Hey MarsCon,
This is my Official Response to the Official Complaint filed by Madison Matricula Roberts about how I’m a terrible mean bad person for responding to the angry mob (of about half a dozen people) who think I have no business being invited as the Guest of Honor at your event. I’ll leave the original complaint from Madison in italics. My responses will be in bold.
After I send this to you, I’m also going to post all my stuff publicly as I usually do in situations like this, because sunlight is the best disinfectant. I will also be very blunt in my response and include some backstory which Madison conveniently leaves out, unlike my haters who prefer vague insinuations and pretending that each of these events occurs in a vacuum.
MarsCon Con Chair and Staff:
I would like to alert you to Larry Correia’s violation of the MarsCon Harassment Policy and Code of Conduct as written and as I interpret it.
Yeah, I bet that “interpretation” bit is gonna be a real kicker, ain’t it?
I am requesting it to be reviewed via this official channel outlined in the policy.
Cool. Me too.
I will also demonstrate that Madison knew exactly what she was doing, and despite her claims to the contrary, she was attempting to stir up outrage in order to get me disinvited. Because she and her friends have done it before and will probably continue to do so in the future to other authors as long as cons keep folding and giving them what they want.
Madison portrays herself as a victim. She is not. She is an accuser. We have the right to face our accusers.
Let us begin.
Harassment:
Mr. Correia has not treated me with “common courtesy” as referenced in the Harassment policy, becoming hostile immediately in response to my criticism of the Con Chair’s choice to promote him as a Guest of Honor.
Well that’s an interesting take on this thread – https://www.facebook.com/groups/MarsConVa/permalink/10167515875045048/?mibextid=Nif5oz
I’d invite everyone in the audience to read the whole thing and judge for themselves. Also, pay attention to the time stamps because Facebook threading gets wonky. What it looks like to me is the ConChair announced I was the GoH, and all of the initial posts were from people excited and happy about that.
Then along comes Madison. To say that I am “not appropriate”, given the “tone” and “inclusiveness” of MarsCon.
Hmmm… Those seem like loaded terms. Exactly what kind of people are bad for “inclusiveness”?
If you are not inclusive, then clearly you are exclusive. But who am I excluding exactly?
As you’ll see, Madison and her friends love to toss out loaded terms which are in common colloquial use today for sexists, racists, homophobes, anti-Semitics, bigots, etc. but the clever ones never actually come right out and say it. They gleefully dance up to the line on harassment policies to annoy their targets, hoping to goad their targets into an angry response so that they can then cry about civility and “tone”.
However, as we’ll see later, some of these people are really bad at dancing, trip over that line, and accidentally show the kind of people they really are.
Then several more people showed up to say that they found my presence appropriate and they liked my tone. (honestly, it is because my tone is aligned with the half of America which is sick and tired of of this endless partisan hack weaponized cancel culture nonsense, but I’ll get back to that).
As people are defending my character to her, and testifying that I am inclusive, and giving real life examples of me being cool with everybody at the many other events I’ve attended, Madison says “I just think it’s important that we’re able to speak about plain opinions on the record publicly.”
But as we’ll see, Madison means she and her friends are able to speak their opinions in public. When me and my fans do it we are uncivil and rude. They can say whatever they want about me, that’s cool, but if I ask for evidence of their allegations that’s harassment.
One of my fans chimed in and said “Found a CHORF.” Apparently from the ensuing pearl clutching this was the greatest personal attack which has ever occurred in the history of online communications, and for the next few days this particular post got brought up a whole lot as an example of why Larry Correia and his fans are dangerous barbarians who should be shunned from society.
Keeping in mind I’m not even the one who said that, CHORF is from here https://bradrtorgersen.blog/2015/03/31/chorf-its-a-word-now/ because in 2015, back when all the fans with the wrong politics were getting run out of WorldCon, people needed something to differentiate the cancel culture social justice warrior contingent from the old school SMOFs. “Cliquish, Holier-than-thou, Obnoxious, Reactionary, Fanatics” Because calling the perpetually offended, political lockstep, group who were always trying to get everyone who disagreed with them deplatformed, Smofs was insulting to the old school fans who just wanted to run cons and have a good time. So Chorf because internet shorthand for the angry social justice contingent of fandom which was continually complaining about “tone” while trying to boot out everyone who dared disagree with them.
Gee whiz. I can’t possibly imagine why this one dude would call Madison that (especially when we get to the part where she’s done this before to other authors at other cons). How rude of him. But anyways.
Madison then repeatedly claims she’s not trying to get me disinvited. Oh no. She’s only using the exact same tactics and even verbiage which got me and other authors disinvited from other events, programs, and anthologies, etc.
For example, in 2018, when it was announced that I was the author GoH for Origins someone “raised concerns”—just like Madison did here—which innocently and organically and was in no way coordinated turned into an angry mob of perfectly like-minded people “sharing their opinions” and the con chair immediately folded (seriously, it took like 30 minutes) https://monsterhunternation.com/2018/05/15/statement-concerning-my-being-disinvited-as-the-guest-of-honor-for-origins-game-fair/
This is one incident of many for me, some attempted, some successful, but always from the same type of angry complainer, using the exact same narrative template. Vague insinuations of how I make people “unsafe” or how I violated some arbitrary rules of “tone” (the Origins one it turned out my sin was defending another con from vague and baseless allegations of racism, because in the process even though that complainer turned out to be the son of a literal billionaire, I had “exercised my white privilege over him” and my disagreeing with his lies and distortions was “being incredibly rude to a person of color” and so on. Are you starting to sense a pattern?)
