I was put in a timeout for about a week and I deserved it. My comments were completely out of line and they do not belong at a place like DailyKOS.
Rather than rehash what happened and get into the well worn “he said - she said” recount of pie-fights, I will just say I want to apologize to the diarist, to the people I directed my comments at, and to all others commenting in the diary. I also want to apologize to all the members of this community as my comments detract from the mission of this site and give ammunition for those who may seek to demonize DailyKOS for political gain (paraphrasing what Greg Dworkin said on KOS Radio a couple of days ago, people try to say that if something is coming out of DailyKOS it must be wacky; so idiots like me acting in a way that allows others to see wacky behavior on this site gives them ammunition against us). I especially want to apologize to the editors, front pagers, diarists and to all members at DailyKOS that share a passion for justice in such areas as politics, civil rights, healthcare, the economy, equality (for women, minorities, LGBT and all Americans) and so many more topics that are so important and so well fought for in this community. I failed you all and I am sorry.
I wrote this apology not knowing whether I might get reinstated or not and felt that it must be delivered because I can see that my meltdown did not just hurt me, it reflects badly on the entire community and that is my biggest regret.
We have been warned often by Markos, Meteor Blades and others that we must behave or else we will be banned for behavior that is unacceptable; I wish I had listened to them better than I did and that I had followed their advice last week. To those that may be tempted to reply to someone in an unkind way (let’s face it we are always right and the people that disagree with us are always wrong, or at least many of us feel that way in the heat of an argument) do yourself a favor and refrain from commenting – take it from someone that was almost a goner, IT IS NOT WORTH IT! (Perhaps some knuckle-head may hear the message this time, as it comes from this fellow knuckle-head, and listen to Markos, Meteor Blades and all the other telling us to cool it!)
I want to extend my most sincere apology to everyone here – those with whom I agree and share so much with and those with whom I may have clashed with on occasion. No one deserved to be subjected to the invectives that I used. I was wrong so I must admit it and we will all move on, but I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all as I have learned a lot here in the last 7-8 years. This community is my home, has kept me informed and has educated me in so many ways that I feel an immense sense of gratitude for having been allowed to share here. Even if I had been banned for good, I would have held no grudge against anyone, not those who HRd me or the Admins that put me in a time-out, I deserved it.
Thank you all. I am sorry and will make sure I do not repeat my performance. Today I got an email from elfling telling me that I was good to go (and, of course, “to play nice”); I felt as if I had hit the lottery - I get to post this apology as myself! I am very lucky that the Admin powers were in a forgiving mood so that they were receptive to my groveling. (Thank you for letting me back, you will not regret it!)
Thank you DailyKOS! Keep up the good battles!