November 28, 2012

"Even though it’s my job to be an actor, I have given my life to God."

"I am very comfortable and firm in that, but I still have to be on this show. It’s the No. 1 comedy, but it’s very inappropriate and the themes are very inappropriate. I have to be this person I am not."

The continuing struggles of 19-year-old Angus T. Jones, of "Two and a Half Men," the show he called "filth" and urged people not to watch, remarks he now apologizes for if they "reflect me showing indifference to and disrespect of my colleagues and a lack of appreciation of the extraordinary opportunity of which I have been blessed."

95 comments:

Farmer said...

I want to say something very similar happened with Kirk Cameron on Growing Pains but I don't have the time to Google it.

Anyway, I know he's an evangelical and recently made an awful Christian movie where he plays a porn-addicted firefighter.

Paddy O said...

Romans 7:21-24

So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?

edutcher said...

When you were 19, you didn't have any kinds of conflicts or ambiguities in your life?

Give the kid a break. He's trying to sort all this out.

Doing it in public the way Charlie Sheen did may not be the best way, but he's at least being honest.

Baron Zemo said...

Tbe future must not belong to those who slander the prophet Chuck Lorre.

Expat(ish) said...

Funny, I find the show pretty terrible too. Really not even funny terrible, like a Kevin Smith movie.

I am not sure why he would need to stay on the show. Even as a bit character he's surely salted away enough money to go off and do something else without worrying about starving.

Didn't Blossom do that before she boomaranged back onto Big Bang theory?

-XC

Baron Zemo said...

Almost every child star has come to a bad end.

Dana Plato. Commited suicide.
Todd Bridges. Drug addict criminal.
Kim Richards. Hopeless drunk on a reality show.
Lauren Chapin became a prostitute.
Shirley Temple became a Republican.

Get out while you can kid.

sakredkow said...

He should have got rid of the "if" and just said "my remarks reflect me showing indifference to and disrespect of my colleagues and a lack of appreciation of the extraordinary opportunity of which I have been blessed. I apologize."

These conditional apologies in themselves are usually as or more insulting than the original offense, although in this case I would be willing to cut him some slack.

People do need to know how to make a real apology. And some people need to know how to accept one.

sakredkow said...

I am not sure why he would need to stay on the show. Even as a bit character he's surely salted away enough money to go off and do something else without worrying about starving.

Actually, as of now he may have a real problem finding something else, at least if it involves acting.

Anonymous said...

It's ok buddy, we all have to do shit we either don't like or are compromised doing. It's called life. Make the best of it and when you can, move on and try not to look back to often till you get older and are at a distant remove. You'll be ok. P.s. make sure you stash some of that ill gotten cash for old age. Infamy can be fleeting.

Patrick said...

People do need to know how to make a real apology. And some people need to know how to accept one.

I'd be happy if they could make an apology that was written by themselves, not their publicists.

Patrick said...

Actually, as of now he may have a real problem finding something else, at least if it involves acting.

I've seen some TV lately. Not much of it seems to require acting.

Baron Zemo said...

This was a pr appology that his "people" forced him to put out. There are a whole bunch of parasites who are eating off of him. His agents. His manager. His lawyer. His accountant. His parents.

Check out the story of Ariel Winter of the show "Modern Family."
Another child who is abused by her family to the point that she had to get a legal rememdy to live with her sister instead of her horrible stage mom.

damikesc said...

You can always quit. Might take a hit financially, but hey, if you believe what you say, you'll take it.

Baron Zemo said...

He should quit. But he is 19 years old. His family is eating off of him. They must be torturing him until he issued this appology.

Try to remember when you were 19. Could you stand up to your family and eveyone you know. Your boss. Your stage mom. You pot dealer. Everybody is pulling at you.

He will find his way. Just give him a chance.

MadisonMan said...

I have to be this person I am not.

Odd thing for an actor to complain about.

MadisonMan said...

I wondered if he apologized if I was offended.

Or my favorite, when I go to a bakery that is unexpectedly closed: We apologize for the inconvenience.

No, you don't. You don't give a flying fig about the inconvenience, or you'd be open.

