12 Rules for Navigating in GM’s Corner

As I have said many times before, cruising the internet is fun, especially following links from one site to another to another and to another. Early this morning at around Oh-Dark-Thirty, I was looking up an e-mail address for my young friend Peter who was our guest from Germany when he was a foreign exchange student. I came across an email from my co-blogger Woody that led me to a post by my friend Marc Cooper on his old typepad account which led me to a post by a commenter which led me to a post by Dean Esmay, a noted liberal blogger. Scrolling around Dean's World I came across Dean's 12 rules and found them to be so delightful, I thought I'd adapt them for GM's Corner. So, without fanfare, here are the "12 Rules for Navagating in GM's Corner (with all appropriate apologies to Dean Esmay):

Periodically, I feel the need to remind people of a few things:

1) This web site exists for the sole purpose of publicizing and discussing whatever interests me, whenever it interests me, for whatever reason it interests me.

This includes whatever quirky whim strikes my fancy, at whatever time it strikes my fancy.

By the way, we've been talking about you, and we think you're getting paranoid. I hope you can deal with that.

2) "Conservative" means the following:
A.) Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from preconceived notions of some “Reality Based� world/Point of View.
B.) Favoring proposals for openness and honesty in government, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others except when those ideas and behavior intrude on the lives of others against their wishes (e.g., the tenets of islamo-fascism); broad-minded within the limits of being tolerant as noted above.

That is a Platonic ideal I strive toward, not a paradigm I claim to represent. If at any time you think I fail to meet that ideal, I invite you to say so. The more polite you are in saying so, the more seriously I'm likely to take you. But I ain't Socrates, and I ain't Bill Buckley. You'll just have to live with that.

3) If my definition of "conservative" doesn't fit in within the confines of what Al Frankin or Michael Moore tell you that "conservative" means, well, too freakin' bad. It's GM’s Corner, baby. You're just living in it.

4) So long as people remain reasonably civil, and make reasonable efforts to avoid ad hominem attacks, I'm willing to let them say damn near anything they want here.

5) I'm more tolerant of personal attacks on me than I am toward contributors. But I make no claims to perfection in either area. I do my best. But, I'd really rather you direct your heat toward ideas you don't like, rather than people who chafe your buttocks.

6) Don't get upset if you find me arguing with you. Don't get upset if several people argue with you. If you hang out here long enough, you'll find this can happen to anyone, at any time. Consider that you might be wrong, or, stand your ground and explain why everyone else is wrong.

There have been several times where I myself have been the only one defending my position against a dozen or more people who thought I was totally wrong. Other than hiring gypsy witches to put curses upon them and their progeny, I exacted no revenge at all unless they were so egregious I was forced (forced I tell you, yeah, that's my story and I'm sticking to it) to ban them (and even then, sometimes they use different ailiases and or IP addresses to get around the ban - that's ok, it only means that they were pretty clever at the time, not to say dishonest if you take my meaning.)

7) I freely confess to this completely arbitrary standard: people I'm familiar with will be cut more slack than people I'm not familiar with. Is that fair? Well, no. But I won't put up with trolls, or people who are abusive solely for the purpose of being abusive. My judgment on that point will, without apology, be tempered by how familiar I am with you and/or your writings.

Who's the final judge? Hey. It's GM’s Corner, baby.

8) I'll yank absolutely anyone's chain if I think they've crossed a certain line. Is the line always obvious, or set in stone? Nope. But regulars to this establishment respect it.

9) The longer you're here, the more slack you'll be cut. However, no one except my wife gets infinite slack.

So, does this mean I'll let The Assistant Village Idiot or Civil Truth or Marc Cooper or Texas Fred or Rick Calvert or Dr. Sanity or even Woody chew me out more than someone I'm not familiar with? Yep. Also, does that mean I'll let Shrinkwrapped or Too Many Steves or dougf rant more than I will someone I don't know at all? Yeah, it does. Them I've seen in action. You, I probably haven't.

Fair? Get your own web site, and we'll talk about fair.

10) Other than a few donations to fight my cancer that I've gotten now and then from readers, I get nothing for this. So, you know, if you don't like what you find here, don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out.

11) There is no 11. [for an explanation of this, I forthwith give you some of the comments on Dean's 12 rules]

There is, in fact, an 11. I can understand why you choose not to mention it publicly, but to deny its existence is just COLD.

Posted by Gary Utter on September 22, 2003 at 3:52 AM

The first part of rule 11 is that you don't talk about rule 11!

Posted by Dean Esmay on September 22, 2003 at 4:10 AM

In fact, it is forbidden even to refer to "the rule between Rule 10 and Rule 12."

Or "the rule six down from Rule 5." Or "the rule whose number is a palindrome."

But "the rule that proclaims its own nonexistence" is permissible in certain very limited circumstances.

Posted by McGehee on September 22, 2003 at 9:49 AM

12) Argue. Tell me I'm wrong. Tell everyone else they're wrong. Play in GM’s Corner. Just remember whose it is. If you don't like it, you can appeal to GM, or you can just leave, and to be honest, I'd rather you left because I seldom grant appeals (big grin inserted here).

A tip 'O The GM Derby to Dean Esmay