Peter Daou, I owe you an apology

I still reserve the right to pound away on the issue. I also stand by my right to snark.

Other than that, I have to figure out how to strike the text and append it to this; or append this to the other one? Whatever. I do want to keep a record of my effing up, because I think it is important that I do not delete anything.

As I said to him in one of our numerous emails, I ought to have Dennis Leary's song as a life soundtrack because many a time I have been known to be an asshole; especially when I am giving a very raw and personal opinion of anything I find upsetting. I think it's important to leave the blunder as a historical record. I don't want people saying I'm trying to change things for one reason or another.

But that's an editorial issue.

I think everyone involved in this brouhaha should make it mean something in a lasting way. I include myself in this and hope the folks at FDL read this and give it some thought.

We've got to learn to make criticism in a way that doesn't tear people down. ie. We need criticism...Terrance's initial post is a sterling case in point...but we also need to be able to work together in good faith for the long haul without burning bridges.

There has to be room for both criticism and some assumption of good faith.

Liza, you're right to apologize...your post, different from Terrance's...really upped the ante in a way that created a shitstorm.

For myself, I don't think my post on dailykos is a model for constructive criticism either. I could have made my points...in particular my challenge to Peter Daou...better. And even though I stand by the post and think the discussion it generated was needed...I'm mindful that post was not a model for going forward.

Imo, Terrance and Jeffrey Feldman have consistently made the case on this issue in contstructive ways. Kudos to them.

Although some words have been said that some people now regret and others don't, I'm not sorry this whole thing happened. It has brought to the surface some ugly truths that had been glossed over in the blogosphere. And it also brought me to his blog. Keep on keepin' on, Liza.

Liza,
This is a gracious apology, and I applaud your NOT apologizing for the content of what you said. I only wish that I could have contributed in a constructive way to the dialogue, but was sick.
What was done to you was not right. We must learn to talk about race in this country without resorting to name-calling, and yet, everywhere I turn, the name-calling breaks over and over again. We forget that we are souls inside these bodies, and souls get injured. My hope is that your soul is not hurt. It's a good, kind soul and you need to keep speaking truth as you see it.
I belong to a program that believes very strongly in making amends. One day, I hope that we can make amends over these issues, but amends means being willing to change the behaviour that precipitated the amends-making. And that, I don't see happening soon. Makes me wanna holler...
All my love.
Lorraine

Nicely clarified, Liza. Are we all still waiting for David Ferguson to apologize to you?

Apologies passed all around is a healthy thing.

My take is that some discussions are just hard to do well in blog format--we need a large room, a round table, a good moderator, and strong whiskey (for the moderator).

Given a good opportunity, it is easier to bring this about than we might believe at first glance.

Good on ya', Liza. And Kudos to Peter for reaching out and taking this opportunity to make the blogosphere, and the Democratic Party, stronger.

Looking forward to hearing more about how this works out -- snarky or not.

Nance

A gracious apology. I would hope that you might receive at least one in return but I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for it.