Anonymous said...

He shouldn't feel the need to apologize. I'm sure it is hard being a teenager and being more grown up than all of the adults in your life. Good for him anyways. It is better than turning the way many child actors do.

Baron Zemo said...

This show is remarkably corrupt and sleazy. It is all about sex all the time. And not normal sex between committed people who love each other. It is casual meaningless sex. In every combination possible. It is the premise of the show. You could easily prove that this is the most amoral show that has ever been produced for network TV.

Religion only exists to be mocked on this show. Religious people are to be made sport of and ridiculed as clueless morons who don't deserve any respect of any sort. There has never been a person of faith portrayed positively in the entire ten year run of this show.

Hollywood people are the worst of the worst.

Amexpat said...

Doing it in public the way Charlie Sheen did may not be the best way, but he's at least being honest.

Why was the way CS did it wrong? There is no sanctity of the contract in Hollywood nor is there honor among thieves.

CS may be a disturbed individual or certifiably nuts but he expressed his opinion the way he wanted to and had a lot fun of doing so. Both he and the show got tons of free publicity. The show did not suffer great harm - according to Wikipedia it got its highest ratings ever for the show when Kutcher replaced Sheen.

rcommal said...

Is it something they put in the Craft service food or beverages served on that set? Strange stuff.

Lucid said...

There has never been a person of faith portrayed positively in the entire ten year run of this show.

You laugh at all the characters. It's like Tobacco Road set in Malibu.

Paul said...

Well the actress (if you call her that) that played in Deep Throat, Linda Lovelace, turned away from her past.

So did Norma McCorvey of Roe .vs. Wade. She turned from being a abortionist to pro-life.

So did Cathy Iraland (well not turn away from any real sin but she got away from Sports Ilustrated and became quite Christian.

So yes, many people have turned away from their sins and made a difference.

I hope the young man does this to.

Anonymous said...

I feel sorry for the kid, as others have said, he probably has an agent pulling in 10%, and manager getting 15%. Most of the management agencies don't have many clients on network shows, and they aren't managing big names. he is a source of recurring revenue for those people. He's right to acknowledge that he's been lucky financially to land the show, and brave to walk away.

Perhaps we need more people in the public eye who are willing to stand up and say "enough".

I've got a kid who did a little acting. At age 10 we received a script for a sit-com that had the character my son was going to audition for calling one of the moms a MILF, and commenting on her boobs. We passed. I suppose that is where the culture is, that that's entertainment.

bagoh20 said...

I know how he feels. I work half of every day for the government, and have a similar opinion of the fruits of that labor. Like him, I could just sacrifice making any money and avoid contributing to the filth, but also like him it is not only me who would be stuck with and suffer from that decision. Going Gault is fine if nobody you care about depends on you.

BTW, I save my commenting time for the half of my day allocated to supporting the 47%.

sakredkow said...

At age 10 we received a script for a sit-com that had the character my son was going to audition for calling one of the moms a MILF, and commenting on her boobs. We passed. I suppose that is where the culture is, that that's entertainment.

It's a junk culture. Wisdom, IMO, is being able to accept the responsibility for your role in it. Part of accepting responsibility is not whining about the choices you make.

For sure not everyone can do that, and I try to accept responsibility but not judging people individually on how or if they do that. That's there problem, not mine, and I wish them well.

sakredkow said...

Just like spelling is my problem...

Fr Martin Fox said...

I am more than willing to cut him slack. I had a spiritual awakening at 19, made some rash and unwise statements and decisions, matured over time, and things worked out.

He may indeed need to change professions; his soul and self-respect are more important.

But I think he did owe an apology, and PHX is right on: stop this conditional stuff. The best apologies are simple and without self-justification: "I was wrong, I apologize."

The right thing to do, of course, would have been to go to his employer and explain his dilemma and seek an honorable way to resolve it. Of course, I don't know those people, maybe I'm expecting too much. I hope not.

The other thing I learned, as I got older and (somewhat) wiser, was that the enemies you make in the fierce urgency of the moment, you will meet again and again.

Freeman Hunt said...

