The Permanent Ban

I’ve been blogging for almost four years.  In all those years, I have never blocked anyone from ever commenting again on this blog.  In reaction to the post about the Delaware Spa Party and State Rep. Mike Ramone, one commenter crossed the line in a major way.  I’ve developed thick skin over the years but what I will NEVER tolerate is someone going after my family.  Especially my son.  This person wrote “Do you even have a kid who has special needs !! You are con -artist !!”.  I initially left the post up because I know this person and believe her to have good intentions but bad judgment.  But as her comments continued, including out-and-out lies, I had to take them down.  It is not something I like doing at all.

While many in Delaware seem to be angry at me over the Nudist Party post and the ramifications of that post, this blog is primarily about education.  I will fully admit this post was out of my usual realm.  It was not mean-spirited in nature or meant to be some personal attack against Rep. Ramone.  When I received the tip, and saw the accompanying verbiage on the website and Twitter account, it suggested something entirely different than what Ramone talked about on WDEL.  Had it been completely innocent in appearance the way Ramone made it out to be, I wouldn’t have touched it.  But obviously, Ramone agreed with that sentiment and the nudist party was shut down.  While some described my post as “Puritanical” in nature and that I pre-emptively judged Ramone, I tend to use some humor and sarcasm in posts at times.  Most of what I write is about bad things so for my own sanity I try to inject some levity in posts.  And let’s face it, a post about a state legislator that owns a business that hosts nudist parties is not something you read about every day.

Ramone suggested in his interview with Dan Gaffney that he questioned the motives behind this.  He mentioned it was done in an election year.  If I truly wanted to crush Ramone in an election year, I would have put this post out right before a primary if he faced one or closer to the General Election.  As I mentioned in a comment, I don’t have a beef against Ramone.  I don’t always agree with his bills but there are some I’ve liked.  I’ve joked with Ramone at Legislative Hall at times.  I am not a diehard Republican nor am I a staunch Liberal.  I’ve said this a million times but the banned commenter seems to think I am working for some Liberal agenda here.  One commenter demanded I apologize to Ramone.  I thought about it all morning, and yes, I will apologize to Mike Ramone publicly.  I’m sorry my post led to a decision that destroyed a 25 year tradition at your place of business.  If this was truly an innocent and “kind” gesture (as Ramone repeatedly said in his radio interview) it is certainly a shame it is now gone.  But that was not my decision.  It was my decision to write about it.  Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine WDEL would pick up on it and talk about it to the extent they have in the past few days.  I’ve seen other Delaware political blogs write about very outlandish and crazy stuff without that kind of attention drawn to it.  But I understand this blog resonates with many parents, teachers, legislators, students, and Delaware citizens because the heart of it is about education.

As for the commenter, I sent that person a private message indicating why I blocked her.  I truly hope she understands but that is her own conscience she needs to grapple with and I certainly hope she has a moment with herself and the way she projects herself.  Others have expressed the same thoughts about her to me.  I don’t believe she is a bad person but terribly misguided.  This is what modern politics has done to many people.  It is a true shame.  So many people in this country have morphed into one side and one side only.  There are ALWAYS gray areas.

Meanwhile, I will continue to write…