Re: Personal Attacks, Power, and the PAB

[Dave Crocker <dcrocker@brandenburg.com>]

This is great, folks.

	Good job!

	How many different ways can we all find, to keep from dealing with
substantive matters?  It is really soooooo much more fun to constantly get
into personalities and abstractions?  

	I will bet that we can keep this up long enough to completely derail any
efforts at getting serious work done.  Wouldn't that be wonderful?

	I have a news flash for all the reporters who are covering this topic, but
who don't want to get into any of the real detail of our work:

		Somebody Somewhere Said Something Bad about Something  

	You can quote me on this.

	Further, they probably said it on some mailing list and it probably had
some responses that were supportive.

	For the portion of the community that is worried about this phenomenon,
let me observe the following:  For any discussion which has factions, there
is ALWAYS Someone who will Say Something Bad about the other side.

	Having Somebody Somewhere Say Something Bad doesn't represent a dominant
view.  It doesn't represent an official view.  In fact, it does not mean
anything at all.  It is quoted by reporters and those On The Other Side
because it is inflammatory, not because it is meaningful.

	So before we all get excited at this or the next occurrence of Somebody
Somewhere Saying Something Bad about Something, let me suggest that we all
step back and ask whether there is any real content.

	For that matter, let me just suggest that we step back and ask questions.  

	Rather than assume or conclude the meaning of the Something Bad that was
said, how about checking the issues out a bit further and finding out about
its meaning and basis?  At the least, ask whether it has anything at all to
do with the mainline of work.

	The fact that I claim your mother wears combat boots or that you claim I
am a greedy son of a gun is entirely irrelevant to that mainline of work.
Why don't we all get really radical and actually ignore such silliness,
instead focussing on statements and content that ARE important?

	I know that that's more work than getting inflamed and firing off
judgmental missives, but no one said that responsible participation in open
processes was easy.

d/

ps. As to the facts of this particular topic, yes, someone on the PAB list
Said Something Bad about Jay.  Oh gosh.  Dear me.  A Very Bad Thing Indeed.
 How could we allow such a thing?  Well, believe it or not, we let people
say what is on their minds, just as is done on all lists which follow the
spirit of Internet participation.  It shouldn't happen.  It isn't helpful.
However, adult supervision for such contributions only takes place when the
thread of exchange has significantly distracted the list discussion.  That
didn't happen in this case.  In any event taking a single participant's
message and declaring it to be a significant representation of PAB feeling
or, worse, an official PAB position is not merely wrong.  It is silly.  So
I suggest that those wishing to claim that such reactions are anything
other than silly should watch their own statements and consider whether the
Thought Police won't be knocking on THEIR door, next.
--------------------
Dave Crocker                                          dcrocker@imc.org
Internet Mail Consortium                               +1 408 246 8253
675 Spruce Dr.                                    fax: +1 408 249 6205
Sunnyvale, CA 94086 USA               info@imc.org, http://www.imc.org

Member, interim Policy Oversight Committee     http://www.gtld-mou.org