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[rickb]

When posting here on White Blaze, Perhaps we should all consider something that was once said by Thoreau:

A man’s ignorance sometimes is not only useful, but beautiful, while his knowledge, so called, is oftentimes worse than useless beside being ugly. Which is the best man to deal with, he who knows nothing about a subject, and what is extremely rare, knows that he knows nothing, — or he who really knows something about it, but thinks that he knows all?

[The Weasel]

When posting here on White Blaze, Perhaps we should all consider something that was once said by Thoreau:

Yes, Rick, I take your point very clearly. As I said near the end of my way-too-long ramble, I shan't soon try to share what I know. Thank you for the pithy quote about the uselessness of knowledge; I will add that to my portfolio.

Regards,

The Weasel

[rickb]

With all due respect all means you, and me and everyone else who participates in a thread.

Regards,

Rick B

[The Weasel]

With all due respect all means you, and me and everyone else who participates in a thread.

Regards,

Rick B

Particularly the "Law for Backpackers - Q & A" thread, which, I see, has been closed. So my knowledge of the law - as a lawyer for 34 years - and yours, from whatever source, will not find a place here. Thoreau may or may not be right, but he has had the last effective word.

Thank you for your comment, Rick.

The Weasel

[bfitz]

I have no doubt that you enjoy WB, and perhaps you enjoy the Trail aspect of it too; it's a beautiful thing, and I'm sure it's what drew you (and most others) here at the outset. But I really mean it when I say that I think this slash-and-burn mentality to so many threads that are in the "AT" part of the forum - and the legal thread was in the "Straight Forward" segment (i.e. "straight forward question-and-answer") - that it is seriously damaging WB to the many people who don't come here for politics and all such things.

I agree.

The only threads I really argue in are ones where the topic is itself an argument, or when one is already going on and I have a point to add or a point I can't stand to see go unchallenged. I'm pretty sure I wasn't disrespectful to you on your legal thread (it was very interesting, like most criminals, I consider myself an armchair lawyer and love to explore the intricacies of "the law" mostly with the intent of finding a way to squirm out from under charges) That thread was for a while one of the better informative threads on the site. I think what happened though is that some folks felt condescended to by the way you put things when challenged. This led to a bit of mockery that wasn't too well handled by you, and that opened the door for a feeding frenzy. And I must say you can feed a frenzy, I really thought you were doing it intentionally (you're a lawyer after all, I thought you were manipulating the audience, and I don't mean that in a bad way).

I like your arguments. When you are actually refuting a point you hold your end of the argument up quite well (better than a lot of your critics, that's for sure) but when you catch a little personal ribbing, you respond to it in a way that just invites more...I don't know exactly how to describe it, it just does. I've been exchanging vicious barbs with various "members" here for years and have championed some incredibly unpopular viewpoints, but it's never really gotten out of hand like that with me, and I can't tell you exactly what makes the difference, except that I think taking everything with a bit of tongue in cheek type humor is probably key. I expect, even intentionally provoke, a certain amount of excoriation for some of things I say (one way to make a point is to have some idiot go apoplectic and display the irrationality of their own point of view, if ya know what I mean...) and have a laugh about it in the next post. If tha Wookie and Jack and Sly and I and all the others can hang around the fire and joke after the things we say on whiteblaze about each others' opinions then we all can. There can be peace in the middle east, too. It's obvious you like a good debate, I really think if you hung around for a while and participated you'd learn to enjoy our little politcal forum, and with all the attention it's getting thanks to this and other threads, I expect a lot more folks will be subscribing and checking it out!!

So cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!!!!!!

[Blue Jay]

I think what happened though is that some folks felt condescended to by the way you put things when challenged. This led to a bit of mockery that wasn't too well handled by you, and that opened the door for a feeding frenzy. And I must say you can feed a frenzy, I really thought you were doing it intentionally (you're a lawyer after all, I thought you were manipulating the audience, and I don't mean that in a bad way).
....when you catch a little personal ribbing, you respond to it in a way that just invites more...I don't know exactly how to describe it, it just does. I

I cannot believe I'm agreeing with you, however you nailed this one. Just because a weasel is a weasel, this does not mean he's a good at being a weasel. He was not doing it intentionally, he had no clue. Weasels usually respond well to other weasels because they respect each other. He clearly has nothing but contempt for us. Well the feeling is mutual.