Try to remember when you were 19. Could you stand up to your family and everyone you know. Your boss. Your stage mom. You pot dealer. Everybody is pulling at you.

This. This is how you end up with all these silly media apologies. Everyone piles on until they make is seem that reality absolutely requires the person to backtrack. You see it whether what the person said should really require an apology or not.

That's why I love James Carville and Dick Cheney. People have freaked out over what they've said, but, right or wrong, they don't let that warp their conceptions of reality.

A person should change his mind when it's actually been changed, but minds mostly just buckle under social pressure.

bgates said...

I think it's strange that as the concept of moral absolutism has been eroded, "inappropriate" - a word perfectly suited for relativist situations - has been redefined to imply absolutism. "The themes are very inappropriate", for all circumstances, always.

Dave D said...

"Anyway, I know he's an evangelical and recently made an awful Christian movie where he plays a porn-addicted firefighter."

Kirk Cameron played a firefighter in fireproof, but he surely wasn't a "porn addict". He just didn't appreciate his wife and they were drifting apart. I'm sure your premise would have sold a ton more tickets.......

Dave D said...

Freeman:

Carville's perception of reality could use some warping, no?

chickelit said...

Anissa Jone, who played Buffy in "Family Affair," belongs on Baron's sad list. She OD'd in Oceanside, CA.

Fr Martin Fox said...

In case it's not obvious...

I think the reason to apologize is not for seeing problems with his show and the values and quality of it, but for dealing with his quandary in the wrong way.

Don't like your job? Quit. If you have a contract, see it through, or else seek some amicable resolution. Don't trash your co-workers or the work they do. Certainly don't do all that in the media.

traditionalguy said...

The child actor/actress is dedicated to a part written by others that not based on reality. The result is loss of self identification as the child tries to grow up.

If your part that you play is not real, than how can you discover your real identity?

The greatest gift of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures (a/k/a the Bible)is a clear identity of who you are in God's eyes. And he is holding on to them for dear life.

He just does not know how to filter out his new identity yet in public to keep from offending atheists and post-Christian Christians.

That is wise, because in the end the identity he receives from Christian faith in his scriptural identity will last when all of the pop culture has passed away.

Strelnikov said...

Is he some kind of indentured servant?

prairie wind said...

Anyway, I know he's an evangelical and recently made an awful Christian movie where he plays a porn-addicted firefighter.

Fireproof is not a great movie, by any stretch of imagination but if you are looking for encouragement when you are trying to hold your marriage together, it's pretty good stuff.

Fred Drinkwater said...

I once left a good-paying job because an officer of the company was behaving unethically in a way that affected me personally. At the time I had, I'm sure, less than 1 percent of the assets (both financial and social) that this kid has already.
He should be a man, or STFU.
(BTW, my wife did essentially the same thing at a different place, so this is hardly a sex-specific issue.)

Baron Zemo said...

My dear Padre, you would think that you would be a little more supportive of a child who has found God.

Perhaps he is struggling to find the correct way to free himself when all try to bind him tighter to be their meal ticket. He is just a kid. But he is willing to speak out about his faith and the fact that he is bound to a contract to perform acts that he does not approve of anymore and wishes to disassociate himself from as much as possible.

The faith he espouses is not my faith but I still respect his struggle to reconcile his performance with his faith. The secular absolutists, hipsters, Hollywood scumbags and media douches will all attack him relentlessly for even talking about his faith in the media.

I wish him well and would not trash his attempt at getting free.

Baron Zemo said...

Fred Drinkwater said...
I once left a good-paying job because an officer of the company was behaving unethically in a way that affected me personally. At the time I had, I'm sure, less than 1 percent of the assets (both financial and social) that this kid has already


Fred where you a 19 year old kid who had a whole bunch of hangers-on eating off him like those little sucker fish on a shark? Just sayn'

Fred Drinkwater said...

Baron Zemo: It happened very early in my career, and I was already married, with all the responsibilities that entails.

Baron Zemo said...

Well you are better man than me.

