Originally Posted By jonvn "Are you going to now start ignoring me now???" Quite possibly, yes. I've already ignored everything you've said after this sentence. You can either behave like an adult, and get treated like one, or you can continue down this path you seem to want to go down. Up to you. I honestly could not care less. I've been posting for years without knowledge of your existence and your presence in my life is wholly dependent on whether or not you make worthwhile comments. If you don't, I really am uninterested. Same for anyone, liberal or conservative.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <My name is Conservative_Guy_Who_Sticks_to_His_Guns and I live in the suburbs of Chicago< Hey, you stole my new handle -- LOL ! now I have to go with: Chicagoan Who Will Take You To The Woodshed
Originally Posted By Beaumandy Mele, if you did report Shooba for that, thank you. I never go to the moderators.
Originally Posted By tiggertoo <<If I am seeing this correctly, the liberals are mad at Beaumandy.>> Wrong. First of all, many of us are quite conservative. My voting record includes G H W Bush (2), Dole (1), G W Bush (1), and voted for neither Bush nor Kerry in the last election. I’ve voted for perhaps 3 democrats in my lifetime, although my views tend to be a bit moderate. This is ever so much more than politics. I’ve had the most argent debates with liberals here and NEVER have I come away feeling insulted or belittled. But reading some of Beau posts, even when I agree with him, leaves me feeling oddly ashamed for my conservative leanings. It’s like the teammate who makes the team look like a bunch of clowns, and all we want to do is bury are faces in our hands in embarrassment—I get the same feeling listening to the meth toad Anne Coulter. Second, this isn’t something that has been an issue for a month or so, many of us have 3 or more years of observation to make this determination. Your frame of reference is far too small to make any judgments on why we do what we do. Hopefully you realize this. Ultimately, there is a fine line between respectful debate and mud slinging. Most of us want to engage the opposition in a meaningful way and it seems any time a certain poster enters the fray, it dissolves into a pissing contest. Now if this is your cup-o-tea Blue-tater, so be it. But your initial post seemed much more intuitive and thoughtful.
Originally Posted By cmpaley SockPuppet said: >>Oh, the irony! Come on, you all know someone had to do it!<< ROFLOL!!
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I have reported posts to the moderators anytime I see one that I think crosses the line of community standards. Anytime. And I've asked a few times that my own comments be removed if I feel I've crossed the line.
Originally Posted By DlandDug <--- breaking silence. First of all, I do not believe that at this time, there are any Trolls posting on WE. The best definition of an internet Troll I have found is this: >>An Internet "troll" is a person who delights in sowing discord on the Internet. He (and it is usually he) tries to start arguments and upset people. Trolls see Internet communications services as convenient venues for their bizarre game. For some reason, they don't "get" that they are hurting real people. To them, other Internet users are not quite human but are a kind of digital abstraction. As a result, they feel no sorrow whatsoever for the pain they inflict. Indeed, the greater the suffering they cause, the greater their 'achievement' (as they see it). At the moment, the relative anonymity of the net allows trolls to flourish. Trolls are utterly impervious to criticism (constructive or otherwise). You cannot negotiate with them; you cannot cause them to feel shame or compassion; you cannot reason with them. They cannot be made to feel remorse. For some reason, trolls do not feel they are bound by the rules of courtesy or social responsibility.<< <a href="http://hometown.aol.com/intwg/trolls.htm" target="_blank">http://hometown.aol.com/intwg/ trolls.htm</a> In this post I will mention specific individuals, despite the fact that it goes against my better judgement. Please understand that what I say is intended to be understood within the context of this conversation only. A Troll is not someone whose ideas are disagreeable. A Troll is not someone whose manners are crude and boorish. A Troll is not someone who regularly violates Community Standards. Many here find Beaumandy's views repugnant. His manners are beyond poor. And he regularly violates Community Standards. I find the views of many others here repugnant. Their manners are poor. Sometimes, they even violate Community Standards. (Everytime cmpaley or YourPalEd makes a blanket statement about vile Republicans, he is speaking of me, my sainted mother, and half my friends, for example.) Beaumandy engages in shameless name calling and taunting. For this, I would assume that he is regularly reported to the Mods. In my dealings with others here, I try as much as possible to avoid comments based on personality. It not only violates Community Standards, it reflects poorly on one's ability to present ideas in a reasonable manner. I cannot recall immediately if it is jonvn, ecdc or SPP/STPH who has referred to me as "duggie." I do know that all three have, in the past, both taunted and called me names. I simply will not respond in kind. To me, taunting and name calling are a resort taken when ideas