I signed off early, yesterday. What happened?

I won't miss CT and I'm not sorry he's gone. He is insufferable and unrelentingly condescending, Whether that comes from some deep psychological trauma or by nature of his personality doesn't matter much to me. I found his comments irritating and his posts unreadable.

Sorry I can't join your love fest.

Also, nobody ever realy leaves. They lurk, they create a new identity, or they say good-bye and it doesn't take. But if anybody is going to miss being talked to like you're a toddler, I'm sure there are other posters who will be happy to fill in.

Oy.

Ripper you rawk, but CT?

mark me down as (gag)

A very kind and positive gesture this blog, Ripper.

I read someone in comments asking a blogger to be less judgmental. On TPM and in the café. Today. And the blogger said he would try. In that case I hadn't seen any overabundance of judgmental behavior. But agreeing "to try" is always a good thing.

If CT chooses to come back after a respite I will welcome him. If he prefers to hold onto his injury that would be his choice also. He will decide.

An old blogger never dies, they just fade away.......

It's unfortunate he's packed his blogs and left. I thought there was potential there for someone who was articulate, although at times a bit twisted. He certainly brought a different perspective. Problem for me was his attitude towards others. CT simply does not play well with others and no matter how obvious it may seem to the rest of us, never managed to see any degree of self-determination in the reactions people had to his comments. I really appreciated his last blog on meeting Congress critters. That was good material. I hope he comes back and I hope he brings some self-awareness and responsibility for his part in confrontations. I'm not saying things are not the fault of others with CT. There is plenty to go around, but to be convinced it was all one-sided is just absurd.

I know I can be obtuse or confusing sometimes so I have to give CT a break. That said I didn't usually comment on his postings because I disagreed with him more often than not. More specifically, I didn't really know how to respond to some of his conclusions.

My preference would be that persons not be given the opportunity to take down blogs. What is written stays written, period. If I change my mind, or if I cool off, and feel embarrassed by a rant (if I sober up, whatever), I can acknowledge that what I said wasn't my best, correct the misinformation I put forward, apologize to whomever I dumped upon, and swear to myself to do a better job the next time.

I think a change in policy regarding this would have three effects. First, it would make people think a little more about what they're casting out there. "Will I regret saying this?" is a powerful question. Second, it will elevate the legitimacy of the blogosphere. No other written information media can control the life of its content. This doesn't mean everything endures, but it takes the decision of what endures out of the hands of those who initiate the conversation. Finally, it is much more fair to those who will try to make sense out of this era in the future. Historians are touchy about the deliberate eradication of the historical record. Like it or not, Clearthinker is part of the public record, and removing evidence of his/her presence is a kind of intellectual suicide.

Jeez...I take a few days off and this place falls apart!

Ripper, thanks for posting this or I wouldn't have known he left (again)only in a way that makes it seems like he's REALLY gone this time...

I fall into the camp that enjoyed CT when he played nice, which granted, wasn't often. He derailed more than one of my posts with his obnoxiousness.

I think he's a smart guy with some good ideas. He often challenged my thinking in a way that helped me clarify my viewpoint, and I appreciated that (and told him so!) What drove me crazy was his condescending attitude, and the way he spiraled into hatefulness when his ideas were challenged (and I told him that, too!)

It is like there were 2 CTs in one, you know - a split personality...I'll miss one of him and be glad the other is gone.

i'll miss him too.

The decision to wipe out his threads and all the conversations in them erases any desire I might have to see him post again. Leave if you must ... trash shit on your way out the door nothing to say but "FUCK YOU!". Once there are comments, you aren't just taking down your own work anymore - you are erasing the work of others as well.

Rosenberg is kind of a shithead for doing it occasionally (I'll never waste my time on one of his threads again), now Clearthinker has made himself a total piece of shit in my mind. Good riddance.

I always appreciated CT's comments for their critical analysis, the education I received while reading them, and the education I received from reading others' comments. And I'll leave it at that.

I think it was extremely nice of you, Ripper, to post this.

And I'm sorry CT has decided to take all his/her comments (and those of others) and just go home. I don't know how you remove your own blog without taking the comments with it, but it's too bad.

i am upset that he took down his blogs. He and I went hammer and tongs over his perspective on overpopulation... I could never pin him down on just how far he was willing to go to address a problem that involves reproductive rights. The conversations (well, arguments) were important because we both had valid perspectives that addressed the liberty/equality tension in democracies.

One thing CT never did was take another's opinion and perspective and refine his/her own thoughts. The underlying assumption behind everything CT wrote was "I am right and if more people in the world thought like me, then the world would be better for it." Instead, I found a haughtiness and sloppiness to his thinking that was more Randroid than logician.

I don't want to say good riddance, but it is tempting.

Seems more than a bit cowardly to me. After reading his blogs and his comments, I'm surprised. Really surprised.

Whatever happened to "the courage of your convictions"? ClearThinker was the last person I would have considered a quitter.

The constant challenger can't take being challenged. Who'd a thought??