of speaking for themselves. There is no need to drag them into this. If they choose to comment here or anywhere else, that is their choice.
And for the record I think it's hilarious that they are flooding my blog with traffic, quoting posters out of context, and are shocked that I would alter their link in my blog roll to take the traffic to rate my poo dot com where people submit pictures of their bowel movements and viewers vote on their quality of quantity (a far greater use of one's time than reading Riverdaughter's repetitive lies about me and others).
What is it with people and their selective memories? Did someone get a lobotomy or just forget saying over and over again that I am incapable of commenting on Israel without using the Holocaust to emotionally manipulate people? Oh wait, that was Riverdaughter the queen of liberal intellectuals. In fact, she created her own special set of rules on discussing Israel that demands that the Holocaust not be mentioned, which makes her "fyi" post that much more pathetic. We get it dear, your shit don't stink.
People can say whatever they like about my stance that bowel movements will always be a source of hilarity, or that I am an unrepentant supporter of the right of Israel to exist (though those that consider this a fault of mine never cease to fail to acknowledge that I am as unrepentant in my support for Palestinians to live free of mafioso terrorist kleptocrats, something that the Daily Konfluence neokons don't seem to care about). But when you lie about me I am going to call you a fucking liar, and I'm not going to apologize for that.
And now, Bret Stephens on why people, and certain Lefty bloggers, who feel so badly for the Palestinians are nothing but a bunch of fucking hypocrite babies. For those of you keeping score, he doesn't mention the Holocaust either. Don't bother reading the article neokon Konflationists. He writes for the Wall Street Journal so that makes him the spawn of satan. And just so you know I'm not blowing it out my ass, here's the results of the search on The Daily Konfluence for the word "Chechnya":
"Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn't here."
Hmmm...just like honesty and integrity. But there certainly were plenty of contributions in the "silence of our friends" category.
Here's a taste of Stephens' article
Of course, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict inflames the Muslim world in a way the Chechen one does not. But why is that, when so many more Muslims are being victimized by Russia?You'll have to follow the link to read the punch line. If the shoe fits, wear it.
Then too, why does the wider world participate in the Muslim world's moral priorities? Why, for instance, do high-profile Western writers like Portuguese Nobelist José Saramago make "solidarity" pilgrimages to Ramallah, but not to the Chechen capital of Grozny? Why do British academics organize boycotts of their Israeli counterparts, but not their Russian ones? Why is Palestinian statehood considered a global moral imperative, but statehood for Chechnya is not?
Why does every Israeli prime minister invariably become a global pariah, when not one person in a thousand knows the name of Chechen "President" Ramzan Kadyrov, a man who, by many accounts, keeps a dungeon near his house in order to personally torture his political opponents? And why does the fact that Mr. Kadyrov is Vladimir Putin's handpicked enforcer in Chechnya not cause a shudder of revulsion as the Obama administration reaches for the "reset" button with Russia?
Now sail on Ship of Fools, sail on.
13 comments:
Okay - had to go over and read it and surprise, surprise, it doesn't make any sense. You know what I say...."whatever". Hele Mai!
I am not sorry for what I am about to say Riverdauhgter is the Queen of something but not what she thinks...she is the Queen of Hypocrisy, the Queen of Liberal Dumbshits and the Queen of DUMB!
If she is any other kind of Queen it is in her head! I hope she sees this comment!
Her shit does stink...she is the Queen of Censure....
What the hell was she talking about?
what the fuck
some neocons are jews therefore all jews are neocons and therefore it's OK to hate Israel?
thats what I got out of that. It's moronic
I can't stand all this hate being spewed by the Kossacks et.al. This is one of the reasons that I've limited my time on the Internet. I've read things coming from people that I thought I knew and liked that are beyond the pale.
Maybe I should just stick to re-runs of Little House on the Prairie instead of blogging...it's easier on the blood pressure.
I'm sorry you are going through this, Shtuey. Hang in there. :-(
The guys at the Confluence do not understand the idea of evaluating "options".
They only look at "results". Israel is successful; Palestinians are miserable. Therefore, Israel = bad.
