# OK, Polycarp, I really can't let this go by... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 22, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255 "2008-05-22T15:42:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255/41 "2008-05-23T02:37:16Z")
[QUOTE=Sarahfeena] Because that’s not all he said. He said that he HAD wished harm on me, though he changed his mind. Is it not wishing harm if the wish was in the past tense? [/QUOTE] I’m surprised if the rules are really meant to range over what you can wish for. I think the intent _has_ to be to restrict what wishes you can _express on the board_. Otherwise, the SDMB is nuts. Which is possible. But still… -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255/42 "2008-05-23T02:38:53Z")
[QUOTE=zagloba] How is “I don’t hope you get gang-raped” threatening or wishing harm on another poster? [/QUOTE] Oh come now. The wishing harm part is obvious, even when phrased as a refution of the thought. It’s like a scary guy in a dark alley saying, “You should be careful, a pretty girl like you could get hurt around here.” I must confess that I didn’t think to report the post either, despite my shock when I read it that **Polycarp** would say such a thing. But I do think that it’s a clear violation of the rule. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255/43 "2008-05-23T02:38:38Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] I’m surprised if the rules are really meant to range over what you can wish for. I think the intent _has_ to be to restrict what wishes you can _express on the board_. Otherwise, the SDMB is nuts. Which is possible. But still… -FrL- [/QUOTE] I don’t know…how do you interpret the part I highlighted in red? ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255/44 "2008-05-23T03:24:31Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] **Polycarp** And I hope you realize that joking about a woman getting raped is further over the top than any sadistic glee at the demise of a public figure many see as having a pernicious influence in their lives. [/QUOTE] _Pssst:_ Having been raped, and having watched three family members and a dog suffer through cancers (three fatally), I just have to disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255/45 "2008-05-23T03:50:54Z")
[QUOTE=j666] _Pssst:_ Having been raped, and having watched three family members and a dog suffer through cancers (three fatally), I just have to disagree. [/QUOTE] The problem is, she didn’t have rape wished on her for showing sadistic glee over the demise of a public figure by cancer. It was a rather inexplicable wish of gang rape because she expressed an arguably controversial opinion that fell well short of sadistic glee. This had already been acknowledged by the pitted. Saying that he “didn’t wish rape on her” and therefore she has nothing to complain about is a disingenuous reading of what he wrote, and since he already owned up to it and apologized, revisionist interpretations are senseless at this point. I agree with Risha-- it was a clear violation of the rules as highlighted in red by Sarahfeena. I don’t expect any action will be taken. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255/46 "2008-05-23T04:05:19Z")
It appears that the matter has been resolved in a positive way. How would some moderator action improve upon it? ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255/47 "2008-05-23T04:35:22Z")
Fuck. There, are all you Pitizens happy now? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255/48 "2008-05-23T04:49:22Z")
It would appear that **Sarahfeena** would have more than her pound of flesh. > [@](#): > > **Giraffe** : …Sarahfeena, who I think of as one of our most thoughtful and least inflammatory conservative posters. I think that it is possible for some people to find one kind of response inflammatory and others to find another inflammatory. We can agree that she is thoughtful and conservative. We disagree about how productive her thoughtfulness is and how incendiary her remarks are. Her suggestion that **Polycarp’s** negative breaks a rule is really a stretch. To do that _after_ he has apologized for the post is graceless. Suggesting that Ted Kennedy is a murderer was cold, **Sarahfeena** , and unfounded. The irony is that that is what I find most incendiary about many of your posts: their cold ignorance wrapped in smugness. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255/49 "2008-05-23T05:29:23Z")
I’ve never wished cancer on any dog, even the evil neighbor lady’s mutts that threatened me as a child. To be pancaked by runaway semis, yes, but never cancer. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255/50 "2008-05-23T06:09:15Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] Y Now … I strongly dislike people celebrating the severe illness and/or death of their political opponents and/or their families. So that thread had me irked from the word go. [/QUOTE] Oh good. I await with anticipation your condemnation of Brain Glutton who quite baldly stated that he would dance and shout with glee when and if he got news of Dick Chaney suffering from a painful terminal illness, and wish him more pain and a faster death. Is your dislike universal, or only when the perceived target is a liberal politician? Inquiring minds want to know. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255/51 "2008-05-23T06:22:33Z")
Do inquiring minds want to provide a link? ---
**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:** [May 23, 2008, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255/52 "2008-05-23T06:23:50Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] … **starving artist** , a man not enamored of the so-called Liberal Establishment… [/QUOTE] And the award for the most graceful understatement of the year goes to… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255/53 "2008-05-23T07:08:22Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] Do inquiring minds want to provide a link? [/QUOTE] [Sure](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9821977&postcount=12) ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255/54 "2008-05-23T07:32:24Z")
Thanks for the link. I had missed it. Just speaking for myself: I think I dislike Cheney as much as anyone I can think of, but I would take no pleasure in his suffering. I don’t think I will feel any grief when he has gone. But I would feel sorry for his family. And if others here felt sorrow at his passing and expressed it – or if I knew that he were widely respected among Republicans or conservatives here (I don’t think that he is), I certainly wouldn’t gloat over his death. As long as he remains in