[Ansteorra] Mother of Ansteorra

[John Hirling]

And of course, to move the ridiculous to the sublime, if actionable, it
would be a libel, not a slander.
~ihon

"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass . . .
it's about learning how to dance in the rain!"

Unknown (but I wish it had been me)


On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 12:18 PM, mikea <mikea at mikea.ath.cx> wrote:

> On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 11:31:48AM -0600, Jay Rudin wrote:
> > Master Michael wrote:
> >
> > >On Sun, Jan 17, 2010 at 04:01:13PM -0600, Robert Fitzmorgan wrote:
> > >> I have no problem whatsoever believing that government officials
> > >didn't > bother to do their research before spending lots of money on
> > >something. > Seems like the standard MO most of the time.
> >
> > >Oh, Robert! Painting everyone with the same brush, regardless of
> > >merit, is so wrong!
> >
> > Let's be careful about accusations. The people he mentioned were
> > (elected) government officials. The context was clear. He wasn't
> > talking about safety engineers; he was talking about elected officials
> > voting on an inscription on a statue. No lives were at risk, no pain
> > or suffering was involved.
> >
> > Thirdly, he was right. The statement was misattributed. This is,
> > after all, no surprise, since the statement has been misattributed
> > for decades, and in many books. I have no problem believing that
> > they elected city officials were not trained in the academic task of
> > tracking down false attributions, and believed that the book in their
> > hands was proof.
> >
> > Finally, it was a statement about his own mind -- "I have no trouble
> > believing".
> >
> > >Care to repeat that slander?
> >
> > He committed no slander. He might be mistaken, but that's not the same
> > thing.
> >
> > By the way, speaking of the Oklahoma highway department, I have a
> > question about what appears from outside to be a foolish design. I'm
> > not objecting to the safety engineering, which is first rate, but is
> > it your opinion that traffic analysis showed a strong need for a major
> > turnpike from Ada to Henrietta? or is it possible that "government
> > officials (*not* engineers) didn't bother to do their research before
> > spending lots of money on something"?
>
> You need to do some research, Master Robin. The Oklahoma Department of
> Transportation has nothing to do with turnpike requests, designs, or
> operations. That's a different agency.
>
> The evidence available to me indicates that the elected and appointed
> officials responsible for that turnpike had before them evidence to show
> that the turnpike aforesaid would be a boondoggle with respect to financial
> analysis and with respect to present and latent traffic demands. They
> appear to have based their decisions on political considerations, not on
> actual need for a turnpike.
>
> Robert Fitzmorgan opened the ball with this:
>
> : I have no problem whatsoever believing that government officials didn't
> : bother to do their research before spending lots of money on something.
> : Seems like the standard MO most of the time.
>
> I agree that that is a statement of opinion. I disagree about it being
> limited to elected officials; we have no idea who was involved in the
> research or lack of it that led to that particular (pseudo-)quotation being
> put on the Korean War Memorial.
>
> It also is a slam at the government officials who are conscientious,
> careful, and worth at least what they are paid. As a government official, I
> resent, and am entitled to resent, baseless broad-brush denigration of me
> by anyone, and I am entitled to protest it in the forum in which it is
> made.
>
> I have said my say.
>
> --
> Mike Andrews        /   Michael Fenwick    Barony of Namron, Ansteorra
> mikea at mikea.ath.cx  /   Amateur Extra radio operator W5EGO
> Tired old music Laurel; Chirurgeon; SCAdian since AS XI
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