I had to hold jobs that I really didn't like to put money on table.
Recently I had to swallow some religious prejudice to keep a job. I should have quit. But a lot of people depended on me to keep their jobs too. I didn't quit in a righteous rage. I punked out. I think about every single day. I was weak. I was wrong. I really regret it.

So I feel for Angus T. Jones.

You can dismiss him and his problem as simple. I do not.

It is simple as that. YMMV.

ricpic said...

Isn't this show like 9 years old, which is Methusala years in TV land? So it's not like he's killing the show or taking away anyones pot of gold. It has, tops, one more year to run. I don't think he, or any 19 year old knows what they're doing, but right or wrong he's not destroying anyones livelihood.

bagoh20 said...

If people depend on you for their livelihood, and you care enough about that to swallow your pride and continue on, it's not weakness, it's caring, pragmatic, compassionate and what you do if you are not a narcissist. This young man's decision one way or the other is not going to affect the culture one drop, but it could hurt a lot of people.

I think he's doing exactly the right thing, although I would use more moderate language. He should say he does not think the show is good for our culture and he's ashamed of it's content, but that people depend on him, so he's making a choice for them, and he hopes the public will push them to do better. There will always be someone else available to do what he won't as long as people ask for it. Changing the public's preference is the goal, and I think he's at least attempting that while directly hurting as few as possible.

Unknown said...

He's 19 and not a child. I won't cut him slack--he should consider himself lucky that he hasn't been fired. Regardless of what he feels about the show, he is a voluntary employee and making very good money-- it's unprofessional to bad mouth your employer like that. And don't pretend you've got higher principles when it's clear that those principles take a backseat to the money.

Freeman Hunt said...

Carville's perception of reality could use some warping, no?

Sure, but that's irrelevant to the point. You might get him to change by convincing him, but he's not going to change just because all the right people are telling him to change.

I'm referring specifically to the "Judas" incident.

Baron Zemo said...

He was a child when his parents exposed him to these Hollywood scumbags. He had no choice then. He has a choice now and he is trying to exercise it. In a perfect world he would resign. But he is the bread winner for a whole bunch of hangers-on.

Look at the girl from "Modern Family" who petitioned the court for an order of protection to be taken out of the custody of her stage mom. Look at the husk that Kim Richards has become on the "Real Housewives." Look at Blair from "The Facts of Life" having to prostitute herself on "Survivor" like she was an ex-New York Met or some other miscreant of the lower depths.

If you think child stars get lots of money and should just shut up and not try to protect themselves and their beliefs before it is too late I have two words for you:

Lindsey Lohan.

Baron Zemo said...

The very best thing that could happen to Angus T Jones as a child star would be that he turns out like Jodie Foster.

Then he would be a lesbian.

VekTor said...

From the article:

“I apologize if my remarks reflect me showing indifference to and disrespect of my colleagues and a lack of appreciation of the extraordinary opportunity of which I have been blessed,” said Jones, who reportedly makes $350,000 an episode. “I never intended that.”

That rather begs the question of precisely what he did intend with his remarks.

His statements, taken with what strike me as any reasonable reading seem utterly inconsistent with his 'apology'.

I don't see how he squares that circle.

harrogate said...

Yeah, this guy is just digging himself a deeper and deeper hole at this point. He'd be a lot better off in every single sense of being better off, by just saying nothing, fulfilling his contract, and then going and doing his Kirk Cameron stuff.

"Struggles" of Angus T. Jones indeed. The show sucks anyway, but not for the reasons he is caterwauling about.

Baron Zemo said...

It is a non-apology apology Dude.

He doesn't' t mean it. He just put out the statement because his family and his manager and his agent and his account and his lawyer and all of the people who are eating out of his rice bowl are insisting he do it.

A non-apology apology is standard these days. See Ozzie Guillén and Fidel Castro. Rush Limbaugh and slutty college student. Barack Hussein Obama and dead ambassador.

Sometimes an apology is just for forms sake. But you really don't mean it.

harrogate said...

Baron, the main problem as I see it is he continues to labor under the notion that people give a shit what he thinks of the show. Even his producers, I bet, don't care much. as was pointed out upthread the show is in its late stage anyway and he was never the reason for its big success.

