The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

‘Who the F Are U?’

Posted on | April 24, 2014 | 81 Comments

The quoted tweet could be lesson one in a New Media seminar: “How Not to Respond to Jeff Goldstein on Twitter.” It began when Jeff (@ProteinWisdom) asked @CaliAzona why she favorited a certain tweet, and you can read through the resulting flame war.

My apathetic inattention to everything — except whatever it is I’m obsessed with at any particular moment, e.g., radical feminism — means that I completely missed that Twitter firestorm Tuesday, and didn’t notice it until Bob Belvedere called it to my attention.

What is this about? First, it’s not about ideology.

This always happens: Whenever people involved in politics get into a conflict, they will tend to define the conflict as political. The person with whom they disagree will be accused of deviation from the True Ideals of the Cause, whatever the Cause may be. I’ve seen this happen in all kinds of contexts over the past 15-plus years.

It’s basically what happened to Charles Johnson (who?) of Little Green Footballs (what?) — he got into a conflict with Pamela Geller, became convinced that it was ideological in nature and, within two years, Charles went from being one of the most influential conservative bloggers to being an obscure asterisk in Internet history.

OK, if it’s not about ideology, is it about courtesy?

The Internet Etiquette Police could not be reached for comment.

Urgent Breaking News: People are being rude on Twitter!

Nevertheless, one could say that any inclination toward deference by any of the parties involved might have averted the conflict. Deference is really the essence of courtesy, but a society that has no generally recognized hierarchy has no basis on which deference should be expected. This was what Edmund Burke meant, after all, in his famous lament that “the age of chivalry is gone.”

If the Queen of France could be seized by a mob of rabble, Burke correctly observed, then every customary basis of respect — “The unbought grace of life, the cheap defense of nations, the nurse of manly sentiment and heroic enterprise” — was under assault.

Ah, but never let it be said “democracy” has no hierarchies! Wealth, fame, beauty, political power — some animals are more equal than others, and the mad scramble to ascend the Ziggurat of Ambition produces a ceaseless churning: Who’s in? Who’s out? Who’s up? Who’s down? Who made the Top Ten list and who is Number One?

Status and prestige are marketable commodities, and values shift constantly in the exchange. Those who aspire to Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous discover that what qualifies one as Rich is subject to inflation, while Fame is a notoriously fickle whore. Nearly every day brings news of the death of an erstwhile VIP whose passing in old age is unlamented by youth who never knew their name.

Sic transit gloria mundi.

It has been a little more than two years since Andrew Breitbart died at the apogee of his fame. Everybody swore then that Andrew would never be forgotten, but when was the last time anybody quoted him? Andrew’s widow has been sued by Shirley Sherrod, and who has been following the process of that vexatious lawsuit?

People in a democracy are present-minded, prone to forget their heritage and ignore history, and democratic culture is hostile to tradition — even hostile, ultimately, to the tradition of democracy!

But I digress . . .

Amid the Tuesday flame war, Jeff Goldstein sarcastically remarked: “Conservatism on the internet began in 2009.” That is to say, some people who became active in online political discourse when the Tea Party first flared into existence five years ago — in particular, Twitter users — have a limited knowledge of what went on (and who did what) in the blogosphere Back in the Day.

It should not be necessary for Jeff Goldstein to remind people just how long he has been Fighting the Good Fight, but alas, it is:

It’s an interesting trip down memory lane, but it also shows a kind of site trajectory. So in that sense, the exercise was instructive — at least to me.  My Twitter stalkers won’t read them, because, you know, being challenged intellectually is not what this new brand of “conservative activism” is about. . . . I’d rather talk about substance than deal with the kinds of people whom I now have to rely on to carry “our” battle flag. Because having dealt with them — and been blocked by a few who have 10s of thousands of followers — that’s just too damn depressing. Especially when I realize that some of these were written when the current crop of “conservative influence peddlers” on Twitter were probably in the 3rd grade.

Please read the whole thing, because Jeff has every right to believe that many of us are deeply in his debt, and we are thus obligated to defend him against those who do properly not appreciate his long years of service to the conservative cause.