fail. That Beaumandy does this on a regular basis speaks volumes. Some here have also alluded to the idea that there is a lack of intelligence at work. Within this community, there is a fairly wide range of intelligence and education. When dealing with others, I try to approach a person at their own level. I have been wrong in the past, for which I am sincerely sorry. (I also acknowledge that I can be very condescending.) I am hardest in my debate with those that I feel have the capacity to bear it. Beaumandy's use of simplistic slogans, and unwillingness to answer facts with facts are not a good reflection on his debating skills. But, it does not make him a Troll. There are only a couple of individuals I have made a conscious effort to shun. Beaumandy is not in that elite and tiny group. Nor are a couple of liberal posters (unnamed) whose hopelessly one-track world view, inability to compromise, and mean spirited observations are just as predictable. I believe sincerely that the reason so much rancor is focussed on Beaumandy is twofold. He is extremely abrasive, and his views are unabashedly conservative. In another thread, someone (I believe it was shooba) asked who it was that claimed to have met Beaumandy. He went on to say that whoever it was was equally repugnant. How offensive-- the idea that even meeting this creature taints a person. I have met Beaumandy. I have also met WilliamK99, Kar2oonMan, Gadzuux, RoadTrip, cmpaley and several others. (Sorry if I left your name off!) Meeting someone doesn't automatically confer acceptance. But, as Will Rogers said, "I never met a man I didn't like." I never assumed that meant that, to Will Rogers, everyone was a good person. To me, it simply means that the effort of "meeting" someone will always yield something likable. I have found that to be true in my life. I say none of this to offer an excuse for anyone here. Obviously, much of what Beaumandy does is simply inexcusable. I am sorry, however, that this single poster is being turned into some sort of referendum on this entire on line community.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA I just reported Conservative_Guy_Who_Sticks_to_His_Guns to the moderators.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I am sorry, however, that this single poster is being turned into some sort of referendum on this entire on line community.<< If you look back at this thread, only one person chose to make himself the issue here. At no time have I named any names. If I describe someone as behaving similar to a child throwing a tantrum, and then someone pipes up upset that I made that comparision, I can only assume that the shoe fits and even that person knows it. My comments were to trolls in general (and I'm sorry, Doug, I disagree on your definition of what a troll is.) But we can agree, I think, on what constitutes rotten behavior. This thread is not about one person. It is about the tactic of ignoring those who refuse to abide by community standards, regardless of political stripe. It is an effort to turn down the heat in thread after thread so that a little light can shine instead.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder So I'll break my silence. It's a trend! Many times in the past, I have begged, pleaded, and tried to cajole beau to lose the obnoxious behavior. I did this even when we shared the same views, as in pre-2004 elections. I asked him not to gloat and taunt if Bush won. He flat out refused, saying he would gloat and taunt with relish, because the libs deserved it. That was the beginning of the end for us. Since then, I've fought back when attacked. A lot. I should know better, but I've done it anyway. Last winter, we both got banned for our behavior. Upon returning, I vowed to ignore him so I would get banned again and also annoy everyone else. I managed to do so for several months, but he still gratuitously attacked me anyway. After I got called a wifebeater again, I broke my vow. About the moderators. They're horribly inconsistent. Rather than go into flame war #2,456 with beau, sure, I've asked them to remove stuff. That's the way the board should be run. I could not care less if beau doesn't think that's "manly". I'd say I have a less than 25% success rate with them. I'd say they don't much like me. Who knows? When I got banned for a while, despite my e-mailing them to ask for details, they never got back to me. To give one example, in the thread where beau wants to beat in some inane "loser leaves town" arrangement, I've ignored it, but did ask the mods to remove it to send him some sort of message. It's still up, and if that kind of stuff doesn't violate community standards, I don't know what does. So if beau's been mislabeled a troll, really, so what? I think the general message gets across. I've been his main punching bag here for about two years now, and while it would be nice to get some back up on standards from the peope who set them, if the mods aren't going to do what they promised then, as I've said before recently, close this place. it does seem there have been a few admins again lately, but not enough. But as to beau, as I said, I've asked him countless times to leave out the moonbats, libs, blah blah blah stuff and he's refused. He thinks that's macho debate for big people. He's full of it on that one, but as long as he insists it is his right to be a braying donkey here on LP, and Lp won't do anything about it, ignore away.
