My Wife and I had planned on taking a couple of weeks vacation to go to her Nephew's wedding in California since last March.  So we did.  Instead of writing a "see you later" or "I am done" article, I debated if I was going to say anything at all.  I will admit, that I did drop hints, and at least one person picked up on them, and I did tell one person What was going on.  But he kept it to himself.

I decided at the last moment to just go and not announce.  I have seen too many announcements made lately, and people, they are really sorry.  For those who have read this far, let me warn you, this is not going into the forums because I will name names, and I do not apologize for what I am about to write.  For it is my observations and analysis, and I will not hold punches.

That being said, the almost 2 weeks off was refreshing.  Time to clear the old head and get back to originality and see what was going on in the rest of the world.

Then I come back to more of the same.  Only Worse.

In just 2 articles today, I got a thumbnail sketch of what has been happening and it was disgusting.  Moderateman was pleading with people to keep things in perspective, and Little_Whip was berating a couple of other bloggers and naming names.  As I did not read most of the sources for these 2 blogs, I cannot speak from first hand experience as to what exactly happened, but if either or both are even partially true, and I tend to think they may be mostly true - as neither of them has a habit of stretching the truth - then the lines are moving in the sand and allegiances are shifting.  For what?

Moderateman, from what I have read and can see, has not changed much.  He is the best 'in your face' person around.  But he does not hate anyone that I can see (with the possible exception of the Hanoi twins - neither of which are members here).  And he has not changed, nor has he gotten frustrated and compromised his principals.  I can see why in real life he is seen as a very loving and caring person.  Agree with him or not, but you always know where you stand with him.  I would be proud to call him a friend in real life, and glad to be able to do so in JU at least.

Texas Wahine went through some rough times before I left and if I am (again) to believe what I have read, some more while I was away.  When I first started reading Tex, she was a self proclaimed screaming liberal.  But any one who read her stuff knew that was not really the case.  She is a young, idealistic, caring and compassionate person.  Having hit some rough spots in the road, she sank to her cyber knees, cried, got over it, and strove to make it right.  She has not really changed, but Tex, I cant see you (or probably ever will) as a screaming liberal.  A caring compassionate left of center person?  Definitely!  And a very good person (take care of that little guy's pink eye!).  I am sorry you got used as a club in the latest.

Dharmagrl, now that one is an enigma!  She is not out of her 30s (Barely passed the midpoint!), yet she comes across as the list mom, if this was a list.  I do remember the blow up between her and LW back in the day, and in retrospect, that does seem so out of character.  I guess that was just proof she is human and not perfect. She tried to be the peace maker in this whole Peyton place episode.  Personally, I think she was bailing the ocean with a sieve, but that did not seem to deter her in her efforts to cool things down when they got hot.  I was glad to see her try to jump in, even if I knew that it would not have any effect.

In all of this, many took a sideline seat.  Parated2k because he does not want to dis anyone here, and he stayed true to his word (I am talking real people, not caricatures).  DrMiler was subdued as well, I think he did not and does not like to pile on when things get hot for stupid reasons.

Inbloom, Zoomba, Foreverserenity, Trudygolightly, Philomedy, and many others seemed to stay out of it (Like I said, I have not read the whole history so I may be wrong).  For the most part these are JU's coolers.  They may or may not agree with you, but they never have a cross word for you.  Kind of why I like reading their stuff so much as it rarely if ever gets into a flame war.

Kingbee, Thatoneguyinslc, Champus Socialist, latour99 and Stevededalus seemed to stay out of it.  I think (correct me if I am wrong) because while they may have agreed with one of the original principals, they did not care for the hate that was being spewed by said person.

On the right, you had Terpfan1980, rightwinger, Bakerstreet, AKABrutus and Chaos Manager seemed to stay away for the same reason as the left side did.  They just were not going to get into a hate match with anyone even if they agreed with any of the points. 

In other words, JU had its version of the senate 14.  But no one was voting or filibustering in this war.

I am sure there are others that I have missed, but that is not my point.

I have mentioned some of the mediators, some of the victims, and some of the stay out of it crowd.  Which leaves only 2 groups.  The combatants and the pilers on.  Let's look at the combatants first.

