I have a few things I’d like to say, but I don’t want to get lost in the staggering pile of posts in some of these forums. These things are all pretty simple and straightforward, and posting them here, although they may not reach as many people, should be able to stand alone- at least for a little while- from the endless curtain calls from the drama queens, the malicious and misinformed rabble rousing of the discontented dispossessed, the name calling, the hysterics, the accusations and the knee jerk mouth foaming. On the other hand, there are some things that have annoyed me so much, I’m sorely temped to leap into the mud and foul myself right along with all the other swine. So I’ll state some things here- both fact and opinion. You should easily be able to tell them apart.
I hope.
- I hate when people I don’t like have points I agree with, or when people I agree with express themselves so poorly I want to distance myself from their arguments anyway.
- The more often you post, the less you are likely to be saying.
- Some people have started saying that this is the return of “The bad old days of the Board”. These people don’t attend BoD meetings. It’s not the BoD doing this crap- it’s the membership. The BoD went about the business of running the organization and planning for it’s future. It may be the only place in TES right now where nobody is treating anybody else poorly, for all I can tell.
- People are accountable for their own behavior. The moment you say “X did this, so I did Y” as an excuse is the moment you are officially full of shit.
- Free speech has a cost, even here.
- “Slander” has a legal definition. Stating your opinion of someone, no matter how unflattering, is not slander.
- “Predator” is a heavy word, used for someone/ something which intends injury or harm.
- Your feelings are not sacred.
- I’ve watched a candidate in a previous election lie baldfaced and blatently, to the membership- and no fuss was raised at all. But this guy decides to run, and the sky is falling.
- A lot of people are shooting their cause in the foot.
- I am sorry that some people confused asking a BoD member to address a situation with making a cormal complaint to the Board itself. One is a band- aid, the other possible surgery. But really- what did you expect to happen if you whisper? A member to be booted or have his priveliges to be restricted on one possibly anonymous complaint?
- Your armchair psychiatry is worse than useless.
- The board is a changing body. The Board last year is different from the Board before that, or five years ago, or ten, or next month.
- For christ’s sake, shut the hell up already. It was all in your head, and it’s only getting bigger as you fondle it, over and over.
- Your being unhappy does not mean other people are villians.
- People are going to say unpleasant things during elections. Live with it. Unpleasant facts are not slander, provided they are actually facts.
- A Board Member is not the Board. The only announcements from the Board come from the Secretary.
- To become a Board Member is a responsibility, but does not sacrifice your right to an opinion.
- You lost, and no-one wants to work with you. That’s not a conspiracy- it’s your own doing.
- It is not ethically wrong to urge people to vote for or against someone. It’s the way elections happen.
- Intentionally misinterpreting people is not nearly as clever as you seem to think. Really.
- There is an awful lot of finger pointing and conspiracy theory bubbling up. Look at the sources, and their motivations.
- If it’s not important enough to take action, it’s not that important, is it?
- I am genuinely embarrassed by the directions this has taken among the membership.
- I am proud of this Board, the job they’ve done, and the precedents they’ve set. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, maybe you should pay more attention.
- Look at yourselves, you monkeys. If you see yourself as a crusading voice for right, odds are very, very good you are kidding yourself.
:sigh:
Comments
6 responses to “Bullet Points”
Some people have started saying that this is the return of “The bad old days of the Board”. These people don’t attend BoD meetings. It’s not the BoD doing this crap- it’s the membership. The BoD went about the business of running the organization and planning for it’s future. It may be the only place in TES right now where nobody is treating anybody else poorly, for all I can tell.
Everything that I’ve heard and seen leads me to believe that you’ve done a good job as Parliamentarian. Then again, no one else has wanted the job.
However, I still posit that you have never truly been tested by having to deal with some of those folks. Now, if you had to face the likes of Dov, Master Jim, Morgan Lewis, ToddSandra and Partyman… (all on the same Board), then it would be interesting to see how you fare.
This little “controversy” is nothing more than a tempest in a teapot.
i have to say-
It’s true that I have not had to deal with some of our more special members. On the other hand, what you don’t see is some of the drama I have dealt with, and more importantly, how much drama I have averted. A great deal of the quiet comes from quiet attention, not complatency and coincidence. None of this has been accidental.
It’s nice to think I’m making it look easy, though.
By the way- I appreciate the fact that you have incisive, intellegent questions for the arbiter, candidatesand parlimentarian every year. It helps offset some of the nonsense.
Re: i have to say-
Not trying to take away from what you have accomplished. No, I don’t know what goes on behind the scenes of the last few years, nor would I want to.
Nonetheless, it would appear that the vast majority of the current Boards want to act professionally. They also have a level of shame, i.e., if they are seen acting badly, realize that they are acting badly and try to make an effort to act better in order to persuade people.
But if you look at some of those older folks, they have no shame at all. They don’t care that they look like coked-up monkeys flinging their feces at each other… Their opponent is the enemy, and they must be destroyed at all costs. Just look at how nutty they still are. And this was every day.
How does a Parliamentarian stop a lunatic from tossing chairs and punching walls, when they aren’t embarrassed by such actions? It was even worse when the Board refused to take any action to put an end it, because they were afraid that it would only make things worse.
So, call it jealousy if you will… I still think you have it easier… But then again, maybe I could campaign to get Dov back on the board just to test out my theory… ๐
Re: i have to say-
No arguing that. That BoD was a nightmare. Sitting at that table trying to get anything done was like fighting a flood of crazy, and I did not envy you your position.
Being in that monkey house is what motivated me to reform the standards of the BoD, and I have been fortunate enough to get voting members who would stand with me to do it, on the whole.
No contest- that was bad, bad juju.
Thank you for the sanity check.
Lots of good points but one I would like to make to you. The reference to the bad old days referring only to the board.. It was not only the board at the time … it was the membership. Just the general craziness. Hence the reference some people are making right or wrong.
But some of the reference to the bad old days is that some (TES, Board and Members) made fools of themselves publicly and the negative impression that it left with others. As much as people will tell you that a socially clueless member will hurt us, this nonsense hurts us much more.
I just wanted to tell you again how much I appreciate your clear, objective thoughts and opinions, on this matter and on others. When everyone else is losing their heads (including me), you are always a voice of reason, and I appreciate that. I found myself nodding along with each bullet point, and in some cases, thinking, “yes, thank god someone finally said that.” I hope people read this, and like me, see themselves, and realy think about that.
Best wishes for your hospital stay – please let me know if there’s any way in which I can help. ([email protected]) And when you’re back on your feet, Jason and I would love to take you up on a long-ago offer of dinner, if it still stands – you pick the restaurant, we’ll treat.