The Candidates
My firing of Alex Knepper for his post on Sarah Palin Wednesday afternoon engendered quite a bit of controversy on the site, and that is perfectly understandable. Alex is intelligent and eloquent and possesses perhaps the most critical skill of any writer, that of being able to spark fervent debate of the crucial issues of our time with his words. I will miss Alex, not only as a writer, but also as someone with whom I believed I would share a longtime friendship.
I did not ban Alex from commenting right away. My haste to get to the convention on time on Wednesday, more than anything, was responsible for that. I am glad that he had the opportunity to have a sort of farewell, he has been a big part of the R4′08 Community for a longtime; first as a Page 2 writer, then as a member of our staff. I did not bother to read all of the things that Alex wrote about me before I revoked his commenting privileges, and to be honest, I don’t really care to. However, some of his sentiments have been communicated to me by others, I therefore find it necessary to respond with my side of the story.
The first thing that people must realize is that Alex was attending the RNC as my guest. He was not issued a media credential. I signed him in at the beginning of the convention, and I was responsible for his actions during his time in St. Paul. Alex was not here to be an investigative journalist folks, and he was aware of this fact before he got on the plane for Minnesota.
The deadline to apply for media credentialing was May 15th. I sent out several emails to the entire Race42008 staff to let them know they needed to apply by that date to be considered for a media credential. Alex blew off doing what he was suppose to do until about a month ago. When he told me how much he wanted to come, and how it would be an experience of a lifetime for him, I felt like I should do whatever I could to help him be a part of history.
So almost everyday from that point on, I had to frantically send emails, make calls, etc…, to see if there was anyway Alex could attend. I have a full-time job, am a married man, run this website, and have relatives and friends, etc…, like everyone else–so the demands on my time are great. Those demands on my time suffered while I did everything I possibly could to get Alex into the RNC. I also spent a great deal of time helping him find the best travel arrangements for his trip.*
When I found out that I prior commitment would prevent me from picking Alex up at the airport, I made sure that my mother and father would be available and take time out from their busy lives to be there for Alex so that he wouldn’t have to pay $80 for a cab ride to his hotel.
I made sure to find the closest hotel to me that wouldn’t break Alex’s budget. However, that hotel was still about a 45 minute drive from my home. So that meant that I was committing at least an hour-and-a-half of each day just to picking up and dropping Alex off.
The bottom line is that I feel that I did everything that a friend could possibly do to help Alex so that he could attend the RNC and have this wonderful experience and I was happy to do so.
From the very moment he stepped foot in Minnesota, Alex was almost in a manic state of fury regarding Sarah Palin. When I came to pick him up, he recited the same laundry list of “scandals” that he has now made all of us at R4′08 aware of. When the news regarding Bristol Palin broke, it sent him over the edge. There was talk of using the site to spur the grassroots movement that would result in the withdrawal of Sarah Palin, ala Harriet Miers, and that our presence at the RNC would place us in the perfect position to begin the movement immediately.
I communicated in no uncertain terms that I would not stand for such a thing for even one moment. I tried to communicate that we do not know the full context of many of the quotes in question, nor do we know for certain if any of the allegations (such as her membership in the Alaskan Independence Party) where even remotely true. I came to find, however, that once Alex has made up his mind about something, he has made up his mind for good, and there was nothing I could do or say to convince him that there may are many potential upsides to her selection.
I thought that I had made myself clear, and that we could move on and enjoy our time. I had volunteered to help out at many events around town beginning in the early mornings, but I had so many cool things planned for us to do after I had fulfilled my commitments each day. Among them: a breakfast with perhaps the most famous Republican Senator not named “John McCain”, a reception attended by numerous U.S. Governors that included a wonderful gourmet dinner, a gathering in a historic St. Paul Mansion attended by multiple U.S. Senators/Governors and other famous TV/film types, etc…**
At each one of the events, Alex would approach either the guests or the guests of honor in a very aggressive manner and, while shoving a voice recorder in their face, confront them with his “facts” on Sarah Palin. I will refrain from naming names, but some of the people he confronted were former elected Republican officials who are now getting up in years. One of the guests of honor he confronted, in addition to be elderly, is currently battling a very serious illness.