Hint: He includes a post from August 2002.

And now, boys and girls, it’s Story Time With Grandpa McCain: It was in Santa Barbara, California, at the West Coast Conference of the Young America’s Foundation in the fall of 2007 that I first met Jeff Goldstein. My buddy Jason Mattera had invited several bloggers to attend the conference, and I’d helped suggest names to be invited. Ace of Spades was there, and so was Rusty Shackleford of the Jawa Report. Little Miss Attila showed up, and I seem to recall Jim Hoft being there, too, but Grandpa McCain’s memory isn’t very reliable because of that unfortunate experience with psilocybin back in ’79. Anyway . . .

Several of us were lounging around the hotel lobby bar one evening when Jason Mattera approached me and said, “Hey, what’s up with this Jeff Goldstein guy?” Jason proceeded to tell me that Jeff was outside on the oceanview veranda in a heated argument with some of the college Republican kids attending the conference. Jason asked me to see if I could attempt to quell the dispute.

Outside I went, to find Jeff confronting half a dozen of these kids. He had a glass of bourbon in his hand and, from the tone of his discourse, I gathered it was his third or fourth glass. At least.

Jeff is philosophical by nature, and he was in the process of challenging these college kids’ commitment to classic liberalism.

Of course, the kids had no idea what was happening. They didn’t know who Jeff was, and the Total Goldstein Experience was rather shocking to them. Here they were, at a fabulous event in beautiful seaside Santa Barbara, and they had not expected to find themselves baited into a Socratic dialogue challenging their conservatism.

This is where it is necessary to explain that Jeff Goldstein is a complete fitness fanatic. He was wearing a T-shirt so that his muscular arms were displayed in all their bulging glory, a flesh-and-blood billboard declaring: “Don’t Fuck With Me, Hombre.”

Being from the South, where a skinny boy’s life and health depends in large measure on knowing who not to fuck with, the dynamic of the situation on the veranda at that moment was terrifying.

Trust me, I recognize an Incipient Redneck Brawl when I see one and with a sudden adrenaline rush I realized that, in asking me to intervene, Mattera had sent me into a potential combat zone.

“Hey, Jeff, let me buy you a drink!”

How does a skinny boy survive to adulthood in Georgia? By ingratiating himself to bad-asses, of course. If a fight breaks out, you want to make sure that the bad-asses are your friends, and so my first order of business was to head inside to the bar and get Jeff another bourbon on the rocks. This also gave me an opportunity to grab another Corona (in the bottle, because a beer bottle makes a handy weapon, if worse comes to worse) and time to analyze the situation. What the hell was happening here? And how could an escalation to violence be prevented? Honestly, I was kind of hoping the fight would break out while I was still at the bar, so that by the time I returned, the ugly confrontation would all be over.

As I recall — psilocybin can wreck your brain, boys and girls, so Grandpa McCain can’t say for certain — the biggest of the young Republicans facing off with Goldstein on the veranda was 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds. Probably played offensive lineman in high school. Jeff is medium height and maybe 170, but it’s all muscle, so if a fight breaks out, he’s the most dangerous beast in the scrum. And as I returned to this weird scene outside, the tense verbal face-off had not ended.

Picture it: A pleasant evening in coastal California, the glow of sunset fading to night. Palm trees shifting in the warm ocean breeze, while the surf softly lapped the beach just a couple hundred yards from the patio where Jeff Goldstein faced down a semi-circle of college Republican kids who were angry — and I mean, fighting mad — at being aggressively interrogated about their conservative bona fides.

The incongruity of the scene struck me as I handed Jeff a fresh bourbon. Details of his Socratic colloquy have long escaped my memory, but there were three or four guys and a girl or two in the college Republican group. This was one crucial factor in the toxic atmosphere: Jeff’s intellectual challenge to the boys amounted to showing them up in front of their girlfriends. Standing behind Jeff, meanwhile, were Ace, Rusty and Attila, who had been trying to mediate or at least keep Jeff calm.

