I’ve recently been posting diaries about the Evolution vs. Intelligent Design controversy in Kansas, in particular the physical assault against Professor Mirecki at the University of Kansas, and the subsequent coerced resignation of his chairmanship of the Religious Studies Department resulting from the fallout to his proposed class on intelligent design.
Today I posted a diary about a Texas law that allowed a black woman to be taken off life support by a hospital in Plano against her wishes and the wishes of her family. In both cases, I let my outrage at what occurred overshadow common sense in the way I expressed that outrage. In both cases, I used the states of Texas and Kansas as shorthand for the actual people in those states who are responsible for these outrages.
That was wrong, and I sincerely apologize to all who were offended by my diaries about these subjects, including specifically Brinnainne [edited to correct spelling error] and Katiebird.
In the future, I pledge to be more careful in how I express myself here at Booman Tribune. Being a front page diarist is still a work in progress for me. It’s becoming clear to me that I need to be more cognizant of the audience here at Booman, and more respectful of all its members, regardless of where they live, what they do, and what they believe.
I would ask that all who are upset with my diaries continue to let me know when you have a complaint. I can’t promise you that we can always come to an agreement about what you find fault with in my writing, but I promise to listen to those complaints and take them to heart.
If anyone does have any concerns, please feel free to email me, as well. My email is ssearlsatrochesterdotrrdotcom.
I would like to close with this plea: we all came to Booman Tribune because we saw in it the opportunity to form a better, less divisive community around the progressive ideals that we all share. I hope that my own failings as a diarist haven’t driven anyone away from what I still consider the best liberal group blog on the web. If they have, I ask that those of you I have offended please give me and the site another chance.
Thank you all.
Update [2005-12-15 18:44:26 by Steven D]: Just to be clear, I was not asked by Booman to write this apology. This was written on my own initiative without any prior consultation of the other front page posters.
I wasn’t in on this, but what the hell, I’ll be happy to accept your nice apology for everybody in my state, thank you very much. Or at least for the blue people in my state. And I must say, it will be a relief not to come down the stairs blurry eyed of a morning and find a headline screaming something like, SHUN KANSAS!! 🙂
🙂
(((!!!kansas!!!)))
Hey, Stephen, come on over to the Cafe some day when you get a minute. Somebody will bring you a hot cuppa or a beer and we’ll put our feets up and shoot the bull. (I’d say “shoot the cow,” but somehow that just seems, I dunno, wrong.)
If you come over to the Cafe, I might even learn how to spell your name correctly. No promises, though.
But you did just spell Stephen correctly… And I am in the cafe whenever I have some downtime. Of which I have not had much lately… lol JK
I am so confused! 🙂
C man is also a Stephen, though he spells it sorta funny.
Steven
What Steven means to say is that Steven is the Americaninized version of the correct spelling of Stephen.
Not ones to be one-upped in this, the French would question our mis-spelling of Stephane. Of course, if you ask some Greek people they might wonder why we all mis-spelled their version of Stephanos.
But what would I know? I can’t even spell my screen name.
I’ve always liked Esteban myself.
What you said.
-Stephen
ps BTW, I spend half my time in Idaho, how come no one’s insulted me recently?
I don’t think those have been addressed sufficiently.
I did remember (fondly, I might add) and comment about my late night drive through Kansas (the state) while paging through and reading the map book without bothering to pull over…however, in this case, the flatness of Kansas (the state) was definitely an asset!
The whole state is considering getting a boob job. Oh, wait, we already have our share of big boobs. One of them is attorney general.
There goes Colorado again, spreading those nasty rumors. Why, don’t tell me that you’ve never heard the slogan: Ski Topeka?
I used to have a t-shirt that read “Ski Illinois,” with a drawing of a farmer on skis being towed through a cornfield by a tractor.
Have been addressed, scientifically, I might add
Peace
They didn’t name the main drag in Liberal, KS Pancake Blvd. for nothing. 🙂
I didn’t even read the diaries yet or comments..but I have to say…You are a class act.
What Chamonix1 said!
You are a class act, Steven.
As most of us knew before you wrote this … who you are — your passion, your kindness, your pain for this country, your love for your children, your caring and commitment to this community — shows in every single story and comment that you write. It’s evident to all who you are, and it’s huge of you to apologize.
Thank you for exemplifying class.
Oh, but Susan will still blame Canada right… 😉
Dammit. You just reminded me that I forgot to tape South Park last night.
Seriously … the only reason I ever blame Canada is that they’re far too civilized and decent to invade us.
Does it say something about me that I read that as “decently invade us”?? 😉
It was a good one. I’ll say this: beware of hippies. 😉
Thank you for showing me the way to diplomacy. You are a very welcome addition to the front page, imho.
Steven, thank you very much for this generous and graceful apology. I know that I came down pretty hard on you this afternoon. But, my relationship with this site was at stake and felt I had to make that as clear as possible.