And I am not exaggerating when I say that Alex pumped these people with his “Sarah Palin Facts” in a aggressive and confrontational way that clearly made people uncomfortable. I was not with him all the time to personally witness him doing this, but I was told by other guests as well as well as others in our group that people where wondering who brought this jerk and whether he was someone from the liberal media sent to raise doubts among the GOP base during the RNC.
After we had attended the RNC and watched Fred Thompson and Joe Lieberman give their speeches, I decided to have a heart-to-heart with Alex on the way home. He was my friend, and I felt that a real friend would let him know how badly he was behaving, and how this bad behavior would not serve him well in his adult life if he continued down this path.
Alex basically told me that he must remain true to his principles, and his principles told him that Sarah Palin was the wrong choice and that he was obligated to do everything he could make the world understand this. I told him, as we concluded the conversation, that we would just have to agree to disagree but that not a word of anti-Palin rhetoric was to appear on R4′08. I let him know that I would pick him up the next day after I finished with the volunteer responsibilities I had committed to in the late afternoon. So Alex was well aware that I would be getting up at 7am and would not be at my computer, perhaps, the entire day.
I was finally made aware of Alex’s post just as I completed my prior commitments in a text message around 5:30pm. I drove to a coffee shop, read the post, and came to my decision immediately.
I stand by my decision 100%. I have given Alex and everyone else here more than fair warning that I would not allow the site that I founded — and have spent the past 4 years of my life working on — to be used to in any way assist Barack Obama become the President of the United States. Race42008 is a forum for Republicans of all stripes to come together and discuss the events of the 2008 presidential race 24/7. It makes no difference what kind of a Republican you are, all are welcome here.
But allow me to make myself clear: if you are engaging in any actions that may contribute to the defeat of John McCain and Sarah Palin in November, you are not a Republican. Call yourself anything else that allows you to get to sleep at night, but do not call yourself a Republican. Political parties exist to win elections first, foremost, and always. Anyone whose actions are in any way detrimental to the chances of Republican victory in November are not welcome here and will be permanently banned from Race42008, Race42012, Race42016, and so on.
So yes, I did indeed not allow him to attend Wednesday and Thursday’s sessions. It was my duty to not allow him to be there. He was my guest, and I was responsible for his behavior. I could not, in good conscience, bring someone who was acting in this manner into the Republican National Convention.
Lastly, I know that Alex and perhaps others have accused me of abandoning him in the Twin Cities. Allow me to educate you: Alex Knepper is a grown man. He is not a child. He is an adult with credit cards, money, a cell phone, a computer, etc… He is at the time of his life when he is able to take care of himself. He was in the exact same situation that we all would have found ourselves in if we had traveled to a strange city and treated someone who was suppose to be a friend in a most unfriendly manner.
As far as some of Alex’s other assertions, I will say that there are many people who know me well on this site, all of whom find Alex’s allegations laughable. I will appeal to their good opinion, as well as my general conduct as Managing Editor of this site, as my defense.
________________________________________________________________________
*I will continue to keep everyone else’s name out of this, but I should note that there is another member of the Race42008 staff that also put in a lot of work to make this trip happen for Alex. He knows who he is.
**Please do not interpret my writing about these events as any sort of boast. During a convention, anyone with a media credential is able to attend these sorts of events. All one needs to do is to find out where and when they are. I am certainly no one special in this regard whatsoever.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Kavon,
Thank you so much for posting this. As perhaps your longest and most consistent poster, I initially questioned your firing of Alex, but after reading this I believe you were completely right in taking the course of action you did. Alex displayed a level of immaturity that I would not dream of using at my often quaffed at age of only 15. I have been reading your site since I was 13 and can’t express how much joy it has brought me or how much it has expanded my mind. Thanks again for the incredible job you do.
Texas.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Kavon,
You made the right move. Debate is one thing. Sabotage is another.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
…..besides, anyone who thinks that Sarah Palin is hurting McCain at this point is off their rocker, and completely blind to the evidence.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Kavon, I nominate Kristofer to fill Alex’ empty spot.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Sampo #4,
I think that is a great idea. Stay tuned.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Sad.
