Yes, blog regulars, you did read much of this piece earlier in the week. But people who don't do blogs (a much larger number among newspaper readers) missed it, and there is some new material in it, at the beginning and the end. Not much, I'll admit, but some…
By BRAD WARTHEN
Editorial Page Editor
ONE OF THE tough things about getting laid off in a very public way is that you can’t get your work done — you can’t even walk down the street — for all the wonderful people who come up to you and say kind things. (Never mind the phone calls, e-mails and letters.)
Of course, it’s also the best thing about the experience, so don’t stop, folks. It doesn’t get old.
I’ve heard from everyone from Gov. Mark Sanford (yes, he was very kind and cordial, despite all those things I say about him) to old friends I worked with decades ago, far away from here. And I appreciated every one of them.
For those of you who missed it, I was in the news last week, along with a lot of my colleagues. To quote from thestate.com:
Among those laid off were three vice presidents including editorial page editor Brad Warthen.
My last day is March 20.
For those of you who ask “why,” the answer is simple: The money’s just not there, and somebody had to go. I was one of the 38. You might say, to borrow a phrase from the Corleone family, this isn’t personal; it’s strictly business.
I’ve tried to keep readers on my blog in the loop about the profound changes going on in the newspaper industry, which have been accelerating. I’ve written about everything from the departures of longtime friends and colleagues who are not replaced, to the horrific news sweeping the industry more recently, with some newspapers going under.
This has not been a comfortable thing for me to do. For one thing, I always wonder how much my readers will care. Someone I respected in college — actually, he taught a course in editorial writing that I took — warned us that when one talks about one’s own industry, one runs the risk of boring one’s audience.
(So, what I try to explain when I do talk about it is that this is about you, too. Newspapers reflect their communities in more ways than simply publishing news and commentary. We also reflect our surroundings economically. Newspapers went into this recession in a weakened condition, and now we’re like the canary in the coal mine. If you’re hurting, we’re hurting. And vice versa, whether you realize it or not.)
For another reason, I recognize my own lack of detachment.
Finally, there is such a delicate balance to strike between telling all that I know or imagine I know, which is my instinct as a journalist, and respecting the confidentiality of things I know only because I’m an officer of this company — which gives me both an unfair advantage and a responsibility to those I work with. It can be awkward.
Anyway, in spite of that, I’ve tried to be frank about the situation whenever I’m asked — and on the blog, even when I’m not.
I leave here with a deep love for this newspaper, which I hope has been evident over the past couple of decades. It seems to have been evident to my boss — President and Publisher Henry Haitz — judging by the kind and gracious things he had to say about my service in his note on this page on Wednesday. (Sample: “He is a remarkable journalist and writer, with keen understanding of the issues most vital to our community and our state.”)
And I appreciate that.
What will I do next? I don’t know. I’ll be spreading my resume around, online and otherwise. In the meantime, give me a holler if you hear of a suitable position. One advantage I have over so many people who are looking for work now — more than 200,000 in South Carolina, I heard last week — is that a huge portion of the state has watched me on the job and formed a pretty detailed impression of my capabilities. (Of course, whether that works for me or against me depends on the individual reader.)
I can tell you this much — I have zero intention of “relocating,” to use an ugly word. When I came to the state of my birth in 1987 after years in this business in Tennessee and Kansas, I did so with the intention of staying for good. My days as a newspaper vagabond were over. Either things worked out at The State, or I would find some other line of work. And the thing is, things worked out very well.
The day I was interviewed here (for the job of governmental affairs editor), I told then-Executive Editor Tom McLean that my ultimate goal was to become editorial page editor. I believed that position offered the greatest opportunity to serve my state, which I believed needed its largest newspaper to have a strong, frank, lively editorial page. Thanks to Tom, I got my chance to do just that 10 years later, and I could not be more proud of the team I have had the privilege of working with, or the excellent job they have done — and that those who remain will continue to do, if I know them. (And I do.)
Obviously, this is a stressful time, but beneath it all is something that I don’t quite know how to describe, a sort of anticipation driven by curiosity. I wonder, with great interest, what will happen next. (That sounds either terribly trite or unintelligible; I can’t tell which, but I explained it as well as I could.)
So much for this subject today. This will not be my last column. For one thing, I promised you last week to write something about U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett’s candidacy for governor. I was going to do that for today, but I got distracted again. I’m sure you’ll understand.
For now, please visit thestate.com/bradsblog/ for more about this subject and everything else. Watch there to learn about my future blogging plans.
