Friday, March 23, 2007

I went overboard at YouTube

I've been debating some of the anti-peace protester folks on the vid pages, lately... It was going fine, at first, but what started out as one or two line replies started getting longer, needing 2-3 boxes. (500 character limit). Then today, I got scolded by one of the vid posters (a peace guy, no less) for spamming his vid.

Guilty as charged.

So, I apologised, and sent messages to the three "eagles" that I'm currently "involved" with. This is one of 'em.:

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After posting my reply (replies) to you, I realized that the guy who's vid that is (who's on your side, btw) is probably going to blow his top. He was moderating the comments so that folks didn't go nuts & post like crazy... ...like we've been doing.

So, I'm thinkin' that if we want to continue this debate, we ought to find a better forum & stop spamming the video pages. If you know of an unmoderated blog, (preferably one that is read by all sides) let me know. I do have a blog page, but I suspect that few actually read it... OTOH, I'd be glad to have you there to debate if you're willing:

www.whatdisay.blogspot.com

Either way, I'm going to try to avoid doing anymore long form debating on the YouTube pages for awhile... (I was scolded for the same thing at another vid today, too... A guy on the peace side, in that case. I realized he was right, which is why I'm doing this.)

So, either visit my blog or get back to me with another one if you wish to continue, or do nothing if you don't.

My whole ANSWER answer appears below.
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ANSWER is a coalition of many smaller groups opposed to war & racism. It was founded by the International Action Center, who in turn, has strong ties to the Workers World Party, a Communist group. (WWP has since split, resulting in a smaller WWP, and a new group, The Party for Socialism & Liberation. PSL stayed with ANSWER, and the IAC/WWP folks went on to form Troops Out Now!

There are Muslim groups involved, but they had no part in founding ANSWER. Several other American & International Communist & Socialist groups are also a part of the coalition, along with civil rights & other left wing progressive orgs, many representing minority groups within the US.

The big question I have is, so what? While some of these groups do believe the US should adopt another form of government (& IMO, too often wastes valuable peace demo time saying so, rather than focusing on the issue at hand) the majority of the people who attend know why they are there, and DO focus on ending the occupation.

While many on the right like to point out the origins of ANSWER & other coalitions, they never bother to explain why these origins are important, or provide any evidence that anyone is being harmed because of ‘em.
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(& yeah, I did actually post that whole last bit to a vid. Took 4 boxes. I WAS out of control.)

So, let's see if anyone comes a-calling... I left a light on for 'em...

3 comments:

Bux said...

Hey Rep-

First and foremost, I want you to understand that I am, in no way, shape, or form, feeling anger towards you. I tend to sound heated when I debate topics that I am passionate about, and this one strikes a particularly sensitive chord with me. Long after all of the dust has settled from the events we discuss, we will both still be living in the same country (or so I would assume).

I can't understand wp's irritation with our debate on YouTube. My understanding is that if you post something there, you do so knowing that it reaches all audiences, and that each viewer has their own view on the content. I seriously believe he had issues with meeting opposition to his view.

With all of that said, here we are. Was there anything in particular you wanted to debate?

repsac3 said...

Everyone has their own view of what the comment section on YouTube is for. I think he expected folk to tell him what they thought of the vid (good or bad), rather than debating the occupation itself. (He was mistaken in his assumption.) I think that he was struck by the language being used by some (all that bullshit namecalling) & the frequency with which some (you & I, for the most part) were posting. He just didn't expect it.

Don't know whether you've been back to his video page, but he ended up rescinding his admonition not to argue there. All he asks is that folks don't call each other names. (It almost seems as though he''s more concerned with names than language. Talking about the fucking guy who protested the shit-eating protesters on the fucking street is preferable to saying "You're a fascist, nazi." It's weird, in my humble, but to each his own. His page, his standards.)

For the record, I have no standards. The language one uses & names one chooses to call another says far more about them than me.

Truth be told, I can't friggin' remember what we were last talking about back at wp's place... I'll have to check, & get back to ya... 8>)

Anonymous said...

See ya there. I can't say I have the cleanest of vocabularies, but that only shows up when I'm really pissed off.

To be honest, 3/17 was one of those days, because for years, I've worked, schooled, and interacted amongst the youth that I share my generation with. On the 17th, it again became clear that many of those in my generation will sooner join a protest because it is a protest, rather than understand what the protest is about. It disappoints me to see that this is the mentality, because none of them could explain why they were there, other than the whole Bush lied line. What is this, the WWE? Now as a citizen we need to walk around with catchphrases and attitudes? The broad generalities being brought against this war are mind-numbing, and lack of base for them is even worse.

My feeling is that the ultimate goal lies within the stability of a self-supporting Iraq. If we pull out now, insurgent forces will purge the streets of anyone and everyone who assisted our side in cleaning up the country, and a neo-Hussein government will be right back in place again, dictating over the country, and using fear as its enforcer.

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