Very Necessary (Updated)

Moral of the story: Don't be a jerk and you might get your questions answered. Quickly. With links even.

Sometimes on one’s blog, there are those who dissent from a stated opinion. All too rarely, such dissent takes on the quality of that bit of sand in an oyster: the “irritant” that produces the item of great value, the pearl.

Then there is the vast majority of dissent: the sarcastic, hypocritical, attitudinous, superior, ad hominem disagreement; the irritant sans scare quotes.

Of the latter type has been one “Bill O.” He starts off with a bit of sarcasm. Now being known deploy that type of rhetoric myself, I have no problem with the tactic, especially when the seeds of truth—rather than “conventional wisdom” based on lies—are hidden within.

Then there is the type of sarcasm that’s merely bovine excrement.

You know I hear these silly liberals (France lovers) complain that countries like Denmark gave the equivalent of 90 cents per citizen while the US is giving 9 cents. Those damn socialist over their with their higher standard of living just dont know the benefits of the free maket. And that Germany and Australia are giving way more than US in aid to the victims too? Clearly these countries dont understand that each of are men and girls (cant be PC here) in uniform is worth their weight in gold bars. I even heard that Dick Cheney himself has asked Haliburton to handle some of the aid distrubtion. That corrupt and dishonest UN sure could learn a thing or 2 about honesty and effcientcy from Haliburton. You tell them baldy

Well, that cents-to-citizen ratio may be true. I haven’t looked it up, but also did not feel the need to demand links to it from Bill as to the source of the information. (Oddly enough, he feels the need to do so from me later on. Repeatedly.) The ratio had a ring of truth to it. However, since the cents-to-citizen ratio wasn’t the point of my post—nor was the alleged value of each member of the US Armed Forces--I left it uncommented upon.

As to the role Halliburton may be playing in the disaster relief, the “conventional wisdom” about the corporation and the role that Vice President Cheney *may* have had in it are even more irrelevant to my point. It’s the progeny of a “Kool-Aid” meme.

hmm lets see here. Those soliders, ships, helicopters, etc consume fuel, food, and other resources regardless of what their tasks are. They are not sing weapons this time so those type of resources are getting consumed.

Still not the point of the post, Bill. But that’s what I get for letting you and your attitude lead me astray.

Bill goes on in this vein for a bit, even sending an excellent link regarding the monetary efforts of Australia, Japan and Germany. Funny, though. In the next post, I *did* acknowledge the efforts of these nations. But Bill apparently missed it.

Then he asks a legitimate question.

Oh and I forgot to ask where are your facts as to "whose money+actions are making the most difference in the lives of the disaster victims?" Please share this data with me.

But I and my posters weren’t quick enough on the draw in providing links. Actually, I did subsequently comment, but there’s something about a commenter with a chip on his/her shoulder that makes me not want to waste my time looking for information for him/her (even though I knew exactly where to look).

Our purposeful tardiness and unwillingness to jump through “Mr. O’Reilly’s” hoops on cue did not sit well with him.

Baldy and others. I sent you a link to an AP/Reuters article, AS YOU ASKED

Um, no I didn’t.

demonstrating that you and most of the other geniuses that post on your blog do not know what you are talking about in regards to this Tsunami relief money.

And how did your link refute anything that I said, Mr. O’Reilly?

I have supplied the facts now when are you going to back up your statements about UN inefficiency and America contributing the most to Tsunami victims? As much as you people demonize the UN you should be able to come up with many more examples of UN inefficiency than the oil for food program.

Reader Stinkerr does come up with several examples of UN “inefficiency”(a monstrous euphemism)—the US takes its deserved lumps in some of them--epitomized by this horrifying 1994 photo from Sudan (warning: no words for it).

There you guys go again. You ask me for facts to substantiate my point. I provide a link to the AP/Reuters story. And then when I ask Baldy to do the same someone (not Baldy. Where did you go Baldy?) ticks off a list of countries.

It was nearly 12AM. I was up and I did comment later, but, again, I felt little need to accede to the demands—rather than requests--of this person, since it was clear that Bill had steered the conversation far afield of my original point: that capitalist countries are far more able and willing to help others and, later, that Americans will help others and do so willingly and effectively, regardless of whether gratitude is forthcoming.

No link, no data, no narrative, nothing. So in the interst of education here:

He then gives some examples without links.

Baldy,
I have supplied facts when you have asked [ed. note: again, I did not] when will you?

When I get good and damn well ready to. Like now (see the Global Security link above as well, if you missed it).

but to answer this:
[Me] “Do you think that the two aircraft carrier groups located in the area are operating cost-free?"
As I said they will consume fuel, food and my tax dollars regardless of what is going on in the world. Do you think these carrier groups just sit there idle with the lights turned off and the sailors not getting their payhecks and meals?