Related Posts
I’m still thinking teacher, school newspaper advisor, and part-time blogger.
Good luck in whatever you do and I hope you find peace soon.
Thanks, Randy.
Trying to “save” The State by shrinking its offerings is like trying to save the bus system by cutting routes and times while raising prices. The less the state offers the fewer readers it will have. I for one, don’t care to pay for what has become mostly advertising. I hope The State still has the resources to turn around. In that respect, Brad, you are better off than they are.
Globalist, Brad Warthen, had no sympathy for the thousands of textile workers and other South Carolinians employed in manufacturing who saw their jobs terminated over the past three decades by so called free trade. These dumb Southerners were simply the necessary victims of a new world order where nationhood and citizenship took a backseat to the internationalist rhetoric of the journalistic elites. Nor did Mr. Warthen and the other open borders hacks at The State lift an eyebrow when thousands of other South Carolinians were fired and replaced by illegal aliens. And when any job came open in Columbia, from the President of U.S.C. to the head of the art museum, Warthen was the first to demand the job be filled with a transplant or even better someone residing in another state or country.
I don’t like to see anyone fired from their job but we all reap what we sow in this world and it appears that Karma finally caught up with Brad Warthen and The State.
What an arrogant sh*t. Good riddance!
If Karma is in play, the pigs flying overhead will drop dung on Marshall Lawson as he exits his relatively new SUV on his way into a nice restaurant for a $50 dinner.
The illegal aliens demagoguery is mindless ditto-head chatter reflecting a lack of critical thought and undermines any valid point that was attempted.
clarification: the pigs flying reference is meant to symbolize that Marshall’s thoughts were far fetched
Brad – if you start up another blog, please let the (ir)regulars know via email. I generally skirt the nutburger-posts, but there are a number of insightful people who have shared their thoughts on this blog. I’ve enjoyed and learned from them (even when we disagreed) and hope to encounter them again.
My best to you and your family as you continue your journey.
Marshall Lawson, you know damn well that your easy, cheap victimization rhetoric has a deep history here in SC that pre-dates either The State or Brad Warthen. Get off it, man. Grow up.
The truth is, you need people like Brad, and entities like The State, to demonize and flagellate, so you can feel cozy in the rationalization that there really is an evil New World Order out there trying to overthrow your idyllic, xenophobic Confederatopia.
Things change. Demographics change. Business models change. Cultures and economies change. The world of paper print media has been helped toward obsolescence by the stunning success of virtualization and the Information Age. That’s not karma. It’s reality.
If karma were real, Mr. Lawson, you’d reap the bitterness of your pathetic, unnecessary comment sown above by receiving a swift kick in the groin from the next ethnic South Carolinian you pass on the street. But, of course, karma isn’t real, and odds are good your heart will seize up from all the sludge in your diet well before you’re ever held accountable for being a bitter, regressive a-hole.
I suppose I could tell Marshall I’m going to report him to the Pentavirate, but he might actually worry about it, so I won’t. I don’t want to cause anybody any sleepless nights.
At the risk of being called a dittohead… yeah, what he (jfx) said! Nicely put, man.
Is it my imagination or has the vitriol reached a zenith here? Now that Brad is half way out of the door the real shitkickers come out of the outhouse. Kudos on a job well done, Brad. And do keep us informed of where your new blog can be found. You do have a lot of fans out here –
I was a long time subscriber to The State, but stopped my subscription when the anti white bigotry seeped into all sections.
I would still look at it if left on table in a coffee shop, mainly the sports and letters to the editor, but thesee were always edited and chosen to support the anti whitey anti Southern meme.
When the blame whitey morphed into the crucify whitey and disparage all things southern, that was the farewell to the state tabloid.
Now the online is place to see the flame mouths deliciously mangle some poster messenger content and character, splay and flay some deluded fool who posted ideas or facts of content and substance that are repugnant to the self annointed moral arbiters.
Always find here very certain answers to all the moral, ethical and political questions of the past 8000 years of civilization.
Evidently there are some smart fellas and fellettes in South Carolina, or, are they all transplants from some superior place and time?
Joe,
Just shut up. You clearly have nothing to say and reading the State will not improve your racist mind.
I have the State delivered every day to my door. I put it under my arm, pore over it, and inform my high school students about what it has to say today.
Thank you, Brad, for being there for us all these years. And thank you State newspaper, so aptly symbolized by Gonzales, who was assassinated in the line of duty so that a free press might exist in this benighted state.
Dum spiro, spero.
The State makes rather an empty bible, doesn’t it, Rich?
