OldTroubador's blog post - A Line in the Sand

I am not posting this to launch an attack on someone, although it may seem that way. I am posting it to let everyone know the reasons why I am taking the course, making the choices I am. I really do not expect to see this blog in the morning and will not be surprised if my profile has been removed. If either happens, it will not be my hand that hit the button.

You stated that you now know who your true friends are. I knew a couple of months ago and it was reaffirmed in the last couple weeks. At that time, a young lady came under a vicious public attack, in status and in the blogs. If, as the attacker said, it was a case of jilted love, which by the way, it was not, that does not give him the right to publicly attack the other person. That does not give him the right to pass personal information to others to be used publicly to try to humiliate the lady. That does not give him the right to say, in public, The best thing you can do for yourself and your son is to put a pistol in your mouth and pull the fucking trigger. Yet, you chose to stand by this person and do nothing to stop the attacks.
A couple of weeks ago, someone else posted blatant lies about another lady here on status and in the blogs. When she spoke up to defend herself, then you interceded and said to take the conversation somewhere private, yet you let the public attack stand. In both these instances, you chose to defend someone who was verbally and emotionally abusive toward a lady, instead of defending the lady. Another line in the sand.
You have a Stetson. I presume somewhere you have the boots and Wranglers. You think this makes you a cowboy. I got news for you – the cowboys of the west did not allow for attacks on women. They defended the women even more passionately than they did their cattle. Even the dance hall girls and ladies of the evening were not allowed to be mistreated, abused, nor molested.
You have stated, without reservation, that you stand with HornyMon because he is your friend. Those that were attacked were your friends too. Yet you have chosen to side fully with an abusive person. You have been told by others that he is a dangerous man. Yet you have sided four square with him. You have drawn the lines in the sand. You have chosen the friendships that are important to you. I have drawn my own line, and it is here and it is now. This is where I plant my flag. I have said before that I will not countenance such behavior. I will not stand for the abuse. I have seen who MY true friends are and will stand four square with them.
For those who say I am over-reacting, I challenge you to Google “internet bullying” and see exactly what the effects are. This leads to many problems, including suicide. It is a real issue, a true problem for those being pummelled by others hiding behind the anonymity of a keyboard. It is no longer getting your books knocked out of your arms in the hallway, nor the tires on your bike being deflated. These attacks were vicious, heinous pieces of work, perpetrated by a sick individual with the intent to humiliate someone; to bolster his own self-image at the expense of someone else’s.
To my friends and to the others, may I say – with the exception of the one name I mentioned, I do not care who is on your ‘friends’ list. You may have folks on there I cannot stand, just as I am sure that I have folks on mine that you do not care for. It matters not for I do not judge my friends for the company they keep, with the exception, as I said, of the one name. If, after reading this, you feel compelled to make a decision, to choose between one and another, then feel free and Godspeed to you and know I will keep you in my heart. For everyone, I say here, like me, love me, hate me, spit on me, drop me from your lists, I do not care. For at the end of the day, when the sun goes down and the brakes are set for the last time, there are only two opinions around here that really matter – the sad old bastard looking back at me from the mirror in the bathroom, and the young lady, whose opinion of me I value more than my own.

All that is needed for evil to flourish is for good men to stand aside and do nothing.
Y’all have a fine night.