I had forgotten about this since the last time Althouse posted about it. I'll probably forget again by tomorrow night. I doubt I am alone in this.

Baron Zemo said...

Well harroguy you have to pay attention to bullshit sitcoms and talk shows because that is how Presidents are elected these days.

Angus is just laying the ground work for running for president in 2046.

Baron Zemo said...

That is if white guys will be allowed to run for President.


Baron Zemo said...

The reason why this story is important is because Angus T Jones expressed his religious sentiment and he had to be stepped on quickly. They won't let that pass. How dare he. The hypocrite. The fool. The knave.

It is exactly like the loser Jet Players who lose a fumble because the quarterback sticks the football up the lineman's ass and all they want to do is talk about how bad a player Tim Tebow is while he is sitting on the bench.

It's all part of the culture war.

Baron Zemo said...

Personally I am supporting Honey Boo Boo in the 2046 Republican Primaries.

She will be a combination of Sarah Palin and Chris Christie.

Just with a lot less teeth.

harrogate said...

Oh, the JETS. Seriously sad shit, that was.

Baron Zemo said...

The Jets are the Honey Boo Boo's of the NFL.

harrogate said...

...and the Cowboys are the Rob Kardashians.

Michael Haz said...

I dunno. That MaCauley Calkin kid turned out alright didn't he?

Oh...wait..

William said...

Charley Sheen was in some sweet spot. He gets caught doing a mountain of cocaine with a tag team of porn stars, and it ends up enhancing his reputation and boosting his show's ratings. This poor kid tries to stake out some moral high ground on the sand berm, and he has received far more criticism than Charley Sheen ever did for his excesses.....Look, he's a nineteen year old multimillionaire who will never have to work another day in his life. I don't have vast reserves of pity for nineteen year old multimillionaires, but he seems like an OK kid.

Fr Martin Fox said...

Baron:

I'm not following how it's not supportive of the young man for me to suggest that some better choices on his part might (a) actually be morally better choices--i.e., worth doing for their own sake, (b) maintain better relations with the people around him, and (c) produce better character in himself.

He's 19; he still needs to learn. My point is precisely to suggest some of those things, such as what an apology is, and how to treat coworkers and your employer, regardless of whether they are engaged in activity that you now consider immoral.

Now, if the fellow believes what he was doing on the show was so bad that he not only has to withdraw, but also publicly protest, I can accept that. But then, first, at least actually withdraw;and tell your coworkers face-to-face what they're going to read in the papers; and second, don't later apologize if you're not really sorry.

It looks like the young man could use someone with some good sense to help him avoid these pitfalls, both in public relations, but more in character development.

rcommal said...

The 2nd bottom line is that no amount of money or promotion means one should have to suck stuff up, and that's so even if folks get the money and the promotion AND also get to eschew the sucking up part--AND then choose to continue onward.

The 1st bottom line is: Most don't even get to the 2nd. Thus: WTF?

rcommal said...

I do agree--strongly--that Angus gets a more thoughtful and broader pass to a large degree (despite both "though" and "but NOT" in terms of two specific, current-to-his-age metrics he blew for himself) on account of when he got started, launched and sucked in by his parents and/or whomever else

rcommal said...

The 2nd bottom line is that no amount of money or promotion means one should have to suck stuff up, and that's so even if folks get the money and the promotion AND also get to eschew the sucking up part--AND then choose to continue onward.

The 1st bottom line is: Most don't even get to the 2nd. Thus: WTF?


For the record, this particular comment was, indeed, a semi-sarcastic one--and not aimed at the young.

rcommal said...

It's aimed at the older, wiser chewing at a bone. And what bone? A wash-off a symbol (the core, solid belief of which remains, regardless). And despite the long-time shrugging-off, even encouraging, of incredibly foul things that, by any rational evaluation, degrades respect for religion and faith of any sort, including--sorry! but you've asked for it!--Catholicism, including the devout sort you say you're all for, Baron Zemo.

To repeat: W.T.F.?

rcommal said...

