# A thought for Excalibre **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 15, 2006, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782 "2006-06-15T06:17:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782/41 "2006-06-15T15:44:15Z")
[QUOTE=Wesley Clark] Excalibre is a woman. And Excalibre is an insulting, disagreeable person, yeah. I have noticed this and been on the recieving end of it several times. She is a stereotypical bully in that regards though, constantly trying to get under people’s skin and cause them problems to cope with her own problems. I’ve mostly ignored her posts for the last year due to this. But that is part of the internet, and sadly I’ve done the same thing to people on other boards (harassed them to cover for my own problems). A message board of thousands of people is going to attract some troubled people to it. I really can’t be mad at her though. At the risk of sounding Dr. Philish, I am pretty sure she is deeply traumatized somehow. Happy, well adjusted people dont look for excuses to insult people on the internet. [/QUOTE] Oh shut the fuck up, you fake schizophrenic. I like **Excalibre** a lot, he’s one of my favorite posters. Witty, smart, knows a lot about language. And considering that **roger thornhill** was just suspended for, um, being a jerk, isn’t it possible Exy’s complaint is valid? Some of RT’s posts really give me the creeps, in addition to sometimes being jerkish. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782/42 "2006-06-15T15:47:01Z")
[QUOTE=dnooman] Who doesn’t know the meaning of that tired phrase? [/QUOTE] Omarosa? **Wesley** , **Excalibre** is a _man_, baby. ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782/43 "2006-06-15T16:14:13Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Omarosa? [/QUOTE] Christ, do you even [read the threads you post to](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7489814&postcount=27)? ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782/44 "2006-06-15T16:19:58Z")
[QUOTE=Starving Artist] In my own humble opinion, **Excalibre’s** vaunted but nonetheless genuine intelligence pales next to that of the esteemed **mr. thornhill** , and **Excalibre** knows it. [/QUOTE] While I recognize that this is an attempt to insult me, it’s, frankly, so profoundly false that I wonder how you could imagine it might even hurt me. **roger** and I have tangled a whole lot of times since he came to the boards; I was one of the posters who spent large amounts of time and long threads trying to explain the basics of evolution (those threads are under his original username, **bodswood** ); while he seemed receptive to at least learning about the scientific perspective on the matter - a perspective that he doesn’t agree with, for religious reasons - he seemed to have a very great degree of difficulty internalizing even the very basics, and attempted to challenge the rest of us with questions that were ill-formed and demonstrated nothing but his own ignorance in the area. Since that time, we’ve interacted a lot of times, most recently when I participated in **roger** ’s thread on the [United Negro College Fund](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=372787). Frankly, while **roger** may more intelligent than me, I haven’t particularly seen evidence that this is the case, and my experience with him has furthermore been that he is woefully undereducated, at least out of his specific area of expertise. I didn’t mind **roger** , though. He certainly _is_ quite intelligent; he’s furthermore generally interesting to talk with, and in general I have enjoyed battles of wits with him. Up until that thread on the United Negro College Fund - in that instance, **roger** showed what I would hope is an uncharacteristic refusal to acknowledge the truth, in the form of a wealth of citations provided by a number of users much smarter and much more familiar with the area than I am. It’s something that, I suspect, permantently altered my prior positive regard for **roger**. Nevertheless, I was quite surprised by his absolutely bizarre behavior towards me in the thread **dnooman** cites - in which he attempted to argue with **dnooman** that I must be bisexual, and then snuck in a snippy little insult after a moderator told him to stop. Arguing over another person’s sexual orientation is odd enough, especially when that person makes no secret of it. But mostly it surprised me because I had been under the assumption that **roger** and I were fairly simpatico. Sure, he occasionally comes across as a patronizing prick, but since I know I get that way sometimes (generally, however, I try to limit it to circumstances in which I understand the subject of the discussion, a habit **roger** might consider emulating), I would be a hypocrite not to forgive him for it. His behavior in that thread, then, was doubly incomprehensible from my perspective - not only is the idea of arguing against my own statements regarding my sexuality simply bizarre, but his snide attempts to insult me seemed rather out of character. So, no, **dnooman** , I wasn’t feigning surprise at