Re-Laird Redux

Fri, 02 Nov 2001 02:30:53 -0500

I don't know Don Laird from a hole in the ground, nor he me.  He sez he was around the Ghetto in the 60's.  So was I, but probably 90 percent of the people on this list couldn't place my name or face.  My connection is largely pre-ghetto, Beaumont and Port Arthur.  By Ghetto daze I had small children and had to make a living so didn't have a lot of time to hang out. But the sense of community I had there has endured with me and remains special as does the connection with Ghettoites who relocated here to California.  I like reading all the opinions posted here, whether or not I agree with them.  It can be a bit trying when they are incredibly long, as with Jaxon's war with the Chronicle. But I read every word and got if not a better understanding at least another angle on Jaxon's work from it. And I felt a connection with a city I don't know from Stephanie's posts from New York. This is a community I value, so it's painful to ask to be de-listed--until the Don I don't know is listed again.  If his posts are not worthy, mine aren't either. At least he still lives in Austin. Anyway, why would I want to be on a list which won't accept Wali?  DMcQ

"Wayne Johnson" <cadaobh2@brgnet.com> wrote:

>I think  Bob and I share something of a common ground on the issue of the
>"don't know when to stop" Mr. Laird and the "stop me before I become pompous
>again" Mr. Ford.
>It is not that the Ghetto list shouldn 't provide a forum for all opinions,
>no matter how looney.  It should.  Consider the vital role the Ghetto and
>Ranger provided in providing Austin of the Sixties with a lot of its
>intellectual flavor, content and "if it smells like a dead hog, it IS a dead
>hog, honey" style.  Without the creative and utterly mad capitalism of the
>Moriaritys and Sheltons of the world...read: Austin...would there have been
>a Rip Off Press?  You can't always predict what will happen.  (Well,
>actually you can.  Note that Prez Bush will stiff the elderly and the poor
>this coming (mild) winter for fuel oil relief.)
>
>But providing a forum isn't an exercise in Free Speech any more than
>shouting Fire in a theater is.  Yes, you can do it, but there are bad
>consequences and you should exercise some restraint when exercising your
>freedom.  Likewise, I argue, people posting to this list should NOT make
>narrow and prejudicial assumptions about what motivates other members of the
>list.  There has always been (for the couple of years or so I have been on
>the list) a fair amount of sarcasm and heavy handed with.  I made a TERRIBLE
>mistake once regarding Bob Simmons and I feel regret for what I said to this
>moment.  So one has to read carefully sometimes before pushing the "launch
>rant" button on the computer.   I am guilty of this as well...as I am sure
>some have noticed but been polite enough not to rub my (virtual) nose in.
>This is, as said so well elsewhere, a pretty sophisticated group which,
>individually and as a group, been through some pretty "interesting" times
>and been able to maintain it (relative) sanity.  Moriarty has suffered a
>terrible loss but I don't think he would advocate killing everyone who
>disagrees with him.  We need to be patient.
>
>Having said THAT.  I, personally, have run entirely out of patience with
>some on this list.  Tired of pomposity, whining "I am more Liberal than
>Thous"  (Jeez, I had enough of that from Berkeley all those years), tired of
>poorly reasoned arguments, abstruse quotations, lack of data/evidence, lack
>of rhetorical style and lack of anything better to do than post 50 thousand
>words to the list.   The DEL button is close at hand and Outlook has lots of
>ways of diverting unwanted email.
>
>Enuf.
>
>Wayne
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: austin-ghetto-list-admin@pairlist.net
>[mailto:austin-ghetto-list-admin@pairlist.net]On Behalf Of telebob x
>Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2001 1:55 AM
>To: austin-ghetto-list@pairlist.net
>Subject: Re: Re-Laird
>
>
>
>Mike...
>
>I was afraid de-listing Don would stir up a hornet's nest, so don't use my
>ennui with the latest content as a reason to bar him.  Like I said, I don't
>care if he stays or goes. I just want to not allow myself to get stirred up
>by the latest lock-step rad-think crap that appears in here so
>often....never mind that I contribute to the crap element often enough.
>
>For me the weird thing is being called a flag waver.  I do support the US,
>though I hardly support many of the policies of the present administration,
>but that stance seems to be too complex for some in here. I always liked
>that line about .... "the sparks of conflict that yield a light wherein the
>truth can be seen."
>
>So if I have to vote, I will vote for allowing him all the rights in the
>world to stay and be ignored (by me at least). Whatever perverse pleasure it
>might give me to see him de-listed, I think it is a bad idea...even if most
>of us never met the guy and don't have a clue who he is.
>
>(In fact, after the present argument blows over, we could later de-list him
>for being an auslander...just so people don't think he is being ousted
>solely for expressing his "ideas" and "facts".)
>
>Gee I wish Walli was still on the list.
>
>Ciao and shalom,
>
>Tele
>
>-Brought to you by Kundalini Brothers Chakra decongestant.  Look for the
>snake on the box!-
>
>
>
>
>
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