Kavon, I’m truly grateful for your efforts at putting up and maintaining this site. Your editors and commenters are almost always engaging — and with a decidedly pro-GOP spin I miss elsewhere where open discussion is allowed. Bringing such a crowd together is quite a feat.
From your earlier couple of bans that I witnessed, it seems to me that you make every attempt to be fair and resort to banning as the last, least desired, dire option.
I guess we’ll wish Alex all the best for his future. He’s got a lot of potential, but still appears to have a heavy sense of youthful and entitled infallibility. I’m sure he’ll do well as he grows, if he’s willing to, and I look forward to reading his future contributions elsewhere.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Kavon, you are one of the greatest class acts of all time.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Kavon- a wonderful explanation. I’m behind you 110%, and have been since you made the decision. All of your actions were completely justified. The site will be better off now. There’s a reason I visit here like 20 times a day. Your judgment in all things is sound.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Kavon,
Thank you for posting this. The events you detail here really do shine a huge light on the outrageous behavior of Alex over the past few days. It makes it even more obvious that you made the only decision you could, and that Alex knew what to expect after making his post.
When all of this first happened I posted that I thought you should keep Alex on with some kind of a warning, but that I left it up to your judgement since it is your site. His behavior over the next day or so changed my mind and I thought he should not come back, but I still felt a little bad for him.
After learning the truth of the matter, I feel bad for you that he caused you so much trouble during a week that you have worked so hard to make a great experience.
P.S. - I know you are busy and that it takes a lot of work, but can you change the format of the front page to reflect the general election and that the contest is now McCain/Palin v. Obama/Biden and the people off to the left have nothing to do with it anymore.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
I never questioned the banning of Alex. It’s your site, do what you want with it.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Kavon, love your site, but hate the recent voracity of its spam filter. Another ten minutes attempting to formulate an appreciative comment just went down the tubes. Okay, own fault plays a role, too.
I’m keepin’ the faith, though.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Attempt #3 (I have been having bad luck lately and I’m not even including links)
Thanks for letting us know the whole story. I support you 100% in your decision.
If this doesn’t make the cut then feel free to include whichever of the three you like. If it does make the cut then go ahead and delete the others.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Looks like you may have already made a decision, but I also think Kris would be a great contributor.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
MarkG & Dskinner,
I restored both of them for you.
The reason that I have to have the filter the way it is that we are literally being inundated with anti-Palin spam comments that have links to anti-Palin sites right now. The Kos Kids are obviously scared sh*tless of her.
It is way to much not to be a concerted, coordinated effort.
I will be sure to go in a check for legitimate comments now and then.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
If we’re going to have another moderate Front Page poster, Kristopher is a good choice.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
I wonder why this site has become a magnet for anti-Palin people.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Kavon, you demonstrated tremendous character in that post which is the reason you have built such an incredible blog.
I would like to take this discussion thread to apologize to Kavon for misjudging that character and considering, albeit briefly, that you would countenance such a mean-spirited attack on our vice presidential nominee — an assumption that caused me to “resign” until such time as I got the real story.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Googling around, this pattern of behavior from Alex isn’t that all surprising. He’s more of an Ayn Rand cultist than a conservative. Fountainheads are prone to this kind of egotism. Like Hippies to Liberals, Aynrandist are to us conservatives–a source of ceaseless embarrassment.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
I know this isn’t the best thread for this comment, but I had a very interesting conversation with some doctors at the hospital regarding McCain’s and Palin’s speeches.
Everyone, even the left leaning people, liked them both very much. Several people mentioned that they loved hearing McCain’s biography. They stated that they knew he was a P.O.W. but that they didn’t know anymore than that and that they had a new respect for him because of his story.
That motivated me to listen to McCain’s speech again today and I totally take back most of what I wrote last night. I think the gaffe with the green background caused me to view everything a little too negatively.
Good speech McCain. Great strategy Schmidt, sorry that I doubted you.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Kavon– I’d love to hear more about your experience at the RNC. Dining with Senators! Mingling with Governors! Forget the Alex drama, tell us what your good experiences were this week
September 5th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
doesn’t that disqualify GOP giants like David Frum? I know we want to appear united and everything, but as McCain said last night, we’re Americans long before we’re Republicans. And I think the country is better for it. We should be resilient enough to endure one Andrew Sullivan-esque post.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
The bummer of this episode is that a bright young man demonstrated in a very public forum a lack of grace and decorum. But as George W. Bush once said, “when I was young and stupid, I acted young and stupid.”