Dave, as anyone who has been on JU for more than a month knows, has no compassion, understanding or logic.  She is from the middle ages, where you believed what you believed and anyone who disagreed with you was a witch, heretic, fool, or worse.  She cannot elaborate why she believes what she does.  Her most intelligent justification is "Because my momma told me so".  The regulars know this, and while we have fun at her expenses at times, we don't take her seriously.  No sane rationally clear thinking person ever could.  So when she baits, rarely does she get a nibble.  The fish in her pond are just too smart for her plastic worms. 

But in her hate (for that is really all she has), is her own ignorance and stupidity.  I arrived back just in time to find she is again confined.  Even a monkey can be taught.  A Dabe cannot be.  Her worst nightmare, a member of the real extreme religious right, is just like her!  The only difference is that the person on the right gets their beliefs from a book.  Dabe gets them from Dabeland.

Knowing this, and knowing that she should never be taken seriously, sometimes she is.  In this case, the object of her attack had no opportunity to respond, for Dabe has her Blacklisted (bad form Dabe!).  And in her defense, Little_Whip kept her tongue (I think - I only read the most recent of her articles, and that is one source of my information). 

Little_Whip is described by several as a very good friend, and one that while they do not agree with her, they still respect her.  I can see that.  LAW (for short) can use that whip like tongue (fingers I guess since this is a written medium - but you get my intent) to cut down her harshest opponent.  She wields a keyboard like an épée, and in that she is a master swordsman.  But she also knows how to play the crowd.  And in this case, she is playing it again.  She wants not your sympathy.  That is not her cup of tea.  She does crave your attention and friendship.  She will walk an extra mile to help you out.  And with rare exceptions (must have been the moon cycle back in January, eh?), she does not attack YOU, just your ideas.

But she is on a vendetta now, and that is evident.  A sordid one that is beneath her.  But she cannot get off that horse.  It is not in her nature to do so.  She is not the British at Concord tho, she is (are?) the minutemen.  She does not hit you full in the face, she snipes at you from the sidelines.  But, leave her alone, and do not respond, and she eventually tires of the game.  She will have the last word tho.

She is just the opposite of Dabe, in almost every way.  She does not want and indeed scorns pity and sympathy.  But she is a friendship-a-holic.  That is what she has to have and goes far afield to cultivate it.  And she does well (this is not a bad thing, just an observation).  In essence, while she can be an 'in your face' debater, she rarely attacks YOU, just your ideas, unless YOU attack HER (not her ideas) first.

So it is inevitable that while MM and Dabe have a long history, the real battle is between Dabe and LW.  Opposites, contrary to popular belief, do not attract unless you are magnets.  It does not work in people.

Then you have the last group of players in this little Peyton place.  And for those, I am very disappointed.  They are the dog pilers. DO I need to mention names here?  I have mentioned so many, I guess the omission of the names is as bad as stating them.  Yes, that is you Phoenixboi and Manopeace.  Both of you have a lot of hate in you, and neither of you strikes me as a hateful person.  But you let your hate get to you so that Mano hung his friend out to dry and teamed up with Dabe, someone he has never claimed to have anything to do with other than a stray stand now and then.  And Phoenix jumped in where he did not belong as this had nothing to do with him.  But he has a vendetta and will use any medium to further it.

As one who was not here during the nasty, and who gets along with all of the fruitcakes on here, I can say I am sadly disappointed in both of you.  While one sided with LW and the other with Dabe, you both share something in common with Dabe.  Your hate is blinding you.  And negating whatever good you are trying to do, or whatever points you are trying to make.  I know one has issued an apology and the other attacked it (why?  The apology was not for you anyway), just remember the nails in the fence.  The nails may be removed with an apology, but the holes remain.

I don't know if anyone is going to read this as it is not in the forums, and is long as shit.  But I had to get this off my chest as I don't agree with Zoomba.  While I doubt I would recognize any of you if I was to pass you on the street, at least here, we are a community.  And we do interact on a personal level.  And I would be a coward if I did not call all the parties to task for what is nothing more than a stupid, childish, immature squabble.  One that Dharma should have sent you all to your rooms for.

So go ahead and roast me.  I have had my say.