Originally Posted By BlueDevilSF >>I believe sincerely that the reason so much rancor is focussed on Beaumandy is twofold. He is extremely abrasive, and his views are unabashedly conservative.<< Dug, I would agree with you on both points that he is abrasive and unabashedly conservative, but I don't think the latter is why rancor is focused on him. We have several on here who are "unabashedly conservative" and rancor isn't focused on them. Why? Probably because they don't go looking for it. I think Beau does. There seems to be this absolute, innate need to "win" at all times. This isn't entirely surprising, given his line of work. I will be the first to admit I've stooped to his level several times. I offer no excuse for that other than to say much of it is focusing some of the anger and crises in of my world right now. RoadTrip and I have even talked about this briefly. No, it isn't right, and I'm not proud of it, but there it is. How best to deal with Beau? I think ignoring him is, for me, the best way. He has demonstrated time and time again he is incapable of having a reasoned and reasonable discussion about most things here. So, BlueState can correlate this to being childish and immature, but I see it as keeping my own frustration level down when I visit a site I enjoy frequenting. (And on an almost completely different note, I don't know if you will see this over in Trip Reports, but I'm going to be in the area next month. I'd love to meet you and JB if possible.)
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder Siggghhh "so I would get banned again" or, would not..... "where beau wants to beat in some" wants to bet me in some...
Originally Posted By DlandDug I did not mean to imply that this thread was started simply to deal with Beaumandy. But it has become very much about him. >>And on an almost completely different note, I don't know if you will see this over in Trip Reports, but I'm going to be in the area next month. I'd love to meet you and JB if possible.)<< Thanks for the heads up. Put something in "Meets" and let's see if we can get together.
Originally Posted By alexbook K2man: Thank you for repeating that this is not about one poster in particular. Beau seems to think this whole thread is an attack on him, but I can think of at least a couple of posters, one of whom is very liberal (as am I, of course), whom I find even harder to read than Beau. I think the Admins have a next-to-impossible job here. Anything they do is going to be second-guessed, and none of us really know enough about what goes on behind the scenes to do the second-guessing intelligently. I'm reminded of watching a baseball player yelling at an umpire. Sometimes the player gets ejected, sometimes not. The fan in the stands knows that there's a line that's been crossed, but we have no way of knowing what that line is or how consistently it's enforced. We just have to trust that the umpires are honest and impartial.
Originally Posted By BlueDevilSF >>Thanks for the heads up. Put something in "Meets" and let's see if we can get together.<< Already done. Check it out.
Originally Posted By alexbook >>I did not mean to imply that this thread was started simply to deal with Beaumandy. But it has become very much about him.<< I think he brought a certain amount of that on himself in post #8. Nobody else had mentioned him or discussed liberal vs. conservative trolls (and I do believe we have both liberals and conservatives who exhibit at least some trollish behavior around here). Then Beau jumped in and said: >>Hey look. A bunch of liberals trying to ignore the people who expose them for being the nuts they are. Instead of actaully debating their point and backing up their opinion when asked to do so they start a threat called " Ignored the troll ". BWAAAHHHHHAAAAHHAAAAAA Go ahead. It just gives the conservatives free reign to make our points without the moonbats getting in the way.<<
Originally Posted By cmpaley >>Everytime cmpaley or YourPalEd makes a blanket statement about vile Republicans, he is speaking of me, my sainted mother, and half my friends, for example.)<< For the record, my beef is with what RepublicanISM has become, not the people who are Republicans. If I've implied otherwise, I apologize.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I'm not going to contrubute much more to this thread, except to bump it up from time to time as a reminder that ignoring a troll is the best way to deal with them. >>I do believe we have both liberals and conservatives who exhibit at least some trollish behavior around here<< Indeed. And if one has tried to discuss several issues and are only met with put downs, taunts, outrighst threats and childish laughter and such, then the best policy is ignoring them.
