Ambivalent
BSB Addict
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2009
- Posts
- 1,811
- Reaction score
- 2
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Johnny, Peter is smart, and Peter is RIGHT. (He usually IS, and he'd make a hell of a great husband, for someone!) My sense is, just as Peter said, Mike and Jon sometimes have "family quarrels", and argue along those lines, but. . . they usually make up ;-)
Johnny, I totally GET your feeling protective toward Mike. I feel the same way toward YOU, Johnny. And to all my friends, on here.
Look, Johnny, do you know what my job is? Amongst other things, I am a paid political assassin. If someone is trying to take one of my bosses (or bosses' bosses) DOWN - I dig up the dirt, and BURY the malefactor, in the grave HE HIMSELF has DUG. (And I've done this, Johnny, MANY times. Always in just and NOBLE causes, I assure you!)
I'm also, a WILDLY PASSIONATE CELT. A friend of mine once said to me, "'A' ~ you treat your friends like husbands: how do you treat your ACTUAL f***ing BOYFRIEND? You scare the HELL out of me, you are so INTENSE!" But, Johnny, I think Italians and Celts are kind of the SAME, in this regard. My barber, Vincenzo, is a Calabrian, and we always laugh about these things ;-)
Absolutely, Johnny ~ if people are mean to you, or Mike, or Peter, or Beth or any of the people I love on here: I will treat them with a calculated literary coldness, and cruelty, that would make the Emperor Caligula himself, seem like a tambourine-player, in the local Salvation-Army band. (When I am mean, I am pretty f***ing MEAN; though I hope it is never without CAUSE.)
Johnny, I would NEVER allow ANYONE to f*** with YOU, or MIKE, or PETER, or BETH, without vicious (and withering) verbal reprisal. To Celts, loyalty isn't just everything ~ it is the OXYGEN which we BREATHE.
When it comes to Jon (and he will get a little steamed, I'm sure, that I analyze him in the third-person, like this): When I started out knowing Jon, I thought: "This guy is every bad stereotype of a f***ing ENGLISHMAN, that my auld Scots Aunties WARNED me against!" The first couple of posts Jon wrote me, Johnny, I REALLY could have pulled out my skean-dhu, and cut his damned throat! (Metaphorically, of course ;-)
But, over a few years on here, Johnny, I have learned that, while Jon invariably expresses himself in exceptionally tough and uncompromising language - on the INSIDE, his heart is soft, sweet, and kind. (And he is gonna WHIP my kilted arse for saying so, but I'll FIGHT BACK!)
And, Johnny, I think that's the key with our friend Jon - who is so much misunderstood, on this board, sometimes. Every argument he puts out into the world, he puts out there full-bore, with no compromises, whatsoever. Very frequently, this pisses people the HELL OFF. . . but it always makes for interesting discussions.
And then there is the fact that, sometimes, Jon POKES and NEEDLES (even SPEARS) people he likes and LOVES a LOT, just to get a rise, out of them. Sure, it may come from a real disagreement about an issue, Johnny, but. . . I think I have learned this, about Jon: I believe he could still like and even love, a friend who had DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED views to his, as long as he could spar with that person, and EXPRESS his views.
Johnny, I am totally used to this, because I used to teach political philosophy at the university. I had a great adversary, whose name also started with "A", and we held famous Friday afternoon seminars - "A & A" seminars, as they were then called. People flocked to them. The subject could be anything from the politics of Jean Baudrillard, to the current food-stamp policy in the U.S.A. My friend "A" took the left, and I took the right. People flocked to these, and bought popcorn and hot-dogs, they were so popular. "A" and I were FAMOUS antagonists - but, in real life, we were the BEST of FRIENDS, and loved one another, as friends, TOTALLY.
I think it is very much the same, with our Jon. Sure, he says OUTRAGEOUS things, sometimes - and he is always pushing the envelope But that is Jon's NATURE, and, I think this board is a lot more FUN, because he is HERE. I DO NOT BELIEVE he means anyone any HARM - and, just like Peter said, I KNOW he loves MIKE - but it IS Jon's nature to push the question right to the edges, before he is done.
Johnny, when I first got on here, I DETESTED Jon - till I got to know his unique style of expression, and sense of humour. (I will NEVER be reconciled to his self-appointed role as "thread-policeman", incidentally - I could give a flying f*** about where, when, and HOW people post their ideas about sundry subjects. . . .
BUT. . . since re-joining the board, after many years away from it, I have come to LOVE JON, as one of my favourite friends, on here. He is funny, and smart, and has great taste in music - and always has something interesting and relevant to say about politics. Plus, as you noted, Johnny, he really DOES have a kind and soft and lovely heart - even if he won't admit it readily, here.
In fine, Johnny, I feel quite comfortable in asserting that, while Jon may have (impishly, and half-seriously) characterized our beloved MIKE as a "hater" on the basis of ONE incident or reaction - Jon (in fact) likes Mike VERY MUCH, and was just waiting for a little "push-back" (with commensurate IRONY and LAUGHTER) from Mike.
It's true, Johnny - Jon DOES play rough sometimes. But I think it is not to be MEAN. It is from the spirit of an English rugby-player, who feels that his opponents can deal what he is dishing out ;-)
"A" XOXOXOXOXOXO
P.S. Johnny, in that regard, Jon's fighting spirit (in debates) is not that different from fans of collegiate football ;-) *And I am an old debating champion: I know the STUFF ;-)