You wouldn’t know a racist if you saw one in the mirror.
While you breathe, you foul the air.
Brad,
Good luck. Use what you can learn from this blog to figure out how to start a new blog that earns you a profit, or at least promotes your career.
Marshall Lawson may have been harsh, but he gave it to you straight. The chattering class decided that our textile industry was obsolete, then proceeded to drive it out of business with interest-free IMF loans to build new competing factories under corrupt regimes in Asia, Africa and Central America.
Self-loathing white liberals had a dilemma in whether to support illegal aliens from Mexico, or the blacks whose jobs were being give to these cheaper illegal workers. The solution was to follow the talking points from liberals on high at the NY Times, think tanks and other mouthpieces for globalism.
Being the mouthpiece for illiterates and degenerates is not a good business model. The media which is thriving is pro-American, pro-free-market, and upholding of families and morality.
Take that lesson to your next job, and you will prosper.
Brad;
We poor old SC White boys are not sad to see you go. We hope you take John Monk and the rest of your self-hating crowd with you.
Now we need a well-heeled South Carolinian, with an appreciation of who we are, to buy this rag of a newspaper and turn it in to something real South Carolinians can appreciate.
I’m just getting to the end of Barbara Walters’ massive biography, “Audition,” and there’s the Dalai Lama chatting with Walters, and offering his advice about a good life: Be happy and have compassion. My compassion goes out to you because of your untiring efforts to bring some sense to national and state events. In one way or another, your words have always touched me emotionally. I’ve been irritated with you on occasion, and I’ve praised you on others for filtering out the garbage and sharing your intelligent thoughts with us. One of those times when I was angry at you was when you wrote about John Edwards being a phony. And look what happened later! Brad, you’re a talented journalist and I wish you the best. If there is a position at any publication worthy of your talents, I’m certain you will win the job. Best of luck. Jerry
Val offers some great suggestions:
The State should replace the palmetto tree in its emblem with a confederate battle flag.
Replace the National and World news sections with Heritage and Dixie sections.
The Living section should devote itself to the Catfish Stomp and Confederate Day reenactments with McConnell as the beat reporter.
Perhaps the education section could use Val’s perspective as a reason critical thinking should be a higher priority in our schools and the SAT word of the day could be “provincialism.”
Now we need a well-heeled South Carolinian, with an appreciation of who we are, to buy this rag of a newspaper and turn it in to something real South Carolinians can appreciate.
Apparently that would be a protectionist xenophobe based on the last few comments on this post.
No thanks.
Derisive terms like “protectionism” and “xenophobe” are used to avoid intelligent discussion by dismissing all the other parties.
I hope you don’t fall into the trap of doing that, Mr. Barlow.
Rich, Lee, p.m./weldon/penultimo… Are you guys oblivious to the fact you are the same PERSONALITY, with different politics, or do you know?
Wrong, martin.
I am an entrepreneur, who believes in live and let live. I, and others like me, only show up to DEFEND our freedom against the aggressive criminal personalities of those who think they are entitled to our labor and wealth.
If it were not for the aggression of socialists, the NRA would once again be a social hobby club, and there would be no need for legal defense funds, AM talk radio, etc.
Mr. Warthen (formerly, and never-after to be called “Warthime”),
As a Douglas Adams fan, I say this fondly, and not entirely flippantly: So long and thanks for all the fish.
This blog, your blog, reignited my spark to be politically active once again. The topics you presented over the last half-decade, and the ensuing reactions showed me undeniably that there are negative, even evil forces, afoot in this state that people like me, and people much smarter and more righteous than myself should oppose and in a visible manner.
From the not-entirely-veiled, racist rants of people like Lee, to the fanatically conservative tirades of people like Fart, Knave and pms, to the generally honorable though often confuzzled offerings of people like Herb, to the Palin-ish cluelessness of the Ish Beverly-Mental-Hillbillies of the world, your blog reminded me that each of those archetypes must be countered; there must be a balance to the blogoverse and to political discourse. Opposition must always exist so that truth and enlightenment is born out of that neverending struggle.
I know you have public misgivings about whether or not your blog did any good, and I have to say that it was good for me as a writer, a teacher and a person.
You are the Everyman, and if you knew me and not just my impassioned rambles on this blog for the past half-decade, you would know that is me paying you the highest compliment. You are evidence of the most horrid of ironies that millions of Americans, everyday heroes, in point of fact, are facing today — people who have lost their jobs due to the corruption and ineptness of an administration that they supported or voted into office twice.
