# Metacom, you're an idiot. Plain and simple. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 17, 2006, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337 "2006-01-17T07:22:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337/101 "2006-01-18T15:12:43Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Would people be calling this kid “contemptible” if he’d just hanged himself in his closet? No; that would simply be a tragic situation. As others have pointed out, what makes him contemptible is that he insisted on dragging other people into his little psychodrama. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337/102 "2006-01-18T15:26:17Z")
Meanwhile, [new information has come out](http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/seminole/orl-kidshot1806jan18,0,6090534.story?coll=orl-home-headlines) demonstrating that the officers confronting the kid had no way to know that the father was claiming the gun was a fake, well, not unless they were psychic, since the father didn’t offer that information until after Penley had been shot. Also that the kid knew what he was doing: > [@](#): > > Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger also disclosed that, three years ago, Chris wrote an essay for class saying that pointing a gun at a cop would get a person shot, even if he did not pull the trigger. > > “If you ponte [sic] a gun at a cop they will shot [sic] you even if you did not shot [sic] him/her or a person,” he wrote. So, **Metacom** , you still think the cop should have chosen to wait for the kid to shoot before returning fire? Christ in a bandolier, even the family’s lawyer is backing off now. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337/103 "2006-01-18T15:30:01Z")
[Oh, for the love of God.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7009337) Daniel ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337/104 "2006-01-18T15:41:26Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > [Oh, for the love of God.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7009337) > > Daniel Oh, for the love of God yourself – I’m talking about the evidence that _ **the officer who shot the kid could NOT have had any reason to think it was fake** _. And that **Metacom’s** “But they shoulda let him fire just one teensy little test shot!” argument is even stupider than it first seemed. You wanna debate about how to deal with the suicidally insane? Have at it. That’s not what I’m talking about here, so take your sanctimonious hand-wringing and shove it. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337/105 "2006-01-18T15:45:24Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Oh, for the love of God yourself – I’m talking about the evidence that _ **the officer who shot the kid could NOT have had any reason to think it was fake** _. And that **Metacom’s** “But they shoulda let him fire just one teensy little test shot!” argument is even stupider than it first seemed. So why are you asking him questions about it? As you said before, because it’s satisfying. It’s ridiculous, is what it is, to ask questions of someone in a forum where you know they won’t respond, instead of asking them the questions in a forum where they well might respond. It looks lazy, as though you’re not interested in taking the time for a real discussion. Sanctimonious? You can kiss my ass. It’s not sanctimonious, it’s just pointing out your lazy-ass behavior. You want to be pathetic, more power to you; I just want it to be clear to everyone that you’re not interested in a real discussion. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337/106 "2006-01-18T15:47:01Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > I’m done replying to **Slacker**. I’ve not really noticed him(?) before, but now I’m getting the impression that he’s the sort of dishonest, snivelling idiot that can make my time online less pleasant if I pay him any attention. > > Daniel …and in the end, your participation in this thread has mainly been about _you_, hasn’t it? The word “sanctimonious” has been applied to you several times and is, I think, appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337/107 "2006-01-18T15:49:51Z")
Gosh, **scumpup** , my heart breaks. The difference between y’all and a pack of jackals is that the jackals aren’t capable of compassion. Plus, were I in a pit full of jackals, I’d give a shit. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337/108 "2006-01-18T15:55:46Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Gosh, **scumpup** , my heart breaks. The difference between y’all and a pack of jackals is that the jackals aren’t capable of compassion. Plus, were I in a pit full of jackals, I’d give a shit. > > Daniel Right. You’re compassionate. I/we aren’t. You’ve said that over and over again. Why don’t we now move on to a topic besides what a sensitive, compassionate guy you think you are? ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337/109 "2006-01-18T15:56:13Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Gosh, **scumpup** , my heart breaks. The difference between y’all and a pack of jackals is that the jackals aren’t capable of compassion. Plus, were I in a pit full of jackals, I’d give a shit. > > Daniel Out of curiosity, do you think it is possible to still be compassionate yet take a position different than yours? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337/110 "2006-01-18T15:57:50Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > Out of curiosity, do you think it is possible to still be compassionate yet take a position different than yours? Of course it is. But if your position is that you feel no sympathy for a particular person, then by definition you’re not behaving compassionately. **scumpup** , you idiot, if you stop talking about me, then I’ll stop talking about me, too. You and your jackals started it. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337/111 "2006-01-18T15:59:05Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > So why are you asking him questions about it? As you said before, because it’s satisfying. It’s ridiculous, is what it is, to ask questions of someone in a forum where you know they won’t respond, instead of asking them the questions in a forum where they well might respond. It looks lazy, as though you’re not interested in taking the time for a real discussion. Um, your **Dorkness** , did you miss the title of this thread? Did you miss where this thread is located? If **Metacom** wanders into the Pit and spouts bullshit, gets his ass handed to him, then scuttles away to hide in a forum where he can’t be called the idiot he is, do you think that entitles him to a Get out of the Pit free card? Oh, wait – you expect compassion. You demand compassion. You’re the very fount of compassion. If we’d all just follow your lead, what a wonderful world it would be. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337/112 "2006-01-18T16:02:43Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Oh, wait – you expect compassion. You demand compassion. You’re the very fount of compassion. If we’d all just follow your lead, what a wonderful world it would be. I love how you want the thread to be all about me. No can do. You’re being lazy in not presenting your arguments in a venue where they’ll actually be seen by your ideological opponent. And here’s a hint: “Get out of pit free card”? What do you think this is, a jail? He doesn’t need a card not to visit a thread in which people are presenting lazy arguments. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337/113 "2006-01-18T16:37:12Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > So why are you asking him questions about it? As you said before, because it’s satisfying. It’s ridiculous, is what it is, to ask questions of someone in a forum where you know they won’t respond, instead of asking them the questions in a forum where they well might respond. It looks lazy, as though you’re not interested in taking the time for a real discussion. LHOD, it was metacoms own decision to go scuttling away from both of these trainwrecks. What I want, and I think most other people in both of these threads want, is for **Metacom** to get back in here and deal with _this_ particular issue. He thinks that the police officers knew that the kid had a bb gun and that they should’ve let him fire first to test it. He’s wrong on both counts. It’s all fine and dandy that you started the police force thread in GD, but that is not what this thread is about. **Metacom** needs to stop skulking about and get in here to deal with the mess he made. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337/114 "2006-01-18T16:39:22Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > It’s all fine and dandy that you started the police force thread in GD, but that is not what this thread is about. **Metacom** needs to stop skulking about and get in here to deal with the mess he made. Why does he need to do so? He didn’t make the mess, as I see it. He presented a view that many people found highly objectionable, a view that I also disagree with, but when it seemed to him that people were more interested in insulting him than in debating it, he left the thread. The gigantic trainwrecks that have ensued are not his responsibility. If my thread doesn’t adequately address the issue, then why not start your own thread in GD that does, especially if you think he needs to “stop skulking about”? If you really want to find out what he thinks on these issues, that seems to me to be the obvious way to go about it. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337/115 "2006-01-18T16:53:38Z")
I have an idea on how to Godwin-ize this thread…but I will refrain. ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337/116 "2006-01-18T16:58:34Z")
> [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > I have an idea on how to Godwin-ize this thread…but I will refrain. omg what if a baby was pointing a gun at Hitler?!? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337/117 "2006-01-18T16:59:39Z")
> [@Slacker](#): > > omg what if a baby was pointing a gun at Hitler?!? :eek: Just ask yourself what a compassionate man would do and the answer is obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337/118 "2006-01-18T17:03:32Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Just ask yourself what a compassionate man would do and the answer is obvious. I can’t. I’m so dispassionate I can’t even find a person to talk to me IRL. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337/119 "2006-01-18T17:08:41Z")
> [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > I have an idea on how to Godwin-ize this thread…but I will refrain. The Nazis made the Jews wear pieces of compassion. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337/120 "2006-01-18T17:22:34Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > LHOD, it was metacoms own decision to go scuttling away from both of these trainwrecks. What I want, and I think most other people in both of these threads want, is for **Metacom** to get back in here and deal with _this_ particular issue. He thinks that the police officers knew that the kid had a bb gun and that they should’ve let him fire first to test it. He’s wrong on both counts. Meh. While I also believe **Metacom** is full of shit on this particular issue, I’ll be more than happy for him to stay “scuttled away” and never confront this issue. Ever. If he never, ever talks about it again, I’ll be a happy camper. I really don’t care if he ever admits his error or not. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metacom-youre-an-idiot-plain-and-simple/340337.md?page=7)