I know that with your front page duties and family responsibilities you probably don’t have a lot of free time. But, please (repeating kansas) stop by the Froggy Bottom Cafe now and then. I know that we’d all like the opportunity to get to know you better.
Thank you again — now I can look forward to reading your stories!
I’ll try to drop in. I have some health issues that limit my energy level.
First thing in the am I have to deal with getting my daughter off to school (which is more of a chore than it should be). Then I spend a lot of time each morning just surfing the web looking for topical stuff to write about. I have a lot more respect for Booman and Susan now that I see how difficult it is to churn work out on a daily basis and still have something fresh and important to say. Not that I didn’t before, but my respect for them has gone to a whole new level.
Afternoons fatigue sets in and I usually have to take a nap. Then the kids get back home (which since they are such adorable dears makes for a lot of conflict resolution work). Plus they tend to want to use our computer in the evening which means they kick old dad off.
But I will try to drop in more often. Thanks for the invite to both you and Kansas.
Hey doesn’t anyone want to apologize for castigating the entire state of Ohio? 🙂
Because you are beyond hope.
Just … hopeless …
(As I pat the side of my head, run my fingers across my chignon, check my freshly painted nails, and smile with self-satisfaction about my “Evergreen” two Democratic senators and Democratic governor and Democratic representative.)
After reading Steven D’s diary this morning along with Yucatan’s I couldn’t get the horror of the situation out of my mind. There was this 27 year old woman, who just wanted to die surrounded by the comfort and arms of her mother. She wanted to live just long enough that she could die when her mom was with her. But the hospital gave her only 10 more days. Those of us familiar with the immigration processes know that 10 days won’t be enough to even fill out all the paperwork required for a visa, let alone get to the US from Africa.
So they pulled the plug–on a fully aware young woman, who died missing her mother.
It was an amazing diary and like all of Steven D’s other diaries spoke very deeply to me.
It is true that I did not pick up on what was offensive in it, till this evening when I read all the comments posted on that diary, and now I do have a better understanding of how language, even when used to expose horrors that we all agree should be exposed, can be used carelessly in ways that cause pain and hurt. It is true that since I share Steven D’s anger and passion at these types of injustices, that the blackness of the anger blinded me to the way that anger can spill over in ways that are completely inappropriate.
But, bear with me for a moment here, I am thinking through something and I may have gotten it all wrong. (I think that probably is possible, since I have found myself agreeing with Brin, Katiebird, and Kansas more often than not. In fact, pretty much every time, so I am a bit nervous about this)
But, do we all recall, after the 2004 elections, there was this internet movement led by people who had voted for Kerry, posting home-made apology signs to the rest of the world? Why did the people need to do that?
I think, if I belong (however you define belonging) to the group that is seen as more powerful, more dominant, then, even if I as an individual am completely opposed to the policies of that group, I will however have to bear some opprobrium.
When we talk about the white male standards that keep women and blacks out of positions of power, we don’t mean that every white male has access to those positions, or has a say in creating these situations, but that the structure is set up in a way that benefits them disproportionately.
It is really unfortunate that those of us who live in the third world within the first world get targetted as being gas guzzling, environmental destroyers, but is that broad brush really so very unfair? Don’t we, despite our principles, and our best attempts to be environmentally savvy, end up benefiting (much to our own chagrin) from these planet-destroying policies? Shouldn’t the world point to us as guilty?
When Texas passes these horrible laws to save money, even if we fight against the passage of these laws, the money saved is used to cut our taxes, or provide infrastructure that we use, or actually, line the pockets of corrupt politicians. Okay, so with this last example i have just undercut my whole argument :-))
I guess all I am saying is that while I do not have a completely well -thought out position on this, (and I am open to persuasion) I think the outrage here seemed a bit disproportionate.
Or, maybe I am just being defensive about my own initial insensitivity.
I was tempted to boycott America…and I’m an American. 🙂
When I see some of the drivers around here in Silly Con Valley, I wonder if they got their drivers licenses in a Cracker Jack box…and I sometimes wonder if today’s voters got their high school diplomas in the same place. I was doomed for life at age 2-1/2, when I learned how to read…so much for my ever becoming a docile subject of the New Regime…
I went back and read the posts and I don’t think it was that bad. I’m new here, so I guess the level of discourse here must be a lot more collegial than it is at 99% of all political blogs.
I guess the level of discourse here must be a lot more collegial than it is at 99% of all political blogs
On most days it tends to be that way, and it is the result of the main rule for this blog community.
“Don’t be a prick!”
Welcome to Booman Tribune! If I haven’t said that to you already? 🙂 What the heck… Even if I have said it to you before! lol
[AP, sick about “going there” but even sicker about how she feels about this subject.) Don’t be a prick! Don’t be a prick!
Hey, you don’t have a prick!
Don’t be a prick.]
Katebird and Brinnaine, I apologize in advance for this. I really do. I am honestly trying not to be a prick. Really. And everyone’s making nice. That’s good.
But I’m more than miffed that Steve D’s diary, which was supposed to be about a woman who died rather callously at the hands of the state (to be kind), was hijacked because you felt that Texans and Kansans are put upon.
