# lekatt is leaving **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 23, 2004, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816 "2004-06-23T16:30:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816/41 "2004-06-23T22:28:49Z")
Was it something I said? ---
**Author:** ![SnakeSpirit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snakespirit/32/7271_2.png) [@SnakeSpirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakeSpirit)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816/42 "2004-06-23T22:30:51Z")
**lekatt** had as much right to be here as any one of us as long as he followed the rules. If you didn’t like it you were free to take your sig elsewhere, or be an asshole and harass him, or politely point out the flaws in his arguments, or realize you weren’t getting anywhere and ignore him. In any case, what is said and done by we other posters about **lekatt** reflects more on the person saying/doing it than it does on **lekatt**. So you didn’t like him; you disagreed with him; you found him annoying. Whoop-te-doo. Pardon me if I wait till Cecil dies and passes on the mantle to you before I give your opinions any more credibility than anyone else’s here (including mine). Oh? _MY_ opinion about **lekatt**? Well he stayed here as long as he wanted and he left when he wanted to – how can I fault that? S¬ …V ---
**Author:** ![SnakeSpirit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snakespirit/32/7271_2.png) [@SnakeSpirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakeSpirit)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816/43 "2004-06-23T22:41:10Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > Kind of. **SimonX** can probably give you the full story, but basically the records of the USS Willette, which **lekatt** claims to have served aboard, doesn’t mention his name, Leroy Kattein. They do mention a Kenneth Kattein, who was on board the Willette for two weeks during a different time period than when **lekatt** claimed to be there. Guess you guys aren’t veterans… Those of us who have searched military records looking for things we know to be true can tell you that lack of a military record (or even the existance of a military record) alone is no substantiation of any position. Military records, particularly combat records, are often so screwed up as to be unrecognizable. This is not saying what he claims is true, just that you can’t trust the records of any military unit or ship. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816/44 "2004-06-23T22:46:23Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > I’ll just say, ignorance will be easier to fight when it quits posting here. Bye, **Lekatt**! I disagree; it’s useful to have someone bring up and defend these opinions in order to demonstrate why they are invalid. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816/45 "2004-06-24T01:02:10Z")
> [@Snakespirit](#): > > Guess you guys aren’t veterans… > > Those of us who have searched military records looking for things we know to be true can tell you that lack of a military record (or even the existance of a military record) alone is no substantiation of any position. Military records, particularly combat records, are often so screwed up as to be unrecognizable. > > This is not saying what he claims is true, just that you can’t trust the records of any military unit or ship. In addition are the technical inaccuracies in the story re the radar and the chain of command that were pointed out by a squid. **[As a former Navy OS- I quickly found about 6 wrong things with that post.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3482740&highlight=lekatt#post3482740)** He will be missed. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816/46 "2004-06-24T01:32:38Z")
These are some suggestions for **Leroy**. If you have said some harsh things to someone in a post and then added and _I forgive you,_ why not take out the harsh things before hitting _Submit Reply_? Learn the difference in proof and evidence. Do a little reading about critical thinking skills. In my own personal opinion, you are excited and passionate about all of the right things. The scientific method is not an enemy of the truth. Neither are spiritual experiences. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816/47 "2004-06-24T01:51:37Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > In my own personal opinion, you are excited and passionate about all of the right things. The scientific method is not an enemy of the truth. Neither are spiritual experiences. He does have an amazing amount of energy and devotion to his cause. I find that admirable. The subject matter that he pursues _is_ very interesting stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816/48 "2004-06-24T02:04:26Z")
> [@Snakespirit](#): > > **lekatt** had as much right to be here as any one of us as long as he followed the rules. If you didn’t like it you were free to take your sig elsewhere, or be an asshole and harass him, or politely point out the flaws in his arguments, or realize you weren’t getting anywhere and ignore him. In any case, what is said and done by we other posters about **lekatt** reflects more on the person saying/doing it than it does on **lekatt**. > > So you didn’t like him; you disagreed with him; you found him annoying. Whoop-te-doo. Pardon me if I wait till Cecil dies and passes on the mantle to you before I give your opinions any more credibility than anyone else’s here (including mine). > > Oh? _MY_ opinion about **lekatt**? Well he stayed here as long as he wanted and he left when he wanted to – how can I fault that? You know, I disagree. I don’t mind the presence of people with unusual beliefs. In fact, that on its own is a very positive thing in my book. And I might not blink at the persistence of his claims, and the rather odd logic he uses to back them up, if he would stay in his own threads. Or at least avoid _monopolizing_ other threads. In fact, I thought of him as a harmless kook up until now. Sorta like a streetcorner preacher - he said crazy, incoherent things sometimes, but that’s his right. But frankly, the recent evolution thread in GD made me absolutely livid. He took over the thread, said nothing substantial, and basically made any discussion that didn’t directly relate to him impossible - for several pages of the thread, at that. People indulged Lekatt (unfortunately) because the tenor of the discussion until that point had been calm enough that they were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and his own prolificacy basically stopped the debate that had been occuring in its tracks. That would be as though the streetcorner preacher in my analogy decided to enter a café, sit at a table with several people who were having a conversation, and start shouting his usual ravings, making their conversation impossible. And, frankly, Lekatt’s done this more than once. It’s crossing the line into jerk territory in my book; he has the right to be here but not to try to control everyone’s discussion. I mean, he seems sincere enough that I almost feel for him, but the rest of us, collectively, have the right to debates that don’t revolve around Lekatt. (Oh, and he was tossing around rather nasty insults to scientists and everyone who believes in the idea of science - followed, of course, by his smarmy sign-off. What a fucking loser.) ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816/49 "2004-06-24T02:20:50Z")