The problem with the Holocaust references is that they don't see the connection. They do not understand that the events of the Holocaust dictated the actual range of choices available to the Jews. They probably imagine that some "good" option was available - some option that would have left Palestinians alone while still ending up with happy, well fed Jews. Maybe the entire Jewish nation could have moved in with Uncle Sal in New York after the war was over? I don't know. What I do know is that they are not looking at the actual choices Israel faced. They cannot speak of what Israel "should have" done, only what Israel should NOT have done. They do not look at the way choices are arrived at by Israel vs. by Palestine (for instance, one nation that puts the welfare of its people first, and then - only then - pursues "justice", whatever that is, vs. one nation that pursues "justice" and happily spends its people as a reasonable price to pay? if "justice" is really the goal, and I think it's just a word excusing corrupt leadership)....the Confluence does not operate on that level of analysis; they say "why can't you criticize Israel?" and then fail to differentiate between real criticism ("Israel should not have made X decision because...") with...well, siding with viewpoints that suggest Israel has no right to defend itself or to exist....logic? what's that, when there are pictures of Palestinians looking starved, which of *course* must be Israel's fault....?
sorry for ranting. don't know where all this anger is coming from...
If I may make a suggestion...or an observation, I should say.
I have noticed for the last few years that I've been blogging that communicating via blogs is an almost impossible task. We all say that we want to get our views across, to make our points. However, in many cases, even though the print is clear, the message is not.
Everyone "says" they want to have a discussion, but a discussion can't come about when each person is so entrenched in their own views and not open to hear or even consider the views of others.
People who seemed to be "normal" to us just months ago, suddenly look like lunatics, and the feeling is mutual from the other side. No one is listening, no one is discussing, it's like a din of voices talking at the same time--no one listening. It's as if the blogosphere is a big ol' empty tube of echoes.
I made the decision to re-open my blog this week because I thought I missed the fun of talking to others, exchanging ideas, and delving into some creative writing. I visited a blog that was on my blogroll, and he was discussing gun ownership. I made the mistake of saying that although I'm fine with the rights of others to have a gun in their home, I would not want one in mine..because frankly, I just don't like them. I didn't think I said anything offensive, I wasn't saying that anyone who carries a gun in crazy or stupid, I just said that I didn't want one in my house. He continued to tell me how dangerous it was to live in my home and I just wouldn't admit I was scared because,after all, I do lock my doors at night. Not one time in that conversation did I deride anything he said, not one time was I insulting or rude.
Today he took all the comments down and left up a new post directed at me...telling me to "Shut the fuck up!" and had a picture of Homer Simpson pointing at his ass and telling me to kiss it.
That's the kind of hate that comes from nothing...directed at me for no reason. He didn't want to hear that I didn't want a gun, he only wanted to convince me of what HE felt was right.
I looked at a few other blogs today...nothing but anger and hate. I'm not saying I'm not guilty of such posts...I've made very clear how I feel about Obama supporters. I am just as guilty as the next person and that brings me more shame than you can believe.
Blogs have not become a venue to exchange ideas, they have become nothing more than places where people gather to agree with each other. If you don't agree...move on, you're not wanted.
I'm sorry for this long tirade...I only want to say that I hope that somehow, someway, a middle ground could be reached between bloggers who used to be friends. And I wish nothing but the best for you, Shtuey, and I pray that you can get your message across and that you will accept my apology for not getting in the middle of this. I'm just not very good at conflicts...I fold too easily.
Take care...
Mary Ellen
(I hope this wasn't offensive, it wasn't meant to be. The written word...it's not always as clear as one would think.)
Mary Ellen, I think your comment was very apropos and wise. I was just reflecting on some of these issues this morning, not only via blogs, but also people I have been having email communication with. There is a strange evolution that seems to come through these communications over time, some of which seems to be an incremental disappointment over mutual revelations that take layers off the fantasies that we all must formulate regarding one another to fill in the missing portions of our persona, ie, faces, voices, actions, histories; all things that we need to really know people. Another weird thing is the hesitance of many people that interact electronically to actually interact in person, it is like an affront to their sense of reality. I find blogging to be informative and seductive, but so frustrating and hurtfull at times as well. I don't know what the solution is.
Thanks, liliam, it's good to know that I'm not the only one feeling like this. I was so excited about starting my blog up again and it only took a few short days to drag me down. It's not that I think I need to wear rose colored glasses to look at the world, but it would be nice for a change to go through the day without being called a racist or told to "shut the fuck up." In real life, I've never had anyone talk to me like that and I actually get along quite well with just about everyone. This whole blogging experience has been an eye-opener, that's for sure.