Your story is the current American “un-success” story. Unlike most, however, you have the talents and connections to teach others about the collective error of you and those like you who supported this past president, even unto your own ruin…or, at the very least, personal discord. You have the power to inform, and I hope you use that ability in your next career for the general good, much as how you have cajoled everyone to consider the shortcomings of our elderly-pandering, Myspace addicted Lt. Governor and just plain incompetent Governor.
Though some of the cowardly, conservative sycophants (many of whom have only now, at the eleventh hour, summoned the “courage” to post their soul-simmering vitriol)are taking this opportunity to hit you with cheap shots on your way out of the door, you’re not the insider nor the straw man they want you to be.
You’re not the Big Lebowski; you’re “the Dude” — slightly above average and well-meaning in all acts, like so many of the rest of us.
I have no worries for your future because without a doubt, one single truth exists concerning our current epoch: The Dude abides.
To paraphrase the finest example of a journalist ever to grace your field as he, himself, quoted Queen Elizabeth: Good night and good luck, Mr. Warthen.
Lee Muller wrote:
“The media which is thriving is pro-American, pro-free-market, and upholding of families and morality.
Take that lesson to your next job, and you will prosper.”
Yep. There ya go, Brad. If only you had filled the editorial page with James Dobson, Tony Perkins, and Wayne LaPierre, McClatchy wouldn’t have had nationwide layoffs and you’d have cozy tenure in a thriving, Pro-American newspaper. Damn your self-hating liberal impulses that made you go and torpedo your own career by printing the rantings of Socialist America-haters like David Brooks and Charles Krauthammer! For shame, Brad! Why didn’t you uphold families and morality better?!
Well Brad,
The ending is now complete. With another rambling, quasi philosophical posting by Capital A, attacking those who IT disagrees with, we can now close the book on your stellar career at the State and wish you Godspeed.
I do have a question for Capital A.
What have you written that has been published? I would be very interested in reading some of your work.
I do travel and at times need to stop and take advantage of available facilities. It still amazes me the similarity between the drawings found in caves and those in the facilities.
After all, even us “fanatical” conservatives are inquisitive and wonder who are the possessors of those intellectual minds, furtively scribbling their graffiti thoughts and phone numbers on walls in public toilets.
Capital A? Capital A?
Fart aka Bart
Lee Muller is the only factual commentator on this blog.
The jist of the rest is just attack the messenger angst of self hating white scalawags, carpetbaggers, yankees cowards or mulattos, or are these just adolescent communistic oxymorons?
To the self hating poster, called rich, please do not post when you are getting your special enema from Jamal:
it clouds your thinking that your special education degree of Clafin college special admit non reading program scholar merits.
Please support the cause, SC Needs New Dueling Dispute Settlement Laws. This could be a big money maker for SC, and the Flame Mouths could bet their houses and pensions on defeating physically those they hate so much. Such sweet victory to be amorally justified in chaos nihilism.
Just saw the news about Robert. If the State wants to continue they need to think about what people read it for or they will become another Columbia Star, a platform for legal advertising and articles about Shandon garden clubs. While there is certainly a place for that, there must be tears in the eyes of the Gonzales brothers.
I was always amazed that the State kept Robert as long as they did as I thought his talents placed him among the very top editorial cartoonists in the country. I wish him all the very best.
Brad,
I had no idea until I picked up the paper in my father’s hospital room. My mother had quit taking the paper because he has been too sick to read it. I haven’t kept up with a lot of things.
I am shocked that the State would let you go. Genuinely shocked. You are an intelligent writer with the ability to step out and look around before making your editorial decision. I may not always have totally agreed with you, but you expressed your opinion well and allowed me to see your side as well. It’s something I wish for my Advanced Comp students.
Best wishes to you and good luck on this St. Patrick’s Day. I’m fearful for my job as well. It seems that many have hard feelings against working retirees (great oxymoron, no?) and don’t see how hard we work in the schools. So, I may be joining you.
Susan
PS: Sorry for some of the poison computer keyboards being used in some of these posts. It’s why I’m still reluctant to embrace communication by blog.
Brad,
What are law abiding Constitutionalists going to do without you to kick around anymore?
I would advise you to go down to Charleston and shovel horse manure–but unfortunately, you’re way overqualified for that job.
If your plan is to continue to propagandize the public with elitist, socialist/fascist nonsense, I’m afraid I can’t wish you luck and hope you fail.
However, if you finally get a real job producing something that is of real value that contributes to the material and spiritual wealth of our country, I’ll wish you all the luck in the world.
