Theme and Variations: On Pushing the Envelope

[Gary Freedman]

THEME

I get accused of "pushing the envelope" -- here, on TBD, and elsewhere in life. There's merit to the observation. I am constantly testing the limits, constantly challenging the rules. I took a battery of psychological tests a few years ago and the test results said: "Subject has a tendency to challenge or denounce social sanctions to the point where he may lose sight of his own best interests."

Several days ago a TBD member posted the following comment on a blog I had posted about a town in Austria whose name is identical to an obscene word in English. The member said: "If you are going to push things to the edge then you should expect to fall off sometime. I guess that you should consider your delivery. There are double meanings in that fucking is fucking. In the immortal words of George Carlin 'you can prick your finger but you can't finger your prick.' Quit jerking everybody around and trying to antagonize people."

VARIATIONS

1. A misogynist says: "I don't excuse crimes against women, but some women are asking for it when they get raped. They wear those short skirts, and revealing tops. It's going to send some men over the edge. Some men can't help it. If you are going to push things to the edge then you should expect to fall off sometime."

2. In the summer of 1978 I attended a Metropolitan Opera performance of the opera Madame Butterfly at the Robin Dell in Philadelphia with my sister. Seated behind me were two older women. One said to the other. "I can't excuse the Holocaust. It was terrible: killing six million Jews. But the Germans had to do something. The Jews were taking over the country. They were taking over the banks, the newspapers, the universities. What were the Germans to do? Hitler had to do something. The Jews were ruining the country." If you are going to push things to the edge then you should expect to fall off sometime.

3. An Iranian conservative says about the recent Iranian post-election protests: "I don't condone violence by the government against the people. The people protested. They had their say. But the government responded. The Supreme Leader said that the protests had to stop for the good of the country. Yes, it's a shame that people were killed and injured. But if you are going to push things to the edge then you should expect to fall off sometime."

4. An Egyptian Muslim says about the World Trade Center terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001: "I denounce terrorism and violence. The terrorist attacks in New York were a terrible tragedy. But the U.S. government acts like a bully around the world. They have supported the criminal Zionist regime in Israel for the last 60 years in total disregard of the rights of the Palestinian people, my brothers. The U.S. Government disrespects Muslims. Everyone knows that." If you are going to push things to the edge then you should expect to fall off sometime.

5. An abortion opponent says: "I don't condone violence, and especially not murder. But when a doctor performs abortions, when he wantonly kills innocent life, he should expect a backlash. Yes, killing of abortion doctors is going to happen. If you are going to push things to the edge then you should expect to fall off sometime."

[Gary Freedman]

Here's a personal message I got from Kat Brennan (the Community Guide on the old TBD) that indirectly addresses the controversy.

Kat wrote to me:

"I know from Fucking, Austria already. Oy.

Gary, my only concern was your copping the name of his group and spinning it for your own. By all means, have the group...just give it a different name.

Please know I am not here, repeat NOT here to oversee activity as on TeeBeeDee. I am mobilizing a coalition of volunteer moderators and hope to shift the balance of all such activity within a week or so.

Carry on, enjoy. And next time you're in Fucking don't mention my name.
,>)"

[Gary Freedman]

Well, to beat a dead horse!

Frankly, isn't it this particular post that people are finding offensive? Isn't it the "variations" that I write about the real problem? Isn't it my rebuttal to Gil, that Diana defended staunchly at the outset of these comments, the real problem for Bull and Prunella?

Perhaps my rebuttal was too striking and thought-provoking for many. Maybe this is a bit grandiose, but I am reminded of an aphorism by Nietzsche. "It's not enough that I have a talent, is it, my friends? I need your permission to use it." I just never got anybody's permission to be so fiendishly clever, did I?

[Gary Freedman]

Prunella, here's the apology I left on "All Drift All The Time." It was only after I left the apology that the group administrator deleted me from the group. Call me petty, but I call that a lack of fair play by the group administrator.

Comment by Gary Freedman on July 19, 2009 at 10:44am
Delete Comment Yesterday, July 18th, I posted a comment on "All Drift" that was inappropriate and may have been offensive to some. I apologize to the group for my misstep. In the words of a "wise Latina," "I was using a rhetorical flourish that fell flat." Yes, even judges make mistakes. In the future I will think twice before I post. (For those of you who are wondering, I wrote about a town in Austria. In the future I will confine my remarks to cities in Austria with a population of over 50,000, such as Vienna!)

[Gary Freedman]

Google the phrase "Jews cause trouble." You'll get 8,460 hits.

Google the phrase "Italians cause trouble." You'll get 4 hits.

Google the phrase "Canadians cause trouble." You'll get 2 hits.

Speaking metaphorically, you could say that I am a "Jew."

[Gary Freedman]

"I was not referring to the town as your focus, but to your petty little disagreement with George." Why wasn't George's disagreement with me petty? I posted something on George's group. He found it offensive and deleted it. I apologized to George. George then asked me to apologize to the group. I apologized to the group. Then, and only then, did George delete me from the group. Is that fair play?

[Gary Freedman]

Ms. Farquar statement was factually incorrect. "A great deal of grief?" Now, really! Why can't you just ignore my blog posts? Don't stick your head in the oven and complain that it's too hot.

[Bull]

Mr Freeman
All Ms Farquar was saying is that the intent of you blog posts is to stir emotional arguments and that they would be better placed in your new group and off the fount page.
I personally think you would be well served by taking that advice in the spirit in which it was given and save everyone a great deal of grief.

[Gary Freedman]

Prunella, I have written 32 Blog posts. Only one -- I REPEAT -- ONLY ONE -- refers to the town of Fucking in Austria. You wrote: "Indeed, it has been the focus of nearly all your recent posts." Your comment is flat out WRONG! False accusations are defamatory under the law. Written false accusations are considered libelous. Technically speaking, I could sue you. Do you have any basis to sue me?

[Gary Freedman]

Prunella, to the best of my knowledge I have not been "throwing around" the F-word. You state: "You have been smugly throwing it around "because you can" not because it acheives any purpose for your arguments." I used the name of a town in Austria called Fucking. (Pronounced Fooking.) I don't recall ever using the F-word in any other post. Can you cite any evidence for your accusation?

[Dazzling Zoomer Gal Diana]

Thank you Pru. I have been advised that there is much more to Gary's blog post about Fʊkɪŋ - where my 1st cousin reminded me today we buy all our vegetables when we are ensemble, then meets the eye. It's so close to our country house we can walk there. This serves as a cautionary tale that ribald amusement over the spelling of names of places worldwide, can and will offend some one's sensibilities, In this case, it seems that the men involved forgot that they were no longer in kindergarten, hence forgetting their kinderstube (a German word, meaning good manners - learnt in kindergarten).