The good news is Alex has a lifetime to grow his character to match his impressive mine. We wish him the best.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
Nice job, Kavon. I appreciate your long explanation. I concur that real republicans need to be in support of the ticket. I also believe, since it was the campaign’s own intention to keep this secret, that it was a reasonable response to “withold judgment” until facts were apparent. I was one of those that saw this as a choice with substantial risk. Choices without data often are.
But having reservations does not give one license to destroy someone. That is the time to seek facts and information and that while “witholding judgment” one should also withold comment, certainly damning comment.
Again, I applaud you on your handling of this affair.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
You know DSkinner, I’ve had that same experience. My parents had no idea what McCain’s POW experience was like for him. They both said that they thought he was in a jail cell for a couple of years… had no idea that he was in there so long, alone, injured, and that he had shown such fortitude and bravery turning down early release and trying to survive. The McCain story is absolutely amazing and I think it probably caught a lot of people by surprise.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
I’ve had some problems with Alex in the past.
I think Kavon made it clear to all of us, _weeks ahead of time_, that attacking the ticket would not be tolerated.
I knew this and I knew that I’d have to leave if certain VPs were picked.
In that sense I sympathize with Alex. However if Rudy or Ridge or Lieberman had been nominated I’d have left quietly without another Front Page post.
It seems like Alex abused his privileges and left saying bad things about the guy who brought him in.
He even accused Kavon of being a moderate who pretended to be a conservative for the crowd on here.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Hopefully this won’t get eaten
You obviously did the right thing Kavon. Alex got a warning for behavior he should have already known was wrong. Joining a revolt is one thing, but being a one-man army in Minnesota trying to create one during a celebration is just a little nutty. Funny, but I wonder if Jonah Goldberg might have been thinking of Alex when he wrote his column this morning.
Anyway, I do have a problem with Kavon’s perception of what it means to be a Republican. A little revolt is healthy now and then. Heck, I remember being on the ironically named ConfirmThem when the Miers pick was announced and watching almost the entire site become a dump Miers movement. Good times. Can’t say I wouldn’t have felt the same if the pick were Lieberman.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
Spam filter ate my last comment.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
You win this time spam filter!
September 5th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Sounds like you did the right thing.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
I think the difference between honest questions and the kind of material Alex was publishing is intent. Malice and destruction is a whole different thing.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Great move and perfectly called for. Thank you Kavon and thank you for all the great work you do. Love R42008!
September 5th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Kavon, thanks for the clarification.
Other than here I read, lurk, and comment at the Atlantic, among other places. At the Atlantic, Marc Aminder and now Ross Douthat unfortunately shut down their comments due to scats-flinging leftist hacks, and Megan McCardle has resorted to having an intern “censor” her comments. So I appreciate the dimensions of the problem you’re contending with, especially considering that the up-tick in agenda-driven commenting that was infesting McCardle’s blog has now made otherwise tame Clive Crook’s comments a real cesspool.
Maybe some savvier Web expert amongst us could suggest a better commenter registration system that would make this site’s comment system a bit less demanding of your limited time resources?
September 5th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Spam filter ate another comment of mine.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
This is more of a comment filter than a spam filter.
Who can get thru. It’s like a game of red rover.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Doug, browser back button and repost on the front page, maybe? It’s a pretty aggressive system…
September 5th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
I must say that many of Alex’s comments reflect his youthful intellectual passion, as well as his lack of wisdom and patience. Many of the youth his age think they know everything and feel they have the right to shove it down our throats if we disagree. Only time will tell if Palin was the right choice or the wrong. However the name on the top of the ticket is the one running for POTUS this is McCain’s race to win or lose.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Perhaps this comment will get thru. I basically can understand Alex’s position (coming from another side) but I think his methods were classless. I also think his vitriolic opposition to Palin was based on unimportant issues.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
I give up. I can’t even get a mildly worded two sentence summary of my point thru.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
#26, the filter that Kavon is using is just about as good as it gets. We will just have to find the balance.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Kavon,
Consider suing the spammers.
http://www.sueaspammer.com/
I am sure you have more than one attorney, including myself, on this site who would enjoy suing the spammers spammers.