Just as it seemed that fisticuffs were inevitable, however, Ace made a clever sarcastic jab that suddenly evaporated all the tension. You could ask Ace what he said and maybe he would remember exactly, but it was sort of an inside joke about Jeff’s rhetorical tactics.

Jeff burst out laughing hysterically and the frightening stand-off with the college Republican kids ended happily, although the kids certainly must have left wondering what it was all about.

That was the fall of 2007, you see — way back in the misty dawn of Internet time, when Giants Bestrode the Blogosphere.

My point in telling that story . . . No, seriously, I’m sure that story did have an actual point, something other than (a) Jeff Goldstein enjoys arguing, and (b) Ace of Spades has always been funny as hell.

Ah — yes! My point was that the hierarchy of respect is not always apparent to us. Those college kids in 2007 probably didn’t spend a lot of time surfing around the conservative blogosphere but, even if they had read Protein Wisdom, they had no idea that the muscular guy drinking bourbon and arguing with them outside that hotel in Santa Barbara was the esteemed blogger Jeff Goldstein.

Fast-forward six-and-a-half years and, when Goldstein confronts someone on Twitter, their response is, “Who the F are u?”

Well, in point of fact, Jeff Goldstein is somebody. You don’t have to like Jeff, but if you want to go to war with him, don’t make the mistake of underestimating him. Nor should you expect that Jeff’s friends will hesitate to join him in the fight. There are good people who owe Jeff favors, and I am most certainly among them.

Back in 2008, when I quit my newspaper job and embarked on this crazy freelance career, blog hits weren’t always rolling in by the thousands. There were days when getting linked at Protein Wisdom was an answer to earnest prayer. It would be dishonorable of me to forget such favors. The passage of time cannot erode an obligation of sincere gratitude.

Jeff and I haven’t had the opportunity to hang out in many years, but if he ever makes a trip East — or if I make a trip West — I’ll be glad to buy him another bourbon on the rocks. And if anyone wants to insult Jeff to his face, they’d better be ready to rumble.

 

Category: Protein Wisdom

Comments

81 Responses to “‘Who the F Are U?’”

  1. Howard Towt
    April 24th, 2014 @ 11:25 am

    Stacy, you have given us a memorable insight into Internet lore. Thank you!

  2. darthlevin
    April 24th, 2014 @ 11:41 am

    Jeff G. and Pope Francis have this in common: both have said things that initially made me say, “How can he possibly believe that?” But because of the respect I hold for them, I stopped, listened again, and dug deeper. Through some hard thinking and honest reflection discovered that I didn’t know nearly as much as I’d thought, and that some things really are very simple.

    Just not in ways we expect them to be.

  3. Darth Odie
    April 24th, 2014 @ 11:49 am

    Awesome, linked dude.

  4. ThomasD
    April 24th, 2014 @ 12:00 pm

    Yeah, probably the greatest thing that can be said about Jeff is that he will make you think.

    Of course, some of us find that challenge more daunting than others…

  5. While buying Jeff Goldstein a bourbon is always a good idea… | Batshit Crazy News
    April 24th, 2014 @ 12:04 pm

    […] G, Bob Belvedere and Robert Stacy McCain discuss some of the bullshit that Jeff Goldstein has had to put up with lately.  And it is not […]

  6. rrpjr
    April 24th, 2014 @ 12:11 pm

    Thanks for this. I’ve always admired Jeff for his often fulminating and militant stream-of-consciousness genius. He is a rare bird. As for Breitbart, I too remember all the heady promises to never forget him and all the “I am Breitbart” bravado that went nowhere fast. I don’t go more than a few days without remembering and missing him and I do the best I can to integrate his lessons into my life and own battles.

  7. robertstacymccain
    April 24th, 2014 @ 12:14 pm

    We don’t remember Andrew as often as we should, nor do we emulate his example as we should.

