I'd like to think we've earned at least their *B* team
By E Pluribus Unum Posted in Blogosphere — Comments (71) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
WHEN YOU PAY ATTENTION TO DETAIL ON YOUR OWN DIARIES, THE TROLLS END UP LOOKING LIKE KLINK AND SHULTZ.
File under: we're slaughtering your C team | if you love us, send better trolls
I'll lead off with the moral to the story. We all like to shoot from the hip, wax eloquent and windy, and blow long and hard while beating up on the Democrats and other opponents. It's both fun and therapeutic. But remember, just like in kenpo, it all starts with the feet, and if your footwork ain't dead solid, then you got a whole bunch of nothing.
In short - facts, details, more facts, and more details. Do NOT make assertions that you do not specifically know to be true. Make excellence in your work a daily matter of pride.
The reasons for that are several. Jump with me...
(1) We are conservatives and Republicans. Our core philosophies are right, history verifies it, and our logic has stood the test of time and the test of fierce left-wing assault. If we stick to the land of facts - WE ALWAYS WIN.
(2) You don't look like an idiot when somebody uses commonly available sources to undress you.
(3) When somebody from the other side attempts to deconstruct your work, they will either (a) find your positions unassailable and give up, or (b) look like idiots when they impale themselves on your work.
But most of all...
(4) RedState is only as good as its stories, diaries, and comments. All the other things about RedState that we like - the grass-roots activism made possible by our community, the respect we get from other major players in RightBlogUniverse, and the attention we get from sitting Representatives and Senators - ALL those hinge on excellence and accuracy while educating ourselves and other readers, extolling conservative principles in both theory and practice, and taking the birch strap to the bad guys.
If you study - closer than you have before -- the excellent work of Erick, Moe, Jeff, Neil, absentee, Pejman, blackhedd, Domenech and the whole of the RedState Galaxy of Stars [my pet name for the front-pagers], here's what you will notice - they don't drift off point, they don't offer speculation as assertion or opinion as fact, and they do not get caught with their facts around their ankles, as it were. Start noticing, you'll see I'm telling you the truth.
Make it a point - be like them.
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Let me share a personal experience with you, actually two. Also some self-aggrandizing fluff (after all, it *is* an EPU diary).
A couple of days ago I wrote this paragraph in a diary entitled "My name is Troy Aikman":
On the one hand is a guy like Bambi who trucks with terrorists, votes against the military, wants to negotiate with Iran [mortal enemy] but run black ops in Pakistan [tenuous friend] without consulting them, makes a point of not wearing flag lapels, can't remember to hold his hand over his heart for the National Anthem - and yet will take credit for HR 4986, regarding expanded health care spending for veterans (which he neither sponsored, co-sponsored, or even VOTED for).
Here's the thing about that. It may sound casually insulting to Macho Bambi, but it is not. It is CAREFULLY insulting. I bet I spent 30 minutes or more on this paragraph. I fact-checked every phrase - some of them only cursorily since I know them well, but others down to the detail. For example:
-- I found the direct quote where Obama stated his intention NOT to wear a flag lapel pin. I wanted to make sure he actually SAID that.
-- I checked specific floor votes on war funding and defense allocations.
-- I double-checked the provable details on Ayers and found the case somewhat thin for my liking, so I tailored that remark toward Iran.
-- I watched the video (again) showing Obama not holding his hand over his heart.
-- I chose the phrase "can't remember to" instead of "refuses to" because I doubt the latter is true and I KNOW I couldn't prove it if it were.
So you see, I worked HARD to make it appear casually insulting. My good friend absentee can attest that in private I complain bitterly that writing these diaries is exhausting, in no small measure due to my desire to let each diary (and most comments) be worthy of RedState.
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Sure enough, tonight I caught a small-time troll in my trap. It's embarrassing on one level, because this one really did attempt to deconstruct the above paragraph. Here is the start of it - the whole thing is here :
Hmmm. . .I guess I'll just defuse this point by point.
-"trucks with terrorists"? Do you feel bad about engaging in intellectual dishonesty? Saying this like this opens you up to being called a liar. You know he doesn't "truck with terrorists". What the hell does that even mean?
- Votes against the military? Umm. . .I know ideologues don't like to do real research, but if you looked you would find that Senator Obama actually wants to _increase_ the size of the military. Funny how actually reading about something makes you more knowledgable about it.
