Sunday, May 20, 2012

Geoffrey and Alan

This is where the above mentioned may say to me anything they like, ask me any question or whatever their dark hearts desire.  All comments from anyone else will be deleted.

17 comments:

Geoffrey Kruse-Safford said...

Aw, man. I was hoping for a free-for-all.

I don't have any questions for you, Art.

Personally, I think you should throw open the floodgates. That would be far more entertaining.

Marshal Art said...

I have thrown open the floodgates, Geoff. To you and Alan, but apparently you're choosing to bail, preferring instead to pretend the worst about me elsewhere. Frankly, I'm not surprised.

Geoffrey Kruse-Safford said...

Um, I'm not even sure what I'm bailing from, Art. There's no topic, there's no though-line. I have nothing against you in any way, shape, or form. Just because I take issue with specific things you write doesn't mean I have some kind of need to some over here and just randomly type things.

So, as for bailing . . . not really.

As soon as one of your buds comes along and says something fun, or you offer up something from our archives as a topic for discussion, or whatever, I think I'll take a pass.

Marshal Art said...

Geoff,

You and your bud began to give me a hard time at Dan's. In deference to him, who indeed requested we take it elsewhere, I offered this venue. If you've decided to pass on that behavior here, fine. Somehow, however, I've little doubt I'll encounter it again at Dan's or at your blog, if not by you, then by your associate, Alan.

However, I have been planning to harvest your blog for ideas here, as you provide a rich source of topic possibilities.

In the meantime, I need to spray and disinfect. Parkie the troll keeps leaving his waste. He is an example of what you so often improperly accuse me of doing at your blog, leaving a flaming bag of shit.

Geoffrey Kruse-Safford said...

Root away. I'm actually doing that right now, reviewing our rich history from our very first serious exchange back in 2007! Ah, the memories . . .

If you care, I actually answered your query, then made one of my own, right on topic. As for this . . . still waiting for someone to come along and say something fun.

Geoffrey Kruse-Safford said...

It's my fault. Well, mine and Alan's. You see, we're so terrified of Art we just won't face the music.

Marshal Art said...

Just so you know, Geoffrey, I usually delete Parkie's comments due to his ongoing desire to post nothing of substance. Indeed, he is a far better example of that lame accusation you level at me, that I post at your site as one would leave a flaming bag of dog shit on a neighbor's porch, as I mentioned above.

But YOU, on the other hand, are another story. Even your snarky comment is dishonest in what it hopes to imply. It's not me that terrifies you. It's the sense that what you like to think is deep thought isn't so deep after all as you struggle to respond to questions and comments provoked by your elegant prose. I also think it bothers you that someone like myself poses those questions. I imagine I'd feel a similar fear if Parkie was to someday remove his head from his own ass and point out a flaw in my reasoning (something not likely to ever happen).

But, in the event that you return here, I'd like to know if you can tell what this is about:

"If you care, I actually answered your query, then made one of my own, right on topic."

Of which query do you speak? Which topic? At what blog? I am still hoping to get an answer to one of MY questions, that being, in what way have you personally been manipulated by capitalism? Even if I read all the authors you threw at me in dodging the question, the question would still stand as it was directed to you and your own personal experience. I regard your dodging as a perfect example of the fear you truly have to which I referenced in the second paragraph above.

Geoffrey Kruse-Safford said...

I'm so intimidated by your mad skills, I just can't muster enough energy to think about what you wrote, Art.

As I have done with Feodor's dick-waving in the past, I bow to your superiority in all things blogging.

Because it's always about winning for people who have never won anything in their lives.

Marshal Art said...

"Because it's always about winning for people who have never won anything in their lives."

Whatever helps you sleep at night, dude. But "winning" has never been the point of my forays into blog discussions (gosh, you missed another point...who'd have thought?). And I've won plenty in my life, including the love of a beautiful woman, the friendship of many, including liberals & members of other races and ethnic backgrounds. I've won sporting competitions, such as bowling and martial arts tournaments, and I always seem to win the respect of my employers and co-workers.