Honestly, if I had a nickel for every time a southerner whined about how people look down on their traditions/culture/”way of life” then I’d be a VERY rich woman.
And then I’d throw up.
That is what I am honest-to-God hearing. Really. That the subject matter takes a back seat to this. THAT is hurtful–to me anyway, FWIW.
Every state, every region in this country is fucked up–the South, even more so. There. I said it.
I say this as a born & raised Virginian. I say this as one who has deep roots in the deep South. I say this as someone (by way of marriage) now has tons of relatives–in Texas. I say this as someone who, living in her so-called “blue state”, would not be caught driving alone in some parts of it.
But I guess my background makes me neither misty nor nostalgic nor protective of those areas. They have their attributes; they have some good folks; but seriously, they have their issues.
This is chilling:
Damn, almost like she wasn’t human–they wouldn’t “accept the patient” like she was some friggin’ animal. Was she a friggin’ leper or something?
I don’t blame you for that, but it is what is.
Maybe I’m just too sensitive. A woman was dying, and she just wanted to be with her mother during her transition.
And she was too fucking unimportant for the state of Texas. She wasn’t Terri Schiavo or another damsel in distress. SO not worth it.
I’m sorry that I can’t get more worked up over the injured feelings of the folks who live there, but this woman’s story breaks my heart. And though I’ll likely regret writing this, it still had to be said because I was offended, too, at how this story seemed to take a back seat to a +100-year “they look down on us” pity party.
Again, I’m sorry. But I’m miffed.
Thanks for saying so nicely but directly what I would have said with much less class and tact.
Lets hope that the reporters of Texas get into this story real hard, and the good people of Texas demand that they do.
Because part of what stuck with me about this is that the law allowed it, and one hospital did it, but no other hospital or nursing home would take her. No Texas or otherwise oil billionaire could spare the change to save her. What did the community do? And what are they going to do now?
The Kennedys used to have a phrase about poverty and racism etc, This is not acceptable.
If we accept this, then Texas is lost, America is lost, the human race is lost. This is a defining moment. Really, think about it.
I find it troubling in fact that so much energy has been spent on these side issues which are interesting and important to people, but are mostly about relationships on this site. As important as they are, they arent as important as this story.
I hope for more focus.
This story stayed with me all day. I also would like to have seen more focus on the horror of Tirhas’ story.
Maybe that very horror is the reason, no one wanted to imagine, to begin with, what it would be like to have a terminal illness, to be near death, in pain, and then to be told that the regime of the polity one has chosen as one’s adopted home, in accordance with one’s neighbors in that polity, one’s fellow human beings, have decreed that on December fifteenth, you will be exterminated because you have no money to give us.
In the richest country in the world.
And to count down those days, knowing that one’s days were already numbered, the only hope left that you might have the blessing at least of breathing your last while gazing at the beloved face of she who gazed on your face when you breathed your first, and to realize that you are not allowed such a simple hope, because you have no money to give them, you are not worth even that small human decency.
There is a verse in the Christian Bible, show me where is your treasure, and I will show you where is your heart.
Here lies America’s heart
And what was it like for Tirhas, when the representative of the hospital, of the state, of the voters, came in to perform the extermination?
Because she had no money to give to the richest country in the world.
What agony of soul did she feel, helpless to fight, even before the pain of her state-sponsored death agony began. Fifteen minutes.
Slow strangulation.
The will of the people.
No, we shall not blame Texas. Texas is one state in a country that claims to have a federal government.
The number of federal marshalls sent to save Tirhas from extermination was zero.
The human race, however, is not lost.
The US is only one of over 200 countries.
The glass is well over half full.
I hope that we learn more about this case in the coming days, and I hope that everyone insists that we do.
Its bad enough that this happened, if these facts are true. But if people do not demand to know more, if they are not concerned with this act, then we are lost. Not for forever perhaps, but for now.
I see that you and some others here agree that it is important we pay attention to this. I hope that this focus is maintained and strengthened.
A very gracious apology. Don’t lose the outrage.
BTW: are you any relation to Doc Searls?
Not that I know of.
As a fellow Stephanos, let me just say you’re a real mensch. You seemed to be the only rational and calm person in this tete-a-tete. I’m sure I’ll be accused of stirring the pot, but I’m just trying to compliment you, not destroy the emotional stability of any Texans. (My god, I just can’t help myself; if it was funnier I’d say Richar Pryor has already reincarnated, but of course it was that funny.)
Just don’t let the New Mexicans in on the conversation. I heard some vicious(ly funny) Texas jokes when I was in Santa Fe years ago.
You’re doing great, Steven D. I’m sure the apology is appreciated. I just wanted you to know your writing has been top-notch.
Every time I entertain similar thoughts to the effect that all Texans or Kansas are idiots, I remember Lyndon Johnson, Sam Rayburn, Lloyd Bentsen, and the like. The majority of Texans are probably pretty decent, and that might be true of Kansans, as well.