But oh no. This can’t be that. Surely Madison is pure as the driven snow and there is no way that she could possibly have ulterior motives.
Except that she herself has done this before to other authors – https://www.facebook.com/madisonmariaroberts/posts/pfbid0fAM2KivHNWMawrho3wCYvKopQrQCn7upN43kmA69yGCXdmKT7wbDJym3pocbQ4qTl and was ultimately successful in getting John Ringo kicked out of ConCarolinas.
I believe that incident used the exact same template. Some vague insinuations of danger, mumble something about inclusion, and a group of totally innocent concerned citizens show up to be outraged until the con chair folds or the author gives up in disgust.
And lo and behold, what does Madison do next in our GoH announcement post? She innocently expresses her concerns about MarsCon’s security and diversity policies. Huh? Are you saying me and my fans are the kind of people who have an issue with diversity? (normal people call those bigots) Why would you need beefed up security? Oh, unspecified reasons. It is probably best to just leave those to the imagination.
About now is when I show up.
You can read through my response to her and check to see if I had any name calling or personal attacks with my initial response. Decide for yourselves. My patience wore thin in the next one, but I’ll link to that when we get there.
He then used my request that harassment, code of conduct, weapons, and diversity policies at the con be updated/reviewed and easy to find as evidence that I was insinuating that he personally was “racist, sexist” and made people feel unsafe.
Well no kidding.
He has continued with those accusations even after my repeated clarification in the thread
That’s because you clarified NOTHING.
Madison isn’t coming out and saying we’re dangerous hatemongers, just that the con had better beef up its security to protect everyone from all the dangerous hatemongers who will show up because Larry Correia is there, but she’s totally not calling anybody dangerous hatemongers. Oh and we need a solid diversity policy to stop all those racist homophobes who will be there because of Larry Correia, but she’s totally not insinuating anything about Larry or his fans by that.
And during all this, even though Madison was good at dancing up to the line but not overtly crossing over, that didn’t stop several people on her side from flopping over the line, talking about my dangerous hateful fans, but as usual the perpetually offended complainer acts as if nothing else ever happened before or during this. It was just me being a big meanie for no reason.
and my personal conversation with the Con Chair, in which he said Mr. Correia apologized for “goading” me.
I’d like to goad you people into actually telling the truth about your motives.
I reiterated that the “tone” I was referring to was the combative tone that Mr. Correia (and many of his supporters, for whom I will make separate complaints) exhibited in the thread using assumptions, hostility, insults, and direct tagging me demanding further explanation–even in unrelated comments on other threads (see attached PDFs for marked instances).
I love how these arbitrary rules of civility work.
Madison and company can basically say “I’m not saying Larry Correia and his fans are racist hatemongers, just that we need to protect the women and minorities from all the terrible racist hatemongers who will be there because of Larry Correia.”
When you respond to this kind of character assassination, that’s “combative”. You are “polarizing”. If you don’t like being lumped in with Nazis or the KKK and demand evidence that’s “fanning the flames of division.” All while the people on their side continually post inflammatory nonsense, any response from any of my fans, ranging from mushy to hard, don’t matter, it’s all declared inappropriate.
They can malign us and that’s fine. If we respond at all, regardless of how we do it, they don’t like your tone. You sound angry. How uncivil. So rude.
Only my people have seen all that before. It doesn’t work on them anymore.
In compliance with the Harassment Policy and requests from the Con Chair in the threads themselves, I refrained from engaging further with Mr. Correia in that forum, though I offered to continue the discussion with him in another public forum or via private contact.
Madison offered to continue the discussion in private after the public shaming event didn’t work out the way she hoped. Normally five or six complainers can post enough to look like an angry mob and get a Con Chair to cave and banish the “problematic” guest, only in this case me and my fans showed up to actually defend ourselves from the dumb and baseless accusations.
I’d like to note that in neither of these threads was any actual evidence ever presented to show how me or my fans make anyone from any minority group “unsafe. In fact, quite the opposite, as my fans from various diverse backgrounds came forward to call Madison and her ilk out on their slander, offering plenty of real life examples that I’m none of the vile things they routinely accuse me of.
Instead, they just shifted gears to crying about my rudeness in responding to their baseless accusations. How dare I?
After that, Mr. Correia continued to tag me personally in the same MarsCon forum, even after a warning from the Con Chair.
I tagged you asking for evidence. You accused me of being the worst kind of person. No evidence was forthcoming. You claimed to want a public discussion, except it appears you only wanted that as long as it remained a lop sided dog pile.
The Con Chair asked for no personal insults, which I passed onto my righteously angry fans (yeah, it is funny how constantly being accused of things you aren’t makes people mad). I never saw any “warning” from the Con Chair about my asking you to present evidence of the things you were accusing me of.
This evening, Mr. Correia also included my name on a reposted comment to his followers on his author page.
Yep. You and your friends weren’t just insulting me. You were insulting them too, so I figured they’d like to know. You make a public accusation I’m assuming you want a public reaction.
While Mr. Correia has every right to use my public comments in this way, I believe he has already demonstrated in the MarsCon forum his willingness to allow his fans to continue his vitriol and harassment on his behalf (see attached).
Oh I don’t need their help, but you and your buddies maligned them too, so fair is fair. So yeah, let’s talk about the vitriol and harassment of the third parties in this discussion, because I seem to note your entire complaint makes it sound as if you were acting all alone while me and my cruel fans victimized you.