  8. Jeff G
    April 24th, 2014 @ 12:15 pm

    1. I’m pretty sure it was Lagavulin single malt scotch. 2) I wound up spending time later laughing with those same kids (they may have believed the threat of physical confrontation real in the moment, but I was just winding them up and testing the kind of principled fight they had in them — that is, were they defenders of liberty or merely future RINOs who would be supporters of the status quo cronyism so long as they got tax breaks; I had no designs on physical confrontation), so you are right to label the exercise Socratic, though it’s probably true that they weren’t terribly interested just then in engaging in that kind of dialogue. 3) 170 lbs was about 30 lbs ago. 4) I don’t expect everybody to like me; but I have always been principled and I am loyal to my friends, often to a fault.

    I bring out both the worst and the best in people, and that’s at least partially by design. I despise people with grubby souls parading their sanctimony, and I’ve taken many a bullet to reveal some of these people for who they really are. I press buttons well, I guess. I’m a mirror of sorts. Not for a laugh, but because in the end I need to 1. I’m pretty sure it was Lagavulin single malt scotch. 2) I wound up spending time later laughing with those same kids (they may have believed the threat of physical confrontation real in the moment, but I was just winding them up and testing the kind of principled fight they had in them — that is, were they defenders of liberty or merely future RINOs who would be supporters of the status quo cronyism so long as they got tax breaks; I had no designs on physical confrontation), so you are right to label the exercise Socratic, though it’s probably true that they weren’t terribly interested just then in engaging in that kind of dialogue. 3) 170 lbs was about 30 lbs ago. 4) I don’t expect everybody to like me; but I have always been principled and I am loyal to my friends, often to a fault.

    I bring out both the worst and the best in people, and that’s at least partially by design. I despise people with grubby souls parading their sanctimony, and I’ve taken many a bullet to reveal some of these people for who they really are. I press buttons well, I guess.

  9. Dudge OH Politics
    April 24th, 2014 @ 12:21 pm

    Infighting like this always saddens me. As I blogged myself, back last year, if you’re for freedom and liberty, we’re on the same team; let’s defeat the totalitarian leftists then work out our differences.

    Its just an assumption by me, but judging by the tweets I’ve seen involving Cali, Twitter’s constant reinforcement of just who perpetuates the “War on Women” is probably behind her initial response to Jeff.

  10. Jeff G
    April 24th, 2014 @ 12:23 pm

    Sorry, that comment got screwed up at the end. To finish the thought, I don’t do it for laughs ; but rather so when the time comes I’ll know whom I can trust in the foxhole. And trust me when I say a goodly portion of those on “our” side would put a knife in your back, then pull your dead body over themselves in order to hide from the actual enemy. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

  11. robertstacymccain
    April 24th, 2014 @ 12:38 pm

    Yeah, XY vs. XX — I noticed that.

    This is the irony of feminism. Men and women are allegedly equal, yet if a man starts arguing with a woman the way he would argue with a man, he will be accused of “misogyny.”

  12. robertstacymccain
    April 24th, 2014 @ 12:46 pm

    There are times my Celtic temper erupts and I frighten myself. I understand you weren’t meaning to fight those kids, but the vibe at that moment was that you were provoking them. I don’t think they were as keenly aware as I was that if they decided to swing on you, they would regret it. That’s why the size of the big kid stuck in my memory: A kid that big isn’t used to being dissed — especially not in front of his date — so I was watching him closely.

    If Ace hadn’t broke it up, I’d give even money that big kid would have started something within a couple more minutes.

  13. scarymatt
    April 24th, 2014 @ 1:28 pm

    That was weird. I can’t figure out why those guys all got so hostile. I mean…I’d find it kinda weird if someone asked me why I favorited something, but there was nothing hostile about it. And Jeff’s reply was pretty explanatory.

    What’s really bugging me about this is that I couldn’t figure out WTF she had favorited, and now it’s all I can think about. Did anyone figure it out / save the original link?

  14. ThomasD
    April 24th, 2014 @ 1:29 pm

    Ever read Patrick Henry’s famous speech?

    He wasn’t talking to his opponents, he was talking to people who were purportedly on his side, and the entire thing is a rather spirited piece by piece dismantling of their position.