-Your hero Ronald Reagan negotiated with our "mortal enemy," Russia. I guess double-standards don't apply to crazy right-wing ideologues, do they?
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I know the Hinz Rule, but sometimes when you've gone to some lengths to be dead-on accurate, and some smug, condescending little punk tries to tell you what an idiot you are and that YOU should check your facts (you know, the ones you already *checked*), it just calls for a whupping. So I delivered:
Wow. Dumb AND arrogant with it. Since I feel like playing with my food tonight, I shall address your silly "defusing" of all my arguments. But after this, the next time you bring a wooden spoon to a gunfight, I'll quit fooling around and REALLY hurt you. This is just a drive-by whupping, nothing special.
(1)
EPU: (Bambi) trucks with terrorists
JF: engaging in intellectual dishonesty....What the hell does that even mean?
EPU: People with a bigger vocabulary are SMARTER than you, not DISHONEST per se. Courtesy Merriam-Webster : intransitive verb: to negotiate or traffic especially in an underhanded way : have dealings. Now if you weren't such a snot, I'd tell you whether I was referring to William Ayers or to Iran, with whom he wants to sit down at the table with no preconditions.(2)
EPU: (Bambi)votes against the military
JF: Umm. . .I know ideologues don't like to do real research, but if you looked you would find that Senator Obama actually wants to _increase_ the size of the military. Funny
EPU: My point said "votes against". You respond with "he wants". What the heck is "wants"? What does he vote?.....
(5)
EPU: (Bambi) makes a point of not wearing flag lapels
JF: Are you wearing a flag lapel right now? Didn't think so?
EPU: But, did I make a point of not wearing a flag pin? Obama said, verbatim: "I decided I won't wear that pin on my chest." That is "making a point of" not wearing it.
It goes on a bit, read it from the link above if you want to see it. It was fun (normally Hinz Rule on such a frothing idiot), and it is the kind of thing you can do when you KNOW because you CHECKED before you posted.
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My *other* experience hails from my earliest days at RedState, before EPU was so.....EPU-like. The Terri Shiavo thing was in full swing, and I made this assertion (paraphrase) : "she has never been on life support, and the media unfairly use that term to evoke powerful images.... Feeding tubes are in no way, shape, or form considered 'life support'.
The response came back with links to several medical references showing feeding tubes to be a form of life support. BAM! EPU hulled at the waterline, takes on water rapidly, goes down stern-first. All sailors lost.
The truth is, there WAS a point in what I was saying, that being hooked up to a feeding tube was a whole dimension from being hooked up to a breathing apparatus. But I rashly asserted beyond that which I knew, causing me to lose all credibility and look like a fool.
I was embarrassed and humbled, and pledged never to let THAT happen again. So the EPU you know and love was not *born* brilliant, he just survived a few kidney punches and learned to keep that elbow tucked in.
*********************************
In close, just a couple of things. First, let's all make it a point to make our work excellent, fact-based and detailed. The more excellent the content of RedState is, the more clout in Washington, the more persuasive to those we are working to persuade, and the less we take in black eyes.
Second, the nutroots need to send us better trolls. These don't survive first contact.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
Nor are they needed the lib trolls are like flies they come in and start bouncing their heads against our windows. Case and point yesterday we had a UCLA public policy professor that felt the need to receive a public flogging. Why ? his fantasy conflicted with our facts
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
It's very simple. Conservatism is based on facts and logic. Leftists think in terms of feelings and emotion. It's very simple to dismantle the arguments of most of the leftist trolls that we get here because they're operating either under BDS or their emotional need to "do good." There is the occasional lefty who is capable of stringing together thoughts to make a case for one of their positions, but they inevitably show their colors and start shouting out "Bush LIED"-esque epithets, like mentally-deranged maniacs.
The Unofficial RedState FAQ
“You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say. ” - Martin Luther
based on this article from politico.com
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/11402.html
to a story about leftie troll intellectual firepower, and all I got was marketing pablum from the NRCC.
"We" are not the GOP. "We" are a portion of the Republican base. beating the stuffing out of the trolls (such as yourself) who come up spouting crap (like your post).
It would be good to read what you are responding to.
"Always be honest with yourself. Even if you are honest with no one else."
--me
Memo to the NRCC, inre The review was an effort to distill lessons learned from unexpectedly deep Republican losses in special elections in Illinois, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Hey guys, HERE's something you have not tried in 18 years:
RUN AS CONSERVATAIVES
Impeach the 5 usurpers
Thanks for the informed comment.
