SecretS:
It's not exactly a secret - and if the initial scenario did present itself (i.e. bringing out a gun), my stance on the outcome remains unchanged (that only the individual bringing out the gun shall be harmed, and no other).
http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/showthread.php/14268-Mayor-Rob-Ford-s-Toronto/page1820
Thank you for this civil response to what was effectively a complaint to the thread at large, i.e. please don't make
CowboyLogic right.
As you will see from my posts, I am no fan of the Fords. I loathe the Fords and every dysfunctional, hate-fomenting, close-minded, crush-the-poor thing they say and every flagrantly illegal, morally despicable and wildly hypocritical thing they do. I would shed no tears for either Doug or Rob should some misfortune befall them.
So to be clear, I'm not outraged in the slightest, and I will certainly confess to having had dark thoughts about how the Fordocracy might end. In any case, when you refer to those who are outraged, I'm pretty sure you weren't referring to me but to
CowboyLogic. Rather, I think it's a shame that I don't see any good defence to the core point of that post, i.e. that UT cannot be both a venue for high-minded discussion and a place where even joke-y, kidding-around discussions of violence applied to those we dislike are A-OK.
I don't see any value added to the discussion when people start making comments which
will be seen as an advocation of violence by those who aren't as diametrically opposed to the Fords as most here are. When I wish to gain perspective on such things, I imagine how I would feel if I read something on some other forum where people were making similar comments about some politician I didn't despise quite as much.
I don't think this discussion would lose any value if no-one ever made a comment like the ones referenced above again.
And on the matter of vitriol and extremism - let's put it this way, considering what his worship has said regarding cyclists and death and being in a position to directly influence policy around such, I think anyone who complains about vitriol and extremism is misdirected in their supposed outrage.
I have been a frequent and consistent critic of Ford's insane commentary on cyclists (perhaps not thus far on UT, but certainly elsewhere - you'll have to take my word for it).
My question is: tit for tat, or rise above?