Bush OKs spam bill–but critics not convinced (old article as to email spams)
http://news.cnet.com/2100-1028-5124724.html
September 5th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
President Bush signed the “Can-Spam” bill Tuesday, creating the first federal law regulating spam, a move backers say will be a major step in the war against e-mail solicitations for pornography, Viagra, diet pills, get-rich-quick schemes and the like.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Thanks for setting the record straight Kavon. As much as I hate echo chambers and censoring dissenting opinion, a standard should be maintained and you’ve executed good judgement.
Also, as much as I hate the spam filter, it sure beats filling out a captcha everytime.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
article is dated from 03.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
fyi guys - Kavon does have his hands full:
[SpamFilter] has protected your site from 202,824 spam comments already, and there are 1,667 comments in your spam queue right now
September 5th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Brett #44,
…and I just cleared the spam queue a short time ago. That is the level of attack that Palin is under.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
EVERYONE…
I just made a major tweak that I think will fix most of the comment problems.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
#36: Welcome back, Grandma T. And I agree — I knew everything at 18, and I’ve been becoming progressively dumber ever since. I hope Alex learned from this.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
I want to 2nd or 3rd the recommendation to promote Kristofer to staff blogger.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Let’s see if your spam filter likes linked url’s again!
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/columnists/view.bg?&articleid=1117111&format=&page=1&listingType=col#articleFull
Funny article, btw.
September 6th, 2008 at 12:01 am
BobH, #47: LOL! I’m stealin’ that no matter how many lawyers are on this site. =)
I’m for Kristofer joining the blog, too. I’d like to learn more about Palin from someone who has followed her without having prior campaign axes to grind. Good luck with roping him in, Kavon. I’m sure he’s in high demand right now.
September 6th, 2008 at 12:01 am
Is there a way to whitelist certain IPs, so regular commenters using static IPs won’t have a problem?
September 6th, 2008 at 12:03 am
So much for democracy.
You are no better than Kos for banning that poster who questioned John Edwards.
If you really think Sarah is the god-send you can rub it on Nov 5.
Until then how about we be mature enough to allow all points of view?
September 6th, 2008 at 12:06 am
#52 Joe, do you understand the definition of democracy? Democracy is a form of government. Do you mean free speech?
September 6th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Joe, Kavon allows a lot of diversity in the comments. I think he’s right to draw a line on what people can post on the Front Page of his blog.
I’m for free speech but I don’t think that means MSNBC must let me fill in for Olberman on my days off. Kavon is in the same situation.
September 6th, 2008 at 12:22 am
Joe, Kavon had his parents pick up Alex from the airport and this is the way he appreciates it. I watched a youtube video/interview posted by Alex and he was more gracious to an ignorant liberal than he was to the Republican’s who allowed him to be a guest at the convention. It sounds like his badge/pass said guest and not press so, IMO, he should have asked the representatives if he could interview them or record them before aggresively sticking a microrecorder up their nose.
September 6th, 2008 at 12:24 am
That would probably be the only time I would ever watch Olberman’s show is if Kavon was subbing.
Alex is still free to shoot his mouth off on whatever forums will have him.
If I want to see Sarah Palin being denigrated, I’ll go to HuffPo or DailyKos or Digg, not Race42008!
September 6th, 2008 at 12:25 am
“Joe” is most likely a troll. ignore him - move on, there is nothing to see here….
September 6th, 2008 at 12:31 am
#26. “Anyway, I do have a problem with Kavon’s perception of what it means to be a Republican. A little revolt is healthy now and then. ”
Revolt is one thing. Being revoltingly psychotic is quite another.
September 6th, 2008 at 12:34 am
So here’s an idea out of left field, but why not?
You now have a hole in your line up of front page posters (not that you need to have a “hole” because you can have whoever you want), but I have been a devoted reader, if sometimes infrequent commenter, of this blog for well over a year (I believe I started reading in earnest sometime in April of last year) and am quite an opinionated person. I know that I am largely unknown, and have no qualifications to speak of, other than a medical blog with a modest following (a little over 100 hits per day plus 50 Google Readers), but I would quite enjoy the chance to let my political thoughts be heard.
