I had some clown by the name of William Michael Kemp, a self-professed neo-Confederate who likes to post on white supremacist sites (which should tell you everything you need to know about him), leave an incredibly rude and abusive comment on one of my very early posts on this blog about Nathan Bedford Forrest. I get an e-mail every time someone leaves a comment here (even when I leave the comment), so I know almost immediately whenever one is left. When I read this one, I was genuinely offended, and that takes some doing. He didn’t like my take on Forrest. It’s no secret that I’m no fan of Forrest, and my neo-Confederate “friend” decided to launch a pretty vicious personal attack on me because he doesn’t like my take on his KKK hero.
One of the beautiful things about this blog is that because I pay the bills for this blog, I get to make the rules. One thing that this is not is a democracy. It’s an autocracy, although I am a benevolent despot. Pretty much anything goes, and I really don’t believe in censorship. However, there is one major exception to that rule: nobody has the right to insult me on my own web site, and nobody gets to be rude to my readers. This neo-Confederate clown did both, so I deleted his comment. I am also going to ban his IP address so he can’t play his little game again.
Perhaps your input might be welcome if you knew how to engage in a civil discussion, Mr. Kemp. However, since your means of discussing is to launch rude personal attacks, you will have to find somewhere else to indulge your insecurities, because you won’t be doing it here. Perhaps you might consider learning how to behave so that people take what you say seriously, instead of acting like the ignorant redneck hillbilly that you are.
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Dear Sir ,
While I have no doubt that this “gentleman” was offensive , labeling him a redneck hillbilly is not exactly noblesse oblige now is it ? Since you are in no fear of being sued by an Appalachian Rights Group it seems a cheap shot. One wonders what you would have written if your assailant had been an African-American but then we know you would not have written anything at all.
That being said , I enjoy your blog and life’s work and forge ahead with future projects!
all for the old flag,
David Corbett
David, can you call a redneck hillbilly a redneck hillbilly if he really is a redneck hillbilly? 🙂
Good for you Eric, call em like you see em. It’s your blog.
Regards,
Rick
Hi Eric,
Like you, I’ve recently received several off-color “comments” on my blog. These never have much, if anything, to do with me or with the subjects of my posts. Rather, the comments set out to attack other personalities within the Civil War blogosphere. I used to be annoyed by the fact that I had to use software to catch spam masquerading as comments. But now I’m glad that such safeguards are in place, so that my website doesn’t become a forum for personal attacks against others.
Well done Eric.
Although I had the same gut-wrenching reaction to you when you blogged about a subject that is most offensive…the Philadelphia Phillies. I tried listening to the game this afternoon (against the Nationals) on my lunch break and almost fell asleep. 🙂
Seriously though, I would like to applaud Craig’s sentiments. Its good to see that we all stand up for each other, even when we don’t always agree. (Like on quality baseball teams for instance.) 🙂
Hey Craig, — Did you also get an email from my friend Jim? Join the club as he has contacted just about every CW blogger regarding my shortcomings.
I would love to debate Nathan Bedford Forrest with anyone who can carry on an intelligent discourse without resulting in personal attacks. Was he a saint? Absolutely not, but who is? Was he a devil? Absolutely not. Was he a man of convictions? Absolutely.
In fact, noted Civil War historians have declared him to be, “The most man there ever was, in some ways”. Having read 12 books (pro and con) on the man, I feel I know the man much more than most.
I must say, calling him a racist is a modern interpretation of another time and era.