This is off the top of my head, but I've also lost in life as well. I'm willing to risk losing though I don't worry about the possibility as I don't believe one ever really loses as long as one continues to get the opportunity to reach for a goal, or in the case of blog discussions, engage.

And again, it is hardly a matter of my "mad skills", since I have only sought to put forth opinions, based on the facts available to me and see how they stack up against whatever is put forth in opposition. If the opposition comes up with a solid argument, I can't help but be won over and I'm not afraid to concede or at least back off until I can verify what has been offered. To put it another way, I'm not married to any position I hold but only to the search for the best available facts.

YOU, however, are intimidated by the possibility that you are full of shit that having someone so unworthy of your lofty self-image as me possibly expose that is more than your ego can bear. Read another book and you think you are one book wiser than before, but you know deep down it isn't true and no amount of name dropping and psuedo-intellectual ramblings about all you've read and studied can mask that reality in your insecure mind.

As for myself, I don't need the likes of you or anyone to bow to me. If my position is in any way superior (and for issues that we've discussed, you've not made the case that they aren't), it is not because of me that they are superior. They were already so and I've seen it to be true. But that hasn't anything to do with the wall you've erected between us. Your insecurities won't let you fail so it bids you run from that which threatens your perceptions to which you have married yourself. Why would a simple question like the one regarding capitalism cause you to dance away without a direct answer to the direct question? What ARE you afraid of that you can't answer it and other questions like it?

I could go back to the "bastard" issue for another example of you refusing to address the question. In that case, you chose to accuse me for the use of a word in its proper context as if I was using it in its slang version. That's an example of your adversarial, unChristian attitude toward those with whom you disagree. You never answered the question then, either, and that was a far simpler question to answer.

This has been at least part of the problem between us. It has very little to do with any personal problems on my end, when all I've ever been doing is trying to get to the heart of an issue and why one might have an opposing view of it. I frankly don't care if I'm wrong. I'm more concerned with being wrong when a few questions can help me correct my perspective.

You need to lighten up and stop pretending you're something you're not, and worse, that I'm something I'm not.

Geoffrey Kruse-Safford said...

It must be terrible to have such a small dick.

Marshal Art said...

I wouldn't know. Are you projecting again? But really, it's come down to that now, has it? Your fear and insecurity is palpable now. But just to be clear, I'd much prefer having a small dick to being a big one. YOU, apparently, aren't so fussy. Thanks for the insights into your true character, Geoffrey. I guess seminary study was for fun.

Feodor said...

While there is so much about you, Marshall, that is repressed and, by now, killed off, there is just as much about GKS that is still 17.

I spend most of my days with sophomores and juniors. And he sounds just like them when they get to the point where they just don’t know what they’re talking about.

Marshal Art said...

Feodor stopped by to once again pretend he is intelligent. Apparently, though, he isn't smart enough to divine the meaning of "All comments from anyone else will be deleted." However, this one comment will be allowed for the humor it affords.

Note the first half of the first sentence

"While there is so much about you, Marshall, that is repressed and, by now, killed off..."

It seems to me that anyone hoping to be greeted by Jesus at Judgement by the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant." would have repressed and killed off most, if not all of their darker nature. The humor here is that feo believes he's capable of determining whether or not I've repressed anything and if so, if he can tell what it is. I'm quite certain he cannot, for he believes things about me that cannot be found in anything I've ever posted. He does like to assume, though, in order to posture himself as wise and knowledgeable.

"...there is just as much about GKS that is still 17."

I don't know that I'd necessarily agree with this, especially for the reason given...

"I spend most of my days with sophomores and juniors. And he sounds just like them when they get to the point where they just don’t know what they’re talking about."

...whereas feo begins each post showing he doesn't know what he's talking about.

feo is our own Prof. Irwin Corey, pretending to be all-knowing.

Geoffrey Kruse-Safford said...