Because after that first thread got locked, someone else started a new thread to complain about me, and the whole thing is hilarious and I think everyone should read this- https://www.facebook.com/groups/MarsConVa/permalink/10167523589350048/?mibextid=Nif5oz
I notice you talk about how cruel and mean my fans are, where out of several hundred comments over two threads somebody said Chorf, but you left out some other context, like how you had some helpers, (I’m gonna paraphrase because I don’t feel life scanning through 600 comments to find these, and frankly I listen to so much tired bullshit from you people that I can’t remember most of your names and you all run together, but the links are there for people to read for themselves) like for example:
The woman who got upset that the guest was a straight white male, and how dare the con invite a gun owner. Ironically despite the great many vague references to racism and sexism from your side, the only outright bigotry displayed was from her. When some of my people called this woman a bigot, your side tried to spin that as a “personal attack”. Oh hell no, that was literally the dictionary definition of the word Bigot.
The guy who danced up to the line trying to insinuate I was some kind of Nazi, referring to some incident I’m not familiar with in MarsCon’s past where the bad guy in some LARP wore a swastika, and how having me there was “repeating this mistake”. Ironically when I pointed out who my grandmother’s Polish ancestors were, then tagged in another author who is a devout practicing Jew, who has known me well for many years, to testify if he’s ever seen an iota of antisemitism from me, that attacker bailed.
Or the guy who repeatedly lied about my past, and events surrounding WorldCon, including cherry picking half of a debate with George Martin, while leaving out my response, and the part where George admitted I was right. During that sub thread I got called envious, petty, a liar, and they insulted my integrity and intelligence. But that’s totally not a vitriolic personal attack.
One genius opened by calling me piteous, then declared that confrontation was bad. I pointed out he was confronting me. No. It isn’t confrontation when he does it. 😀
I was called unpopular (which is really goofy considering simultaneously another one of you was whining about my presence causing the lines to be too long). I was called polarizing and divisive (also interesting, since it seems as if there’s approximately a half a dozen of you, a couple hit and run one and dones, and far more people being supportive of me, happy that I’m going to be a guest.
In one post a guy made vague inferences that I’m somehow homophobic. Ironically, the next chronological post below his was from a fan of mine talking about how he and his lesbian daughter and girlfriend love all my books, and are super excited they all get to meet me in person.
That same dude kept talking about how I don’t belong there because of my “disgusting beliefs”, yet when pressed, could not name a single one of them. In fact, he posted like ten times saying it wasn’t his job to list my “disgusting beliefs” then said I protest too much. (lol. I’m sorry, that’s funny as hell). But anyways, that’s because A. if he lists my disgusting beliefs, half the convention is gonna say wait a second, I believe that too and don’t find it disgusting. And B. far more nefariously, if you describe something as a disgusting belief but don’t say what it is, that leaves it up to the audience’s imagination, which means that they’ll fill in the blanks with the worst thing possible.
Then there’s probably the most offensive one of all, whose name I do remember, because his fake name is Miles Vorkosigan, and the fact that somebody like him is besmirching such a beloved character is just sad. Read his disgusting screed and feel the partisan hatred he oozes toward half the country, before you hypocritically cry to me about vitriol.
And there are so many more. Seriously, everybody should go read those two locked threads directly off the MarsCon forum because it is a fascinating look at the pathological nature of cancel culture. I love how people throw shit at the wall to see what sticks, and then move goal posts when refuted, just to throw more shit the next post down, all while crying that they’re the victims.
By continuing to declare his false accusations of my intent and involvement, I think my initial concerns of his combativeness to dissenters were well-founded.
Oh, I don’t know about that! I just presented the history and evidence about your intent. We’ll let the audience decide. It also explains why I get “combative” when people try to get me deplatformed, considering this ain’t my first rodeo.
While my comments are public and I stand by them, I have never called Mr. Correia racist, sexist, etc. nor have called fo him to be disinvited from the convention.
Nope. You just inferred it, then let the attack mob go to work. You didn’t specifically call for me to be disinvited. You just used the exact same tactics which have gotten me and other authors disinvited from other conventions, while expecting an entirely different result.
However, Mr. Correia has continually accused me of doing so, and demanded I respond multiple times after I indicated I was not discussing it in the MarsCon forum further.
Yep. And I’m doing it again. I am accusing you of manipulating a system to get an author you don’t like booted from an event, as you and your friends have before, and you surely will again.
In private communication with the Con Chair, I was assured he understood that I was not calling for Mr. Correia to be disinvited nor had I suggested it. The Con Chair also posted this on my behalf publicly, to little effect on Mr. Correia’s continued demands and harassment.
That was before I sent the Con Chair the links to you and your friends doing this exact same thing to John Ringo.
I reiterate that to my knowledge, no one has publicly called for Mr. Correia to be disinvited, as he claims, though I understand that the difference between “disinvitation” and “we question why you picked him” can be a fine line to someone in Mr. Correia’s situation and experience.
This is so tiresomely repetitive. Yes, yes, you are totally innocent and just having a super public conversation with no ulterior motives. Just like the last twenty times you guys have done this to authors with the wrong politics to try and get them banned.
Mr. Correia’s response to my criticism of the Con Chair’s choice of him as GoH has been explosive, derisive, and disproportionate.
Oh, on the contrary. I’m being rather polite, all things considered. After years of attempted boycotts, threats, disinvites, harassment, insults, slander, and the weight of having a straw man version of me be utterly despised by thousands of total strangers, I’m letting you off easy.
It has gotten much nicer over the years though. I used to be one of a handful of people who got this treatment, but now half of America is wise to your scam. You’ve done it too many times, in too many industries. History has shown that responding to character assassins in any way will cause the assassin to label it as “explosive”. What you call “derisive” I call honest. As for “disproportionate” I’m the one getting mobbed and hounded for years on end by profoundly dishonest and manipulative people like you, so I don’t think you get to decide what’s “disproportionate” or not.
