It's for the best that this happened, JCD
No it isn't, E. (I have been away all day, and I note that there have been 150 new posts on this thread, which I will probably not read any time soon. So this reply will no doubt be out of present thread context).
Nonetheless -- No, it is not for the best.
"Speculations" as specific as those you posted are intended as accusations. Accusations made publicly against anyone -- lacking evidence, foundation, or truth -- are dishonorable.
Don't waste your time arguing the point. If you cannot see it, then argument would serve no purpose.
If "[your] suspicion was shared by many," it only reflects the lynch mob mentality that has become prevalent here and on the SMBR thread. It is an ugly thing to behold. You need to reflect upon your own role in fostering it, and whether you have adopted a philosophy of ends justifying means.
I stated on SMBR some time ago that I was not involved in Poet's suspension. I am sorry I did that, even though it is the truth, and would not do so again if I had the chance. I have always thought that if I were accused during the McCarthyism era, I would not have given anyone the satisfaction of issuing a denial or signing a loyalty oath. And I regret essentially doing so in an atmosphere on these threads that has become very much the same.
I intensely dislike mobs of any sort, regardless of the "cause" out of which they are born.
Whatever merits your cause may have had to begin with have been overwhelmed by a more insidious corruption of the soul here --- one which I think will, lamentably, long outlive the resolution of the CH-Poet issue.
I know you were expressing some form of apology in what you wrote, and that is appreciated. Yet I believe you and I are conducting ourselves on the basis of very different value systems. |
