From: Minotaur@cup.portal.com (Frank - Swilling)
Newsgroups: soc.motss
Subject: Re: Ours flamb'e
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 92 10:28:15 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
  <66653@cup.portal.com> <1992Sep26.183119.16113@macc.wisc.edu>
  <66657@cup.portal.com> <1992Sep26.215958.28479@macc.wisc.edu>

Jess Anderson, who's Been There and Knows, talks me down
off the ledge:

>In article <66657@cup.portal.com> Minotaur@cup.portal.com
>(Frank Swilling) apparently in much higher dudgeon than I
>assumed (mea gravissima culpa), writes:

You got that right, bud.  That heat wave in San Francisco
yesterday was radiating out from my house.

>>Jess Anderson, who casts me against type in the much
>>sought-after role of St. Frank of the Sissies, sez:
>
>Hey, that's pretty good.  It's true you're not the only
>chipmunk I talk to.

>>>Geez, Frank, you are a Big Meanie.  I mean, how come Melmac
>>>the Mentally Unfunded and Karlheinz der Witzlose never take
>>>out after you, huh?  Must be your halo is just *too*
>>>blinding!  I mean, especially after all those Good Works
>>>and all.

>>I could almost *see* you posting this "halo & Good Works"
>>bit even as I uploaded my response to Donahue.  But we both
>>know that's just smoke and mirrors, don't we?  This isn't
>>about Good Works or haloes, or any other such bullshit, and
>>you know it full well, Mr. Look-in-the-mirror-and-see-The-
>>Truth.

>Apparently my sin is to have read your mind.  *Do* forgive
>me.

No, no.  The reason I could almost see you responding this
way is because you *did* respond to a similar article by Bob
Sarver.

>Frank, the main thing I read in your response to Bob was
>that you stated you ere first, last, and always a smart-ass
>(your phrase, not mine), and that if someone didn't like it,
>they could just get over it.  Fine with me, but if you're
>going to dish it out, you ought not to be too short-tempered
>about taking it, either.

Well, go back and re-read my post in context to what I was
responding to.  First, that post was directed at Bob Donahue
and NO ONE ELSE, and I would have sent it to him e-mail except
that he slandered me in front of 40,000+ other people and I
wasn't about to let him off the hook.  My having to TELL him
that I'm a smartass (clown, imp, gentle satirist, something
which *surely* everyone else here knows by now) came about only
after two attempts to HUMOR him out of his stupidity had resulted
in him doing the Gestapo Two-Step all over my nice funny
messages to him.  I even directed my humor at myself, and the
jerk called me conceited for it!

>And it was in that spirit that I responded, with what I
>didn't (and don't) see as particularly evil jibes.  I was
>not, though you seem to think I was, making a comment on the
>merits or not of your anger, though I did underestimate the
>heat in it.

I didn't see your jibes as evil.  I saw you as a Personal Friend
of Bobby's, Leaping To His Defense.  On reflection, though, now
I'm glad you jumped in.

>>Bob Donahue has defamed me in a public forum, [...]
>>only hope that he is *alone* in that belief.

>What's between you and him remains between you and him.  But
>if you're that concerned about your rep, you have other
>options as well.  Foremost among them would be to grant that
>those who count (on this matter) among the readers have
>minds of their own and are quite capable of sorting out the
>merits or demerits of the perceived charges.

Uh, he made *sure* it wasn't between me and him by posting his
crapola to public view.  He insulted my talent as a writer,
he ascribed motives to me which I don't have, and worst of all,
not one single person came forth to tell him he was wrong.  I was
*mortified*.

[some deletions]

>>It's a Catch-22 for me,

>... that requires your cooperation to be true, and in your
>place I wouldn't cooperate.

>>but you would have preferred that I cover myself in
>>sackcloth and ashes and let him do a Robertson/Buchanan
>>Character Assassination By Innuendo number on me?  I'll see
>>him in hell first.

>Dear man, I'm sure you'll hate this, and therefore I'm sorry
>in advance, but perhaps you're over-reacting.

You think?  Perhaps hiring the hit-man *was* a bit much.

>>If he actually has a case, and presents it in a fair and
>>reasonable manner, you *know* that I will accept my share of
>>the responsibility and apologize to anyone I have offended
>>whom I didn't *intend* to offend -- which would be nearly
>>everyone to whom I have ever spoken to here; but all he has
>>offered up so far is hot air.

>If that's true, you have little to worry about, and the
>truer it is, the less you have to worry about.

He doesn't have a case, and I knew it all along.  I was Just
Trying To Be Fair, to make him look even worse than he looks
already.  (I'm learning, Arne, I'm learning.)

>>Pass me *your* halo, dear boy, and let's go play Frisbee
>>while we wait.

>Well now, you will admit, I hope, that everyone knows how
>much easier it is to see the other person's problem than
>one's own.

Oh, sure.  I get a halo that doesn't even fit, and you worry
about getting a few grass stains on yours.

>>And thanks for siccing Melman and whoever the hell that
>>other one is on me.

>You *are* kidding, I hope.  One need not be concerned about
>fruit flies.  They don't even byte; they suck.

>Jess Anderson

Yes, I was kidding.  A little humor, however brittle, to ease the
tension.  You'll be glad to know that I'm feeling better now.  A
nice healthy bowl of Pod Soup for dinner and a nice rest makes all
the difference in One's Attitude, don't you find?  Please keep
shipping those pods.  My grocery bill has been cut in half!

Frank
Minotaur@cup.portal.com
Newsgroups: soc.motss