"Macaca" Turns Out To Have Been An Improvement

The n-word was more of a problem in the late 60s and early 70s. You would not have used it in mixed racial company and it could start a fight. One reason it has become less explosive today is that young blacks use it to each other. Using the word, then or now, white or black, is a sign of ignorance. When I was a sports official and I heard young blacks use the word, I let them know it wasn't acceptable - I can't use the word so you can't use the word on the court. That was a matter of decorum.

Yes, I had relatives who used the word. I didn't correct them then, but if they said it in front of my children I would say, politely but firmly, that we don't use that word in our family. Some people I know who have used the word were helpful to black people when they were in the situations.

My parents used "shit" a lot, and they had nine kids so it could be frustrating. It doesn't mean they were bad people, but I try not to use that word and if I have used it, it has been less than five times. My parents worked really hard and I have benefitted a lot from their hard work.

I try to discourage my children from talking negatively about their schoolmates. The whole point of being a parent is to try to do better than your parents did, just like I hope my daughters will do things better than I did.

 

Gold,

Not exactly sure what you meant here, but in the South, even racists whites and blacks could get along great. As long as, you know, the blacks knew their place and didn't act all uppity and such.

 

Luggy: It was Allen's attack ad on Webb, not the other way around. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

Jack: I don't really appreciate the scolding, but when W ran against Gore back when, I thought he at least would be a serviceable president. Probably not a great one, but at least serviceable. (For the record, I did not vote in the '00 election, only because I moved too late to be able to register in Virginia and had no idea I could do absentee voting.)

I begrudgingly voted for W in '04 because I thought maybe he would learn from his mistakes. I couldn't bring myself to vote for Kerry, who tried to parlay a rather unremarkable Senatorial career into a presidency. And we all know W has learned nothing from his first four years. In retrospect, I should have voted for neither.

Tacit approval? Far from it. But I really expected better than to have my words taken so literally. If you disagree with my dislike of Allen, fine, but don't base it on something that so often appears as a dramatization.

 

So you were hoping a guy who wouldn't even acknowledge making any mistakes would learn from his mistakes?

How'd that work out for you?

 

I apologize for taking you literally. I've just heard quite a few people make similar claims and (supposedly) mean it.

 

not talking about "knowing their place"... I'm talking about coaching kids and really sticking up for the kids - helping with college applications and finding jobs and that sort of thing.

 

No, it goes beyond that. People here -- right and left -- attack parties and philosophies. You seem to attack with venom; not the party or the idea, but you make it personal.Do you know Hustle well enough to judge that his parents made a mistake by not aborting him? Where does that anger come from?
That's not discussing idology or challenging parties, that's just anger

 

I don't agree with you on this one, slaps. There are a few decent libs on this board, some you actually can have a rational dialogue with. Zeke is one. AlleyAllen can be, too. But most of the rest are just wild-eyed bomb-throwers who don't hesitate to call you "stupid," "brain-dead," "moronic" or much worse.

There's only so much you can take before you snap.

I'm not proud of some of it, but you were at least partially about one thing: This place is full of miserable people.

 

Absolutely. I am a card-carrying member of that fraternity...
But, and I say this without malice but real concern for you, you don't need to be so angry about it. Nothing is worth that much anger and hostility over, well, nothing.

 

Appreciate the thought, slaps.

 

So tell me Lyman, please: How did I make it personal towards you that caused you to wonder why I never should have been born. As best I can tell - and I'll look again if you'd like - but I'm fairly certain I've not typed "Lyman, you damn idiot" or anything like that, better or worse, anywhere on this thread. Or, for that matter, in the years I've been on this board.

I'm stunned. I probably shouldn't be, but I am. Twice in like two weeks I try to post something honest, something I see from my own experience, and get utterly shit on.

But God forbid you try and bring something different instead of the same old rhetoric. For all the bitching we do about the ESPNization of sports and journalism and sports journalism, what do we get on these political discussions? Flaming, insults, people screaming - virtually - LOOK AT ME! I AM THE LOUDEST, MOST ATTENTION-GRABBING POSTER ON THIS BOARD, DAMMIT! PERSUASION BE DAMNED, JUST GIVE ME A BIGGER POINT SIZE! Precisely what we'd all expect from Mariotti if the topic were a different one.

I'm trying to understand what I did. I'm extremely dissatisfied with elements of both parties. I'm extremely dissatisfied with our president, and I'm extremely dissatisfied with the lame candidate the minority party could come up with as a challenger.

But I guess the good side to being ardently Democrat or ardently Republican is that you know where the arrows come from. In the middle - and I am proudly centrist - it comes from both sides.

So Lyman, ball's in your court. Show me where I insulted you, show me where I was a belligerent political poster, show me where I simply refused to listen to anyone else. I do my best to not be a dickhead, and I'd like to think I do at least a satisfactory job at that. If that's not the case, I'd like to reminded so that I don't do it again.

On second thought, don't worry about it. I'll just say my goodbyes and that'll be it. Two posts - two fucking posts - and suddenly I didn't deserve to be born? Amazing.

Lastly: Ace, you act like I trumpeted Bush's accomplishments and championed his second term. Not the case.