good health, I have no qualms about labelling him for the horrors that are a result of his position of power. And, after a reasonable time of mourning, I would again feel free to label him. But I wouldn’t be vague about it. And I would back up my accusations. I wouldn’t just claim that he was a public figure and should get used to accusations. Calling Ted Kennedy a drunken murderer and referring to it more than once, talking about how he had gotten off because he was privileged, claiming that he never apologized or repented and then admitting that you knew he wasn’t really a murderer – under these circumstances – is trolling and being a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255/55 "2008-05-23T10:37:36Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] Thanks for the link. I had missed it. Just speaking for myself: I think I dislike Cheney as much as anyone I can think of, but I would take no pleasure in his suffering. I don’t think I will feel any grief when he has gone. But I would feel sorry for his family. And if others here felt sorrow at his passing and expressed it – or if I knew that he were widely respected among Republicans or conservatives here (I don’t think that he is), I certainly wouldn’t gloat over his death. As long as he remains in good health, I have no qualms about labelling him for the horrors that are a result of his position of power. And, after a reasonable time of mourning, I would again feel free to label him. But I wouldn’t be vague about it. And I would back up my accusations. I wouldn’t just claim that he was a public figure and should get used to accusations. Calling Ted Kennedy a drunken murderer and referring to it more than once, talking about how he had gotten off because he was privileged, claiming that he never apologized or repented and then admitting that you knew he wasn’t really a murderer – under these circumstances – is trolling and being a jerk. [/QUOTE] You know **Zoe** , your husband is one of the luckiest guys on this earth to have you as his partner. I’ll bet he knows though. There is just no way he couldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255/56 "2008-05-23T10:37:52Z")
[QUOTE=Weirddave] Oh good. I await with anticipation your condemnation of Brain Glutton who quite baldly stated that he would dance and shout with glee when and if he got news of Dick Chaney suffering from a painful terminal illness, and wish him more pain and a faster death. Is your dislike universal, or only when the perceived target is a liberal politician? Inquiring minds want to know. [/QUOTE] One is a fundamentally decent man who made a serious mistake which cost a life. The other has caused the death and mutilation of tens if not hundreds of thousands of people in an illegal war, created and emboldened terrorists around the world and made the USA a torture nation. You work it out. ---
**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:** [May 23, 2008, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255/57 "2008-05-23T10:53:08Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] Calling Ted Kennedy a drunken murderer and referring to it more than once, talking about how he had gotten off because he was privileged, claiming that he never apologized or repented and then admitting that you knew he wasn’t really a murderer – under these circumstances – is trolling and being a jerk. [/QUOTE] Good grief. No it’s not. He was drunk, and his actions while drunk started a chain of events that led to a death. Do you dispute this? Acts similar to his have been punished by charges of murder in recent years. Do you dispute this? He is phenomenally privileged. Do you dispute this? Our justice system is biased toward folks with privilege. Do you dispute this? **Sarah** admitted she’d forgotten about the apology. That was an honest mistake. There are different definitions of “murderer” (legal and moral, for example), and **Sarah** admitted that he didn’t fit the legal definition of murder. None of her posts consisted either of trolling or of being a jerk. You’re way off base. FWIW, I don’t agree with her about Kennedy. But she’s not put the argument forward in a remotely jerkish or trollish way. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255/58 "2008-05-23T11:51:22Z")
[QUOTE=tagos] One is a fundamentally decent man who made a serious mistake which cost a life. The other has caused the death and mutilation of tens if not hundreds of thousands of people in an illegal war, created and emboldened terrorists around the world and made the USA a torture nation. You work it out. [/QUOTE] Irrelevant. The Pit rules make no such distinctions. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255/59 "2008-05-23T11:52:30Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] It appears that the matter has been resolved in a positive way. How would some moderator action improve upon it? [/QUOTE] I don’t wish for there to be any retroactive moderator action at all, I just want to understand a mod’s thought process when they see something like that and just ignore it. That’s all. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255/60 "2008-05-23T11:56:19Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] It would appear that **Sarahfeena** would have more than her pound of flesh. I think that it is possible for some people to find one kind of response inflammatory and others to find another inflammatory. We can agree that she is thoughtful and conservative. We disagree about how productive her thoughtfulness is and how incendiary her remarks are. Her suggestion that **Polycarp’s** negative breaks a rule is really a stretch. To do that _after_ he has apologized for the post is graceless. Suggesting that Ted Kennedy is a murderer was cold, **Sarahfeena** , and unfounded. The irony is that that is what I find most incendiary about many of your posts: their cold ignorance wrapped in smugness. [/QUOTE] Ted Kennedy is not a member of the SDMB, and I broke no rules with what I said. I also wished NO harm on anyone, and in fact said that is did NOT want him to suffer. I believe being inflammatory in the Pit with the expression of one’s own opinions is allowed and indeed what the Pit is meant to be for. [QUOTE=Jackmannii] I’ve never wished cancer on any dog, even the evil neighbor lady’s mutts that threatened me as a child. To be pancaked by runaway semis, yes, but never cancer. [/QUOTE] The next person who claims that I said I wished cancer on someone is REALLY going to have to provide a link showing where I said it. Really. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-polycarp-i-really-cant-let-this-go-by/450255.md?page=4)