I considered an actual response, but most of what I'd say is pretty obvious...
I may quote his bit about my "conspiracy" post and append it to what I said there, because his absurd take on it is sort of funny, in an ironic "WTF?!?" kinda way, especially in light of Dr. Douglas' crazy "henchman" allegations and accusations to which the post was meant to respond... (Methinks it's possible Robert might be a little satire-impaired, himself...though it's far more likely that he was feigning ignorance for his audience, as I suspect he was throughout most of that sore loser, "If you guys won't let me be the captain of the team, I'm takin' my kickball and goin' home" response.)
But to Robert all I can say is so long, sweet prince... Our brief encounter was kinda pleasant, mostly--even when you tried to insult, you did so with some intelligence, rather than relying exclusively on the usual twin epithet categories of bad language (fuckhead!) and eeeeevil sociopolitical grouping (fascist!!)--and I'm sorry to see that you were and remain so unwilling to stand your ground when things get rough--or even to compete on an even playing field, where you permit everything I say to appear, rather than picking and choosing only those comments you agree with or have a ready answer for. I sincerely expected better from you...
Nevertheless, it was fun while it lasted... Should you ever change your mind, I'll be here... (I'll probably keep checkin' in on your blog, regardless... ...and if you do post something intriguing, I may even respond, as well... Like I said, I like how you write, even if I think most of what you actually say is shite.)
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UPDATE, 1025/11, 4:40 PM (or so):
Twigs and pebbles tossed from behind the skirts of mommy moderation:
Thank you Dr. Douglas for the kind words and links to the Realist. I am afraid that the longer Walter (Walter James Casper, III) continues with his delusional rantings, the further he will slip down into the depths of his paranoia. There is nothing that we can do other than to block him from our blogs and such (I've already had to block him from my blog and Facebook page), and simply allow him to rant on his own site. Eventually he will alienate himself from even his own followers as they begin to realize the depth of his illness.I'm sorry, Rob... But I'm not real impressed by a guy (or pair of guys) who speak ill of me from behind a screen of moderation... ...and I don't much value the opinions of anyone who is, either...
And as Walter is reading this blog, I would offer him this advice: seek professional help and seek it now. Do not wait.
---
So, I'm glad you two are having fun n'all... but until you're willing to say your piece in a place where folks are free to respond--ALL folks, not just the people and responses you pick and choose--you might just as well not be talkin', least as far as I'm concerned.
While folks like you and Donald seem eager to hide what those you disagree with have to say by moderating your comment sections for content and limiting the number of verbatim quotes, citations, and links you use when blogging, I want nothing more than to give folks every opportunity to read exactly what you have to say, in all of it's contextual glory, and thus will quote and link to your exact words as often as I can... ...and sure, I'll even add a few if you folks don't feel I've given you enough "Look at ME!!!" time.
Everyone please, go look at Donald Douglas and Robert P. Tuttle, III. Read what they have to say. Weigh their arguments (as well as the arguments of those who disagree with 'em, of course), judge as fairly as your conscience allows, and come to your own conclusions.
I ask for nothing more.
And I ask for nothing less.
---
Previously (in reverse order):
What A Real Conspiracy Looks Like
Robert P. Tuttle - Six Up, Six Down
Thomas Paine Had More Balls Than This Pretender, Didn'e?
Thom Paine Gets It Really, Really Wrong...
![[photo]](http://rimstation.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/IMG_0501_2.220102653_std.JPG){kind=link}
16 comments:
Reppy
Perhaps I should apologize for addressing you so informally, but I started reading American Power regularly back in the summer of 2007. So, I was witness to the lead-up to and found of this blog. In a sense, I feel that I’ve come to know you and the rest of the regulars, here and at AmPow. I’ve even participated/contributed from time-to-time under a now abandoned blogger id. If it bolsters my bona fides any, Don has, on at least one occasion, declared me a “freak.” Anyway, all of that is just preamble to my real purpose here, which is to implore you to drop this pointless and tedious exercise.
It should be obvious that anyone with enough brains to follow your point-by-point, and possessing sufficient objectivity to be persuaded by the evidence, can see that Don is irrational all on their own. His ranting is self-refuting. I think that in Donabonics this is known as “SELF DOUCHE” or something like that. The other wingnuts lining up behind Don are not going to be persuaded facts any more than Don has been led to the obviously correct conclusion by the same facts. Their hatred of what you stand for justifies, in their minds, their mindless hatred of you and their mindless assurance that you must be to blame. Reason is impotent against ideology.
This blog began as a parody. It used to be kind of funny. Not JBW funny, but who is? Don says about a dozen mock-worthy things every day. But lately, this blog has been all talk and no mock.