Ya Brad, get yo-self a dad gum job liek Tommy C. No need fo no educashun. Maybe y’all otta write one of them CONfedrate papers country boys like Tommy C tries to read.
Brad,
I was not kidding or being snide with my advice to try to figure out how to create your own new blog or web site which will produce revenue. If you can figure that out for one journalist, you have unlocked the door to how newspapers and other collections of journalists can be profitable in the age of the Internet.
I can tell you that just moving the same content from paper to Internet is not the answer. Pass that on to the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
Brad, maybe you can catch on with Politico.com and write expose’s on these provincial southern politicians like Sanford, Shelby, Graham etc. (DeMint is a hopless cause, I’m from SC and don’t understand him). You can share insight with the rest of the country who wonders what is the freakin problem down there.
Brad, I’ve disagreed with many of your articles and posts. I’ve agreed with just as many. I’ve always enjoyed your attempt to bring enlightened conversation to the topics and issues facing our state and nation and for having the gumption to allow detractors an open forum to display their anger and hate. I will miss your thoughts and ideas and I will miss THE STATE newspaper, no longer a SC newspaper. Good luck to you and your family.
Brad, I’ve disagreed with many of your articles and posts. I’ve agreed with just as many. I’ve always enjoyed your attempt to bring enlightened conversation to the topics and issues facing our state and nation and for having the gumption to allow detractors an open forum to display their anger and hate. I will miss your thoughts and ideas and I will miss THE STATE newspaper, no longer a SC newspaper. Good luck to you and your family.
Brad, I’ve disagreed with many of your articles and posts. I’ve agreed with just as many. I’ve always enjoyed your attempt to bring enlightened conversation to the topics and issues facing our state and nation and for having the gumption to allow detractors an open forum to display their anger and hate. I will miss your thoughts and ideas and I will miss THE STATE newspaper, no longer a SC newspaper. Good luck to you and your family.
^^^So nice you had to post it thrice =:>)
QUOTE:
“Ya Brad, get yo-self a dad gum job liek Tommy C. No need fo no educashun. Maybe y’all otta write one of them CONfedrate papers country boys like Tommy C tries to read.”
Posted by: Randy E | Mar 17, 2009 8:19:29 AM
ENDQUOTE
Thud.
Your weak attempt at humor (I’ll give you the benefit of a doubt and assume you don’t really write/talk that way) doesn’t even make sense. I’ve proved in postings on Brad’s blog that I can write intelligently and defend a point. If you’ll read the U.S. Constitution, you’ll find that I am consistent and make perfect sense.
BTW:
Brad,
You can stop pretending to be “Randy E” and “GayGuy” and such. It’s very obvious from the text and contacts I’ve made that you’re behind those messages.
I’d suggest that you be a little more open and honest in your next job and not pull such stunts.
Workin’ Tommy C,
If I understand your comment about Brad posting under 3 different names, do we now call this blog officially “The Three Faces of Brad”?
Gee Brad, didn’t know we have a genuine multiple personality disorder character on our hands. You sure know how to keep a secret. Did you not share it with the other two at all? And who says men gossip more than women? 🙂
Workin’ Tommy C: I’ve always read your posts with an open mind, but now you’ve shown yourself as what you are. You belong on Fits News, not here.
We don’t know if “Randy E” or “bud” or “Rich” are real posters, any more than we know if Hussein Obama is an American citizen.
I, for one, am glad Lee Muller is really for real; otherwise, we wouldn’t know jack around here about that poser in the White House.
Lee, you should start a blog! I’ll pitch in some of my allowance $ for maintenance costs.
Randy is real. Anyone who has been on the blog long enough knows that he was a teacher at Ridge View H.S. before he wised up and moved back to the Red Sox Nation. 🙂
Hey, Brad, how about doing a going away party so we all can meet face to face? First round is on me.
Or any more than we know whether “Lee Muller” is Grover Norquist, or Paul Weyrich, or Benito Mussolini, returned from the dead. Or just a know-it-all old curmudgeon shooing kids out of his yard in Lexington County.
His last advice is good, though. If anyone can figure out how to make the new media both reputable and profitable, Brad can.
Second round on me, Doug.
I will see if FitsNews would be interested in reserving the room next to y’all’s, KP…Brad…Doug, et al.
Lee Mueller could meander betwixt the camps!
I still think a Bobblehead Lee would make some dough for somebody. A new generation of afficionados, maybe. My son would be one of those — and I can’t believe I am even saying that.
