@cicerone imposter,
Actually, I don't think that okie's treatment is unfair in anyway or any less than deserved. I think, additionally, that george provides an example of
noblesse oblige.
These several threads -- this one plus Obama '08 and the one on where the economy is going -- illustrate how okie hacks away, single-mindedly, decrying people with expertise because
he thinks they are left of center, regardless of whether they are or not and regardless of how they would describe their own stances.
I have certainly been blunt with okie. Heck, I've been downright nasty to him, when you weigh in that I called him a pussy. Anyone exhibiting the level of egotism that okie displays here should expect a little friction. okie's biggest flaw is that he doesn't shut up. He believes himself to be correct because it is his opinion. But he expresses that same opinion, over and over and over.
My mother would have said that okie is a broken record and he is.
Perhaps, were okie to tame his enormous ego, he might be able to craft a message that others might listen to more graciously.
However, in the thread he started a couple of years back . . . and I am sorry, I can not remember what it was called . . . he attempted to have a conversation on the left v the right. Several of the founding members and stalwarts here, Beth, Setanta and others, came and treated him kindly much as george has done here. However, okie did the playground thing: this is my toy and you must follow my rules to play!
That's what the sticking point is. When people here, like Beth or george, treat okie with graciousness, okie slaps their faces. okie's bad behavior earns him the treatment he receives.