The armchair critic

[Derek C. Maus]

On Thu, 5 Oct 2000, jbor wrote:

> You've said your piece, and fair enough. However, if someone had been
> labelling you publically as a Holocaust-denier continuously for -- what --
> two years now since he first started on it? then how would *you* feel about
> it?

Well...first of all, since no one seems to be particularly following his
lead and since your e-mail account is anonymous, it doesn't seem to me
that you're in any more danger of being seriously injured by this claim
that I am by the dipshit yelling "faggot" at me at an Amnesty
International benefit recently.

> millison's not even talking about what is depicted in GR any more: we agree
> on that. He's splitting hairs over what to *call* it, and this is nothing
> more than pettiness and petulance on his part. 

So why in god's name would you want to talk to someone who you consider to
be petty and petulant? It's not like the entire list has rallied to his
defense and branded you an anti-Semite because of what Doug has said.

> Finally, it seems odd to me that you would want to suppress Ken McVay's
> opinions, or that you seem to think the Holocaust and its interpretation is
> a subject not worth discussing. Ken certainly didn't seem to mind being
> asked what he thought, or allowing his comments to be published here.

Yes, rj, I want to suppress everything, you're so right. Jesus Christ,
man, the only thing I want to suppress is endless bitching sessions
between two grown men who have nothing better to do than call each other
names all day long.

> And, in fact, it was another lister who suggested the idea, so you are
> a bit above yourself when you presume to speak for "the entire list".

Perhaps I was wrong in assuming that original remark to have been
tongue-in-cheek, but somehow (since McVay admitted to not having read GR)
I don't get the feeling he was sitting around his house for two people to
involve him in a pissing contest about GRAVITY'S RAINBOW on a fucking
e-mail list. Unlike you, I don't presume to speak for anyone other than
myself.

Let me make it perfectly clear then...I am tired of this shit. Several
other regular posters have indicated that they are tired of this shit.
Nobody is denying the validity of the Holocaust as a topic of discussion.
Almost everyone who has chimed in has shown no interest in the backbiting
and name-calling going on between you and Doug. If you wish to continue
it, you are well within your rights to do so. I am also well within my
rights to call you and Doug asses for doing so. At least he has indicated
that he is done responding on this thread. If you want to talk about the
Holocaust, please, by all means, DO SO. Hell, I don't even care if you
leave Pynchon completely out of the discussion, fire the fuck away. But if
talking about the Holocaust means another 8,000 line post about "millison
said I'm a Holocaust denier. I'm not a Holocaust denier, but he's a list
nanny and yadd-yadda-yadda..." then please at least mark your messages
with "NP."

> I suppose you have every right to chip in with your tedious complaints
> and snipes, and I can just delete your no-content posts as I usually
> do. I can also, if I want, respond to them, and this is one such.

That's really good. Do you write this stuff yourself? I suppose whiny
name-calling and endless repetition of positions without acknowledging
other positions counts as content with you. I hope when you graduate from
high school, your perspective changes.

I am rubber, you are glue, it bounces off me and sticks to you.

Is that about the level of intellect you're working on here?

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Derek C. Maus               |   "Heck, I reckon you wouldn't even be
dmaus at email.unc.edu         |   human beings if you didn't have some 
UNC-CH, Dept. of English    |   pretty strong feelings about nuclear
http://www.unc.edu/~dmaus/  |   combat."  --Major Kong, DR. STRANGELOVE
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