    Sometimes things need to be said. If only for clarity, and bridges can be re-built in time, if they ever really existed in the first place.

    And if there never really was a bridge? Well that just marks the spot for later use.

  15. Anchovy
    April 24th, 2014 @ 1:37 pm

    I read PW frequently and comment occasionally. I readily admit I understand only about 75% of what Jeff says. He is a challenge. He is an important counterbalance to formula thinking.

    Way his words with had I wish.

  16. Eff-BHO
    April 24th, 2014 @ 2:00 pm

    Thanks Stacy! Great story, enjoy your blog as well as Jeff’s very much. Ace too!!

  17. robertstacymccain
    April 24th, 2014 @ 2:05 pm

    I know, right? What happened was that there was this Twitter fight between Jeff and a left-wing guy. The left-wing guy posted a photo to Twitter meant to mock Jeff, and then Jeff noticed (because he was “@” in that tweet) that CaliAzona had “favorited” it. Well, she’s a conservative, so why did she favorite this left-wing guy’s post taunting Jeff?

    We still don’t have an answer to that question, because it turned into this crazy flame war.

  18. sarah wells
    April 24th, 2014 @ 2:20 pm

    No, seriously, I’m sure that story did have an actual point, something other than (a) Jeff Goldstein enjoys arguing, and (b) Ace of Spades has always been funny as hell.

    What was that point? I hope it was to remind me that good god I love you all.

    [long winded discussion of past deleted]

    I’ll stop there.

    except Ps. Jeff is very photogenic and is sharp in front of a camera. This has not so far been exploited and someone should think of it.

  19. RS
    April 24th, 2014 @ 2:21 pm

    One of the things in Jeff’s post which hits home, is the observation that those who’ve jumped on the bandwagon more recently have an insufficient appreciation and respect for those who have gone before. This deficiency leads to the sorts of internecine battles discussed, because people, e.g. this “Cali” person, are wrapped up in their own stable of followers and accolades rather than acknowledge that they are plowing the same ground as others have for many years. In Jeff’s case, his wilderness wandering over the last few years has been the result of this as well as an unwillingness for some on “our” side to appreciate the philosophy underlying his posts. I think it was the humorist Fran Liebowitz who remarked, “Original thought is like Original Sin. They both happened a long time ago to people you could not possibly have met.” Some these new young “heroes” need to remember that and figure out that most of what they’re writing has been written before and most likely written better.

  20. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    April 24th, 2014 @ 2:26 pm

    It is not even infighting as much as how the internet allows weak individuals to be trolls (given the buffer of not having to engage in actual social interaction).

  21. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    April 24th, 2014 @ 2:31 pm

    While good bourbon is always good, Lagavulin is just a wee bit better. Smoke and salt is a wonderful combination in all things, including scotch.

  22. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    April 24th, 2014 @ 2:33 pm

    I press buttons well, I guess.

    You have a gift.

  23. Dianna Deeley
    April 24th, 2014 @ 2:56 pm

    I am howling and rolling on the floor.

    “Trust me, I recognize an Incipient Redneck Brawl when I see one”.

    Tip jar hit coming right up!

  24. AsphodelJones
    April 24th, 2014 @ 3:04 pm

    Hi Mr. McCain, I’m Dianna Deeley’s assistant. She bounced this link to me about fifteen minutes ago, and I haven’t stopped laughing.

  25. Quartermaster
    April 24th, 2014 @ 3:12 pm

    Cudda been done accidentally. Lord knows I’ve done something similar a time or 3.

  26. Rick Bulow
    April 24th, 2014 @ 3:14 pm

    It would seem that while we are fighting the Left, those on our own side are wanting to pick a fight with us. And conservatives WONDER why we lost the White House in 2008 and 2012 and why we had our asses handed to us in Congress in 2006!

    In order for us to win the Senate in 2014 and the White House in 2016, we have to play by the Rules of Breitbart and most importantly STAY UNITED!

  27. Dianna Deeley
    April 24th, 2014 @ 3:20 pm

    Yay, Lagavulin.