McCain for POTUS so the left can't ruin SCOTUS.
I got a real chuckle out of that. Thanks, EPU.
But a comment in response may not be as well-researched as a diary. Typos happen, too.
Pluto, the Ninth Planet - Forever!
----------------------
Dependence is Slavery.
He apparently can't write either. Of his last eight or nine forum entries, all have either been one sentence and a link or simply a link. Furthermore, the last time he posted, about 6 weeks ago, Moe had to edit his threadjack entry and reprimand him.
Looks like Redstate's been 'botted.
The Unofficial RedState FAQ
“You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say. ” - Martin Luther
"trucks with terrorists"
this troll must have meant actual "truck" with in that Obama would be riding in a Dodge Ram or Ford F-150 (not a Peterbilt as those are actually considered tractors - -which is not to be confused with the John Deere variety) or given it is terrorists the Toyota Tacoma....
Oh well -- then again considering it was a troll -- maybe he meant Tonkas in the sand box.
Now I like trolls. Forty years ago, I had an entire collection I played with as a little girl. I was especially fond of the one with the pink hair and their little plastic pot bellies were all so cute... oh wait you meant trolls as in those ignorant, intolerant, myopic liberals who without the benefit of life experience or common sense, or maybe just a modest understanding proceed to push those same old, failed, socialist agendas.
M Penny
Getting the little things wrong lets the left change the subject from the big things.
About you saying that the liberals here are mostly dumb trolls...
I used to post here pretty frequently, but I stopped abruptly. I did for two reasons; first, I was in New York for a week and didn't have a good Internet connection (btw, New York is about the coolest place ever, but I digress), and second, when I came back I found that I didn't miss it.
I don't think anyone here would say that I am a troll - I posted a whole lot and was only called one once if I recall right. But I was often attacked for being naive, stupid, etc. I remember one time, pretty early on in my time here, when I posted a whole bunch of data to counter someone's argument, and the response was that I am naive (that was the entire response). Other times I have seen someone say that Liberals, or Obama supporters, or whatever, are stupid/unpatriotic/stoners/etc. And when I challenge them, saying something like "I am an Obama supporter, are you calling me [whatever] despite not even knowing me?" and they back down.
More recently, there was a front-page, highly acclaimed story something like "Modern Liberalism kills a baby," and last I checked there was an assertion on the front page that Conservative radio is more successful than Liberal radio because "people who tend to contribute to society instead of taking from society and those people are generally conservative." I am no expert but would guess that a lot of Liberals take the bus and/or subway, or walk like me (though I am in college so it doesn't really count) but that is beside the point.
A few spots above this comment is one saying that liberals are "mentally-deranged maniacs" (more precisely that we are like said maniacs, but go read yourself). As for using epithets, even if Liberals at this site use them so do the conservatives. It's just that y'all agree with them so they don't seem so bad. And though, for example, if someone came here and said or implied that McCain supporters are unpatriotic they would be banned, when someone says the same about Obama supporters it goes unanswered or is 5-ed.
Anyway, my point is that if it seems that all Liberals are trolls, it might be because many non-trolls, like me, get tired of that stuff and leave (or never come). I could go on, but I think you get my point...
you (and a couple of others) are the exception rather than the rule. Most of the liberals who post here spout drive by drivel hoping for flaming replies, hence the label "troll".
You one the other hand, at least try to post reasoned responses. Of course being a liberal, you're completely wrong most of the time, but that's an issue of incorrect education rather than being trollish. 8*)
Socialism doesn't work. It looks nice on paper, but it's been tried and it's failed miserably every time (usually accompanied by widespread death and suffering).
Proud member of the V.R.W.C.
It's not that we think all liberals are trolls, just that most trolls here are cretins. Youv'e been involved in too many good-natured, intelligent exchanges to be considered a troll(at least by me), but you are leftie rarity here.
The hyperbole and invective on this site which you lament is relatively muted and well-policed, you must admit, but it comes with the territory you've chosen to roam. The sad fact is that you would have been ridiculed or even banned at DKos for being "insufficiently enthusiastic" if you took your tame liberal arguments over there.
FWIW, the harshest stuff I've seen here is the red-on-red, especially last week, so don't think you've been singled out for abuse simply because you came in out of the blue. Again, welcome back, and stick around.