How about a Happy Hour at Yesterday’s. No firearms allowed.
Tommy C, my country boy post was a parody of your country boy mentatily. Perhaps you should be the one shoveling it.
I like the irony that Lee – the self proclaimed fire captain, economist-engineer, marksman, hall monitor – was questioning my existence. Lee, Hussein Obama is YOUR president. 🙂
Randy, the way you make up things about me and others as straw men is scary, if you are a real teacher.
If our schools had been teaching good citizenship, bums like Obama, Barney Frank, and James Clyburn could never even run for office. Our students have been deprived of a real education by subversive teachers.
Trotsky knew what he was doing when he helped create the NEA and ACLU in America.
QUOTE:
Tommy C, my country boy post was a parody of your country boy mentatily. Perhaps you should be the one shoveling it.
Posted by: Randy E | Mar 18, 2009 12:01:14 AM
ENDQUOTE
Randy,
Here’s a little rule of thumb for you: parody must contain some truth to be humorous. I expect you to put a little bit more effort into your next parody.
On the other hand:
Oooooh! Great “shoveling” joke comeback. Very original and inventive! I’ll have to copy and paste that one!
=:>)
Okay, I’ll grant this: maybe Randy E is real but the “GayGuy” is definitely Brad’s little mustache disguise.
QUOTE:
“Workin’ Tommy C: I’ve always read your posts with an open mind, but now you’ve shown yourself as what you are. You belong on Fits News, not here.”
Posted by: KP | Mar 17, 2009 3:24:48 PM
ENDQUOTE
I’m just treating Brad the way he should have treated the politicians that the press should be going after for their outlandish and public corruption.
Just scratching the surface, it’s horrifying to see what these politicians are capable of and have done. From what I can tell, the press has gotten into bed with a lot of them and it’s NOT a pretty picture.
I doubt anything I write here will cause Brad to cry into his pillow at night. Brad’s a big boy and he can take it. I just wish he’d thought the same thing about his lil’ buddy, Lindsey Graham and all those other political personalities he seems to worship. Why not treat all politicians equally–question the motives and attack them ALL? Let the people sort them out afterwards once all the hard news is out there.
Der Staat has been the Charmin to neo-cons and liberals. I hope the paper fails so that someone with GUTS will start publishing a paper that will take some 0-grit sandpaper to those politicians who’ve been getting an easy time for so long.
Ideally, political writers in the press should be friends with no one in politics–it’s a conflict of interest.
We should have a pit bull press–especially in this era of accelerating corporate welfare/corporatism/fascism by BOTH the major parties in power. Instead, “Der Staat” is a lapdog to a large segment of the corrupt establishment.
When they call the press, “The Fourth Branch of Government”, they are referring to their role as a propaganda organ, not as watchdogs for the people.
Yeah, Lee! It’s amazing that the press has come to this.
There’d have never been an American Revolution and a republic (as long as we kept it) if the so much of the press had sucked up as hard to the Royal establishment in the late 1700s as Der Staat routinely does to the fascist establishment today.
Doug, I think having a going away party would be a great idea, except our beer would be too salty from Lee’s tears. He can barely handle when I riddle his peculiar brand of bitterness with holes on this blog, much less in person.
You’ll notice that many leading Republicans (Rush, our Goobernor, Trent Lott, McCarthy, back in the day)are crybabies in that way: You present them with facts to counter their inanity, and they whine foul for turning their own tactics(with added logic, by the way)back on them.
I WOULD like to take credit for browbeating Lee into becoming more grammatically correct, however. If you don’t believe me, compare his posts’ grammar from three years ago with those of today. Yes, both are hate-filled, but at least Lee now can decipher the difference between “your” or “you’re” posts to which he would like to maniacally respond.
He will say that it’s unfair to pick on him for grammar on the internet and poke fun at his personal views; I respond by saying, if you are going to pick on minorities and foreigners for their perceived or literal lack of elocution, at least be able to type/speak the language…which is the same charge he has leveled against those two parties in order to suggest his “obvious superiority” as a blue-blooded scion of stowaways, I mean, aristocracy.
A bully will never admit to being bullied, but we know the truth, don’t we Ele Ulmler?
Also, Doug, and since this is the end of all things bloggy, I will take this opportunity to thank you for an apology you sent a couple of years back when it was really me who should have been apologizing to you. (Yes, I keep records.)
Though you and I agree on nary a topic, I have respected your thoughts, and we never have had a flame war or even a dust up since. There is hope for conservatives and liberals, folks!