I admire and feel drawn toward Catholicism, not an unnatural pull given all the history and those of that faith whom I admire, and I may yet convert. But it sure as heck won't be on account of those who are into referencing empty vag's and all that jazz and God knows what else.

Jesus Christ.

Smilin' Jack said...

"I am very comfortable and firm in that, but I still have to be on this show.

Hope you'll be equally comfortable in Hell, since you'll be spending all eternity there.

rcommal said...

It's disgusting because it's disgusting, period.

And it's a disgrace, because it's disgrace, both objectively and as a matter of practice of faith, full stop.

So either stop it, or stop putting forth yourself as a witness for the Catholic Faith.

Or not. But then it's all on you, and not only should no one pay attention to you in terms of such matters, everyone serious about the Faith ought eschew you as a witness, for the sake of the Church, but also--more personally--for your sake, as well, BZ.

TMink said...

The lad has a contract, and he should honor it. "Slaves obey your masters" and all that.

Trey

Darcy said...

It is a pretty filthy show. I admire this kid for saying it. Also agree with Baron Zemo. He had to be ridiculed, branded a freak, stopped, whatever. It's all worth it so we can feel better with our choices.



Baron Zemo said...

You can enjoy flithy things and say stupid stuff and still be a good Catholic.

That is what confession is for.

You really don't understand Catholism there rcommal.

Baron Zemo said...



Some of Jesus's favorite people to hang out with were thieves and whores and tax collectors.

He wasn't so judgmental. He forgave the occasional lapse or three. And you can defend this kid who finds himself trying to change his life because of his beliefs. . Which are not my beliefs. You can try to speak out for him without being perfect yourself.

I just think he gets attacked more
than the sleaze ball Charlie Sheen just because he is religious. Or at least trying to become religious in the public eye where that is the worst thing you can be.
You are certain to be attacked and ridiculed. As he has been.

You can defend the rights of vegatarians not to get a pork bone in their sauce at "Mama Maria" and still enjoy a meatball hero. The two things have nothing to do with each other.

Baron Zemo said...
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Baron Zemo said...

I revel in my hypocrisy. It keeps me warm on a cold winters day.

I just don't think you should pretend that you are not a hypocrite. We all are in one way or another.

It is not that big a deal.

Baron Zemo said...

I knew that empty vag thingy would strike a nerve.

Baron Zemo said...

Hee.

Baron Zemo said...

Jeez on this thread I feel like Ritmo.

Darcy said...

I would rather hang out with thieves and whores and tax collectors than religious people, too. It's very easy to attack believers as hypocrites, and many religious people are hypocrites it's true, but understanding that a person can believe in moral behavior and fall far, far short of it every single day is the hard part.

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rcommal said...

Look: I think this young man (and from my perspective, this *very* young man) has been done a very, very great disservice in a whole number of ways, from all sorts of people (first and foremost, I gather at least, by what perhaps he ought to have been able to consider his own and ALSO, by my lights, from various perspectives, related, unrelated, and from afar). The most immediate way of disservice--and to repeat, the MOST immediate one--is the embrace of the public mode. Clearly, it's not serving him well. Public statements and social media have their places, and those places are profoundly important (though the former has a centuries older provenance and proving out of value than the latter, to be sure). I, for one, don't think Angus has been served well by the publicity, or by the "personal made public," no matter what the public statement was or by the publicity--friendly, pro, unfriendly, con: whatever. We've got tech semi-savvies (who think they know and understand more than older sorts do, about tech about savvy, about public vs, privacy, about costs & etc: a typical teen stance for--what? how long?) coupled with kids having been raised in a world in which privacy is of little value as against convenience and in which public vs. private is mostly a tool of politics, partisanship, convenience and commerce. And where the trade-offs are made to appear so, so easy and--far more important--inconsequential.

I mean: What the hell do you want me to say? What do you expect me to say?

How the hell all of that is not pretty damn obvious, is what I want to know. But then, as always, what the hell do I know?

Carry on.

rcommal said...