Code of Conduct:
More concerningly, Mr. Correia has flagrantly violated the Code of Conduct, specifically Item 9–”be excellent to each other”–which I interpret to mean that courtesy, kindness, and moderation are values of the MarsCon community.
So flagrant. Much tone. Muh civility. It is excellent to question people’s character, but not excellent to defend it. Oh no. That’s not how Madison interprets it. That’s combative. Excellence requires you to sit silently while people make shit up.
I think we’ve got a vast difference in understanding what excellence means.
My criticism of the Con Chair’s choice of Mr. Correia as GoH was specifically because Mr. Correia and a vocal subset of his fans have a reputation for being combative, rude, and dismissive of social collaboration online.
Actually, no. That’s what you shifted to after vague insinuations about me making people unsafe. Once I responded that unlocked Tone Policing on your play card.
And what the hell is “social collaboration” mean to you? I didn’t ask for you to blunder into a happy post about me getting to be a guest at something fun so you could make snide innuendos about the characters of my fans right before I get dog piled by a bunch of lying psychos and some lady who wants to tattle to the local paper that the guest is white and owns guns. If that’s your idea of social collaboration you’re damned right I’m dismissive of it, because frankly it sucks.
Regardless of whether this was founded or not (though in way of explanation, I took time to read more of Mr. Correia’s blog, social media, and essays to make sure my perception of him was not mistaken),
You guys can read all that for yourselves, I’ve got years worth of posts documenting this same nonsense. but if you don’t want to, I’ll save you some time. I’m the guy who responds to lying bullshit artists and partisan hacks the way everyone really wants to, but often can’t because somebody like Madison would then come along to try and cancel you.
You’re welcome.
Mr. Correia has behaved in exactly that way to me and others in the MarsCon community. He condones insults and ad hominem attacks,
I love how that’s always a one way street!
Attack, attack, attack.
Defend.
HOW RUDE!
makes false accusations even after being presented with contrary evidence,
What evidence?
and generally has been unpleasant,
I can’t imagine why. Maybe if your friends call me a nazi some more I’ll finally become nicer.
unhelpful,
The people on my side of the debate would disagree on that one.
and unrepresentative of the previous tone of the MarsCon forum.
An interesting note on this one, buried way down in one of the locked threads on the MarsCon thread, one fan of mine didn’t want to deal with the stupid lies and went through and blocked all the super vocal Larry haters. To do that FB requires him to open their profile, which shows all their posts in the MarsCon forum… and interestingly enough, according to him nearly all of the really vocal and insulting people joining the dog pile Madison started… hadn’t posted much or at all on the MarsCon forum.
Curious.
What else changed in the forum’s tone? Were there ever any other thinly veiled personal attacks on GoH announcements? Because the tone seemed pretty happy until Madison posted and gave the Go signal for the cancel mob. (oh wait, she totally didn’t know that was gonna happen, even though the same thing happens every time they do this, including events she’s been eyeball deep in)
I have detailed some examples of his combative tone and inappropriate language below, also in the attached PDFs.
I linked them too, but just in case all the sub threads aren’t on there you really should go to the MarsCon forum and look at the locked threads on there, because some of the shit these people were slinging was downright deranged.
Concerns about Enforcement of These Policies:
Additionally, the ConChair has repeatedly stated publicly that Mr. Correia’s involvement and behavior at other conventions has no bearing on his presence at MarsCon and asked members who bring that up to refrain from doing so. Mr. Correia, however, blatantly continued to do so even after others abided by the Con Chair’s request.
Oh that’s just nonsense. Others DID NOT abide by the Con Chair’s request and everybody can go read the threads and see that for themselves. At first some dude brought up me upsetting the partisan apple cart at WorldCon many years ago, and after I explained to that first one my side of the story (and how everything I alleged has been proven true, and now they’re being held in a communist dictatorship and their big guest is a fierce advocate for Russian war crimes) he actually admitted I brought up a valid point.
Then afterwards some other guy kept bringing it up in a super insulting manner, and I shot down his ridiculous version of events. (this was the one who thought quoting GRRM trying to debate me was some kind of own, until I linked to the rest of the debate where I responded, told George where he got it wrong, and George grudgingly admitted I was right).
So you’re flat out lying on this one. If the Con Chair had a problem with anything I said in that particular exchange, I didn’t see it.
I believe that at the current time, the Con Chair is setting an unfortunate and unfair set of standards where the GoH doesn’t have to abide by the same rules as everyone else–even after publicly telling Mr. Correia the rules do, in fact, apply to him.
The rules do apply to me. Which is why I get to respond to your accusations right now, which is pretty cool. But honestly, this line here is a trap, and any convention which falls into it is doomed to descend into partisan irrelevance. When a con allows every crank with an axe to grind the ability to declare what the acceptable “tone” of all the guests are based upon the power of their personal offense, they’re gonna use that like a club.
Madison may pretend not to, but she knows this. It’s the hecklers veto.
The Con Chair has stated publicly that Mr. Correia’s online behavior (even in professional or professional adjacent spaces) has no bearing on his ability to be a guest as long as he is not “rude in person” (see PDF highlights).
Now this is a fun one, because despite the multitude of allegations of feeling “unsafe” from Madison’s tiny but very loud mob, I’ve been to hundreds of events and never had an issue at any of them. Why? Because their traditional weapons of snide insinuation, backbiting, and internet cancel mobs don’t really work in real life. They only work online, where a handful of cranks can give the appearance of being representative of reality.
