The way in which a person uses certain words can tell us a lot about a person. Love, hate, passion, all these words can have shifting meanings depending on the speaker and their ideological leanings. Cowardice is one of those words that seems to shift and twist in the minds of the people using it. One person will call it cowardice to not fight the local blow hard in a bar, some people call it cowardice to not ask your boss for a raise.
Pandagon commenter “Zylon” defines cowardice this way:
Sorry to disturb the peace of your ghost town of a blog, but I just wanted to point out to both of you that Rob is nothing more than a coward. Rather than refuting my points here, he chose to run with his tail between his legs. Well, I guess running away is all you know how to do and it’s all you’re good at.
By the way, why do you even have a blog? Shouldn’t you be working? Lazy.
The background of the post he’s talking about is here, but in summary, I left a comment on one of Amanda Marcotte’s bigoted rantings fully expecting that the White “liberals” at Pandagon would display their characteristic racist bile. They did. Apparently for two days or so.
It’s illustrative that “Zylon,” a man who posts anonymously and leaves fake e-mail addresses in the comment fields on blogs, considers it the height of cowardice for me to have moved on with my life. “Zylon” considers it cowardly for me to have had enough of White “liberals” calling me an uncle Tom, of being insulted by people I don’t know.
In this situation what “Zylon” would consider “brave” on my part is in actuality the masochism that bloggers like Pam Spaulding display by continually associating with a group of Whites who think they are entitled to decide what Black people think. “Zylon” wants someone to yell at (in the virtual sense) and to take that from him is “cowardly.”
But he doesn’t really think that does he? This is similar to the “chickenhawk” argument that many on the left use against Iraq war supporters, but was strangely absent during the Clinton years despite the various wars then. To them cowardice is mutable, always changing depending on the situation.
I myself think cowardice has a fixed meaning. It has nothing to do with ideology and everything to do with morality, personal honor (an outdated concept, I know) and responsibility. It is cowardice that keeps people from intervening in street crimes, or that makes people ignore the next door neighbor beating his wife.
Not that I consider myself inordinately brave, but these are things I don’t do. I get involved when I see a crime, I call the police and when necessary I have intervened. “Zylon” may or may not do the same, but I get the feeling it wouldn’t impress him as much as his own “bravery” displayed by his personal attacks on me or his anonymous postings and racism.
I don’t consider anything I do on the Internet brave. My various sites are part of a business that my wife and I run. We also do consulting. It’s all rather boring and gives little opportunity for heroics. I understand that.
Seemingly the left does not. Originally they began commenting on this now too much talked about Pandagon thread while I was working (for someone else, meaning that they became the priority) and when I didn’t respond by mid afternoon they called me a coward. I pointed out that most people work all day and can’t sit around commenting at 1:00 in the afternoon. Racism ensued.
When I did respond, they called me a coward. Then they patted themselves on the back for their bravery. Name calling online may feel good, but it isn’t bravery.
When I was done with being called names by people and moved on, I was called a coward yet again. Do you see a pattern?
The left doesn’t see cowardice as anything more than a bait word, something to hurl at people who refuse to engage them. “Zylon” has no real understanding of the word, he just threw it out to insult me. I’m not sure that in the face of true cowardice he’d even recognize it.
The left sees the world as subjective and malleable by consensus. if they all agree someone is a coward, a “race traitor” or in Bush’s case evil, then that is reality. Objective truth means little to them and that is why those on the right and left can never bridge the gulf between them.
It’s a small thing, but a good example of the real difference between right and left.
Cute. This is very cute. Tell me a few things:
1. What have I ever said that was racist?
2. With all the time you spent on this post (time not spent doing your job, might I add), did you ever read what I posted at Pandagon?
3. What exactly is your problem with my screenname? Is it so wrong that I don’t want psychopaths like you knowing my real name? And apparently, you can’t take the time to spell it right, even though you had 7 chances. I guess C&Ping is too much trouble, right Steve?
… apparently, you can’t take the time to spell it right, even though you had 7 chances.
Hey, Xylophone: are you concerned that Rob didn’t pay enough attention to detail, or that he didn’t pay enough attention to you?
Tell me, was there some memo I missed that said that forbade the use of alisases on political blogs. Because I only seem to see it done there, and then only by the ultra-cons.
Well Zyklon, I’ll answer a few of your questions-
The idea that as a White person you have the right to call me a Uncle Tom (which is in essence what all the comments there including yours did) is racist. Whites telling minorites that they are the gatekeepers of what is authenticly Black, etc is racist. Attacking minorities for not toeing the line set by people whose first thoughts when you mention minorities is Welfare, Intelligence levels and such, is racist.
White people, liberals or not, have no say in Black liberation, Black thought or Black politics. Period.
Since you didn’t read my post, I’ll explain again that this blog is a small part of my business. As such, it gets my attention when other projects aren’t pressing. If Myself and my wife who has already put in her appearence here, have other business to attend to and clients to do work for it gets put on hold.
Also we move on. This is a business, I’m not interested in you or Pandagon personally. I said my piece, slaped together a post and I’m finished. Why aren’t you?
I leave my real e-mail address anywhere I comment. If I were to make a death threat the cops could track me down. You post with fake e-mails just in case you make a untoward comment and face legal problems. I wouldn’t care, but your point is that I’m a coward, but you’re not brave enough to use your real name.
If I were White would you call me a psychopath? I don’t think so.
I thnk your screen name is amusing because I know you’re over 40 yet still trying to come up with something “cool” sounding, but which just sounds suspiciously like the screen name of a White Nationalist.
I also don’t forbid the use of fancy handles here, but I do reserve the right to snicker at grown men who call themselves “Zython”.
Well, I must say, that certainly answers a whole lot of questions.