I wish I had a solution...singing Kumbaya just doesn't work anymore. ;-)
Mary Ellen, your wisdom and thoughtfulness are always welcome, and indeed you are correct about your characterizations regarding blogs being essentially nothing but echo chambers for the opinions of the owners. That's why I created City Tavern. I wanted to have a venue where people from across the political spectrum could voice their opinions, and were free to argue. I brought some left, center and right leaning writers together, but so far the dialogue that I wanted to have is not really taking shape. It will take some time. People are still really hung up on I'm right and you're wrong and we have nothing in common. That's why I'm so disappointed in PUMAs who see no merit in engaging tea party people. There are a lot of great, thoughtful people out there who are not Republican fascists who are looking for dialogue with others they never really engage with. It's an opportunity that will be missed by 2010 I'm afraid. Of course, there are a lot of folks who say we're all done for in 2012 anyway so...I wish I could get some confirmation on that because I'd rather spend my time enjoying a leisurely life instead of working full time.
There have been a lot of issues disturbing the PUMAsphere in particular. Between the tea parties, dissent over the future of PUMA, which is next to impossible to decide when there isn't even any consensus over who is leading it, and the self inflicted nonsense at the Confluence it's no wonder things are so tense.
What I think I was subconsciously doing the other day was opening the release on the pressure valve. We had chosen to largely be silent on what happened at TC in light of the fact that Riverdaughter was just straight up lying about what happened. I'm not going to go there...I'm not going to go there...
I took it upon myself to challenge Confluence bullshit, but still kept it controlled to a degree. After she started mentioning me by name, no doubt in an attempt to cheese me off, I figured it was time to just open it up and get things out. The Widdershins took advantage of this admirably in the wake of RD's ludicrous post the other day.
The blogosphere is a rather unfriendly place and I'm angry to begin with as you know. I'm tired of liars, poseurs, and ill-informed morons passing off their opinions as truth, and making it up as they go along, etc etc.
I'll be the first to admit that I'm a mixed bag. I'm an idealist. I see how things could be, how they should be, and have a deep understanding of why they aren't that way, and it pisses me off. The kind of stupidity, ego, and nonsense we have been witnessing is a huge part of the problem, which is only complicated when it's coming from people who claim to be leading the way to the solution. If that's where people are looking to for leadership a lot of people are going to be very disappointed.
I know how hard it is for you to see all this Mary Ellen because yours is a wise, tempered, and peaceful soul. You have been a healthy counter for me when I have been at my most outraged, and are so now again (among the many reasons I'm glad you're back). That goes for you too lililam, and you too Heidi if you're reading this. If America unwittingly elects me President the three of you will be among my inner circle. How good are you at throwing drinks in someone's face and yelling, "Snap out of it!"? :)
I admit that I want people to be outraged. I want them pissing nails. But at the same time it's people like you that help give me perspective, different angles, middle paths, which is what this journey is really about.
In terms of healing the rift, I was never counted among the inner circle clique of wonder, nor did I care to be a part of it. I am happy to voice my contribution and if I can shed light, whether it is from a place of anger or inspiration then so much the better. But I have seen what these people are and what they are about. There is a lot of important work that must be done right now, reconciling with unrepentant liars is not really high on my list, nor do I feel that it is essential to the cause in which I am engaged. If we're all still around when the smoke clears we can talk about it, but I learned hard lessons on trust, integrity, and friendship at a very young age. I have already devoted too much time to this crap. I gave the opportunity to just let it be, but that wasn't good enough. Didn't we all go through that crap in high school? As the Beatles song goes, "Not a second time."
If it counts for anything Nunly, I will never tell you to shut the fuck up. I might call you a racist though...just for shits and giggles. ;) Maybe we could burn a cross together or something.
lililam, I think the solution is obvious...we party and maybe have an orgy...in lemon jello.
Anonymous; thank you for your assessment. I think the paradigm you've laid out could be applied to many "liberals," not just the Confluence writers. I would imagine that your anger is coming from the same place as mine, fatigue from the constant stream of ignorance.
Shtuey- Thanks for this well thought out and sincere reply to my comment.
Believe me, I understand your "fatigue from the constant stream of ignorance" because I think many of us are feeling the same thing and can empathize with you.
Also,if there's gonna be an orgy in lemon jello, count me in. Just don't tell the Pope, he frowns upon such activity...spoilsport!
Oh,I would like to add that I won't throw a drink in your face and tell you to snap out of it. This is more my style.
;-)
Oh, you got the Moonstruck reference. I didn't want to open the door for slapping me. I figured the line would be long, and I have sensitive cheeks. ;-)
I am also pleased you're in for the lemon jello orgy. I won't tell the Pope a thing. I hear he always comes to the party and only brings napkins.
Post a Comment