The two of you together is a prize I couldn't have hoped for.

Carry on. I know you will.

Marshal Art said...

And a straight answer from you is something I don't hold my breath for.

There will be no "carrying on" between feo and myself as he is not welcome on this particular post, anymore than anyone else but you and Alan are. But the fact is that there is little difference between you and feodor, except that absolutely NONE of his comments are coherent, whereas yours are of so, just not logical.

Geoffrey Kruse-Safford said...

Art, you two are peas in a pod. Not a smidgen of self-awareness, not an ounce of humility, nary a breath of wisdom. It's little more than a constant barrage of nonsensical moral preening from the two of you.

I have little liking for those who assert any authority over others, in particular when they evince no reason for that authority to be granted. I despise it all the more when it is done thoughtlessly. While I admit there was a certain humor factor in some of our earliest encounters, by and large that has been gone for quite a while.

As for Feodor, his self-righteousness is only matched by his own towering ego, standing atop the heights of his Yale education so that all may admire his accomplishments. He has provided important insights, yet done so in a way that combines moral prudishness with hauteur that would be comical if not so earnest.

I have neither the time nor inclination to trouble myself with either of you. Not because you threaten me in any way; rather, because in the limited hours and days afforded me in this life, I would much rather spend them outside the company of those who seem intent on proving to the world how wonderful they are. That is your game, and I leave it to both of you.

Marshal Art said...

Wow! I don't know who you are describing initially, but it doesn't fit me in any way that I can perceive.

"Lack of 'self-awareness'"? I'm not sure what you mean by this. I do not assume greatness in myself, but only the potential for it that is found in anyone should they put forth the effort or have opportunity for it to manifest. I am fully aware of my limitations, both physically and mentally and do not pretend I am more than I am not. I only strive (most times) to better than I am as I believe we are all called to do.

That would account for the charge of "not an ounce of humility" as I don't believe I've ever spoken in terms of who I think I am, can't recall any but the obvious forms of self-promotion meant for humorous effect. The worst I've done is as I've said, spoken as to what I hope to be and try to be.

I will admit that from time to time, a commenter will compel me to blow my own horn in order to provide background for sake of the discussion, such as my partial list above of what I've won in life. I can't be faulted for that. Especially when it is done to counter desperate attempts by the comment that provoked it.

Yet, one who gives lip service to humility and then acts as you do suggests more hypocrisy.

As to wisdom, I know, for example, the meaning of the word "bastard" and am at least wise enough to deduce the intended meaning by the context in which it is used so that I would be an example of the slang version were I to, as you did, knowingly and maliciously accuse me of using the word improperly. That is to say, I know your ancestor was a bastard because she was born out of wedlock, which is the true meaning of the word. YOU'RE a bastard for pretending I meant anything more by using the word in its proper context. And again, I am wise enough to know you did this to avoid the implications of the question in which the word was used. So I'm wise enough to know dancing when I see it, such as you again did with the "manipulated by capitalism question. It is evident once again with your comment about wasting time with those intent on proving how wonderful they are. I have made no efforts to that end in THIS blog or any other. Not sure I can say the same for you.

I have never made firm statements on anything of which I have no knowledge. Do I always have enough knowledge to provide the definitive statement? Of course not and have never so claimed. And this can be easily determined by the questions I ask when another counters my pronouncements.

I could go on providing examples of how I don't "lack wisdom", but that wouldn't be humble, would it? So, I dare you to try and explain yourself, perhaps with an example that demonstrates my lack of wisdom. You see, one lacking humility, as you believe I am, would not likely be open to being persuaded as I have often stated is part of my purpose in blogging.

Or perhaps you can explain what you mean by "moral preening" and how it is nonsensical. I feel I have at least enough wisdom to know that our behavior is important, especially for anyone calling himself a Christian. You seem to feel otherwise.

As for feo, he is insignificant and irrelevant to this post as it is, once again I re-iterate, about you, Alan and me only. Ignore him and Parkie as their comments will be deleted.