The Apology

On Wednesday, October 28, 2020 at 6:36:42 PM UTC-4, Chip Bearden wrote:
Hey, Bob, we actually agree on something! I did get personal. In my defense, it's pretty hard not to when the debate is over what someone says, does, and believes and not whether FLARM should be mandatory in contests or if remote thermal detection devices should be banned, or even who should be the next president of the United States.

I would have been OK debating whether some of the letters were a bit confrontational or counterproductive. There are ways to gently register a concern that help promote an open dialogue and a satisfactory compromise.

Quickly, however, the real debate became not whether the complaints and SSA's response were justified but whether your response (and others like it) was acceptable. You led off by alluding to an orchestrated attack on the SSA. By the next day, you had graduated to referring to the women who had complained as Feminazis, among other things. Gregg raised the ante with "childless corporate whore", which seems destined to follow him forever given his unrepentant posture.

Maybe I'm "overly sensitive" but when I see someone referring to people I know using a form of the term Nazi, it's pretty inflammatory. Like you, however, I looked up the word. Wikipedia (flawed, but at least it collects multiple references) defines Feminazi as "a pejorative term for feminists which was popularized by politically conservative American radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh." The Oxford Dictionary of American Slang says "it refers (pejoratively) to "a committed feminist or a strong-willed woman".

On that basis, although juxtaposing "Nazi" and "feminist" is questionable to me, I wouldn't accuse you of wanting to cleanse the world of women by force to make room for a [short-lived and sexually frustrated] master race of Floridian men.

But there's the word "perjorative", which means "expressing contempt or disapproval". That's not calculated to lead to productive debate.

Further into the Wikipedia entry, there's discussion about Feminazi being used "to marginalize any feminist as a hardline, uncompromising manhater." That's a pretty disparaging depiction, especially combined with being viewed with contempt.

So, yeah, my disagreement with you (and some others) IS personal. As I said, we could debate whether some or all of the letters to the SSA were appropriate or even if SSA's response was reasonable. I think it was even though, in Doug's terms, I'm a generally conservative guy who DOES worry, a lot, that "the freedom of speech is under attack by the woke crowd of overly sensitive liberal snowflakes." I live in the never-never world of AOC and NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio so I'm primed to push back at a lot of what I consider social justice overreaches.

But not this one, especially not once the Feminazi comments started. You weren't the only one, but this was your thread and you carried the torch.

I also disagree this was a constructive dialogue. I think it dragged all of us down and probably didn't change any minds.

But I have few regrets. I may have lost some friends but given what I read here in the past few days, if I have, then they're not the men I thought they were.

BTW, This discussion is poised to, in a few hours, move into 9th place on the list of Top Ten RAS Discussions in the past 12 months (and likely for 2020). That is a remarkably depressing fact and one I would never have thought possible.

Chip Bearden
JB
Chip, I will not opine on the thread itself, I respect your opinion, I appreciate your perception and I am also thankful that you were the only one to further research the term. Just yesterday I concluded a lengthy legal ordeal that was cast upon me by what I would call the F word, not the 4 letter word but the 8 letter word that you did your research on, I commend you for looking into the origin and meaning. At the end of the day the largest donation ever was directed to the soaring club here in Vero. I cannot say much because of the confidentially agreement signed, I can say this, I gave it all to the club! Very few are aware of the event, I guess if you went as far to look up the F term you could find it.
I think that we agree to disagree, no disrespect intended. Your friend , Bob Youngblood

I have really enjoyed having you in the batters box. here it is after 10 on the East Coast, must go watch a bit of Fox News, fair and balanced and get ready to work in the mango grove in the morning. Hope you have a wonderful evening and stay safe. Bob

It's so good that Old Blood clarified that he's off to watch Fox News, in case anyone thought he would be tuning into Rachel Maddow. "Fair and balanced," he cracks. Being wrong, clueless, and sardonically proud of it all - the hat trick of being a Faux News viewer. So when he took time off from his very busy mango/avocado farmin' and soaring contributin' day to opine on the SSA/SSF mea culpa, and then the usual supporting cast of dinosaurs chimed in, a stink practically wafted out from my screen. We've seen it befo the insensitivity and intolerance toward the "Other". Sexism is just one facet. They just can't understand why anyone would object to the "Make Sexism in Aviation Great Again" SSF ad.

Then an unexpected thing happened. Out of a turd sprouted a beautiful and vibrant flower of moral enlightenment. I'm surprised and encouraged by the massing of intelligent, articulate, and sustained opposition to the chauvinistic sentiments that initially propelled this thread. Yes - call a spade a spade. Hold bigots accountable for their bigotry and don't let them gaslight reality when they get pushback. If this could happen more consistently on RAS, it would be a better place to visit, and the dinosaurs will eventually go extinct.

I should apologize to the real dinosaurs, whose extinction was not their fault. Scientific evidence suggests their extinction 66 million years ago had nothing to do with the terminal ignorance and hubris that afflict their modern-day relatives.