> [@5que](#): > > > [@lieu](#): > > > > Woohoo, I’m Masturbating Like A Motherfuck! > > Thanks. Now I have to clean chicken salad outta my keyboard… Here, let me help you with that. Hey … wait a minute … _That’s not chicken salad!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816/50 "2004-06-24T03:05:44Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Woohoo, I’m Masturbating Like A Motherfuck! But lieu, you’re always Masturbating Like A Motherfuck! ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816/51 "2004-06-24T04:18:29Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > A couple days ago I was watching **Penn & Teller’s** _Bullshit!_ episode about Near Death Experiences. It gave me severe flashbacks about the original **Lekatt** great debate train wreck thread. I don’t wanna wade through that shit-filled diaper again, but didn’t **Lekatt** make the similar promises of leaving this board in that thread a couple times over? (Or, am I thinking of a thread in a former life?). No, he’s said he’s leaving many times. He always comes back. His statement that he is leaving carries as much factual weight as anything else he’s said. > [@Hey you!](#): > > And I have to say, for some reason I cannot articulate, that > > “Love” > > sig was uncalcuably annoying. I’ll articulate for you. It was (is, will be) annoying because Leroy is and was intellectually dishonest, a liar, and a hypocrite who treats other people as fools, in polite language while mouthing the word “love”. Read the great train wreck GD thread in which I was a significant participant, referred to by stpauler above. Lekatt says things and then denies he’s said them, doesn’t answer difficult questions you raise and then (a few pages later) barefacedly says he has, lies about what is in cites etc etc. Not just once or twice, but over and over. He’s a killer who smiles politely as he stabs you then acts hurt when you accuse him of violence. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816/52 "2004-06-24T04:33:16Z")
I hate the “Going out in the garden to eat worms” posts. OK, you were fucking Clarence Darrow, and Socrates all rolled into one. OK, we all had to wipe drool from our chins before typing our lame responses to your brilliance. Cool, you are the cat’s ass, we suck. Now get the fuck out the door, Your Supremacy. I will automatically forget your name in five minutes, even if I did like your posts. Tris ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816/53 "2004-06-24T04:33:51Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Lekatt says things and then denies he’s said them, doesn’t answer difficult questions you raise and then (a few pages later) barefacedly says he has, lies about what is in cites etc etc. Not just once or twice, but over and over. And then there’s that, too. ---
**Author:** ![Denis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5e9695/32.png) [@Denis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Denis)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816/54 "2004-06-24T04:41:04Z")
Good riddance to bad rubbish. ---
**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 24, 2004, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816/55 "2004-06-24T05:07:53Z")
I do remember that he used to annoy **His4ever**. That’s ONE good point in his favor. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816/56 "2004-06-24T05:35:56Z")
**Excalibre** , I haven’t read those threads. Were his posts off topic or were they related enough to the subject at hand that he was able to repeatedly hijack the topic? Or was it something else that wouldn’t quite fit into the category of jerkish behavior? ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816/57 "2004-06-24T06:52:18Z")
> [@Snakespirit](#): > > Those of us who have searched military records looking for things we know to be true can tell you that lack of a military record (or even the existance of a military record) alone is no substantiation of any position. Military records, particularly combat records, are often so screwed up as to be unrecognizable. They weren’t combat records, for what it’s worth. Anyhow, can you back this assertion up with anything? Why are military records more screwed up than any others? And why did you snip out the rest of my post? What about the technical inconsistencies and the inconsistencies with observed reality? I take it you still haven’t read any of **lekatt** ’s past misdeeds. If you knew him as well as we do, you wouldn’t be hanging around here, defending the lunatic. ---
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816/58 "2004-06-24T06:59:28Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > I take it you still haven’t read any of **lekatt** ’s past misdeeds. If you knew him as well as we do, you wouldn’t be hanging around here, defending the lunatic. No, **Snakespirit** was actually heavily involved with the Astral Projection trainwreck in GD a month or so back. IIRC, he was the OP. He was arguing on the same side as **lekatt** , insofar as that is possible. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816/59 "2004-06-24T07:08:16Z")
> [@lambchops](#): > > No, **Snakespirit** was actually heavily involved with the Astral Projection trainwreck in GD a month or so back. IIRC, he was the OP. He was arguing on the same side as **lekatt** , insofar as that is possible. Ah. Well, that explains a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816/60 "2004-06-24T15:08:40Z")
**lekatt** was one of those rarest of individuals. A true gnostic. He came by his unusual knowledge through first-hand experience. I don’t believe his interpretation of his experience as relating to larger truths. But he has done what I have sought to do, to find evidence, through first-hand experience, of something. I’m agnostic. All my life I’ve said I’d believe if I had any first-hand experience of anything requiring belief. I never have. **lekatt** has. I don’t begrudge him that which I have myself sought. I don’t believe his experience has any ramifications for me, however. The way he harps on about having discovered capital-T “Truth” with the fervor of a street-corner preacher makes him a kook. The way he refuses to examine his own experience for possible natural causes is foolish, but he’s still got something most of us will never have. He’s got what he believes to be direct experience with a spirit realm. Enjoy, Steven [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lekatt-is-leaving/251816.md?page=4)