[Skidsteer]

Blue Jay and Bfitz agree.
Right.

I think I better go dig out my Y2K emergency supplies.

[bfitz]

Naw, he may agree with me, but I don't agree that weasel has nothing but contempt for us. He has more than just contempt, I'm sure.

[The Weasel]

I cannot believe I'm agreeing with you, however you nailed this one. Just because a weasel is a weasel, this does not mean he's a good at being a weasel. He was not doing it intentionally, he had no clue. Weasels usually respond well to other weasels because they respect each other. He clearly has nothing but contempt for us. Well the feeling is mutual.

Jay, it is my sadness - not yours, obviously - that tells me that you have contempt for me without knowing me. If I had contempt for all of you ("He clearly has nothing but contempt for us") I would neither have started, nor continued, the three "Law" threads I began. If I was condescending - I respond to Bfitz - it was when I responded to those who told me I had no idea what I was talking about, or who spoke, frankly, as you do above. But my goal was to help; the goal of so many others, apparently including you, is to hurt and injury with words, and to feel that it can be done with impunity. It can't. Sometimes things that can hurt, hurt.

You are the one, as I recall, who spoke, in the "World" thread about the Iraq War, of President Bush as a "slime bag." No one else seems to have a problem with that, other than me. I have learned a valuable lesson about all of that, and you may continue to call him that, in this Forum, all you wish, it appears.

My best wishes,

The Weasel
GA-->VA '00
The rest one day...
...and for those who have condemned me for not being further, I agree. I wish I was further.

[The Weasel]

Naw, he may agree with me, but I don't agree that weasel has nothing but contempt for us. He has more than just contempt, I'm sure.

Contempt for none, Bfitz. Sadness for a few, you not among them. And regard for most.

I wish you all well,

The Weasel

[Heater]

Particularly the "Law for Backpackers - Q & A" thread, which, I see, has been closed. So my knowledge of the law - as a lawyer for 34 years - and yours, from whatever source, will not find a place here. Thoreau may or may not be right, but he has had the last effective word.

Thank you for your comment, Rick.

The Weasel

Geeeze! Without even realizing it, (although I have my doubts) you are being demeaning to Rick and all the other regular posters on this site with that post!

If by some incredibly uncharacteristic mistake by someone with such an "advanced intelligence" (a claim which you seem to enjoy conveying to the members of this site, ad nauseum) Rick's quote went "over your head"...

--

"A man’s ignorance sometimes is not only useful, but beautiful, while his knowledge, so called, is oftentimes worse than useless beside being ugly. Which is the best man to deal with, he who knows nothing about a subject, and what is extremely rare, knows that he knows nothing, — or he who really knows something about it, but thinks that he knows all"?

--

...perhaps you shoud read it again, over and over, until you get it!

Regarding your post earlier in the thread. Nice troll!

It should get lotsa controversial responses. I especially liked the part where you said you would be expecting all the "snarky" responses after submitting the snarkiness infused, longwinded, tear jerker above.

Noice!

I just hope certain people realize that is just what it was.



P.S. Will you apologize for bringing frivolouse lawsuits into this forum anytime soon?

[bfitz]

Bluejay has said far worse about me. Take a little time to get to know his style and beliefs and you'll realize it's a compliment which I take to mean he's listening to what I say. (If you believed what he does you'd call GWB a slimeball, too and damn what anyone thinks...which you'd perhaps realize if you lurked for a while in the pol forum before reacting by saying his statement is an insult to those who serve, of which he is a one BTW)

[The Weasel]

Bluejay has said far worse about me. Take a little time to get to know his style and beliefs and you'll realize it's a compliment which I take to mean he's listening to what I say. (If you believed what he does you'd call GWB a slimeball, too and damn what anyone thinks...which you'd perhaps realize if you lurked for a while in the pol forum before reacting by saying his statement is an insult to those who serve, of which he is a one BTW)

Bfitz:

Perhaps if people read what I wrote, instead of reading who wrote it, they would have realized by now that I have never said I didn't agree with people's most harsh criticisms of what our country has done; perhaps I do, and perhaps I don't. Please understand that I've never said which, nor, in WhiteBlaze, will I. Others may state their politics here, and if that is permitted, they can do so; I simply choose not to.

