Sumo Merriment

Dear Sumo, I must have been the one with the harshest words which were really not meant the way they were precieved by you. Right at this moment, I feel so bad to have been part of making you feel the way you do. For that I apologize!

However, you took this slight disagreement as the bugle call for a battle. You are a sensitive and caring person and this preception is not likely to change with any of us just because of your (understandable) frustration over the incident like that horrible stabbing. It is so shocking and naturally one can't feel anything but disgust about the behaviour of these people. Yes, those sloppy "parents" need to be held responsible but no amount of punishment is ever going to change anything. Believe me, I share your revlusion but after I calm down I start looking the real reasons that incubate this sort of brutality. It touches us all and we have the tools to fight it if we so desire. I am 100% sure that you will be on the right side this issue if called upon.

Plese, please, stop feeling sad for nobody is judging you the way you think! Even in better places, occasional family arguments occure to clear the air.

Please guys understand this...I'm certainly not offended...I know your words were well intentioned and rightly so. The hardest hit I got was from Mr. Sumo about thinking like a Republican. There's no battle here for me...I clearly needed to say I was wrong on many levels. You guys didn't make me feel bad really...I just realized I hadn't looked at this thing from both sides...and I pride myself on trying to do that most of the time I hope. Discourse of any kind is a good thing...well...except if a neo-con came here and acted the fool...I wouldn't care for that. But I don't feel anyone was harsh in their words...and it is a good thing to be checked now and again...a good humbling doesn't hurt once in a while. This is a drop in the bucket of life compared to some things I had to apologize for believe me. If a person won't apologize when they've made a mistake...they aren't worth very much to me...and I certainly didn't want any of you to feel that way about me. Thank you pekka just the same...but don't be sorry for doing the right thing.

It's not wrong to point out wrong. Like Pekka says, you'd be on "the right side of this issue" when it came down to it. The blogosphere is the ultimate extension of the Socratic Method. We are all just sorting things out.

"Insight is gained only when in all phases of a Socratic Dialogue the link between any statement made and personal experience is explicit. This means that a Socratic Dialogue is a process which concerns the whole person."

Please don't beat yourself up about this. Your post yesterday was your gut reaction to the situation. I understood and had similar thoughts. With anything horrible we all react first and then when we have time to delve into it, other thoughts occur.

When you hear of an innocent child being murdered, the first reaction is, why didn't someone protect that child? Later when they details are placed before us, we realize there are other questions to be answered.

I don't think your thoughts cast you into a political party. I think your thoughts cast you as a protective person who feels for those who cannot protect themselves. Someone who feels pain and anger at the injustices in our world. That's not political, that's a gentle feeling human being. :)

Oops, I was so deeply thinking about my words that I forgot to edit. The sentence in the second paragraph should have read...

Later when the details are placed before us, we realize there are other questions to be answered.

Hey sumo...I read your post yesterday (& didn't comment because of my conflicted feelings)...but I don't see that you need to apologize for your gut-level response to the story. As several other readers pointed out, this story is so complex...layer upon layer of problems. How do we begin to get at the root of the problem? Everybody has a stake in the problem as well as the solution.

What I find so tragic in stories like this is that it is always the children who pay the highest price for parental and societal neglect and irresponsibility.

by the way, very sorry to hear about the loss of your friend's daughter on christmas day!

Hey Sumo. Your reaction to the tragedy was normal and completely OK. I am sure that if you had lingered awhile before you hit the send button your thoughts would have congealed around the larger tragedy the story represented. Part of what we do here is coach each other along the sometimes complicated path to sorting out the screwy stuff that is happening in our world. Sometimes the hardest part of all this is looking into the mirror but look you did and saw the bigger picture. If you were really a Rethuglican you wouldn't have seen yourself in the mirror.

I can understand your viewpoint on the previous post, this is something I see quite frequently and wish I were brave enough to post about. There are so many factors involved where just about everybody was wrong, and no one was right that it's hard to point the finger at one person.
As for your friend who lost her child to a quad runner accident, this is about the third or fourth case I have heard about this year where this has happened, yet, where is the media on this? They are so quick to hit us with fear, why haven't they done it with quad runners? In every instance I have heard the same thing; young operator, sharp turn, overturned quad, death, yet no coverage in the media.

This is a great example of a liberal community - people discussing and issue and not shutting down when things don't go their way. Wouldn't it be grand if our leaders worked this way? See, Sumo, you set a mature example.

Thanks guys...you're very kind and diplomatic...I feel less like a jackass now that I spoke more about it.

ok, I'm a bit late & everything that needs to be said has been said. I believe compassion shows in all you do, not necessarily in every little thing you say. That was truly tragic news about the loss of your friend's daughter.

but, I did learn one new thing. If I ever want to verbally cut down a family member, I think "why how Republican of you" will be my final stab. ~~ D.K.

Not really the right place for it but I hope you had a good Christmas.

sumo, the best bloggers admit their errors on the blog, then move on. That's exactly what you're doing. If I had a dollar for every time I've been wrong on my blog, I could retire from work and just blog for a living. As long as we try to make things right, I believe we will be forgiven our errors by people of good will. There's a quote from JFK posted recently on ellroon's site: "An error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it."

The fact that you faced up to your mistake... an understandable one, about a very emotionally charged case... makes me far more inclined to come back to your blog again and again, knowing I will find you posting the truth as best you know it, and corrections when either the facts are better known or you have a more considered opinion.

I think what you did took guts, Sumo. First, by doing a post on a very sensitive subject, and then by writing this post correcting yourself. I don't know if I could've pulled the whole thing off with such class. You have a good soul, sister.

Don't feel bad, the right doesn't have a monopoly on personal responsibility. What that girl (mother) did was wrong regardless of her situation. She isn't only to blame (like Lew said earlier, where's the FATHER!) but she still holds some of the blame.

Thanks guys for your support.

Sumo, I had to stop by and thank you for dropping by my wife Sheri's blog and giving her some great advice. Thanks again!

Dear Sumo, I am going to say this again..the important thing is that we all keep Sharing...always..remember the Repugs want us SILENT...NOT THINKING..NOT TALKING....You are an amazing part of Blogland...You give Humor ( always when we need it most) and yeah, you give us Snark ( need that too ) and You give us Insight ( godforbid What Bush hates Most Women that Think...)

I would come here for some good snark and some good discussion ANY day of the week, I don't even comment here all the time- cause there are times I feel like just eavesdropping and listening to others and at the end of it, I just don't feel smart enough...
but I do feel enriched that I come here...

Now I have to say when I have been having trouble accessing certain blogs- You, Dusty, and Diva- I was crushed- so much so that I have gone to the Apple store three times trying to get Whatever is blocking certain popups and Blogs and get it fixed....You are a VOICE....and that matters...we love you...
and we need Your Voice...always..

okay...I will step down off my Soapbox before I fall...

Really...you give me too much credit...thank you just the same. I usually enjoy what I do...and except for the neo-cons...I'd just die if I offended someone.