Well, a few things should be clarified, Lew. I have no idea if the people in question are in fact ardent supporters of Madore. It seems, though, that anyone who doesn't stand with the anti-Madore crowd must be an ardent supporter. Has it ever occurred to you that standing up for common sense, like waiting to get objective facts before embarking on a campaign of personal destruction has nothing to do with supporting a person?
Lew is quite right that Madore wouldn't tolerate this sort of behavior on his page. Nor would I, nor would anyone else. The point is, Lew, South West Washington Opinions is not your page! It's a public comment forum - a community forum, if you will. If you act like a douche in public, don't get offended if people call you out for being a douche.
Lew claims that this wasn't over a matter of opinion, but that such behavior shouldn't be tolerated. The fact is that it was over a matter of opinion, and if you disagree with Lew, he gets nasty and starts making insinuations and personal attacks on you. Like any bully, he can dish it out but can't take it.
Here is the exchange that got Lew's panties in a bunch:
So let's break this down. Emerson says he's submitted a request for the meeting attendance, with the implied suggestion that people withhold judgment until the facts are revealed, and suggested how the misunderstanding might have arisen.
Lew fires back and tries to twist the discussion to say that Emerson was calling Stewart a liar. No one was calling Stewart a liar. The information available was hearsay from Lew, a known anti-Madore pundit, quoting a Columbian blogger, also a known anti-Madore pundit on something that Stewart may or may not have said.
Emerson quite reasonably suggested that Waters refrain from his campaign of personal destruction until Metro responded.
Instead of responding like a reasonable adult, Lew comes back and essentially says, "I don't have to, you can't make me. You're not my Dad!" Basically acting like a douche.
Emerson doesn't back down to bullies, so he apparently called it as he saw it.
So Lew booted him off the page. Emerson came back, added back by a friend, and called him out for being hypocritical and silencing someone whose opinion differed from him. And Lew booted him again and blocked him.
He was called out on this high-handed behavior by Mark Engleman, and booted him as well. Anyone else want to complain? What a thug, really.
And boot, Mark was gone.
Engleman was quite right. In the past, Lew has among other things publicly called Frank Decker a shit smearer, and suggested that candidate for state representative Lisa Ross was sleeping with her campaign staff. Lew is a vile, vulgar human being who frequently disengages his brain before he puts his mouth in gear. In most social settings some of his erudite statements would earn him a quick knuckle sandwich, but like most internet warriors, he feels completely invulnerable behind his keyboard. Unwilling to take responsibility for his words, when an angry community brought him to task over suggesting that Lisa Ross was sleeping with her campaign staff, he soiled his DependsTM and practically demanded police protection.
South West Washington Opinions apparently is open to any opinion, as long as it doesn't deviate substantially from that of the administrators. Unpopular opinions will be met by the admins with abusive insinuations and bullying, and any objection to this or response in kind will result in your removal.
Over the years Lew has been very hard on people, their reputation and their character. After awhile enough is enough and he has found some of that coming back his way. The hope is that when you are on the receiving end of the abuse, you'll catch a clue and dial it back. Someone can only be attacked so long before they fight back. Ignoring it forever doesn't work with some people. They just take it as a sign to ramp up. Lou Brancaccio as a perfect example of this type of bullying. My brother was bullied badly by a kid when he was little. Everyone said "ignore" him. Easy to say when it's not your nose getting bloodied. So my Dad taught my Bother to fist fight. Yep, the bully got a bloody nose and backed off. Then my brother backed off too. Problem solved.
I find it hard to take seriously any forum that would put someone as deranged and unstable as Lew in charge.
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