But whether it is George Bush, or Bill Clinton; Lyndon Johnson or (gulp!) Richard Nixon; Gerald Ford or Jimmy Carter...it doesn't matter. In a forum of any kind, administered by a member of our military on active duty in a war zone, I do not think it proper to refer to the President of the United States as Jay does. I don't care if the fight is in Vietnam or on the Mayaguez, in Panama or the sands of Iran, in Kosovo or Kuwait or Iraq. I think that's wrong.

I have paid my dues in politics far more than most, and, of the list above, met and spoken with all but one, and worked for two, and despised at least one. But here, in this forum - in WhiteBlaze - I won't call a forum administrator's ultimate boss a "slime ball" or equate him with Hitler. If I ever do that, it will be in another forum.

Nor does it matter to me whether Ernest would say the same here or not. I value him - incredibly, to me - as a friend. But my feeling about Blue Jay's words are because in addition to that, I respect the uniform he wears.

Others may differ. But let me ask you this: If you were invited into the home of a member of the military, would you look at her and say, "Your commander-in-chief is a slime bag, a slime ball, and the same as Hitler."?
I'm not asking if it's wrong to feel that way. But would you say that?

I hope I'm not offending anyone by making this point in this thread.

The Weasel

[bfitz]

If I was invited into a german soldier's house for dinner during WW2 I would say exactly those things and more to him, in the hopes of convincing him to turn away from evil and turn towards good.

[The Weasel]

Well, Aus, as Sigmund Freud actually said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

I thanked Rick, and, as I said to him, I meant it. For my long post, many will read it as it was intended: As criticism for none, but a last hope that some would see how I'd hoped to help others. And, as I said in the post to Rick that I referred to, the last "Law" thread has been closed. I do not need a long explanation from our Administrators to be understand that, since it closed, my information is not considered useful.

I knew there would be some, like Rick and Bfitz (although I hardly had any way to know it would be them) who would respond thoughtfully, and they did. I also knew there would be some, like you, who find it more satisfying to be snarky. I have no interest in the controversy any longer. But I was here at the birth of WhiteBlaze; I wish it well, as I think daily of the AT that means so much to me. And I hope that WhiteBlaze will survive despite ugliness such as your comment; it will not prosper because of it.

And I even wish you well, Aus. Perhaps one day you'll understand why.

The Weasel

[bfitz]

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19613

[The Weasel]

If I was invited into a german soldier's house for dinner during WW2 I would say exactly those things and more to him, in the hopes of convincing him to turn away from evil and turn towards good.

Bfitz: But this forum is not a German's house, and Rock is not a German soldier who is engaging in evil. (You did not mean to imply that, I know.) But that is my point: This is an American forum, and there are other things to say which are far less offensive.

B, I think you probably agree with my point, frankly. It may be trite to say that there are no good reasons for bad manners, but it's true. I think most here know that BlueJay and FD were out of line to say what they said, even though they are certainly entitled to say such things in other places. I'm not trying to rekindle it, though, and let's both of us end this (you may have the last word, if you wish) with an understanding that most of all, I'm deeply saddened that my opinions are ones that should not be uttered, while Jay's and FD's may freely be spoken. But enough. Say what you wish; you may close and I'll, for once, bide my peace.

The Weasel

The Weasel

[The Old Fhart]

Skidsteer-"Blue Jay and Bfitz agree.
Right.

I think I better go dig out my Y2K emergency supplies."

Wait, it gets even worse, I also agree with them. If you're a religious man, start praying!

[Heater]

Well, Aus, as Sigmund Freud actually said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

I thanked Rick, and, as I said to him, I meant it. For my long post, many will read it as it was intended: As criticism for none, but a last hope that some would see how I'd hoped to help others. And, as I said in the post to Rick that I referred to, the last "Law" thread has been closed. I do not need a long explanation from our Administrators to be understand that, since it closed, my information is not considered useful.

I knew there would be some, like Rick and Bfitz (although I hardly had any way to know it would be them) who would respond thoughtfully, and they did. I also knew there would be some, like you, who find it more satisfying to be snarky. I have no interest in the controversy any longer. But I was here at the birth of WhiteBlaze; I wish it well, as I think daily of the AT that means so much to me. And I hope that WhiteBlaze will survive despite ugliness such as your comment; it will not prosper because of it.

And I even wish you well, Aus. Perhaps one day you'll understand why.

The Weasel

This is exactly the response I expected.

Unfortunately, weasie, you will probably never understand why.

[The Weasel]

Oh, I know why. That's why I said I was sad.

The Weasel