OK you guys, you've had your fun. As far as I'm concerned, you really haven't achieved much of anything.
Oh, yes, you've pitched your hostility at me for the best part of the week, and my character has probably taken a few hits. You are neither the first, nor the worst. One does not survive here at The Hide for 17 years and some without catching a few dings and scratches. But I'm still here, and you are not going to change that.
Let me point out a few things. Nobody has talked about banning anybody but you guys. Not one word on that from me, not even to the Mods. Yes I've talked to the mods, but essentially to point out where the discourse had become downright disgusting, and that apparently that was just fine with them. Does that sound like any kind of an approach that's likely to gain me any cooperation whatsoever from the Mods?
I. Don't. Think. So.
You say I'm a bully who gets people thrown off The 'Hide. In case you haven't noticed, the only power I have on this site, have ever had on this site, is the power of persuasion. Not one single member of this site does my bidding. So basically that claim of yours is full of holes, and maybe something else, too.
You may also notice that I have made no effort whatsoever to refute you childish accusations, or to counter your attacks with any of my own. That would be wildly inappropriate. I flatly refuse to grant your accusations and attacks any credence, because they do not deserve any.
And now, you squirm and shirk your catching you own reputations and characters in your own zippers. Suddenly I am supposedly, jokingly, being likened to a Jedi Mid Master. You give me far too much credit. I'm not that smart.
But I don't need to be. You spun your own trap, and all I did was to pick up the idea from you guys yourselves.
Yes, a played a con on you. No, I did not pull it out of thin air; you simply made it all too difficult to turn away from.
My Op Ed started out straight and serious. Everything I said in the first few posts was on the level, and IMHO, it makes all the sense it needs to make. It was an unpopular line of thinking, I knew that, as I have done here many times in the past. I expected disagreement, and made a few explanations to see if common ground could be established.
But then, you guys went nuclear, making the topic thread into your own little gladiatorial arena. You made it personal, and you made it just about as disgusting and unreasonable as you could manage. If there were any lines of reasonable discussion and argument in your chosen arena, you stepped way over them. And then you stated playing "Top This".
People's character and reputations are not up for grabs here. They are not toys for you to toss around and stomp on.
So that's when I decided it was time to put you all up front and center on your own little pedestals and allow you yourselves to do whatever disgusting outrages any reasonable judgement and consequences might do an accounting of.
So here's the con.
First, never, ever step outside of character.
Next, never solicit a mark, they will come to you of their own accord.
Always throw them the occasional bone, in this case squirm and whine, give some vague hint that they are getting just what they want.
When they have the bait in their mouths, do a switch-up or two, to see if the hook is actually set yet.
When it is set, poke fun at them, tell them exactly what is being done to them, and who's doing it (yourselves).
Let them run with the line, see how far they will go to commit themselves to their own destruction.
When they finally get bold enough to brag and point at themselves (Look at US!!!), tell them point blank just how badly they took the bait.
When they go into denial, leave them completely alone to stew in their own jusics, and to dig their own graves fully 6 feet deep.
Now you can twist and turn and say it isn't so. Maybe somebody cares, but I sure don't.
I don't want a Goddamn thing from you. I don't need anything you've got.
I know precisely who and what I am, and none of your party games will ever change any part of that.
I make no requests of anyone else. They make up their own minds, and treat this as they choose.
Game over. You lost.
Gregory W. Langelius.