I'm not precisely sure what the point is. I *think* I got it but I would like to pursue this a little. Not adversarially. I always liked your user name.
My first question - is this a criticism of my diary? All I can say to that is, I was very harsh to the dude, because he led off with this oh-so-haughty attitude while being devoid of an argument. He picked that fight with me. So if you're down on my treatment of the guy, or some other content of my diary, I'd sure like to know the details of that.
If it is kind of a general statement on the RedState culture, I would go so far as to say anybody that comes in here that is a leftist (or liberal or progressive or whatever), they start off with a very strong headwind against them. That's just life. This is our home, and you are a visitor with an agenda opposed to ours. It might be civil, even cordial, but we are not brothers in arms.
Looks like the criticism is raised on 2 levels:
(1) treatment of liberal bloggers who show up here not picking fights.
(2) general statements commonly made on RedState about all liberals everywhere (stupid, misguided, gullible, evil, etc)
On #1 -- I think we go over the top some in misuse of bloggers here (the polite ones) that aren't exactly standard-issue conservative. A number of us, including the directors, are coming out against that and trying to alter the culture a bit. It ain't easy on a very loosely moderated site. I agree with you, it's too harsh.
On #2 - well, like I said, this is our house. In large part, conservatives DO believe - extremely firmly - that our world view is a far superior model of governance, and that YOUR model is all bad - self-destructive in multiple ways - to freedoms, to national security, to the economy, to the poor, to the oppressed, to family, to law and order, to keeping our representative republic in a sustainable way.
Further, we think that these things are fairly close to self-evident -- which leads to our disdain of the mental faculties of lefties. Sorry friend, this is just how we see it. And on our site, we are going to say so.
So anyway, I welcome your response. I want lefties who come with open hands to be welcomed here, and to learn from a culture that is decent and understanding of those who don't yet "get it" but are open. I can't control all my brethren though.
Impeach the 5 usurpers
First of all, I would say that my comment is more inspired by your diary than a direct response to it, because your diary brings up a subject on which I wanted to speak. I am trying to advance an alternate answer to the question asked here on RedState often, "Why are all the liberals who post here so stupid/angry/whatever?" And most people here usually answer something like "because liberals are all stupid/hateful/etc." Not exactly what you said here, but this often seems to me the answer given.
My answer is in two parts. First of all, that a lot of the stuff posted at this site, if the names were switched around, would result in banning/mocking for being a troll. This is not so much an answer as much as an observation, because the implication with all the troll-criticizing is that the conservatives are more thoughtful/smart/etc. and I don't think that is the case.
The second is that it makes for a combative environment, and so of those who disagree with y'all only combative people come here. Take my family for example - all smart people, all liberal Democrats, and none of them would post here. They wouldn't post because they would see what y'all say and think "screw this, why argue with a bunch of people who already hate you and won't listen?" Y'all can think you are right and everyone else is stupid, but that will dissuade a lot of people from coming here and leave only the combative ones who like to start flame wars.
So if y'all have the question "if there are smart liberals then where are they?" the answer is that you push them away with stuff like that. Like you said, it is your site and you can do whatever you want with it, but don't think that this all means that the conservative people here are smarter/more thoughtful/etc than liberals elsewhere.
Is this all just the inevitable result of having a conservative website? I dunno, maybe, but it doesn't change the fact that it's true and y'all oughta be aware of it.
I think you underestimate the effect that BDS has had on the left. I remember during the early years of the internet, having very long, and rational discussions with quite left wing people.
You simply cannot do that anymore because nearly all of the left have become simply insane, Bush has driven them insane.
To be honest he has almost done the same to me.
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
I remember during the early years of the internet, having very long, and rational discussions with quite left wing people.
Most of the lefties/partisan Dems I have come across on the internet, going back to about 1993, are either the haughty "I know better than you, and you are just a Neanderthal" variety, or the totally irrational "all conservatives are horrible, stupid people and they should be kicked of the internet and talk radio should be shut down and religious people are evil and should die and... (well, you know the rest)".
I remember very, very few civil lefties even back then.
I never go into newsgroups or IRC much anymore. I remember how it always was.
You got a point, Zombie. Like I said, some of us, starting with 4-star General Erick, are trying to change the culture some, in regards to dealing with liberals who post here. I'm not always pulling my load there (witness this diary and the exchange that inspired it - although I continue to maintain that the troll made it a battle, I just bludgeoned him to death).