Bill, riddle me this. Is a sailor’s paycheck the same when his/her vessel is deployed to the Indian Ocean as it is when said vessel is docked at some stateside port? And yes, I do know the answer to the question and do know where the link is: in one of my previous posts on military pay.

you are dodging my point which was you had written a piece that asserted that the US was giving the most aid in the world to the victims of the Tsunami. You also went on some America is a martyr rant [ed. note: note this little dig for future reference] about how despite the crticism America gets for its response we are really doing more than anyone else.

Bill, this ain’t The Factor. Take your meds. How could I be dodging the point when I mentioned it in the very next post, one that was up *before* you provided your link?

And then you and some of your posters went on to talk about this fiction as proof that the US and essentailly the conservative world view is superior.

See, Bill? This is why I’m not too inclined to spend my precious Google time on you. The word 'capitalist' does not (necessarily) equal conservative. Have you proved that what I claimed—that a capitalist country and its citizens, can and will give more to aid disaster relief than a communist one—is a false assertion? All I’ve seen from you is corroboration of *my* point, unless Australia, Japan and Germany converted in the last eighteen hours. You never know. Events certainly are hopping these days.

The facts in the media (REUTERS,APP,CSPAN,BBC,etc) prove that you were not only wrong but really did not seem to have even approxamate contact reality.

Sigh. Still no links. Have all of these news organizations claimed that communist countries—China, Cuba, North Korea—have outspent the capitalist ones? Wow! Impressive. Has just a bit of a ring of truth to it. Just kidding.

PS. I too act and make a diffrence.

Martyrdom from “Bill O’Reilly?” Say it ain’t so. Are you going to send me a .gif of your Crown of Thorns? The nail marks in your hands and ankles?

In your way you too are an elitist that just assumes that who ever does not think like you is a conservative stereo type.

Nope. I just won’t go out of my way to respond to those who serve up straw man assertions, like that in the previous line. Not unless I can get some reasonably entertaining post fodder out of it.

There are more distortions of what I said. Then Bill gets ugly.

I have read at this blog numerous types of descriptions, used by Baldy and others, for Muslims, Arabs, other non-Americans and non-conservatives that are EXACTLY the same language used by the Klan, Neo-Nazis, North Korea, Soviets, etc (i.e. UN-American language) to describe their enemies. Then when I challange the rampant double standards and the foundations of these bizarre ideological asserations that this Klan language springs from I am accused of making "gratuitous insults". Have you read some of the posts on this site or does the demonization not disturb you becuase they dont refer to you? I tell you it is not a coincidence that this blog is only 2 links away from a white supremeicist web site.

What’s the matter, Bill? Am I not sufficiently subservient to the liberal benefactors of black America? You know which ones to which I’m referring. The ones who think all of us darkies, with our collective low IQs, need protection on the liberal plantation—with all of its perks of irresponsibility. Is this runaway slave too uppity for you? Too flocking bad, Massa.

Look here, Clown. Who the Hell are you with your stupid misrepresentations, your asinine insults and your horrid spelling to come to my site and demand ANYTHING from me with your holier-than-thou attitude? You’re not two links away from being a white supremacist. You ARE one.

I control the topic of the posts here, Mr. O’Reilly, not you. If you go off topic and I’m interested and you don’t misrepresent my words, I *might* let you direct the discussion in whatever manner you wish. But I will respond on my time and on my terms, if at all.

And, in light of my photo and my lineage, calling me various versions of genocidal maniacs—including two types that would have prevented me from being born, if they could have—only demonstrates your tenuous hold on sanity. And I do mean tenuous.

You’ve had your attention fix from me now. I hope you’re happy.

I won’t make any demands of you, however. You have a choice. You can pull your head out of your ass and grow some manners, along with some patience, or you can be banned.

I think that this is reasonable.

Oh, and next time you visit, do try to be sober.

UPDATE: Saudi citizens have raised 88 million dollars via a telethon in a mere eleven hours.
Good on them and I take back what I said about them in the post which is the subject of this one. Oh wait! It wasn’t them that I lambasted, but their government.

(Thanks to Tim Blair)

UPDATE: The problem with some underhanded people is that they often aren't quite up to the task. "Bill" also posted under the name "Sean Hankey" in this post. Well, Sean, I had planned to allow some leeway for you. But, for playing childish games, you're outta here. But, thanks for the entertainment!

(Thanks to Stinkerr, who is a fount of underhanded tactics!) :-)

UPDATE: Turns out that our little troll has posted here under six different screen names! I guess I can't get too worked up about it. My troll quotient has been light compared to some.