In closing, my final wish is to know which one of you was Will Folks (or the object of his bromance) posing as someone else? I know that piece of garbage and his ilk didn’t totally abandon this blog. If literature and a basic knowledge of human history have taught me anything, it’s that evil never disappears.
It lurks.
Shine a light, please.
Tommy C, by siding with Lee, the truth in the parody is proven.
I’m just treating Brad the way he should have treated the politicians … Tommy C
Brad should have shown his asp to the politician?
Workin’ Tommy C,
I’m flattered that you remembered me,but I’m not Brad.You’ve hurt my feelings.I’ll get over it…What size boots do you wear?
QUOTE
Posted by: Randy E | Mar 18, 2009 2:28:20 PM
Tommy C, by siding with Lee, the truth in the parody is proven.
Brad should have shown his asp to the politician?
END QUOTE
It’s all about taking sides to you, isn’t it?
To correct you: I didn’t take his side. I merely agreed with him on a single point just as I would agree with you if you were to state that, for example, the world was (roughly speaking) round (though I doubt you’d concede the point if there was an argument to be had).
As for your crudely put question (assuming you can, in reality, spell a simple word), I’m saying he should have been on the attack against ALL of the politicians and he might have still have had a job today. Instead he comes off as some weak, namby-pamby know-it-all who considers himself one of the powered elite rather than boring scribbler.
Brad mixes with the movers and shakers but never mixes it UP with them. No wonder he was considered not valuable enough to keep/overpaid/redundant and one of the first to go.
Am I radical to you? Do I offend your sensibilities?
I’m a radical all right–just as Thomas Jefferson and the other Founders were radicals–and of the same vein.
If you don’t like it, you’re perfectly free to go dig up King George III and grovel at his dessicated feet and suck his toe bones. Or, perhaps you prefer the fleshier toes of the current pretenders to the throne. In either case, you’ve really given up the fight and only hiss and spit over who gets the largest crumbs without pulling out your claws and going after the real source of your deprivation.
Why don’t you, yourself, Randy E, do something different–at least intellectually. Instead of “taking sides” and sucking up to the establishment why don’t you “fight the power (of the fascist establishment no matter who’s in office)” and work to return “power to the (states or the) people (respectively)?”
Then you might actually agree with me for a change.
Workin’ Tommy C — I like your spunk! You don’t offend me being a radical.
Jesus was a radical, you know!
‘The State’ should have allowed all of us a clean break with the immediate exit of the anti-radical Brad Warthen.
The longer this drags out, the more things I recall. And they ain’t good things.
Mab, Bill Ayers and Che Guevara were radicals also.
His attempt to pose as some principled champion of states rights is the facade for masking the simple provincialism of a good ol’ boy taking cheap shots at Brad.
Mab, Bill Ayers and Che Guevara were radicals also.
His attempt to pose as some principled champion of states rights is the facade for masking the simple provincialism of a good ol’ boy taking cheap shots at Brad.
Posted by: Randy E | Mar 18, 2009 10:12:34 PM
Cheap shots? Like your assumption that I’m not principled? Admittedly, all you have is my word but you may examine my posts and I think you’ll find consistency.
And yet again, you go back to “team sports” politics.
GO TEAM?
Bah! Humbug!
Just ask yourself, “WWTJD?” “What would Thomas Jefferson do?”
Anyone who had the potential that Brad wasted in personal glorification and feel good, get-along pleasantries and idiotic minutiae and distractions deserves to be called on the carpet as I have been doing for a few months and a few others have been doing for much longer on this blog.
Now, hopefully, Brad’s innocuous, sickeningly bland, bridge-to-nowhere propaganda can be replaced for some others at the paper who may actually have the spine to go after EVERY politician at EVERY opportunity no matter the highness or lowness of their office nor whom they know or drink with.
You and unemployed Brad can continue to enjoy the taste of tyrants’ toes. No groveling for me, however. I’ll judge a politician by his actions and keep checking to make sure he doesn’t stray. That’s the MOST trust any one of them will ever get out of me.
This is the attitude that we all should adopt, IMHO, if we want to end our corrupt, unconstitutional world mercantile empire. Such an attitude is the only thing that will lead to the restoration of our intended earnest and forthright republic by putting the citizens first and foremost rather than the corporations and their sycophantic political familiars.
Workin’ Tommy C,
I’m flattered that you remembered me,but I’m not Brad.You’ve hurt my feelings.I’ll get over it…What size boots do you wear?
Posted by: gayguy | Mar 18, 2009 2:34:40 PM
Oh, yeah?
