Why I'm enraged about what just happened to John Ringo: A thread.
First, please listen to the recording at the link below (or read the transcript). academicvc.com/2016/07/14/chi…
First, please listen to the recording at the link below (or read the transcript). academicvc.com/2016/07/14/chi…
I was in the audience when John shared the above story at Liberty Con 29. We were all struck by the basic human compassion he revealed by telling it.
And there's more: Toni W.'s severely disabled daughter was on the stage because her health aid wasn't available just then to care for her. John treated the young lady with perfect kindness the whole time she was there.
John Ringo absolutely cares about the unfortunate. That panel at Liberty Con proved that to me in spades.
Note, too, that - as the above link explains - John's done A LOT of traveling. He's seen a lot of the worst the world has to offer.
He's also served in the military, which also colors his personal politics.
Some of his pronouncements about, say, women in male - dominated environments are undeniably rough. But he's actually speaking from real-life experience, and so I trust his judgment more than I trust that of any ideology - blinkered feminist.
That Ravencon AAR that has everyone in a tizzy about how sexist John is? I'm sorry, but he was speaking the truth. Women in the military DO damp down their allure so as not to distract men and get everyone killed.
And yes -- some women DO use their sexual wiles to get ahead. Anyone who denies this lives in a world where the sky is pink and it rains chocolate every day.
How many of John's screeching banshee critics have been to 20+ foreign countries and/or served in the armed forces? I'm guessing none - and yet they think they know everything about people? Or what policies would best serve them?
You really think John's lifetime of experience abroad is worthless Nazi crap you can dismiss off hand? If so, I have two unprintable words for you. How arrogant can you possibly be, you sheltered leftist American?
As I've mentioned in previous tweets, John is a regular at Dragon Con, where I've volunteered since 2007. We have never had a problem with him. He is a professional and a gentleman.
I have seen him in debates with card-carrying socialists. He has always - ALWAYS - been polite, though firm in his beliefs. Gruffness of the sort he recounted in the Ravencon AAR is rare for him and is always in response to lefties being rude and unprofessional first.
To summarize my points so far:
1. John is a good person.
2. His views are likely more informed than those of his critics.
3. He's a professional who doesn't cause problems at cons.
1. John is a good person.
2. His views are likely more informed than those of his critics.
3. He's a professional who doesn't cause problems at cons.
As I said to @jondelarroz , I don't blame John for mutually agreeing with ConCarolinas that he should not come. But the fact that there was a controversy at all is exactly what's wrong with SFF fandom in current year.
For the past decade and a half (at least), I have watched this fandom get colonized by know-nothings so convinced of their moral rectitude and the righteousness of their causes that they have deliberately and maliciously made this space toxic.
At this point, I think all concoms who actually want their cons to be healthy need to take aggressive steps to protect the principle of free expression -- because while cons are not legally beholden to the 1st A, the art of SFF, like any art, depends on that principle.
Codes of conduct should make it clear up front that more than one worldview is welcome at the table and that anyone who can't handle that is welcome to stay the hell home.
Further, guests of diverse political persuasions should be actively sought to round out panels, particularly those on contentious issues.
And people who've expressed anti-free-expression sentiments should be barred, full stop, from any con positions involved with guest selection or rules-making. They can help out the con in other ways - and they can certainly attend - but keep them away from power over policy!
I really hate to suggest any sort of political discrimination, but these fools are forcing my hand.
The truth is, I am TIRED. The people who ran John Ringo out of ConCarolinas have made the fandom a living hell with their nastiness and intolerance. I am sick of conservatives being called things they categorically are not. I'm sick of the fights these people always start.
The endless libels, the sanctimonious preening, the constant bullying, the gaslighting -- it all needs to CEASE. You are not the holy arbiters of all that is right and just and good. If anything, you are purveyors of the opposite.
You encourage people to harbor poisonous resentments instead of finding solutions. You excuse abusive behavior if it meets ideological muster. Any sympathy I once had for the concepts of diversity and inclusion have almost entirely evaporated because of you.
You are toxic destroyers. I want you utterly defeated so the adults in the room can take control again and actually start working on fostering REAL diversity and inclusion instead of divisive bullshit. I want science fiction fandom to be FUN again, God damn it!
And I've just realized I screwed up my verb agreement a few tweets back, but that's just how angry I am. Grow up or shut up. We righties are allowed to be here. THE. END.