    I’m requesting a new bottle for my birthday. Not until then, though.

  28. Jeanette Victoria
    April 24th, 2014 @ 3:24 pm

    Nailed it Stacy. I’ve also noticed when woman says they are conservatives they don’t mean the same thing as when men say they are conservative.

  29. Jeanette Victoria
    April 24th, 2014 @ 3:25 pm

    Sadly I agree!

  30. Dianna Deeley
    April 24th, 2014 @ 3:53 pm

    I have decided I want the story portion of this recorded. With gestures.

  31. riverlifecallie
    April 24th, 2014 @ 4:00 pm

    I read the entire Twitter thread and am appalled at these young twits that call themselves Conservative. What started off as a simple question turned into a disgusting and puerile flame-war against Jeff G. Except for the little princesses who started the whole thing who blocked everyone because, hey, why should we have to think because we’re good little Conservatives, and stuff. I actually came to a grudging admiration for the person calling himself/herself “Jeff” who at least stayed in and fought for his/her convictions, misguided thought they might be. I found myself hoping that they were all very, very young so that at least there might be hope for them. These days we need strong Conservatives who are able to defend their beliefs, not little cry-babies that run and hide whenever someone dares to question them.

    At first I wondered why Jeff G. stayed with it for so long. Then I realized what he was doing. Unfortunately, I think it flew over their little heads. But maybe the other “Jeff” might decide to read and learn something.

  32. Anamika
    April 24th, 2014 @ 4:32 pm

    All this twitter war over a “fav”? The simple explanation is perhaps the best explanation here: “Who the F” Protein guy had an elongated ‘small penis’ moment.

  33. Physics Geek
    April 24th, 2014 @ 4:39 pm

    Jeff, I wouldn’t be too certain about the “metaphorically” part.

  34. Flynn
    April 24th, 2014 @ 4:41 pm

    I have followed Jeff for years and years, long before there was a
    Twitter. I don’t often interact with him at all, and I doubt he would
    recognize me from Adam, but one thing I do know is that his political
    philosophy is shaped by his philosophical understanding of human nature.
    For instance his long standing attempts to educate people of
    originalism over other semantic practices which produce bad
    interpersonal tyrranies, bad law and other effects. He’s one of the few
    people who will question his own underpinnings with new data, but
    rejects entirely playing by a popular playbook if the rules are contrary
    to his understood philosophy.

    I’ve seen him disappear from
    blogging and reappear months later, contributed a little here and there
    for expense maintenance (not much to speak of) when requested because,
    apart from being one of the most insightful of bloggers, he is, and I
    put this in the common parlance of the times- Funny As All Hell. From
    the old Billy Jack snipes and various dead celebrity communiques I’ve
    laughed out loud at the un-PC hilariousness of them all. The guy really
    is one in a million.

    In the past he’s been seriously threatened
    with death and stalkers (long before the Kimberlins, Rauhausers and
    Browns of the world made a national scene) and seen the sort of crap
    he’s put up with, so a little bit of being defensive when the trolls
    start swarming I believe is completely excusable. Only, Cali Azona
    wasn’t, or not obviously, aware of who Jeff is and his stormy past in
    online battles. Perhaps we can forgive that too, but all in all Jeff’s
    followers are experienced in seeing these storms blow in from time to
    time.

    [Aside- I wonder if Jeff ever found his SCAR-H in the bottom of the lake? Still thinking about dredging for it…]

  35. Jeff G
    April 24th, 2014 @ 5:02 pm

    And there it is, right on cue. Yes. It was all about my penis and how ashamed I am of its size. Just as I’m sure my answering you here now and noting that you probably have a giant, stretched out vagina will not be seen as merely a flip-sided remark meant to parody your own simplicity, but verbal “rape” and a clear indication that I “hate women.” You are a cliche. Does that not bother you at all?

  36. Anamika
    April 24th, 2014 @ 5:12 pm

    It bothers me. My framing of the issue was wrong, and/or the simple explanation is not the best explanation in this context. Either way I owe you an apology for my flippant remarks. And I ask for it here.