all. I was generally curious. After having realized the similarity in his insistence that my sexual orientation is not what I claim and his seeming intransigence in the United Negro College Fund thread, I’m wondering if this change in behavior reflects some sort of disturbance in his thought processes that arose recently. I simply can’t think of another explanation for his behavior in those cases, and I’m no longer concerned about his insults. And I hope, should my suspicions be correct, that he has access to good medical care. Be well, **roger**. You will be in my thoughts. > [@FinnAgain](#): > > Not that I harbor a grudge, exactly, but one example still sticks in my mind after quite some time. Not that you harbor a grudge, exactly, but you remember the _exact_ circumstances in which I wronged you and you’re going to share them with the class, eh? For you, **FinnAgain** , I don’t have the same fond regard as I do for **roger** ; I can only note that I don’t particularly fear the opinion of someone like you. Your irrational meltdowns have become almost legendary; I don’t fault you for wanting to take the opportunity to pile on someone else in order to raise your social standing, but at the same time I don’t particularly care about the opinion of one such as you. > [@Starving Artist](#): > > I can also say from experience that trying to bury the hatchet with Excalibre is quite the exercise in futility. In my case he imagined my attempts to make peace to be sucking up and trying to curry favor with him. > > I suppose it never occurred to him that I would have absolutely no reason on earth to try to curry favor with him in the first place, but that’s apparently the way the self-perceived superior mind works. I can only base my conclusions on what I see; in you, I have seen a pattern, over and over again, of attempts to curry favor with people you recognize as your intellectual superiors. The emptiness of the compliments you offered up my way is evidenced by the absolute suddenness of your change in attitude when I rebuffed you. You will find that I’m not much like **Liberal** , and I have very little desire to have a troop of people following me around fawning over me. I suspect that is the source of the difficulties between us, **Starving Artist**. I sincerely hope, though, that one day you will feel enough confidence in yourself that you won’t want to kiss up to other people the way you do. > [@tdn](#): > > Excalibre, you are in general a wise and thoughful poster. But a bit of advice: Next time you feel like flaming someone, do us all a favor. Step away from the keyboard, count to ten, and thrust a knitting needle into your eye. You in particular I owe an apology to. And I’m not sure if I ever gave it, so I will again. I apologize to you. I don’t remember the exact thread in which we argued, but I do remember that I was very insulting to you because of behavior in a previous thread - behavior that, as it turns out, wasn’t even yours. I had confused you with someone else, and lambasted you because of it. :smack: It was an incredibly stupid thing to do, and a real dick move besides, especially when I can’t think of any circumstance at all in which I’ve had any problem with you. > [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > not inclined to suffer those he regards as fools gladly That is probably the core of the issue; what I love about the SDMB is that here, I can find extremely intelligent people who know far more than I do about any subject I can imagine; this place has endless opportunities for interesting conversation, and in particular I’ve found a lot of posters I disagree with on virtually everything but still can talk with and learn interesting things from. That said, there’s other people here too. And though I honestly try to be patient, patience is far from one of my virtues, and I tend not to react very well or very kindly when I’m having an interesting conversation and it’s interrupted by one of those fools. Many people are here for honest debate and their own intellectual growth, but some people here are not, and it’s extremely frustrating to me to see an interesting conversation sidetracked by a boring nitpick, or a pissy little argument about something not relevant to the discussion at hand. It’s something I should try to improve. But, in all honesty, if my flaw is not suffering fools gladly, then there’s a lot of people with worse. And on preview, I see that **roger** has been suspended. Like I said, I’ve noticed a sudden, substantial change in his behavior lately, and I have to wonder if there’s something far more serious than a message board underneath all that. I do hope he comes back; I’ll miss him in his absence. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782/45 "2006-06-15T16:23:12Z")