Like kyle8 says, the environment has been poisoned to the point that civil discourse between adults who disagree is difficult - especially in an open blogsite where others can jump in to the discussion.
But hey - working on it. Don't drift too far off.
Impeach the 5 usurpers
for a line and a link, and it has to do with my trying to make a point quickly and simply. The question was "why are we slaughtering them?" and I responded that I didn't think you were based upon the politico link. And no, Raven, I didn't use the word "we." Nor did I try to change the subject, which would indeed qualify as a threadjack. I responded as directly as I could to the question asked.
Threadjack: To take over the content of a message thread by changing the subject of discourse to a topic outside the purview of the original subject.
Erick states that: "The purpose of this site is promote conservative and Republican ideals."
When I read many of the comments posted on this site, I don't know why anyone outside your tight little circle would want to be a Republican as you describe them.
Having been a conservative Republican 40 years, I often comment that it seems someone has stolen my Grand Old Party. And that's why I left it.
You must be really old then. Are you talking pre Goldwater GOP?
Im interested as to what your definition of conservative is, because if your disenchanted with the todays GOP, as many conservatives are, todays democratic party would seem an odd team to switch too.
Raven didn't say you threadjacked, just that you completely failed to grok that this blog was about trolls. bs is the one who said you threadjacked...*six weeks ago*. Quoth he:
"Furthermore, the last time he posted, about 6 weeks ago, Moe had to edit his threadjack entry and reprimand him."
You don't remember, but somebody else does. You should be flattered by the attention.
If you keep coming in on a link and a prayer without reading that upon which you comment, you're bound to land on the wrong runway.
Oh yeah...etiquette calls for "As a lifelong Republican..." to be placed at the beginning, not the end, so we know where you're coming from sooner.
I didn't say Raven accused me of threadjacking; only that I did not use the word "we."
Personally, I like the link-and-a-prayer comment since I have been a commercially-licensed pilot since 1974. I was also part of a Special Forces A-Team during the 1968 TET offensive as a radio operator, so I was also flattered by E. Pluribus Unum's A-Team comment. And Alberta, while I'm at it, I may have had more contact with Senator Goldwater than you know. And since I haven't seen a blooch post here since Moe did his thing 6 weeks ago, I will let you know that I used to begin my earlier posts with something to the effect of having been a 40-year Republican and was often told I must have never been a "real" Republican.
I will briefly review what I said then so you'll have a better picture. I came here to see if the comments were as bad as I had been told by some of my liberal friends. I believe they are and that's why I haven't posted the past 6 weeks. It seems that no matter what I post, someone here ALWAYS has a snide comment to make. Today has been no different.
While your posting rules here say one thing, actual usage is something else. I was taken to task for calling George Bush Mr. instead of President, but posters here have a snide name for seemingly anyone with a (D) after their name and get 5's.
My only reason for responding today was to address the "why we are slaughtering them" comment, even though I knew what kind of response it would bring. Maybe one of these days, posters here will learn that how to discuss our differences-in-opinion civilly, although what I've seen here since signing up here doesn't give me much hope of that happening anytime soon, so I'll just tough it out with the Democrats, hope for an Obama win, and hope he's able to undo much of what Mr. Bush has done during his time in office. Good Day to you, sir.
The "we" you were hung up on is in this phrase which you quoted:
"why we are slaughtering them"
As was quickly explained by Raven, it meant "we" RedStaters, not "we" Republicans, and I think that explanation is the comment where you got off the track. Raven didn't say that you used the word "we." It didn't refer to anything you said. (I could interpose a snarky comment here, but I won't.)
Was that helpful? Civil?
"I'll just tough it out with the Democrats, hope for an Obama win, and hope he's able to undo much of what Mr. Bush has done during his time in office. "
I find this statement very confusing. What will Obama do that will undo what Mr. Bush has done and make it better? Fiscal policy? Monetary policy? Military policy? Tax policy? International relations? Supreme Court appointments? Lower court appointments? Personal friends? Health care/insurance? Social Security? National security? You implied that you are for change. You mentioned that you have hope. What is giving you good vibes that Obama will be an improvement, and a better improvement than McCain will be?
You say your party of forty years left you. Which way did it go? BTW, "we" aren't the party. Don't hold "us" against the party.
Pluto, the Ninth Planet - Forever!