OK, and while I'm at it: Is anyone considering that it might not have been good FOR.HIM. and might actually have been both a religious and religiously spiritual disservice TO. HIM. to have been featured in a video, given that he was a recent convert and, particularly at his age, a mere babe in Christian terms? It seems to me that this young man--this convert, this individual person, this young man's experience--called more for nurturing than exploiting. Or am I either crazy or just full of shit here, or both?

What's with the letting off of the hook the folks whom--apart from this guy's parents (assuming that's true), agents and whatnot, whatever--just exploited him even more? What the hell: Is the new argument that both Christian churches and individual Christians are, arguably, **less** responsible for how they nurture their new babes in Christ? That it's OK exploit 'em, just 'cause of where they found 'em and they can be used to be made a point? (Either way.)

rcommal said...

He wasn't so judgmental. He forgave the occasional lapse or three.

Mote in your own eye, BZ. I'm at peace.

I agree with almost everything you have said here. My problem is that I don't believe that you actually actually agree with what you yourself say. You certainly don't act that way. You demand a loyalty you aren't actually willing to return, and that's always been the case. You demand a freedom of expression, without criticism, that you won't return. (Here's the conundrum: You love routine busting balls and attack, eschew people who don't; and yet you can't stand criticism, and don't like people who can take that.)

I hang out with plenty of all sorts of people and always have. You get pushed back at by me, BZ, because you always want to define not only "all sorts" for yourself but also "all sorts" for everyone else. You fancy yourself a bartender, and yet you're now more of a bouncer. Why?

rcommal said...

Darcy:

I'll say this one time, and one time only:

When you had a chance to reach out, try to understand, and even to forgive, you did not. You couldn't acknowledge, much less respect or respond to, a personal, sincere apology.

I wish you well, but your opinion of me nor what I express or write no longer matters and hasn't for a long time. I will, mostly, read what you write, when you do write (because I often respect your insights) in general. That part has not changed. But you are not my friend, you never were my friend, and I learned the truth of that a couple of years back.

I'm at peace with the fact that, with regard to that last sentence, no doubt you've been at the same place even longer.

All best to you, despite our separate ways.

R,

L

rcommal said...

Also, my problem with hypocrisy has more to do with a specific ploy, a specific tactic, a specific strategy, than anything else, and that specific thing is mocking. Those who espouse the Philosophy of the Mock as a general approach ought not get so knicker-twisted over mocking. (I, myself, don't espouse it, don't embrace it, and never have as a philosophy or strategy. Doesn't make me superior. Doesn't make me inferior. Does mean I don't have to live by that philosophy, or with the consequences of embracing that philosophy over a long period of time.)

rcommal said...

Heh. Yeah. "Know" so many of you so well, after all of these years of reading.

rcommal said...

Awesome rhythm track.

Darcy said...

@rcommal

I appreciate your post to me here, although I don't recall what you're referring to. If I've had an opportunity to forgive someone and rejected it, then my reaction to that now is that I'm not surprised by my weakness at all, but I'm saddened. Not surprised because, rcommal, I can assure you that I'm one of the worst people you know of. I mean that.

Baron Zemo said...

I don't get where you say I can't take it rcommal.

I mean Captain America kicks my ass all the time and I always come back for more in the next comic strip.

Baron Zemo said...

Mocking is fun. Mocking is cool.
Even the birds do it.

Mock away.

rcommal said...

BZ: The thing is, I don't find it fun, and I don't think it's cool (and never have I, as an animating feature, as opposed to a bug, sometimes enjoyable and fascinating). Vanishingly rarely do I find it even useful or effective, much less efficient.

So. There it is. You and I disagree. (No doubt many more agree with you and disagree with me, and that's OK: It is what is is.) No "new" news there.

*shrug*

rcommal said...

“I won’t be wronged, I won’t be insulted, and I won’t be laid a hand on. I don’t do these things to other people, and I require the same from them.” – The Shootist (1976)

rcommal said...

Uh-huh.

Whatever.

rcommal said...

And while I'm here, might I suggest a gift option of a book both classic in recent terms and also quite apropos?

The name of the book is "Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death." You can order this cautionary tale through the Amazon portal in the Althouse masthead, for example.