I don’t have a fat resume, so I guess you can think of me as somewhat of the Sarah Palin of political bloggers. Well, actually I’m more like the Barrack O!bama of political bloggers, because while I have some experience with turning a word, none of it really applies in any reasonable manner to the job for which, without invitation, I am applying.
So there you have it. Laugh at the idea if you will, but when the laughter dies down please do consider it.
And thank you for getting rid of Alex, because after two posts from him and seeing several people in the comments seeming to sympathize, I was ready to get my red meat elsewhere. Your actions, and this explanation have restored my faith in what has become my favorite political site.
Respectfully submitted,
Braden Ellis
September 6th, 2008 at 12:42 am
No offense Braden, but if you’d like to offer your services, it’s a little tacky to do so in the comments.
If you want to ask Kavon, go ahead and email him: kavon_w_nikrad@yahoo.com
September 6th, 2008 at 12:44 am
I smell a reality show in the making.
September 6th, 2008 at 12:53 am
58:
My comment was directed more at Kavon in general than to Alex’s behavior (which, I’ll repeat, was worthy of removing him as a front-page poster, and then banning completely when he continued to be disruptive). I think you can be a good party member but not support elements within your party that you strongly disagree with.
Furthermore, I believe political parties exist for more reason than to win elections. If that were true, no party in their right mind would ever stake out an unpopular position. No, parties exist to gather like-minded people in the pursuit of seeing their ideas reflected in the government. If the party is moving away from what you believe in, there’s nothing wrong with agitating for it to come back in your direction.
Maybe I don’t have a right to do it on this site, but I think I retain the right to call myself a Republican.
September 6th, 2008 at 12:56 am
Thanks you so much for posting this, I’m not even done reading and I’m already appalled and disgusted at Alex’s behavior you had no option but to get rid of him. Also thanks for trying to do something about the filter!
Wouldn’t mind reading Kristofer on the front page either.
-2cents
September 6th, 2008 at 12:59 am
Just wanted to add my two cents and commend Kavon for what I think we can all agree is a tremendous service to the conservative community. I’ve been reading avidly and commenting occasionally since April and am routinely heartened by the discourse I find here. Truly a top-flight bunch of people that I’m proud to call my ideological confreres.
As far as Alex goes, I have to say that as a relatively young guy (25), I’ve found that the rudest awakenings tend to be the most indelible. Alex is possessed of a singular talent wedded to a singular petulance. Here’s hoping he can shed the latter in pursuit of the former.
September 6th, 2008 at 1:01 am
Thanks for the explanation Kavon. You made the right decision since the goal of your blog is to support the Republican party. Many of us have tremendous respect for you and this site. During the primary, I used to think this was a somewhat anti-Romney site; and even though you favored Rudy over the other candidates, you made a statement at the time that if Romney won this would become the most pro-Romney site out there. I salute you for your integrity.
As others have noted, Alex is young and has a lot to learn. There is nothing inherently wrong with youth, but it does make us a little more forgiving of his antics and hope that he will learn wisdom with age.
September 6th, 2008 at 1:05 am
Wasn’t Brett once banned before for some Romney quasi-anti-Mormon baiting? I know Brett has made it abundantly clear that he was against Romney the man, not the religion he subscribes to, but during the primaries, things got really heated.
September 6th, 2008 at 1:08 am
65:
Yeah, sadly I see a bit too much of myself 10 years ago in Alex’s behavior. Though, thankfully, I’ve never had the chutzpah to stick a recorder in someone’s face lol.
Reliance on your own opinion can be a powerful tool for seeing the world in ways other people don’t. But man can it become obnoxious when you don’t have the tools to understand that even your most brilliant thoughts will be derided by others. It takes awhile to get used to the idea that it’s going to take awhile for the world to come around to your point-of-view.