That Miles dude was the most blatant with this particular line of bullshit, talking about how my fans will be shouting down panelists, or wearing cosplay with (strangely unspecified) hate symbols. Hmm… I wonder whatever he could be insinuating there?
In all the years I’ve been doing this, over hundreds of events, big and small, red state or blue state, many of which I was the GoH, nobody has ever seen me or my fans do anything like that. However, we have seen people from the other side throw some truly outlandish emotional tantrum crap at events, so I’m sensing a bit of a projection issue on this one.
On the internet, I return rudeness with rudeness, because I choose not to play by the arbitrary rules of fake civility set by profoundly dishonest and manipulative people. In person this has never been an issue because very few people are dumb enough to walk up to a total stranger in person and open with a bunch of crap about how they’re unsafe hatemongers. In real life the cancel culture people tend to sulk in the corners sucking their thumbs, bitter that everybody else is having a good time.
I believe this is a mistake,
Your mistake was thinking that I’m as kind hearted as John Ringo. Despite how you and your ilk portray him, he’s actually a really nice guy. And I watched people like you try to grind him to pieces, and that taught me how your scam works.
though I also respect the right of a convention to define and curate what kind of tone and behavior it finds acceptable. In this case, I believe this dichotomy is not in the spirit of the Code of Conduct and it is being blatantly ignored.
Not ignored. I’m meeting your accusations head on.
You complain about tone. Yet there is never any acceptable tone for anyone who pushes back against the cancel mob. The only thing you do accept is us meekly and silently taking whatever snide accusations you make, regardless of how fake and stupid they are.
My Request:
I request that the Con Chair and committee review my complaint and concerns in accordance to the reporting procedures outlined by the Harassment Policy. I am not requesting any specific action or disinvitation, only that I would like my complaints escalated to the proper channels and allow them to handle it in accordance with their policies or internal procedures.
And my request to the committee is take a look at the history here and what has happened at other events, so that they realize they need to take a stand against this nefarious online outrage mob nonsense.
Because I’ll let you in on another of their little secrets. It ain’t about me. It is about you, and every other convention, get together, and institution out there. If it wasn’t me, it would be someone else. The places that threw me and my people out, they find a new target the next year, because their outrage is addictive. There’s always someone who makes them feel “unsafe”. Getting offended and having you placate them gives them social power and clout. They get to feel important and boss you around. The more people who cave to this scam, the stronger they get.
One sick byproduct of this is that other cons see the outrage mobs forcing cons to disinvite guests with vaguely unspecified “disgusting beliefs” and then they simply don’t ever invite anyone from that half of the political spectrum at all, because why risk the controversy. Those cons then get to enjoy their boring mono-culture, as attendance declines, and the outraged keep expanding the borders of what tones they find unacceptable. The early victims of this scam have since cannibalized their own side, so now even people with the *correct* politics are scared to speak, because they might not be correct enough.
My “tone” is guy who is sick of this shit, by way of Portuguese dairy farmer. If that is unacceptable, so be it. At this point of my career I gain nothing from going to conventions. In fact, factoring in the event and the travel time before and after, and how valuable my writing time is, I actively lose money for each event I do.
So why do I still bother? I like to see my fans, and they enjoy hanging out with me. Unlike all the slander and stupid accusations that’ve been hurled at them, they’re awesome people. We have a great time.
But more importantly, I keep going to cons because I don’t like to let bullies win. I know that every single time I get invited to something, this same exact thing is going to happen. I’ve been through this. I’ve watched others go through this. I know their tricks. I know their tactics. None of this is new.
They’ve tried this for the last few cons I went to. They tried this same exact thing last year when I was the GoH at FenCon. Same thing. Some vague complaints about feeling unsafe. Some outrage. Dire predictions of danger and craziness. About five to ten listless angry types posting lots. And don’t worry, up next in the cycle if you don’t cave, will come the very dramatic flouncing, as those five to ten people very loudly and publicly declare that they simply cannot attend any event which would host such a monster with all his disgusting yet unspecified ideas.
Then FenCon had huge attendance, everybody had a great time, we quadrupled their charity auction, and nobody missed the handful of people who threw the big foot stompy tantrum about me being there.
If you guys decide to boot me over my tone, cool. Just be aware, that won’t satisfy them. You’ve paid the Danegeld. If you want to keep me as GoH, also cool. We’ll have fun. Your call.
Can confirm John Ringo is a super nice guy. Met him at an event years ago. I don’t really do the Con thing (I don’t handle crowds well, and seems to be worse as I age) but I hope they make a good decision.
Ditto comment on John Ringo. He took a few moments to talk to me at another Con. Answered my dumb question.
I love Larry and all his books. I think this response is more respectful than this person deserves. Can the con ban this person from coming? Or better yet, why would that person want to come to something that obviously so offends them?
I find it sad that people can talk about someone like Larry but not about themselves.
Ephesians 4:29
29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
But it’s respectful of the concom. That’s the primary audience (we just get to be the spectators here).
Since it’s his official response to MarsCon it looks like he was a bit more reserved than he is in a usual response to a CISG. But it still reads as authentic Larry.
Keep up the good fight, man. These people are not only destroying fandom, they are destroying our nation.
You are the man, Larry.
I never understand the “I didn’t want him disinvited” thing. Why would you even bring up your criticism if you didn’t, at minimum, think inviting him was a very bad idea? They might not be outright calling for a disinvite, but it’s damn well implied.
Well,, they love to lie.
People like that need the ever-livin’ sh*t slapped out of them. I mean just totally slapped out of them so hard their dead relatives holler “Ow!”
