I’ve been out of town for a few days, paying my final respects to an old friend and co-conspirator up in Seattle. (I’ll have more to say about that on another post.) Meanwhile, my cartoon from Saturday has upset poor Scoopy. He seems to think I’m scaring the children.
Well, if you look at the drawing, it’s pretty much a statement of fact. The people who run the government don’t want anyone suction dredging in our rivers and creeks, but rather than an outright ban, they have chosen to make it too expensive and complicated for the average small time miner to comply.
As someone whose job it is to chronicle the changes happening all around us, the new rules seemed like a natural subject for the local audience. There are many people in the area (or weekend visitors) who mine either for a living or as a hobby. They’ll be limited to gold panning from now on.
But if you’re connected in any way with The Union, Scoopy just can’t help but toss out insults and twisted facts. He’s done it lately with Tom Keller, Keri Brenner, and constantly with George Boardman, Jim Hemig and yers truly. In his latest rant, he’s telling his audience that I’m a rabid right winger. He knows I’m not, but facts never get in the way with Scoopy.
It’s par for the course. When the Scoopster left the editor’s office at the paper, he left behind a stack of unpublished opinion pieces and letters that didn’t fit his world view. He’s a true believer in political correctness and censorship. We don’t miss him at all.
Actual balanced reporting by the late Kevin Wiser. (Thanks, Bonnie McGuire.) http://www.mcguiresplace.net/Stories-Water%20is%20Gold/
When Scoopy first started his blog it was almost a happening place… his bias was firmly in place but he tolerated some diversity of thought. That fell away little by little to the point where it’s just Scoopy and his Greek chorus with all of the thorns tormenting him being “hard-right”, even those of us who have never even been a conservative or registered GOP. He *needs* his foes, real or imagined, to be hard-right… or he’d have to actually have to have a conversation with them.
Objectively, I’ve gotta’ say that I find it odd that the more talented of the two of you feels such a need to comment on the least talented on such a regular basis.
Personally, I don’t know Pelline; never met him, don’t care to, and couldn’t care less what he has to say. I come here for the artistry and insight of RLCrabb, and I seriously doubt, even if I still lived in our home town, that I would give a rat’s ass what the egotistic carpetbagger has to say. The only relevance and notoriety your personal Moriarty has in my life, and probably many others, is what you give him.
If his pen was his penis, he’d still be too embarrassed to shower with the big boys.
When someone tells blatant untruths about your character in your own backyard it’s hard to not respond. He’s a sad, bitter man, but some people actually believe his rants.
Scoopy’s vision of the future… http://news.yahoo.com/yale-teacher-resigns-over-offensive-halloween-costume-email-031431741.html
Well, I guess Jeffy showed you.
To show the flip-side of your “simplistic” cartoon, he reproduces some “factual reporting”–a press release from a special interest group! We know they always report both sides of the issue.
It’s a good thing Jeffy didn’t have to work for Abe Mellinkoff when he was an alleged professional journalist at The Chronicle.
GB, Rebane said it well:
http://rebaneruminations.typepad.com/rebanes_ruminations/2012/09/journalist-fue-sleazebag.html
Thank you for the link, Greg. It was illuminating to see, in the comment section, a consolidated version of our society as a whole.
It brought to mind the fact that many on the blog are more upset at the character attacks, or misrepresentations, by the opposition than by the substance of the argument itself. In our political tug-of-war, which is a healthy attribute of any democratic republic, those who seek to make the most noise have forgotten the basic Newtonian law that it is the mass of each side which wins the day; not the amount of noise the opposing sides can generate. What you do for a living, just for an example, has no more bearing on the outcome than what you weighed last week. If the weight of your argument is greater than the oppositions, then your side should win the day. No amount of ad hominem attacks can change that outcome; yelling out that someone pulling against you is an asshole doesn’t magically cause them to shed pounds. It’s what we used to call in sports, “talking shit,” and is usually a sign that your game is weak.
I also noted complaints that the voice of the middle remained, for the most part, blatantly silent. That completely misses the point that there IS NO middle until all is said and done. The democratic scale seldom balances, and what we call the “middle” is an agreed upon no-man’s land, where the will of the majority meets the rights and concerns of the minority.. Ergo; those who call for “no compromise” are essentially enemies of our Constitution.
Pelline’s misrepresentation of Bob’s views might work on a grand scale, but we’re talking little blogs here, and those of us that know Bob aren’t swayed by such idiocy.
“It brought to mind the fact that many on the blog are more upset at the character attacks, or misrepresentations, by the opposition than by the substance of the argument itself.”
When one is being attacked with false and defamatory declarations, one responds. If you want the substance you are trying to communicate to rise to the top don’t attach it to lies intended to damage people you dislike.
Thank you Greg, for so eloquently rephrasing my post. I keep forgetting that, statistically, half of the people who read what I write are below average, and I appreciate you for speaking on their behalf.
Don’t flatter yourself, Chris. I was “elegantly rephrasing” RL.
http://www.rlcrabb.com/local/prospecting-for-the-truth/#comment-67528
Its alright Crabb Man… we know your not a “righty” or a “lefty”…you’re about as ambidextrous as they come (give or take a little) but then again, “most” of us are. just keep doin what you’re doin….