At the same time, Don has been breaking down in a fashion that is not so funny. He has let slip that he is in danger of becoming one of the “losers” that Rick Santelli complained about in his “seminal” teabagger rant. He’s got family issues, and, perhaps, he’s facing some real pressure at work. While his online persona is devoid of merit, as he is quick to point out, he does useful work. While it might be satisfying to some around here, it’s hard for me to imagine that anyone would be better off with Don out of a job and his students left in the care of some freeway-flying adjunct. Not that you’re trying to affect his job status, but paranoid obsession has to be distracting him from the real world issues that should be occupying his time.
What with a presidential election heating up, hippies in the streets, and a host of bat-shit crazy wingnuts running for the Republican nomination, trying their best to out batshit the rest, it can’t be too hard to find something to parody in the style of the Nutty Professor without directly challenging Donnie himself. When he posts about you, which he will, let it go. There are no rational people who will be persuaded by anything he says and the people that will take him seriously cannot be influenced by anything that you can write.
Please, bring back some fun. This whole thing has become a real drag. I’m even starting to feel a little bit sorry for the NeoClown.
Sincerely
Dr X
"I’ve even participated/contributed from time-to-time under a now abandoned blogger id."
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"This blog began as a parody. It used to be kind of funny. Not JBW funny, but who is? Don says about a dozen mock-worthy things every day. But lately, this blog has been all talk and no mock."
You know, given that JBW hasn't been posting in awhile, the first thing I did after reading your comment was to see if he'd perchance abandoned his blogger id... (No, I wouldn't put it past him... ...and damn that cat for STILL getting more hits than us even today, without writing a single word in like 8 months...8>)
Yeah, I was always the cute one in the group.
The other guys were the funny ones.
(Damn me and my pretty genes...)
I'll certainly give some thought to what you say, though I doubt I'll ever formally announce the end of American Nihilist... (Best to always keep the guy on his toes, don'cha know...) More than likely it'll be a situation where I realize it's been months or years since I last posted anything... ...or perhaps, it'll just change focus, either mocking lots of folks, or leaving the mock behind in favor of the regular ol' political blogging I tend to do anyway (y'know... all that "talk"), or something...
Whatever I do, I'll never remove what's been posted up to now, for certain... (Not that you were suggesting it, but I want to make that clear to any and all...)
And of course, this being a socioMarxist nihilist collective (or whatever), I'll have have the consensus of the other proles before doing anything...
One thing I do promise... If I ever do formally decide to announce the end of AmNi, my final post will contain--or perhaps be, in it's entirety--a line quoted (and of course cited) from your comment here:
"His ranting is self-refuting."
Can't say what'll happen for sure, but thanks for your input and your support.
To the authors: If you have any thoughts on this--and especially if you think this xpat cat may have a point--email me...
Reppy, I can see where the xpat is coming from and I have had this fear for some time that Donald might lose whatever semblance of sanity he has remaining. I mean, it's not funny if he's on a tower with a high powered rifle. Hard to find the humor in that. But, Our Don doen't seem to be close to it yet. So maybe AmNi still has some legs. Besides, what are we gonna do become American Tory and take on Thom Paine (who BTW is no Jon Swift may he rest in peace).
Sorry for the equivocal pronoun. By "this," I did not mean AmNi. I meant the series of deadly serious legalistic rebuttals to Donalde's goofy and baseless personal attacks.
Also, I'm not much worried about Don going postal. I'm more concerned about him getting increasingly lost in his paranoid narcissistic fantasy life. He's devolved into a sort of pitiful and hideous Smegol/Gollum character over the last few years. I think JBW might have broken him.
Anyway, I was only requesting that you guys consider reviving the original spirit of AmNi as a kind of Colbert Report to Don's O'Douglas Factor.
Looking forward to your Friday "reach around."
I meant the series of deadly serious legalistic rebuttals to Donalde's goofy and baseless personal attacks.
Given that the AssProf has already had his lawyer contact at least two people on the left about "harassment," Reppy is pretty smart to have an evidence trail here. Donalde accuses him of being the head chef of some romantic conspiracy recipe. He ought to be prepared.
xpatPhD, I've spent a lot of time today thinking about your comments. I'm pretty much absent a lot anyway and Reppy is pretty much carrying the load. I guess AmNi'll just evolve or devolve into whatever. It'll come down to who's contributing what and how badly Donald's lawyers rake us over the coals. Que sera sera!
Thank you for your interest and BTW where are you expatting? The country is enough. You know how we are when get info on people. We're worse than J. Edgar. Thom will probably take that seriously.
What I said at the outset was the fact... Aside a few spurts of inspiration, here, I was never the funny one (or "one of the funny ones"). Other than becoming more/less frequent, depending, my posts haven't changed much...
What's changed is who else is posting (or ain't), and how frequently they're posting (or ain't) RELATIVE to me.... I'm the same drag I've always been...