Because it’s a trap for the ConCom. She just wants the con to abide by it’s own rules and take steps to de-escalate the situation. She doesn’t want him disinvited, she wants the con to remove him under one of the con policies. She want’s the situation de-escalated, but the only way to do that is to replace Larry as GOH or remove Larry’s vocal fans. Both of these are distinctions without differences. The other options are for the ConCom to apologize, which will be leveraged every time someone gets invited to get the ConCom to bend the knee again (But you apologized and promised to do better these last times, why are you going back on that now???) or the ConCom stands their ground, which leads to the mob consistently undercutting the ConCom for not enforcing the Con’s policies.
TLDR: The individual in question isn’t pushing for dis-invitation herself, because that lets her play up that she’s not responsible, but rather that Larry and his Fans are.
“the ConCom stands their ground, which leads to the mob consistently undercutting the ConCom for not enforcing the Con’s policies.”
Straight out of Alinsky: “Make the other side live up to their own rules” with the unspoken addendum “as we define them”.
You have to understand the whole, “I don’t want to look bad, but…” mentality. They’re doing the very thing they’re trying to decry of themselves- and they’re trying to misdirect the attention to the, “problem,” they want removed. If you see that they’re actually playing the role of the screaming child in the store (Which is what this Bullshit IS…), then you will basically do the same thing with them that you typically do there- which is to ignore them.
“Emma
I never understand the “I didn’t want him disinvited” thing.”
The proper response to that is “So then I want you to post right here and now: ‘Dear Masrcon ComCom. I do NOT want you to disinvite Larry as GoH. Please keep him as GoH, and ignore anyone who says otherwise.'”
Because if she won’t post that, she’s obviously lying
Correct me if I’m Wrong Larry, but wasn’t the person who was leading the charge about Origins exposed as not only NOT going, but never having any Intention of Going???
Yep.
Not Larry, but you’d have it dead on out of box. The selfsame might be said of this one.
I’m not a con goer but I’ve watched this show many times before with authors that I read and enjoy. I hate it when the cons cave to the radical fringe. Thank you for standing up to them. Best of luck to you and keep up the good work!
I’ve been watching this debacle across my Fb feed over the last couple of days.
So much so that after 10 years of reading Larry’s books, I’m emotionally invested in this thing. Now I need to see a what amounts to screaming CISG get stomped by Larry by way of being the GoH.
This reminds me of NPH’s 2013 Tony opening number, “Bigger”; it just keeps coming. And getting better. Thank you.
I’ve been reading sci fi for well over 50 years and while I’ve been aware of conventions I never paid too much attention except they did sound like fun. The Puppies scuffles perked my attention up a bit but I didn’t actually dig into it too much then either. But I’ve worked in a resource industry for over 40 years,logging which my family has been involved in for over a century and I can tell you these people are of the same mindset as the protesters who’ve had to deal with for decades. Lies,personal attacks and disregard of most civil rules are their meat and drink and NOTHING, especially the truth gets in their way. Have fun and keep giving them headaches!
Nothing to add, everything you said above and more is a reasonable and accurate synopsis of the FB threads. Posting only to let you know that.
Only bit that struck me was when the Con organizer posted to ask you not to insult anyone when I hadn’t seen you insult anyone. FB threads are hard to read in order though due to all the “reply” threads, so maybe I missed something. It seemed odd though.
“Disagreement is an insult. Asking for evidence is an insult. Logic is an insult. Posting their own words to show what they really said is an insult.
Existing is an insult. Why don’t you stop doing that?”
An excellent summary of the logic. What’s the quote from?
insults = ad hominem = people who have never picked up a book on Logic or read the actual definition of the fallacy
Man, this post and this kind of courage is what makes me want to be like Larry when I grow up as an author.
/in before misinterpretation: not sarcasm. I’m working on something fiercely critical of ChiCommParty, and this helps me be brave enough to finish it./
I wish I could attend this con, FenCon was awesome but I can’t keep spending money to travel across the country like that, unfortunately. I had a really great time in your RPG session and so glad I could be one of those who helped contribute to the charity event! Hopefully get to see you again if you come back over to the west coast, but with the politics over here don’t it will be at a con. Here’s hoping, though!
Honestly, I’ve never been a fan of your fiction. I’ve read some and they’re enjoyable but never grabbed me and made me eager for the next.
But your writing on this blog fascinates me. The puppies crusade, the woke pushbacks, and the auditor based writing on the Selection of 2000 were fantastic.
I got my copy of 2A on pre-order and look forward to digging into it.
Thanks for bringing the fight.
How can you not enjoy that the Queen of the Elves lives in a trailer in Mississippi?
You may be a chatbot
Her request is to have the code of conduct reviewed. The con chair should write her a nice letter saying that it has been reviewed, thank her for her diligence, and then close the matter.
Exactly. (Although even that is giving her silly emotionalism more attention than she and it deserve).
I reviewed the Code of Conduct
It was actually sane
I can see why she hates it
Larry,
I’ll make one observation I think you’ve neglected to point out. It is a business for these people. It may not pay in monetary ways, but in their parlance, it pays in social credit.
In attacking you, she’s building her online presence by having us, your fans, respond to her. It, in a sick way, provides her with validation. She can shop that around to her other pearl clutchers and say, ‘See, I fought the good fight.’
She gains by this act whether or not she gets you booted. For her, it is a quick way to ‘virtually name-drop’ herself into circles of influence her pitiful life would not normally have access to.
And it’s -always- a win-win for them: Either they win and get what they want, or they lose and gain Victim Status(tm).
Which is why the ConComs kinda need to ignore them out of box. No need to feed those demons, really.
I have attended MarsCon for 20 years. Both my younger boys were “con” babies, attending in a stroller. Until you were announced as a GoH we were no longer going to attend for various reasons.
