14 Apr
2003
14 Apr
'03
6:21 p.m.
Sorry to fan the flames but I suffered one of
Al's meally
mouthed attacks a couple of days ago it's been eating at me.
I kept silent till now but after hearing about his attack on
Sellam I feel that it's time I made a reply. See below.
At 10:06 AM 4/13/03 -0700, Al wrote:
>> From: Joe <rigdonj(a)cfl.rr.com>
>>
>> At 03:05 PM 4/12/03 -0400, you wrote:
>> >And I thought the economy was in the toilet.
>>
>> Only for the average citizen. The rich are richer
>> than ever thanks to Bush and administration (or
>> maybe I should say LACK of administration!)
>>
>> Joe
>
>You probably shouldn't say that, since it's wrong...
>
>Can we keep political commentary off this list?
>
>Especially mean-spirited partisan hate speech with no
>data to back it up?
>
>I want to hear about Classic Computers on this list.
>Not someone's partisan hatred.
>
>Thanks!
>
>Al
>
Al may well be an idiot, but so are those who think this list is a place
to discuss politics, or who so quickly take the bait when anyone else
does.
Those on the left and right political fringes (and we certainly seem to
have more than our fair share of those on this list) seem to see
political statements in what appear to be innocuous comments to the
politically unwashed. It seems that to certain members of the list, any
statement about "the economy" is pregnant with underlying political and
provides a legitimate "opening" for a political rejoinder. This is
opportunistic behavior that is destructive to the list.
There are political issues specifically relevant to classic computers
(e.g., abandonware, the DMCA, piracy, etc.) that, at least in theory,
should be open for list discussion. The problem is that we are pretty
lousy at doing this. Our discussions of these issues usually quickly
degenerate into personal insults, which in turn tend to generate a fair
amount of OT commentary to the dismay of most list members.
-W