I don’t have to worry about someone saying I have “no balls”
Yes, it’s true, that is one of added benefits of being a woman political blogger. The simple physical reality is, I have no balls. I like Eric, and I have watched enough of the exchanges between some of the blogs on the left and some of the blogs on the right at time get nasty. I’ve learned it’s typically better to ignore it and just try to move on to issues I think are more important. While I understand why Eric made his boxing challenge to Matt Naugle whether it was 100% serious or done partly in jest it will get to the beating the dead horse stage. Even the Cleveland Plain Dealer picked up on it yet if both sides are doing the name calling then how does either side truly differ?
If it’s grounds to want to beat the crap out of someone in a boxing ring because they said Liberals are pansies, then is someone calling Matt a vagina any better? Is there some kind of magic score board out there in the blogosphere so we can know that the “right” did it more than the “left” or vice versa? Trying to imply Matt is a coward for not wanting to box maybe entertaining for some but this former hippie doesn’t believe that violence solves anything the majority of the time except showing who had the most might, which doesn’t necessarily transcend to who was right. I don’t know Matt, I disagree with quite a bit of what he’s written including the most recent insult of calling Eric a “paint sniffer” as well as insulting one of my personal favorite songs, “Imagine”. My personal way of dealing with the type of behavior Matt is exhibiting would be to treat them as I would treat an internet troll, ignore them because it is the response and the attention they crave. Yes, I realize I’m not doing that right now but I doubt Matt reads my blog and if he did? Calling me names will only result in him looking a bit silly when the response is laughter.
I don’t often agree with Todd Hoffman, but on this I do. We do have more important issues to focus on and the majority of people who don’t read blogs don’t need an impression of what we do being based on one tiny interaction. I know from personal experience sometimes it’s really hard to do the whole “be the bigger person” but from someone much wiser than me:
“Go on then in doing with your pen what in other times was done with the sword: shew that reformation is more practicable by operating on the mind than on the body of man, and be assured that it has not a more sincere votary nor you a more ardent well-wisher than yours”.
I do read your blog. And right now, I’m very impressed with your site’s comment auto-preview. I have not seen a wordpress site that does that. Very snazzy.
December 10th, 2006 at 12:17 amThanks Matt, it’s a feature that a few of my regular readers wanted because they were used to it on my old blogspot blog. It is a plug in that can be found here.
December 10th, 2006 at 1:04 amIt seems to be more of the same for the “right” as they are always right in their minds and when they are confronted with the wrongs they are right and they will beat the hell out of ya to prove it.
Or, remember this one? America Love it or Leave it!
Or Better Red than Dead
Or you are with us or against us. (So that makes us against everybody that decided to be not with us)
Or Freedom Fries
Or members or congress singing god bless america on the capital steps (I felt safer after) And I envisioned God as portrayed in Holy Grail coming put from a cloud yelling, Get on with it!
December 10th, 2006 at 5:57 amGlad to see a continuation of reminders to Todd Hoffman regarding how he manipulatively tried to mislead the blogosphere during his propaganda role for the Ohio Lie and Earn GAMBLING (not college scholarships) initiative !!
Obviously Matt, you picked the wrong person to blast regarding Eric Vessels (Although I think the boxing match suggestion was unecessary and quite silly).
Matt, despite your rightward tendencies, I believe a strong contingent of “lefties” would join you, if you chose to blast Todd Hoffman instead of Eric Vessels.
What possessed Chris Redfern to hire Hoffman for such an important public communication role at the Ohio Democratic Party Headquarters in Columbus? I’m confident that multitudes of Democrats agree that it is impossible to trust Todd Hoffman after witnessing his sleazy actions on behalf of Ohio Lie and Earn.
While you’re at it Matt, I personally would NOT object to you throwing criticism Chris Redfern’s way.
Several rotten Republicans caused the election to be lost by the Republicans rather than ANYTHING Redfern supposedly did to win it for the Democrats. It should be noted that Chris Redfern DIDN’T put together anything close to a coordinated statewide campaign.
Thank goodness the Republicans imploded or the Democrats would have been statewide election losers for 20 years straight rather than 16 years.
December 10th, 2006 at 3:38 pmDave, you know I don’t delete people here, and I’m not going to pretend that Todd and I are buddies but I do agree with Todd on this one issue and I would really appreciate it if you would keep your contributions a bit closer to the topic.
Todd and I have had some disagreements over the whole Learn and Earn thing, however, I feel it’s important to point out when we do agree with someone. That whole moving on and working towards a better future concept.