I have watched the con move increasingly to the left. As I said in one comment in those FB novel length posts, I am just there to play games. However, I’ve had one of my son’s attend a Harry Potter discussion that got highjacked by far leftie turning into a discussion of the LGBT experiences to be found in HP. The panel did nothing to rope her back in, while parents were walking out with their kids. I’ve seen that happen over and over at the MarsCon.
This year, when this attack started against you, I publicly stated my positions and how they match yours. The woman that decided that White, Right-Wing, Pro-Gun Males make her diverse city so much more dangerous and not welcome to MarsCon caused me to finally break my position of silence. You cannot be a bigot while screaming for diversity. And when I called her out on her saying and asked if she meant me as well, she never responded. (Surprise, Surprise)
So to make a long story short (too late) I want to say, “Thank you,” for taking a stand.
I had the same experience at a local con. Went to a talk on the show Alien Nation and it turned into a Trump bashing fest. They still mandate vaccination and masking so all combined we called it quits . Which is really sad since outside of those couple incidents, we had lots of fun.
Mr. Correia:
I’ve met you briefly twice, both times at Uncle Hugo’s before the Dem-wing thugs burned it to the ground. I gotta say, you’re as impressive in person as you are in print, and with the wall-to-wall (and outside the door and down the block) crowd at Uncle’s you were as kind and generous to each person as it’s possible to be.
I thank you for defending yourself against these utterly baseless accusations; it is not only good for yourself, but everyone else in the business.
Man, I am honestly just so exhausted by the tactics of people like this. They lie and manipulate, but expect to get their way without push back, but then when people do respond, they go into hysterics. I’m sick of lies being believed.
Larry, thanks for always holding to the truth, for not backing down. It’s entertaining sure, but it’s more important than that. They won’t stop until the lies are nuked from orbit.
They’re a lot like small, undisciplined children. They want the toy / badthink person booted / whatever, and when someone tells them “no, you can’t have that” they throw a tantrum.
What makes it both amusing and pathetic is, regardless of if they get what they want or not, they play it off like they “won.” They do their level best to make it a rigged game that the other player can never, ever win.
What they don’t seem to realize is, they drive away the moderate people and kill the very thing they’re trying to “save” from the badthink people.
As an example, from some things I’ve read elsewhere, GenCon is slowly killing itself by pandering to the woke / COVIDiot / “inclusive” (of the CORRECT people) / safe space needing crowd…
Excellent. Always…when attacked no matter how slight, toss back a hydrogen bomb. Never fight on even ground, never give in and make it personal. Get photos of her and directly insult its looks, etc. Destroy, it’s what she’s trying to do.
Maybe don’t give her free ammo, you absolute potato.
A possible troll, you think?
And yeah, Jim, you road apple, if you’re not trolling, comments like yours get flashed around by pinecones like Madison as “Evidence”. Don’t do her job for her.
To be clear, your post is already _on her page_, as ‘exibit a’ of how horrible we are.
(sorry, thought you were talking about Larry in my original comment)
It doesn’t matter. Anything short of curling up into a ball and fading away into obscurity is “ammo” for how horrible we are.
Don’t be horrible, but other than that, stand up for your views.
Wrong. You stick to the facts. You ask clear, concise questions. When they refuse to answer, you continue to push the question. Your objective is to present to the audience(Because you’re never going to win over the opposition), that the person you’re arguing against is wrong, irrational, or otherwise a ‘bad person’. If you go stumbling in ass-first calling her a transvestite(yeah, someone did that), you are going to lose.
Sorry about that. Missed some of the context. Yeah, don’t do stupid crap like that.
My fault for skimming on lunch and misreading what was said. What you are talking about does clearly fall in the “being horrible” category.
No, you don’t allow the opposition to set the tone and rules of the argument. Period. Ever.
Because if you do, you’re going to lose.
@madamos –
“No, you don’t allow the opposition to set the tone and rules of the argument. Period. Ever.
Because if you do, you’re going to lose.”
Here’s the problem with that. If they accuse you of being rude, nasty, making threats, etc…. And then you _are_ rude, nasty, and say things that could be construed as threats, YOU LOSE. We had her on the facts. We had her on prior bad behavior. We could have cooked her goose simply by sticking to the facts. But noooooo, we had to let the monkey brain drive, and throw shit everywhere. And now we’re very likely going to lose, because we gave them exactly what they wanted.
Facts don’t matter to these jackwangs. Only their and their fellow travellers’ feeling matter.
No amount of fact and science (real science) and logic will ever sway them from knowing their feelings matter more than, well, facts and science and logic.
They’ve basically created a pseudo-religious cult based on their personalities and feelings.
I think that if you even do that much, they’ll not be satisfied with it. They’re not mentally stable to begin with.
Hi, Jim in VA. Or should I say, Moby?
So, when your opponent is toxic and has weak, contradictory arguments, you think it’s best tactic to result to ad hominen attacks? That is just stupid, and truly reeks of toxic trolling.
Define ad-hominem…
I think you’re going to find that this wasn’t a debate and the remarks weren’t largely ad-hominem…well, unless you’re PART of that selfsame toxic bunch to begin with, that is.
To quote, in part, the post my comment was in direct reply to:
Joe in VA ” Never fight on even ground, never give in and make it personal. Get photos of her and directly insult its looks, etc. Destroy, it’s what she’s trying to do.”
Insulting someone on their looks seems pretty ad hominem to ME, and it debases everything. Given the overall presentation of Larry’s argument being VERY focused on the issue, where he has a lot of strong ground, it is illogical to go to personal attacks. Hence, this guys statement is completely illogical, out character, and posted seemingly only to troll.