Republican in '68, you were, as was I, a member of a much smaller minority than can be claimed today. Do you remember who our Candidate was that year? He of "price controls," "declare victory and come home," "trotting off to Peking" fame? (Does that sound like BO in a time warp?) I can't imagine why anyone with the courage to combine "conservative" with "Republican" back then would bail out of the struggle nowadays.
Yes, we've had our little pendulum ride up through the 80's to Newt, and then back to where we are today, but, IMHO, we're nowhere near as impotent within the GOP as we were then. Assuming you have maintained your conservative inclinations, what would make you abandon the GOP now?
some people on RedState have wondered why I am so critical of the RIno's in our party. But the truth is that liberal (or just incompetent) Republicans will do far more damage than a democrat can do.
Nixon was simply a HORRIBLE president. His plan in Vietnam failed, he introduced Detente with the Soviet Union and propped them up with wheat sales, loans, and technology transfers that probably kept them going twenty years past their due date.
He created several wasteful cabinet level departments and never met a Great Society program that he didn't want to increase funding to.
Then there was the incredibly stupid wage and price controls. His paranoia and ability to surround himself with questionable people led to democrat ascendancy.
There is no substitute for solid conservative principles.
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
Charlie Hall
Having been a conservative Republican 40 years ...
Sure ..
"First you win the argument, then you win the vote." - MARGARET THATCHER.
So let's start winning the argument.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
I think past perfect tense would be "had been." "Having been" is present perfect. Maybe.
Pluto, the Ninth Planet - Forever!
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
"Always be honest with yourself. Even if you are honest with no one else."
--me
I am a potted plant and I need to be watered.
But I have chunks of trolls in my stool.
I am, according to some, this side's "B-team."
Impeach the 5 usurpers
when you listed everyone else?
Like I said, mon, I'm a potted plant.
Everyone else???? Mark, are you saying that Mark I, Soren, AE, and Baseball are nobodies?
I originally had that list up to about 12 or so, with more yet I wanted to add (and you were prominently featured, I might say).
Then I thought - well, what about the Contributors I leave off. OK, list all 19 Contributors, but then NOBODY would feel special. And even that leaves off a couple of our best guys (MAK, Soren) who are not listed but still seem to be part of the FP club.
So I adopted these rules of thumb for who made the 'short list':
(1) Those who threaten to ban me daily.
(2) When in doubt, see number 1.
So, you want on the list, it's a hardball world. You could do like the Pej and send me daily reminders of where exactly I would fit nicely into some facet of Dante's Divine Comedy. JE likes to tell me which character in one of the Friday the 13th movies I get to play this week. Moe - well, if ever my car does not start on the first pull, I check under the car.... Neil just makes fun of my so-called Unix admin skills.
So, you've been zoomed by a few of your fellow A-Teamers.
Impeach the 5 usurpers
Who doesn't make fun of unix admins?
mutter mumble think they're so great mutter look down on windows mumble mumble stupid unix mutter not the boss of me
Joke told to me by a former co-worker when I was a computer tech:
Q: Why do they call it UNIX?
A: Because you have to be one to think it runs well.
I don't blame the guy for the bad joke, he had a transformers lunchbox and he was in his late 20's.
Sometimes the stereotypes are true, and it is often sad to see.
----------------------
Dependence is Slavery.
do any of them have a RULE named after them? < leaves in a huff**>
**A 1928 Huff Roadster to be exact
I mentioned your rule prominently, did I not? What do you want, a birthday cake?
Impeach the 5 usurpers
It's not about you; rather, it's situation which fascinated. I've been with RS since late 2004, and members have listed contributors for any number of reasons: recognition, applause, praise, thanks, etc. My name has never appeared on such a list. I don't know why this is.
I feel like the invisible man character played by Eric Idle on MPFC. Mike Palin, playing a show host, asks him what it's like being invisible. (He's actually not.) Idle says: "Well, for a start, at the office where I work I can be sitting at my desk all day and the others totally ignore me. At home, even though we are in the same room, my wife does not speak to me for hours, people pass me by in the street without a glance in my direction, and I can walk into a room without... Even now you yourself, you do hardly notice me..."
He's just too boring to be recognized, so no one pays attention to him. Ergo, in his mind, he's invisible.
It is an ongoing game. That's all.
I might have been upset, too.
But since "A-team" equals "Frontpager" I guess I'm not...
