R: What I DON'T do is try to twist things around, no matter how implausable, to keep the vinegar flowing.

But that's exactly what you did. It's implausible that you would suddenly notice a post by Ipomea, in the middle of an old thread, on a board with no activity, with him talking to someone else . . . and then, just *suddenly*, for *no apparent reason*, decide you were GLAD to see him, so why not stop and chat? "Your coding is better than ever"? (It was the same old signature!)

No, no, no, no, no, NO, Ronn. All that went on in your mind was, "Hey, I'm pissed at Julie, Ipomea hates Julie, I'll recruit him in my drive to punish her!"

FER GOD'S SAKES ADMIT IT, RONN!

Ronn, you have this character in your head that you created, which you think of as "Ron McClellan" --

'He's a good ol' guy, hell, he'll rag on ya a little, but at the end of the day he'll share a beer with you, slap you on the back, and you'll know in your heart he was just funnin' with ya, never really meant ya any harm. Oh, but don't mess with him! Ol' Ron McClellan's fair an' friendly to everyone, except people who do morally wrong things to hurt him or his loved ones.'

-- But that's not who you are. That's not how you act. You act much more angry, more childish, more cruel, more demanding, resentful, bitter, begrudging, vituperative, contentious, etc. etc.

You have serious unresolved issues. I don't know what they are, but you harbor deep, bitter resentments that you're not acknowledging or trying to put to rest. Usually, it's a parental figure, and my guess is the father figure. Somebody else on this board theorized about "small man syndrome"; I kinda endorsed that and modified it to "runt of the litter" syndrome. These are all unprofessional guesses, but what's obvious is that you're highly fucking angry at just about everyone.

I'VE BEEN HERE FOR THREE YEARS, Ronn. I'm here when you leave, and I'm here when you return. I see the PATTERN.

The only time you were any different was before your divorce. That was during the "Tony Scam" days (or, as they are to me, the "bullshit" days), so maybe your personal happiness is what you're really longing for in your plaintive cries for the return of "Tony".

Maybe the loss of the marriage forced you to confront earlier issues that were still troubling you. Maybe you're running from them. Maybe you don't even "know" about them consciously. All I know is your level of anger at The Truth Tree-ers is WAY out of proportion.

Ron: But if you ever wake up and smell the coffee, You'll be "all good" in my book in no time. Hell, if Barb ever stops his unethical bullshit and starts actually standing on what he says, He'd be fine in my book too. Bottom line is, there isn't anyone here at TT that I hold a permanent grudge against.

MORE bullshit! MORE fiction!

*Conceding defeat* doesn't mollify you (Re: my inconsistency on mandatory contraception/abortion for welfare recipients.) I tried to concede THREE times and you wouldn't quit! I had to just walk away!

You're bitter when you lose, and you're bitter when you win!

Ronn: A big difference between you and I is that if I saw a bunch of dipshit rednecks nailing your pathetic crossdressing ass to a fence, I'd STILL, TODAY, RIGHT NOW, stop and risk getting my ass nailed to the fence next to you to stop them.

You'd stop people from trying to crucify me? And for this, you want exactly what-- a medal?

Why on earth would you imply that I WOULDN'T attempt to stop the ritual torture and murder of-- ANY COMPLETE STRANGER, let alone you??? THIS IS PART OF BEING A HUMAN BEING, you asshole! You don't get a medal, you don't get a Moosehead, and you don't get any of that other thing, either!

Human beings want to help people in dire circumstances. True, they so often do not rise to the task, but they nearly always pledge that they would, hypothetically speaking. For God's sakes, what do you think people would say to you if you just walked away???

Do you get it? This isn't "Ron-The-Good-Guy", this is BASIC HUMANITY that is *expected of everyone*. Being the rescuer in your scenario is nearly everyone's pretension.

So don't fucking lord it over me.

I'll give you some advice: Grow up. It wasn't Barbarian or Lilith or me that made you so miserable. Drop the character, confront yourself as you are, and remember the rest of us aren't you, or your parents, or your ex-wife or whoever.

Winning your Truth Tree War will do exactly nothing to make you happier. Take it from someone who's won a lot of 'em.