Oh, and **Anaamika** , since I see you here and your email address is private: you and I have argued - specifically, you said something that I took offense to during the whole kerfluffle regarding **Evil Captor**. And you apologized for it later, and I didn’t accept your apology. Well, I accept your apology - and I’d like to offer an apology to you for being an asshole to you when you did apologize. That was completely unreasonable of me, and I’ve noticed several times recently how much I’ve enjoyed having you around. I was a jerk. I regret that now. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782/46 "2006-06-15T16:28:38Z")
[QUOTE=Excalibre] (those threads are under his original username, **bodswood** ); [/QUOTE] **roger thornhill** is **bodswood**?! Oh my God. Well, that explains that. I remember **bodswood** well, Og help us. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782/47 "2006-06-15T16:32:07Z")
[QUOTE=Excalibre] You in particular I owe an apology to. And I’m not sure if I ever gave it, so I will again. I apologize to you. [/QUOTE] You did apologize, but then you went on the attack again. It got pretty ugly. I have since vowed not to get into arguments with you, as it’s just not worth it. I will, however, participate in threads where we either agree or just ignore each other, as I do find value in your posts. And thanks for the second apology. You’ve got class oozing out of both tits. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782/48 "2006-06-15T16:33:37Z")
[QUOTE=Excalibre] Oh, and **Anaamika** , since I see you here and your email address is private: you and I have argued - specifically, you said something that I took offense to during the whole kerfluffle regarding **Evil Captor**. And you apologized for it later, and I didn’t accept your apology. Well, I accept your apology - and I’d like to offer an apology to you for being an asshole to you when you did apologize. That was completely unreasonable of me, and I’ve noticed several times recently how much I’ve enjoyed having you around. I was a jerk. I regret that now. [/QUOTE] Why, I don’t even know what to say. Thank you! Um…I _was_ a jerk and you had every right to take offense. For a long time I tried to stay out of your way, once tempers had cooled a little I thought maybe I’d try to change your opinion of me. First impressions are lasting but they don’t have to be permanent. I’ve changed my impression of you, too. While I’d be afraid to get into another fighting match with you - your way with words I can’t hope to match, and I mean that as a compliment - I’ll agree with **EddyTeddyFreddy** when she describes you as: > [@](#): > > also acerbic, intelligent, a skillful and graceful writer, not inclined to suffer those he regards as fools gladly, sometimes over the top, with a gift for the bon mot and the extended exegesis alike, a snarky side, and a distinctive, at times abrasive persona. I’m glad our little shitstorm has blown over. Especially since you’ve been a laugh-a-minute these past few days with some one-liners to die for. I’m still chuckling over the carbonic acid one. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782/49 "2006-06-15T16:33:52Z")
[QUOTE=Hamadryad] Christ, do you even [read the threads you post to](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7489814&postcount=27)? [/QUOTE] Yes. I know it was said, but I made a joke anyways. Calm the fuck down already. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782/50 "2006-06-15T16:42:28Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] You did apologize, but then you went on the attack again. It got pretty ugly. I have since vowed not to get into arguments with you, as it’s just not worth it. I will, however, participate in threads where we either agree or just ignore each other, as I do find value in your posts. [/quote] Then I apologize for that. Christ, that was stupid on my part. > [@](#): > > And thanks for the second apology. You’ve got class oozing out of both tits. Um, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782/51 "2006-06-15T16:42:48Z")
You know what might help you, **Excalibre** , not seem so condescending? Stop using the words ‘ignorant’ and ‘ignorance’ to describe those with whom you’re engaged in conversation. [52 posts with ‘ignorant.’](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=1715977) [81 of ‘ignorance.’ (one in this thread!)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=1715986) Many in the pit, sure, but also sprinkled through GQ, GD, Cafe Society, and IMHO. Think you’re going to really connect with people, or just come across as condescending? ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782/52 "2006-06-15T16:43:31Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Yes. I know it was said, but I made a joke anyways. Calm the fuck down already. [/QUOTE] Hey, I’m not tense; If all you want to post are things already said, go ahead and look like an idiot. \ **Excalibre** sometimes rubs me the wrong way, but the amount of vitriol people hurl at him baffles me. I have to say it’s entertaining when people imply that he is jealous of another poster’s intelligence…but ithat poster is very rarely the person SAYING it. I guess it must be assumed that those folks are openly admitting **Excalibre’s** superiority to THEM. And that, friends, is hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782/53 "2006-06-15T16:48:29Z")
