[buug] TonStanco is at it again...

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On Tue, 26 Sep 2000, Rick Moen wrote:

> It's a bit difficult to bring up people's reliance on AOL without
> appearing to be making fun of the handicapped. 

Suddenly, the vision of AOL as a small.. "special education" schoolbus in
the oft-quoted "superhighway" metaphor tickles me greatly for some reason.

> When Stanco first 
> showed up and started behaving in a notably clueless way, it _was_
> tempting to mention that, but it seemed wiser to stick to the issues.

I kinda was left with the impression that it was the issue.

People that don't put their money where their mouth is really piss me
off.  I can at least give Stallman huge credit in this regard.  To not
practice what you preach undermines your position as the "preacher."

As a demonstration, I once had the opportunity to talk at great lengths
with Ed Begley, Jr.  He's a whacked leftist if you ever met one (apologies
to the leftists on the list).  We had a lengthy discussion on the damage
that automobiles do to the environment (I tend to believe that the
physical damage caused by highway construction and paving far outweighs
the pollution "damage" cars cause, but that's another story).  The
argument got real intense: we are both highly educated in our positions on
the subject.

But I gained a new level of respect for the man, and his opinions, when he
took me outside and showed me his "car."  100% electric.  And this is back
before General Motors made their EV-1s.  Regardless of my opinion of the
man's politics, I gained a large quantity of respect for him because he
actually PRACTICED what he preached.  When we departed, I told him with a
firm handshake that I felt that even though I did not see eye to eye with
him on the issue of mandating electrified automobiles, I had a new level
of respect for him (and his viewpoints) because he was part of the
solution and not the problem.  His reply was that I could pay him no
better compliment.

Everything I ever needed to learn about activism I learned that
afternoon.  Action talks, and bullshit walks.

> Of course, in the end I decided not to engage him on the issues, either,
> because he seemed in need of more fundamental education than I felt I
> could manage while remaining polite.

Sadly enough, the kind of "education" he needs would so fundamentally
change who he is as a person that it may not be a wise thing to do.

"First we kill all the lawyers..." 

-Fedl