September 6th, 2008 at 1:14 am
#66 - Regarding things getting heated, I think that one of the greatest ancillary lessons that politics can teach is self-restraint. I live in the People’s Republic of Seattle and have in-laws who are so liberal that they put American flag stamps on envelopes upside-down (I swear I’m not making this up). I get so enraged on a daily basis during election season that I’m perenially thankful I’m not a gun owner. Living in a community of 1,000,000 people who regard my views as blasphemic anathema. I’ve accumulated an amount of self-control that most liberal Seattlites will never know, and I’m grateful for that. One reason I was so opposed to Alex remaining here was that his absolute dearth of self-restraint had such a corrosive effect on this site. Luckily, he’s got a lifetime to acquire it.
September 6th, 2008 at 1:15 am
Oops, sentence fragment in #68.
September 6th, 2008 at 1:34 am
#66, that was another person.
September 6th, 2008 at 1:55 am
Kavon! I have been watching this site for about 2 years now. I don’t post a lot, and I’m very unaware of the key players on the site. I come here for insite, data and commentary. I very much appreciate this site, and because it is your site, I could care less about what you decide to do with you. As far as I’m concerned you can do whatever you want. There isn’t an anti-Romney filter on this thing is there? J/K.
My Evolution during this cycle:
I was a mild Chuck Hagel supporter 4 years ago, and up until he finally decided not to run. During that time I had JOHN MCCAIN bumper stickers on my car.
After McCain’s immigration stance, I switched to supporting Huckabee. I followed that logical choice until McCain received Romney’s endorsement, at which time I blogged on my myspace page about how we needed to line up behind McCain and secure victory in November.
I am a republican, but am more of a RINO! Not because of my positions on the issues, but because my loyalty goes to my values before my party. I am an evangelical Christian, and I believe I am an accurate measuring stick of what the evangelicals are thinking overall. I may be controversial at times, but my opinions are stated as such.
By the way, every day I am growing more fond of Mitt Romney. I still don’t trust him, but he really is an excellent LEADER. After McCain’s victory in November, I am hoping for a Palin/Jindal ticket in 2012!
Best love to you all my friends!
September 6th, 2008 at 2:25 am
Silencing descent is not necessarily a good thing. We complain about it at the university level, but we accept it in the republican party.
There are many conservative republicans who think that Sarah Palin was a bad choice But they are being silenced one by one. This Frenzy about Sarah Palin is out of this world.
Keep an eye on TrooperGate, supeneas are likely to be issued at the end of next week.
September 6th, 2008 at 7:31 am
Personally, I don’t think Alex should have ever had the rights to be a front page poster. He has many times promised that if the VP was either Romney or Huckabee he would not support the ticket. Romney was a three legged stool conservative, and for him to not support a Reagan type conservative if put on the ticket with McCain told me then that he was not a Republican. His reasons for not wanting Huckabee was a little more understandable, but to not support McCain with him on the ticket seemed to me that should have disallowed him from being a front page poster. He would have been fine as a commenter, but as a front pager, I didn’t like him being allowed with those attitudes of non support.
September 6th, 2008 at 7:53 am
73. Amen.
September 6th, 2008 at 8:07 am
Be very careful, Kavon. ReRead Fahrenheit 451. Many of the arguments you made about Alex were made by Joseph Goebbels , before and after Kristallnicht. It is a slippery slope when you start banning books and writers and thoughts and ideas. I have disagreed with you and many others , including Alex, over the last several months, but I would never have remotely considered ” Banning” him because he disagreed with you or me or anyone. Many posters will consistently disagree with you on this site and you can work your way through them, down to a small knot of sympathizers wherein you will never hear a ” discouraging word.” If you sincerely believe this a concept that is not alien to American ideals, I am truly sorry for you. In truth, it will be counterproductive to your own November objectives. To be successful, to win, you must listen to all the input you can get, not just that selective advice that supports your presumed personal enlightenment.
September 6th, 2008 at 8:25 am
#75 - It is not necessarily even about disagreeing as much is at is about insubordination. If your boss at work tells you not to use the company car for your personal camping trip and you come back after vacation and let him know that you got in an accident with the company car, what do you think will happen?
Anyway, your reference to Fahrenheit 451 is completely misplaced. Kavon is not the government, and controlling the message put out on a website that has a specific mission is not anywhere near the same. This blog is and has always been a place for Republicans of all stripes to come together and discuss and promote Republicans, with the ultimate goal being the election of a GOP ticket to the White House. It is a private entity and comparisons to a publicly funded or government-run entity are misplaced at best.