December 10th, 2006 at 4:13 pmAgreed- Learn and Earn was a horribly shady Amendment. It shows Todd is less of a liberal than he is a hack for hire.
Chris has always been nice to me. But he has quite the ego and I don’t like how he operates.- And I still don’t like how large his picture is on the ODP’s website.
December 10th, 2006 at 4:15 pmI see that Russell is calling you out on this, to which I have this comment:
“Conflating the battle between Bush and Kerry with the battle between Eric and Matt is the height of self aggrandizement.”
Pathetic.
December 11th, 2006 at 11:46 amPaul, Russell and I disagree on many things obviously this is another one of them. To “call me out” just demonstrates how far apart we are.
I don’t feel that toughness has anything to do with your ability to lead, what does matter is your ability to earn respect, to foster cooperation and at times compromise. Sure you can force people by sheer physical will to submit and they may submit but that doesn’t mean you’ve solved anything. Mental toughness is different, which to me would mean not worrying about if someone out there insulted me. Nor feeling it necessary to engage in the tit for tat insult exchanges that some seem to revel in. If Russell thinks his way works, more power to him. I’ll continue to do things the way I feel comfortable with and that includes pointing out times I disagree and agree with others no matter which side they are on.
Politics can be rough, that I agree is true. Yet I don’t think it requires immidation, threats, or insults or attempts to demean others. Nor can I be hypocritical and only look at one side doing this without pointing out that if it is wrong? It’s wrong…no matter who is doing it.
However, Roots Camp should be interesting…
December 11th, 2006 at 12:39 pmLR, much love and respect. You know this. I completely agree that it is silly and there are, uh, much more important things to both talk about and work on. I’m currently doing that. If you think my hippie buddhist ass wants to solve everything by fighting you’d be wrong. I’ve walked away from more than I’ve talked myself out of – and talked myself out of more than I’ve been in.
The point was to call Matt out and show true colors. I think that was accomplished. I’m not going to back down from these coward bullies at any step in the game. It was something I decided to do long ago before I “stepped in the ring” of the Ohio blogosphere.
I don’t much like name calling either, but when someone starts the narrative that liberal men have to be pansies because they are not tough hard ass conservatives who support illegal wars and have never cried a day in their life, well, I’ve got a problem with that. A big problem. Fact is I cry quite a bit, as I’m sure Matt does. I know this recent election brought some tears. Difference is I’m able to admit it and not suffer fatal blows to my manhood.
Silly? Yes. More important things? Yes. Proved a point needing to be made? Yes. The silence on the part of the brash young conservative blowhard was deafening. The point I wanted to make is that the talking point that liberals being pansy ass tree huggers with no backbone who want to cut and run is false. Todd makes a point which misses the central one. Of course this is silly and mostly unimportant on the face of it. But underneath it all it proves a point that (I felt anyway) needed to be made.
So we can now return to bashing them with facts and retire the Ali rhetoric. But know this when you challenge our integrity and willingness to back our talk: we ain’t backing’ down bitches! (at least not this hippie buddhist freak).
Ya’ll have a nice day.
December 11th, 2006 at 1:18 pmEric, you know how I feel about you too and like I said I understood why you made the challenge. Just because we disagree on the methodolgy doesn’t mean we disrespect each other.
That and I don’t often agree with Todd, so letting him know that was something I felt was worth tossing out there not to mention I think Imagine is a totally awesome song. Like I told you last time we connected, I’m trying to move forward and focus on the bigger picture issues.
There’s always going to be some of the insult stuff on the blogs between right and left and right and right and left and left and all of the others inbetween at times. People are human and they get irritated, frustrated and at times just plain pissed off. Yet we also have to watch out to make sure it doesn’t become a larger issue and sometimes when the pile on starts? It gets more attention than it should and that concerns me. I want people to read the Ohio blogs because we rock (because we do) not because they read in the Plain Dealer about a boxing challenge. So much of the public perception of blogging is not what we are really about and I’m not saying that’s your fault. Just that we have to remember the media is going to pick up on these moments more than the major accomplishments.
December 11th, 2006 at 1:48 pmYep, I know. Wendling was already writing about something kinda silly, so adding the Thrilla in Medina seemed about right. I think they get the big accomplishments. Thanks for what you do and again KILLER NEW LOOK! See ya at camp…
December 11th, 2006 at 1:55 pmmuscle twitch caused by effexor
muscle twitch caused by effexor
January 22nd, 2007 at 4:27 am