That sounds JUST LIKE what Brad would say!
I don’t wear boots. I’m afraid I’d lose them in a crooked politician if I ever got close enough.
Out of context……..”If literature and a basic knowledge of human history have taught me anything, it’s that evil never disappears.
It lurks.
Shine a light, please.”
Capital A, I couldn’t agree more. If we are to wage a fight against evil, then we need to shine the light of truth on lurking evil as it hides in corners wherever it exists even in the labryinth of ideology from your side as well.
As a conservative undefined, I find it unacceptable for one side to claim moral and intellectual superiority over the other. There are many conflict issues that are neither conservative or liberal but are issues of humanity that defy attempts by both sides to be pigeon holed into a specific suiting their own particular set of beliefs and convictions.
The imperfect beast we know as a human being is capable of anything the mind can conjure and given the proper setting or circumstance, will act upon what the mind projects onto life’s screen as we view it through the prism of our own reality. There are five known levels of the subconscious and one level of the conscious. The five levels of the subconscious know not the difference between right and wrong, that is something determined by each of us at the conscious level. Determined by our indoctrination into the world by the influences surrounding us from the time of inception in our Mother’s womb to the day of full understanding which none of us ever achieve.
Humans have reached levels of evil across the span of time and recorded history that defy logic or reason. Annihilation of humans on opposing sides of a cause, belief, or philosophy held by another side has been a constant thread. Each justifying their actions according to a belief or doctrine, convinced theirs is the superior one, worth dying or killing for. Suppression of conflicting ideas, speech and thought is the principal weapon in the ongoing battle between races, gender, nationalities, and forms of government when one side is unwilling acknowledge their own faults and shortcomings.
It depends upon your own definition of evil. For some, it is the opposition to their set of values. For others, evil must take on a more traditional face. Nazi death camps, the Soviet revolution under Stalin, purposeful withholding of aid for starving populations of Third World countries by their own leaders and the slaughter of innocents by leaders wishing to expand their empire. The list is long indeed. Yet, in our vain attempt to place an damaging label on our adversaries, sometimes we resort to the ridiculous.
“…..In closing, my final wish is to know which one of you was Will Folks (or the object of his bromance) posing as someone else? I know that piece of garbage and his ilk didn’t totally abandon this blog. If literature and a basic knowledge of human history have taught me anything, it’s that evil never disappears.
It lurks.”
If this is your version or definition of evil, then you have managed to diminish the meaning of the word and now place it among the innocuous and irrelevant where no real meaning is attached. Racism and homophobia are other words that are used as a club against perceived slights or offenses when legitimate criticism is made against either minority. When true racism rears its ugly head, the word no longer has the relevance of branding a genuine offender. When one expresses his or her opposition to the gay lifestyle, this in itself does not constitute homophobia.
Hatred has been used all too often in the same manner. Do you honestly know anyone who genuinely hates another as demonstrated by their observed actions? Hatred is a strong emotion and accusations of such should not be done lightly. Lee has been accused of most of what I have listed but nowhere have I read anything he has written that would lead me to believe he fits the description associated with them.
As a writer, depending upon the nature of your particular area of interest, the use of overly demonstrative words meets the measure of literary license. But, when you use the same words in the context of a discussion blog like this one, you stray from your roots and relegate the truth of language to a second class status. I read the same lack of understanding when perusing comments posted by Rich and Randy E.
Capital A, you have a unique gift and a great command of the English language. I know you are not necessarily interested in commentary or criticism from me but you have the capacity and opportunity to use it wisely. Do so without the need to attack and ridicule. Then you may see positive results and more people willing to listen to you. Otherwise, the ones you are trying to reach or influence will raise their defenses and close you out completely. I know I generally tune Rich, Randy, bud and some others out after a sentence or two. They have nothing to offer but anger laden comments and unmoveable positons. I suspect they do the same with me, Lee and others. The difference is that I am willing to admit and acknowledge the fallacies and mistakes on the Republican and conservative side. So far there has been no return in kind. There is no such animal as a perfect Democrat.
Fortunes change rapidly. Just a few weeks ago, Obama’s job approval ratings exceeded the 70 percentile. As of today, his ratings have fallen to the mid 50s. His personal ratings remain high but to what end at this juncture? What was once the appearance of a Democrat tsunami has now taken on the face of an unguided missle with no clear target in sight. One of the results is that the generic congressional poll now favors Republicans over Democrats by 2 points or more and is growing.
Please implement the folks
___________________
Christena
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