But then, when I'm President of the USA, I will engage in a little corruption to force EPU to rewrite this blog and include me...
"Always be honest with yourself. Even if you are honest with no one else."
--me
And will in such a case GLADLY do a rewrite to belatedly include you on the RedState A-team -- in order to avoid yearly IRS audits, as well as body cavity searches from the TSA every time I fly.
I just HATE to think might happen to Olbermann when the Worst American becomes Prez....
Impeach the 5 usurpers
Does this mean that I can't refer to Obama as Opossum any more? Technically he isn't a possum. He just put that on his podium to try to trick us.
I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful 100 percent.
B. Hussein. While it might be juvenile to bring up his name. It serves the purpose to remind us that he was raised by an American hating left-wing loon mother, who hated her own race so much she went out of the country looking for people who were as different as possible to fulfill her dreams. I have known that type of person before. You don't want anything to do with them.
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
Yeah..... Say what you want about her liberalism, and his father's radically marxist views....
but let's not dip into the racist bucket with statements like:
who hated her own race so much she went out of the country looking for people who were as different as possible to fulfill her dreams.
You want to speak of ideology of anti-americanism, that's fine... but please keep this out of the "Those white women merrying blacks!" realm, or above any appearance of it... ok?
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Dependence is Slavery.
I am pointing out something that is true. She was the one motivated by race and culture, Barack's father deserted them, and she hooked up with an indonesian muslim.
Like I said, I know the type.
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
Regardless, given the Left's love of labelling us as racists, I would think it wise to pick language very carefully so as to avoid giving off the appearance of racist statements.
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Dependence is Slavery.
Of course, your assignment for the left presumes they have any better trolls. Generous of you!
Wasn't it Jesus who drove the moneylenders out of the temple?
I in no way qualify as an A-team member, but then again from the comments here I have to ask....What make you think you deserve them? What point would change the echo in your heads?
As we tell our daughter, "You want to try take a groundhog on that?" (Try again, that is. Preview is your friend.)
Pluto, the Ninth Planet - Forever!
why is it that the left only manages it by accident ?
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
So you're reading from the Bible? That's interesting. Do you believe everything in it, or do you just cite the parts you think are useful as rhetorical clubs?
Do you believe the Earth was created in a week?
Do you believe that the origin of species is an intelligent designer?
Do you believe that the entire world was flooded for over a month, and the world's animal population was re-seeded afterward by animals rescued by Noah?
Or are you revealing something of yourself?
You really sounded like an anti-Christian, Liberal Evolutionist there...
It was very convincing, thus the question, though I am well aware of just how confrontational I sound...
"Always be honest with yourself. Even if you are honest with no one else."
--me
My assumption is that the troll is anti-Christian, and so I'm putting the troll in a bind by pointing out the true hypocrisy in that comment.
So yeah, I deliberately asked those questions in a way that a typical lefty would feel compelled to answer them in a particular way.
But if the troll answers those questions in the usual lefty way, then the original post is exposed as hypocritical, so thus... I get no reply as the troll runs away. :-)
Outstanding again, EPU. This is one of the best essays ever to appear here. Well-written with great ideas and great advice.
Wait a minute. That means I have to read all the previous essays to make sure I'm right. (Oh, well, maybe nobody will find those other great ones, and I only said "one of" the best, anyway.)
Pluto, the Ninth Planet - Forever!
"one of" is one of those lifesavers.
Impeach the 5 usurpers
Yep. As we know, John McCain and George W. Bush were each among the top students in all of their graduating classes.
And "summa cum laude" is just code for "not the best." (Sorry 'bout that, GC. (^:^))
Pluto, the Ninth Planet - Forever!
Well written EPU.
Although I enjoy providing a reference that deflates someone who just accused me of making things up, (probably enjoying it more than I should), just being here for a mud slinging match holds no attraction to me, even if I was right.
I am, like all of course, subject to correction.
I also judiciously try to avoid making any personal attacks, for a couple of reasons.
First, I don't know anyone here well enough to take an insult personally.
The second is my intent to try to get someone to think about an issue, instead of just spouting party line and the like. Who knows, we may even make the light bulb go on for a liberal leaning person.
Anything is possible. (Maybe)
Continue to keep your elbows in...
Regards
Very informative. I think Neil, or someone, should put this up with all the other "how-to" stuff.
"Any love letter is incomplete without a Ronald Reagan quote"
--my sophomore year roommate