September 6th, 2008 at 8:30 am
I normally agree with craig almost 100%, but in this case, I think I side with Braden as far as the extreme case of insubordiation by Alex. Kavon gave him every chance to back off, and it really had gotten to the point that he was actually helping Obama. The constructive things you point out craig, or for that matter Big S can be constructive, and enlightening, and truly are things that we have to keep in mind to avoid defeat. but Alex was wayyyyy out of bounds.
September 6th, 2008 at 9:27 am
I cannot say I’ll mill Alex since I have been completely ignoring most of his posts for months now.
I think Alex just has a problem with social conservatives in general. I’ve had many many discussions with him on this site defending principles of social conservatism against this surprisingly heavy-handed criticism. How a person who truly believes such things can abide a center right Republican party is beyond me. I knew quickly that Romney’s faith and social conservatism are Alex’s real problems with him and all social conservatives such as Huckabee & FDT.
What probably set Alex off (and I’m guessing here since I’ve been ignoring his posts) is the eventual understanding that Sarah Palin is a strong pro-life traditional family social conservative. Just the sort of person Alex cannot stand.
We need unity now as a party and we can’t abide someone who will work against us. Everyone here who knows me understands I am probably biggest Rombot around, however I am very pleased with Sarah Palin. I like Sarah Palin better than McCain and I also admire McCain more for choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate. I am disappointed that Romney did not get the nod, but I’m more than willing to support McCain with Palin on the ticket.
September 6th, 2008 at 9:52 am
#75 - Isn’t hurling accusations of Nazism something we’ve pilloried the looney left for doing?
Anyway, you’re clearly not taking into account Alex’s behind-the-scenes conduct; this wasn’t simply about his disagreeing, but royally screwing over someone who had been inordinately generous to him. Conduct was his pre-eminent problem.
September 6th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Kavon, thanks for the explanation. You provided Alex a great opportunity and he punted. Best of luck to Alex. When you’re young and passionately involved with politics it is so easy to lose grounding.
September 6th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Thank you, Kavon, for your explanation. You didn’t need to give one, it’s your site and you can do what you want, but I appreciate it. As someone who only started visiting this site a day or two before the Palin announcement, I was really not sure what I’d gotten into! I’m happy to see that the level of combativeness I witnessed last week is not normal.
As to the whole “free speech” thing. That only applies to government control of speech, not private control. Your rights end where my nose begins, remember?
September 6th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
I would like to apologize for my earlier posting on your post announcing Alex’s dismissal from the front page. I should have listened to both sides of the story before reaching a conclusion.
September 6th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Hey Guys,
I am not defending Alex. I understand what this site is all about and so did he. What I am concerned about is an uncomfortable precedent that is established that, nuance by nuance, can creep toward control of thoughts and ideas. The point is not comparable to ” the company car.” Of course, there are rules. As an ex Senior Vice president in several Fortune 100 and 500 companies, I wrote many of these rules. But ideas and comments, my friends, …that is uncomfortable for me. This is kind of a small club here. It is not the front page of the NYT or the Atlanta Journal. If we had a strategy meeting, which we have every day on this site, on how to get McCain elected, you would SURELY want all the Alex’s of the world to voice their opinions, positive and negative. Such a meeting would be worthless if the rules ahead of the meeting said ” No contrary opinions will be tolerated.” If he was then to advertise his comments to the world on the front page of a major magazine, over the headline of Race42008, THEN you have a legitimate issue.
September 7th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Thanks Kavon, I have tremendous respect for you and your site. This whole situation with Alex reminds me of a passage from Les Miserables talking about Marius:
I was once an rash ideologue too in my day, but my work now is the work with humanity and out of that work I am most sypathetic to the Republican methods. It is there where my loyalties lie, and I salute you Kavon for keeping this site as a loyal refuge and meetingplace for developing a strong and right Republican party.
September 7th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Kavon, I’m sorry to hear Alex was so rude and immature as to make himself an unwelcome guest. We readers don’t need to “kick him while he is down”, though. ‘Nuff said.
I echo the request of someone above who wanted to hear “the good experiences of the last week.”