There's folks who don't / don't want to believe it, but I never intended for this to be a working blog... In my mind, it was going to be more like a picture or a cartoon... Something you look at / laugh at once, and maybe direct a friend to, so s/he can laugh att it, too... I set up the layout to be a mirror image of AmPow, and I filled the sidebar with all manner of gadgets having to do wth nihilissm, but I don't think I even had any posts--not even fake ones...
Oops... Premature postage...
Anyway... I was as surprised as anyone when the posts and links started coming in... ...and when it didn't last, too... But I really never expected, well, anything from this... I just figured that it was a good place to do battle with Douglas, the way i do... seeing as how this blog was already here, n'all...
Carl
It's sort of sad that with Donnie's financial problems he is (probably at his own insistence) being scammed by a lawyer for fees related to performance of a "service" that the lawyer must be smart enough to realize are totally pointless. You can be sure the shyster is not working on contingency.
In any event, if it is some kind of legal action that you or Reppy is concerned with, the less said the better. I have assumed for some time that Don has been trying to provoke you guys in the hope that you would slip up and post some sort of magic word or phrase that his legal council has advised him is both key and still absent.
Though, it could also be the case that he's really put his foot in it at the school and he's trying to lay the groundwork to become some sort of wingnut Ward Churchill. At least he's safe from any suggestion of scholarly misconduct as there has been no conduct to "mis."
...
Reppy and Kevin
After some consideration, I've realized it's not really fair to ask you guys to post in any particular style. In fact, it's down right Don-like.
Really, I just wanted to first point out that by trying to reason with Don and his fellow travelers you were essentially trying to teach pigs to sing. Second, I was trying to express my sense of nostalgia for simpler, happier times.
Whatever you do, I'll keep coming back. I've tried to go cold turkey on AmPow-AmNi a number of times, but then something comes up in the news and I just know that Don is posting something stupid about it and I just can't help myself. With the election heating up, I just can't look away from the whole freak show.
BTW - Have you seen that creepy new Herman Cain ad with the smoking man and the slow-mo leering grin?
...
...
Finally, I've noticed that Don has already picked up on this conversation and totally misrepresented the contents on one of his own "courageous," non-commentable and self-aggrandizing posts.
Perhaps the greatest and certainly the most prolific modern mathematician was a guy named Paul Erdos. His scholarly output led to the popularization, among academic mathematicians, of something dubbed the Erdos Number. A mathematician's number was 1 if he or she has co-authored a paper with Erdos and 2 if he or she has co-authored with someone whose number was 1 and so forth. I had a friend who worked closely with another relatively prolific mathematician who was thought to have "borrowed" a lot of good ideas from his peers. He used to joke about popularizing a number that would be 1 if you'd had an original idea stolen by the offender, 2 if you'd had one stolen by someone whose number was 1 and so forth.
Each of us in this discussion can proudly proclaim that our Douglas Numbers are 1. Should we totally and transparently misconstrue a posting or comment by someone else, they can claim a Douglas Number of 2 and so forth. My guess is that this tree will be rather shallow but *VERY* wide.
Cheers
Dr X
xPat,
Why do you think I all but gave his lawyer my contact information? I'd been scrupulous about controlling the information exchange. I didn't suddenly become stupid.
I knew he wasn't working on a retainer. Billable hours. Billable hours.
My guess is that this tree will be rather shallow but *VERY* wide.
If Donald is the seed from which the tree sprung, then it is likely to be shallow and wide.
I hope I didn't say the magic word. Makes it sound like he's represented by Grouch Marx.
Erdos, the Kevin Bacon of academia.
That "tree" is actually a creeping yew.
Or an ewwwwing creep
Reppy
It appears that I owe you an apology. I seem to have seriously underestimated the size of Donalde's man crush for you. Now I'm pretty sure that when he day dreams about getting his chance at the rim station, it must be your "starfish" that he envisions gazing down at him.
I mean "the army of righteous conservatives" and their "universal moral approbation" (seriously?), that is some hyperbolic, crazy right there. The latter phrase sounds sort of cool, I suppose, but it barely makes sense in context. Does Don not understand what the words mean or does he just figure that his audience of wingnut epsilons and rule-5-porn-googling teenagers will be impressed by his important sounding language and too lazy to look up the words that they don't know. Which ever, he's clearly yearning for more attention from you.
I know that I was advocating for more snark and satire but Donnie-doo is way beyond the boarders of Poe's Law territory.
Though, I will say that he's something of an equal opportunity misconstructionist. His recent cut-copy-paste-comment jobs on Europe and the economy are mostly howling non sequiturs. It's almost enough to make me wonder if he genuinely believes that you're some sort of grand wizard of a leftist, anti-swarthyist hate group. (You guys don't burn those Darwin fishes on peoples' lawns, do you?)
Seriously, some times I begin to doubt that he's aware that he's lying.
Dr X
"universal moral approbation"
This is optional on the BMW i-Series...
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