There are times in which my sense of humor covers things which other people do not find humorous, and I’ve run up on a couple of those instances. The first, which our friend from as far away as it’s possible to be, New Zealand, has mentioned frequently, was a snarky comment that said it would be better for Republicans to win elections through cheating than for Democrats to win elections honestly. The Phoenician upbraids me both frequently and often for that one, but I’d point out here that it was just snarkiness.
The second is a comment I left on Donald Douglas’ American Power blog. On his article Rally at Independence Hall: Michele Bachmann in the O.C.! in which Dr Douglas has several photos from Knott’s Berry Farm, in Buena Park, California. The park has a replica of the original Independence Hall in Philadelphia and, among other things, a copy of the Liberty Bell, the copy seen in the photo at the right.
I left this intended-to-be-snarky comment on Dr Douglas’ site:
Dear Dr Douglas: If you want to see the Liberty Bell, or the place where the Declaration of Independence was debated and signed, we have the originals here in Pennsylvania; you don’t have to see faux copies.
Dr Douglas didn’t see the humor in my comment, and thought it might have been an insult, and even used it as a starting point for another article. It was not my intention to offend Dr Douglas, but I do apologize for not reining in my snarkiness to a point where it couldn’t be taken as an insult.
Dr Douglas wrote:
But actually, that’s from Dana at Common Sense Political Thought. I read his blog, and I admire is daughter, PFC Pico, and I link to him often – and most of all I wish I could have coffee with him in Philly.
That might turn out to be the start of something interesting. John C suggested, from that, that the Philadelphia-area denizens of CSPT actually get together in Philly sometime. I’m guessing that Dr Douglas won’t be able to fly in from Long Beach, but if this get-together can be arranged, I shall hoist a Mountain Dew in Dr Douglas’ honor.
While you probably did the right thing in apologizing–considering that you enjoy Donald’s blog in general, and he seems to’ve really taken this as an insult–as a reader I can tell you that your intent was pretty clearly not to offend, but as a friendly poke at his having to visit a replica of these historic Philadelphia sites, rather than the real places.
“Bragging” about what you have vs what someone else has–including extolling the virtues of one’s hometown, rather than someone else’s hometown–is a pretty common back & forth among friends, and I’m surprised Donald didn’t take it in the spirit in which it was clearly intended.
Still, it’s best to just apologize for the “offense,” intended or not, and move on… (Just another reason why, while I seldom agree with you, I respect you as a fellow American and a generally decent guy.)
Repsac3 emerges from out of the troll cave. My God, the demonic attack master indeed lives!
P.S. Thanks for the apology, Dana. Repsac3′s closer to you are I think, so maybe you too will be bosom buddies — start hoisting those Mountain Dews !! … (snark alert!)…
From the one post here from repsac3, I cannot call it (him? her?) a troll. But I can say it is almost always wrong. I’ll have to defer to Americaneocon’s understanding of repsac3 in this case.
But, regarding snarks, it is oftentimes difficult to detect snark in a text atmosphere, even among e-friends. DRJ, over at PP, has admitted her difficulty in recognizing some snarks and playful jabs. And those occasions have required a bit of clarity that has reduced the humor value at times. This, unfortunately, is to be expected in this medium. And this is where repsac3 has gone over the top in its ill-conceived attack on Americaneocon.
John, your willingness to accept Americaneocon’s characterization of me based on the fact that he’s a fellow conservative blogger–while admitting that you don’t yourself see evidence of what he’s talking about–is exactly the personality trait that AmNeo lacks, and that is what caused this misunderstanding.
Of course snark can be misconstrued. But given the history and shared values that he and Dana have, a better man would’ve given Dana the benefit of the doubt and spoken to him privately, rather than assuming the worst and attacking him in public in a subsequent blog post.
As to whether I’m a “troll,” I can only suggest that you make up your own mind rather than take anyone else’s word for it. (Donald & I have a rich history spanning several blogs, so determining whether I comment and post simply to call folks names or to sow the seeds of intrablog dissent & then disappear is easy to determine. While I admit to offering a contrary position, I have no trouble sticking around to discuss or defend it for as long as necessary, generally without name-calling or other unpleasantness. While a few do call that behavior “trolling,” most call it an average blog comment area.)
In my experience with Donald, all it takes to be tarred with one of his many negative labels (labels that often become meaningless through misuse & repetition) is to disagree with him, as many–including a good number of conservatives (& including Dana at times, if memory serves)–could tell you. Donald often launches multi-post assaults on other bloggers or commenters because he took personal offense at friendly snark, disagreements over political philosophy or tactics, or blogger ethics.
My intent was to assure Dana that his meaning was a whole lot more clear and friendly than Donald’s posts & comments made it seem, and to acknowledge that his willingness to apologize anyway was classy. While I think it puts him in the same category as that guy who had the misfortune of going hunting with Dick Cheney a few years ago, I believe he sincerely felt bad that Donald chose to take offense, and sincerely wanted to make it right. “Over the top” and “ill-conceived attacks on Americaneocon” were just icing on the cake, a virtually unavoidable by-product of saying that Dana showed a lot of class after finding himself in a situation he really never deserved to be in in the first place. I’m sorry that anyone–including Americaneocon, even–chose to take offense or find my comment unwelcome. But these things happen, I guess…
There’s always SKYPE to communicate between Philly and Long Beach. We did that with our son in Iraq.