Bully for you!

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/19/7784/

Everybody makes mistakes.

Let it go, Cap’n. Periodically Bilbo subjects Troll designates to the silent treatment. I always take it to mean I have won that particular point that day.

But Bilbo is a good guy, worthy of debate. He has changed my views on some thing – yours too, I suspect – but getting him to admit he is wrong is not likely.

Probably the exact same jeopady that an illogically upbeat assessment of this same economy by Pres. Bush and his cronies will somehow magically lift the economy.

I agree that there is jeopardy in being overly upbeat and in being overly pessimistic. Hence, my call for balance.

Everybody makes mistakes.

Since you’re having trouble finding you voice on your “everyone has the right to have their voices heard” vs. “why can’t TP do a better job banning trolls” dilemma; I thought I’d offer some alternative explanations for you to consider.

How about: “I was having a bad day, when I decided to post at redstate. It’s really a bad idea for people to be exposed to ideas that they don’t already agree with.”

Or this: “You’re right, I shouldn’t spend so much time trying to silence those that I disagree with.”

Or maybe: “My position has changed. If conservative partisans won’t listen to me, why should I listen to them?

Any of these would be far more substanitive than pretending that those with a different view aren’t real or worse yet running away from your divergent comments that are too uncomfortable to address. Unless your idea of addressing problems is by hitting the flag button.

Come on bilbo, you’ve run long enough.

you’ve got a right to be concerned about Bear Stearns. But, like Enron (which, I admit is a slightly different situation) it is one company that has failed.

If Bear Stearns is followed by more banks, you’re point becomes more and more valid. We’ll see.

But it needs something to justify it’s existence.

I disagree with you, so I’m not human? That’s a little creepy. Maybe you should steer clear of that 70 year-old playbook. I don’t think those enabling you are doing you any favors.

BTW, you don’t want to seem to comment on the duplicity of your support of ‘the price the liberals are willing to pay to allow everyone the right to have their voice heard’ over at redstate and your hope that ‘TP would ban people by their IP address, so trolls like this would not keep popping back up like a bunch of useless weeds’.

I’m having a hard time understanding which position you are advocating.

Instead of running from the comments, step up to the plate and explain yourself. It would do your credibility some good.

No, Antonin, it’s more like Big Bird would make a better SC justice than you.

By simply signing today’s post with it’s former name it attempts to breed controversy and turn it all around to him.

I can see why you think that. But, yesterday people were asking me why I wasn’t up front about formally posting as CaptainMantastic (implicating that I was being decietful, so I agreed to reference the mantastic moniker in future posts. That’s what I was attempting to do, not incite you. Sometimes, you can’t win.

Lakshman Achuthan, the managing director of the Economic Cycle Research Institute, said the economy has now fallen into what he calls “a recession of choice.”

He argues that the economic stimulus package passed by Congress this year is too late to help many consumers and businesses and that the Federal Reserve was too timid when it started trimming interest rates last fall.

“If they had done all this in the fourth quarter, I think we’d be having a different discussion,” he said.

Who could argue with someone named Laksham Achuthan????

Achuthan said the tipping point for his firm’s recession call was when its leading index for non-financial services, a sector of the economy that accounts for 62% of jobs, turned negative.

Although Achuthan said he saw weakness in the U.S. economy last fall, he did not make a recession forecast at that time because he thought it was possible the government could have done something then to prevent a recession.

And the best part:

“There was an opportunity that was wasted by policymakers because they didn’t understand those dynamics,” he said. “That is one aspect of how the policymakers have goofed and why this recession is a choice, not something that happened by bad luck and chance.”

“It was a good idea that was horribly executed,” he said. “Policymakers said time was of the essence. Unfortunately, they didn’t understand what that really meant. They just do not understand how the business cycle works; it is not going to wait around for stimulus some months down the road.

(my emphasis added.)

I disagree with this. I firmly believe that all these trolls have been flagged enough to qualify to be banned. But, for some reason TP lets them stay around. And what’s the common element of these not-banned trolls? They are all capable of running a thread up into the hundreds of posts. I think that TP likes that. I think they think it makes them look successful. Maybe they are competing with the HP where threads routinely run into 400-500 posts, rarely with trolls like the ones we have here.

Did this troll get banned within an hour of posting something that went counter to the conventional wisdom here? I remember it being around for months and months.

So, did TP ban this troll for no reason other than the fact that it posted something that TP disagreed with?

There is no comparison. But it needs something to justify it’s existence. Nice try troll.

“Also, while it is important to proactively consider the impact of today’s economic policy, is there any jeopardy that an excessive drumbeat of predicted economic malaise might result in a self fulfilling prophecy?”

Probably the exact same jeopady that an illogically upbeat assessment of this same economy by Pres. Bush and his cronies will somehow magically lift the economy.

It was silenced because it was a useless spamming offensive troll.
_______

Somehow, TP would be a tamer place w/out the trolls, whether or not we care to admit that. I usually don’t flag someone until they get truly offensive, like thefoolcouldn’tspell did this morning w/ his comment about sucking on shotguns.

As far as mantastic/backup is concerned, I find him annoying but not nearly as offensive as the afore mentioned fool, or Mr P , Jake, rob roy (remember THAT one??) or so many other trolls that did manage to get themselves banned.

The flagging function is kinda fascinating, no? It seems similar to that show “Survivor” where folks get voted off by the other contestants. Some trolls (Daryll, g_g) are obnoxious as all get out yet somehow manage to stay on the the island.

I have to wonder, did TP set it up this way on purpose? They’ve basically left it up to us to decide who gets to stay and who goes. I have no doubt that some trolls have flagged me from time to time, but apparently not in large enough numbers to get me bumped. I’m sure g_g and Daryll and R_R have all been flagged, but not enough to be banished for good.

It’s kinda of a microcosm of democracy, huh? Once enough folks are offended at the same time, like thsi morning, a poster is gone. It has to reach a critical mass. Free speech is a strange and mysterious thing.

Give up Whack-a-troll™? HAH! never….

I suggest stop with the whack-a-troll…
______

Give up Whack-a-Troll™? Never… NEVER!

Whack-a-Troll™… the sport of Kings!

Recommend (0) | Report Abuse

Ever hear of “Northerbillies”?

I only hope that people here would understand it is not my intention to disrupt the debate, but many times to offer an alternative view. I sincerely hope to become more enlightened and add to the debate, if I can.