Props
I’ve known (well, as much as you can know someone on Al Gore’s Internets) Andy Axel for a while. He and I have probably agreed on issues a sum total of two times in all that time and those agreements were with respect to the Brittney Gilbert dust up and brands of air rifles. Andy has always had a sharp wit and displayed intellectual honesty and integrity when we disagreed. And he’s not afraid to throw civility out the window when warranted. I know nothing about the guy other than through his opinions expressed at various blogs and forums. He can eviscerate those with whom he disagrees and he does so quite handily. Exhibit A:
It’s the daily death by a thousand cuts, and the guy almost always wielding the knife for the coup de grace in this godforsaken place always seems to have a donkey on his lapel. (And I do mean “his.”) And then we get to play laughingstock to the smug, self-righteous “fuck the South” types. Not saying that Tennessee doesn’t earn it at times, but Brittney Gilbert sure as hell didn’t. These people conveniently forget: If Al Gore had spent five minutes here, he’d probably be president today.
Great. Your scalp is claimed. Now take that flickering “conscience” you claim to possess, and feel free to wander back to your Tom Schaller books, continue to write off all the people of the South, continue blithely to claim that you were 100% in the right, smugly to assign blame to victims, and know that you didn’t make a damned bit of difference to help drain the swamp of pervasive racism in the South. You just pissed on the margin of it.
He can bring the righteous verbal smack down. He’s not a hack. We don’t agree on much but I respect the guy. And that’s the difference between him and some schlub like Oliver Willis.
June 7th, 2007 at 11:59 am
Yep, I’ve argued with Andy about many things, but he’s one of the good ones.
June 7th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Andy’s a damn good guy, online and off. Finally meeting him (and his lovely wife) in person was awesome and I felt like I’d known him for years, which I sorta have but only online until recently. Good people, and as you said, his abilities at online discussion are just impeccable. Many times over the years I’ve seen a message forum thread or comments thread devolve into a blathering mess only to have Andy jump in and set it back right again.
If you ever have the opportunity to meet him in person, I highly recommend it, he’s great.
June 7th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Aw, shucks.
This reminds me. Unc, I still owe you a beer. Thanks for the commentary and kind words. (I knew you were right about Ford Jr., by the way, but I suspect you knew that when you suckered me into floated that wager.)
You too, Les. I know I’ve gotten bent around the axle (pun intended) with the both of you, but it is really more about passion and ideology than it is about personhood; at least, that’s what I can say now in the cool of the moment.
(Your individual understanding of) God knows I’ve said some things that I would later come to regret, but I’d rather regret something that I did say rather than something that I didn’t. That’s how I roll, for good or for ill. A lot of the bloggy partisan back-&-forth has been at the forefront of my thought process as an outgrowth of this episode.
Hell, I’ll buy you a beer too, Les, but then that means two for The Uncle, which I’m sure he’ll support.
And Lynnster, what can I say. I’m chuffed. Really. We’re still planning on being in Memphis on 6/22 – 6/23 for the Stax concert. Write me at my real addy anytime. Sorry we missed you when you were down for Ginger’s thing. It looked like y’all had a blast.
June 7th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Damn strikethrough didn’t work. Imagine “suckered me into” with [s][/s] tags.
June 7th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
well, special offer: you can double up on obama
June 7th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
Now *that* is a sucker bet.
He’s got to run a pretty narrow table to have a shot against the Clinton war chest. My prediction is Clinton wins nomination, loses presidency. Follow the money.
(Edwards takes TN in the primary if wife Elizabeth stays alive. Thompson is a dead lock in TN, and probably to take the RNC nomination, too. Sad to say, but there it is.)
Hm. Even coming in as a loser, if I buy Les one, I’ll wind up owing you … four? đŸ˜‰
Even considering the reasonably low stakes, I think I’ll pass on this one. I have about zero confidence in the promise of activist Democrats today, much less the national party.
But ask me again as the primaries hot up.