  37. Jeff G
    April 24th, 2014 @ 5:13 pm

    Good on you to step up. Thanks.

  38. Anamika
    April 24th, 2014 @ 5:16 pm

    No, I thank you. It’s almost 3 AM here, and some of the worst transgressions I make are when I lack sleep. Should not be an excuse. I should know better.

  39. dicentra
    April 24th, 2014 @ 5:20 pm

    It’s happening now on Twitter as we speak: people crawling all over themselves to distance themselves from Bundy’s racist-SOUNDING remarks.

  40. dicentra
    April 24th, 2014 @ 5:22 pm

    A favorite can be a bookmark, too. I have retweeted Chavista crap from Venezuela just to refer to it later for What Delusional Thinking Looks Like.

  41. dicentra
    April 24th, 2014 @ 5:23 pm

    Infighting is unpleasant but it culls the weak from the herd.

  42. dicentra
    April 24th, 2014 @ 5:29 pm

    United under which banner? McConnell or Bevin? Cruz or Boehner?

  43. scarymatt
    April 24th, 2014 @ 5:30 pm

    I can’t see how this is infighting. This was just a bunch of people on Twitter with poor communication skills who didn’t bother to see what was going on before piling on and reflexively attacking someone they wrongly perceived as attacking their online “friend.” That’s the way of the flamewar, especially among people who don’t really have anything to say.

  44. dicentra
    April 24th, 2014 @ 5:33 pm

    “I actually came to a grudging admiration for the person calling
    himself/herself “Jeff” who at least stayed in and fought for his/her
    convictions, misguided thought they might be”

    Those weren’t convictions. The guy was a putz who couldn’t let it go. He was reveling in the ad homs and his “knight in shining armor” act.

    He didn’t have a point to make besides “I LOVE ME ALL THIS ATTENTION I’M GETTING.”

  45. Anamika
    April 24th, 2014 @ 5:35 pm

    I agree. No one cares for the merits after the bickering has begun. My browser was still loading replies for minutes after I opened the tweet link and had to close the window before I could see the end (if it did) of the arguments.

  46. Anamika
    April 24th, 2014 @ 5:40 pm

    Don’t forget he has his reputation on line. Can’t begrudge any self respecting man/woman who chooses to stay-in and fight/clear things up in such a situation. Others might not show same patience, and might deal it in a different manner, each his/her own.

  47. dicentra
    April 24th, 2014 @ 5:41 pm

    The twitterspat was infighting only in the most basic sense.

    Jeff is connected with a lot of other red-on-red infighting that has been predicated on a much deeper rift in Our Side.

    That one splits the herd but I’m not sure it’s the weak (minded) who are marginalized.

  48. Anamika
    April 24th, 2014 @ 5:46 pm

    We still don’t have an answer to that question, because it turned into this crazy flame war.

    I thought Cali DID mention in the initial tweets that she “fav”s tweets for diff reasons, like bookmarks, to visit later etc…

    Ideally the discussion should have ended there, but it went on for whatever reason.

  49. maniakmedic
    April 24th, 2014 @ 5:48 pm

    I’ve always found it hilarious that there are women who think it’s perfectly ok to hit a man because “he can take it” but the man should never hit back. I’ve always assumed that if I, as a female, take a swing at a guy, he’d swing back. Then again, I’m not the slappy type; if I’m going to hit you, it’ll be a full-on fist or a kick with all my power behind it. I don’t expect any man to take a beating sitting down simply because he’s being hit by a woman.

    Can’t wait until some feminist decides this is worthy of being kicked out of the feminist treehouse. Assuming I haven’t been kicked out already. It’s terribly hard to tell sometimes.

  50. Anamika
    April 24th, 2014 @ 5:54 pm

    Maybe Cali wasn’t paying attention to liberals attempting fun at a conservative’s expense. She fav’d it or rather saved it. That’s should not have become a big issue.

    https://twitter.com/CaliAzona/status/458662594203877376

    https://twitter.com/CaliAzona/status/458665692720824320