[QUOTE=bup] You know what might help you, **Excalibre** , not seem so condescending? Stop using the words ‘ignorant’ and ‘ignorance’ to describe those with whom you’re engaged in conversation. [52 posts with ‘ignorant.’](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=1715977) [81 of ‘ignorance.’ (one in this thread!)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=1715986) Many in the pit, sure, but also sprinkled through GQ, GD, Cafe Society, and IMHO. Think you’re going to really connect with people, or just come across as condescending? [/QUOTE] Oh, dear. My humblest apologies, **bup**. Indeed, the Harry Potter series is, inarguably, the greatest piece of literature of the modern era. :dubious: Seriously, dude, remember when I said that I don’t really view “not suffering fools” as all that bad a flaw? You’re reminding me exactly why it’s not such a bad thing. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782/54 "2006-06-15T16:51:15Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] And thanks for the second apology. You’ve got class oozing out of both tits. [/QUOTE] …EW. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782/55 "2006-06-15T16:51:34Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > You will find that I’m not much like Liberal, and I have very little desire to have a troop of people following me around fawning over me. I suspect that is the source of the difficulties between us, Starving Artist. I sincerely hope, though, that one day you will feel enough confidence in yourself that you won’t want to kiss up to other people the way you do. Does that mean all these Excalibre fan club pins I made are going to go to waste? The newsletter, the website that details which threads you’re in at any given time so that fawning can commence? All that work for nothing? ::sniffle:: 😉 I really just jumped into say that I find Excalibre to be an intelligent and insightful poster who I generally enjoy reading and often agree with. I also find that sometimes he’s an ass. But then, aren’t we all sometimes? ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782/56 "2006-06-15T16:51:37Z")
Gee, roger thornhill and Finn don’t like Excalibre? If I didn’t already think he was a fine and useful poster, I’d be totally convinced of it now. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782/57 "2006-06-15T16:53:06Z")
Wait, wait, hold the phone… …dnooman had a _thought?!_ ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782/58 "2006-06-15T16:58:39Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] Wait, wait, hold the phone… …dnooman had a _thought?!_ [/QUOTE] He has enough of them that sometimes he [gets into drunken arguments with himself.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=374791) I’m just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782/59 "2006-06-15T17:00:29Z")
[QUOTE=Excalibre] I can only base my conclusions on what I see; in you, I have seen a pattern, over and over again, of attempts to curry favor with people you recognize as your intellectual superiors. The emptiness of the compliments you offered up my way is evidenced by the absolute suddenness of your change in attitude when I rebuffed you. You will find that I’m not much like **Liberal** , and I have very little desire to have a troop of people following me around fawning over me. I suspect that is the source of the difficulties between us, **Starving Artist**. I sincerely hope, though, that one day you will feel enough confidence in yourself that you won’t want to kiss up to other people the way you do. [/QUOTE] Thank you for your kind wishes for my future confidence, but if I made a habit of attempting to curry favor with everyone I consider my intellectual superior, I’d have little time for anything else. Sheesh…I entered one thread – and one thread only – in which I vigorously defended **Liberal** , and to you I make a habit of sucking up to people I regard as my intellectual superior. (Cite, btw, for this supposed habitual sucking up to those I perceive as my intellectual superior.) To me, this type of view on your part only serves to further illustrate your self-perceived superiority and emotionally needy drive to prove it, and the fact that you base most of your interactions on this board from those POV. (One tends to see in others reflections of themselves, you know.) As for the sudden change of attitude upon my rebuffment ( 😛 ), I’m certainly not going to react positively to character asassination in response to my (admittedly self-perceived) gracious attempt to make peace with you. My compliments at the time were genuine; my response to your churlishness was as well. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2006, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782/60 "2006-06-15T17:15:42Z")
[QUOTE=Excalibre] Seriously, dude, remember when I said that I don’t really view “not suffering fools” as all that bad a flaw? [/QUOTE] I agree. There are quite a few fools whom one shouldn’t suffer gladly. Especially around here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thought-for-excalibre/360782.md?page=4)