Oh, I realized I replied to your substance, not question itself: I would define an ad hominem attack as attacking the person rather than dealing with the substance of an argument.
e.g. Mocking someones appearance rather than addressing their (stupid and dishonest) claims.
“Never fight on even ground, never give in and make it personal. ”
Yeah! Great advice, dude! We should all follo…
“Get photos of her and directly insult its looks, etc.”
…um, you DO realize that’s literally “giving in and making it personal,” right?
People who keep asking why a decision was made a certain way are trying to get it changed.
Just goes to show HOW STUPID these leftist ‘CHORF’s ( I think that’s the correct acronym I hope/🤣) are, to start something with a fella who uses his words really really effectively and without any fear!! BRAVO LARRY!! Keep on slaying the monsters just like you do in your books! 💕
How many cons have gone, or are going, bankrupt/out-of-business because after they canceled someone due to the ‘outrage mob’ people stopped coming?
I seem to recall that a few large cons are now small ones. I also think (though I may be mis-remembering) that a few folded?
People are very much getting sick and tired of cancel culture and the outraged mobs – who it always turns out are only a small handful of people who really don’t do all that much financially to support the con in the first place.
I did a lot of volunteering at a local con that did just what you said, except it was canceling people internal to the con itself.
They’ve shrunk rather a lot and are having trouble finding volunteers now. I wonder why that might be?? 🤔
Cons seem to be having problems even without explicit disinvitations and such, though ‘ideological purity’ does seem to be a factor.
I have fond memories of a certain writing con held in Utah in 2020, and sitting and chatting with fellow authors for hours, (even if everyone except me got Covid afterwards…) and now, barely three years later, not only am I not considering attending, most of the people I’d be interested in seeing aren’t either. (Not all, to be fair there are still a number of authors who are strictly apolitical professionally that are going, and I don’t fault them for that.) Meanwhile the con is turning into a Charlie Foxtrot with vending not being ready for set up until a few weeks ahead of the event, which was about the same time the GOH was even announced.
Or…worse…had absolutely no intentions of attending in the first place like with Ringo and Origins…
These people are so disingenuous. Anyway, I’ve only been to one con and it was only because of you and Steve Diamond.
I was at FenCon and everything was great as far as guests and fans were concerned. Hotels and hotel staff conduct is a different matter. With that being said Larry’s fans actually stepped up and operated a shuttle using their own vehicles to get guests back and forth between hotels. They even provided transportation for guests that weren’t Larry’s fans. That doesn’t sound very hateful to me.
We’re evil mean and horrible like that. 🙂
Yeah, there’s a thread on Twitchy about EXACTLY this kind of thing today – https://twitchy.com/samj-3930/2023/02/02/buckle-up-wokesters-wokal-distance-shares-epic-thread-rallying-peeps-to-fight-wokeness-and-fight-now/
Meanwhile, my employer has MANDATORY DE&I training, including ‘microaggressions.’
Go to training with a phone in your chest pocket, with its camera pointing out. Record everything
Ask if the person running the training is a racist. If “yes”, ask why a racist pig should be teaching this class.
If “no”, ask exactly how the trainer knows s/he isn’t a racist.
Ask if accusing someone of “white privilege” is a micro-aggression
Note: discriminating against “white” people on the basis of race is illegal for most companies. Get video evidence of them doing it, and you’ve got them by the balls
Also: ask if it’s a bad thing to be a racist.
If they answer is yes, AND they say that “all white people are racists”, then they’re saying that “all white people are bad people”.
If their answer is “no”, then ask why they’re giving anti-racism training, if there’s nothing wrong with being racist
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 That is all.
Stop. Making. Personal. Attacks. You. Idiots.
Seriously, we have a good thing going here, a clean shot at getting this woman defanged from wrecking people’s con attendances, and you people are _fucking it up_. Quit with the personal attacks.
I do think there’s at least one Moby in the room. When you can’t find the outrage in the thread, sometimes you gotta make your own.
Again, just following the template.
Pretty sure it’s trolling. I did some searching and found at least one of them has zero prior posts on here.
Trolling just equates to the same BS they did to Ringo at Origins and what they TRIED to pull at FenCon.
In short…most of these clowns had little to no intention on being there in the first damned place.
Sir, you are my voice to these people. I used to volunteer to DM D&D at Dragon Con in Atlanta before theae folks ran many of us out for our wrong think. I do not attend now because its hust nnot worth the effort to be surrounded by people who openly drip with contempt for peole who disagree with them. I cannot express the joy I felt as I read your formal response. Please don’t ever change. Semper Fi.
Honestly, how does the “wrong think” even come up when playing fantasy roll playing games? How does it come up when talking about writing or favorite authors? Okay maybe, “I really loved the books I read by so-and-so but he’s a tool on his blog,” involves “wrong think”, I guess?
I don’t understand how something we can have so deeply in common, like…nerding out about the children’s cartoons of our youth and laughing our butts off together, can be turned into something that requires thought police and exclusion. Is it just the horror of having people stand up and say, you know, we’re HERE and we HEAR you and suddenly it’s impossible to claim that only left-wingers are creative or even READ??
Some of that, yeah. And some of it also weird stuff like the giant kerfluffle that happened at DnD Beyond a little while back because the villain’s lair in a big adventure module wasn’t written as being wheelchair accessible or something of that nature which meant that the module was ableist and therefore bad.
Apparently the idea that villains in a medieval high fantasy setting might not care about being ADA compliant never occurred to anyone.
Sooo…Our Heroes are going to storm the Evil Overlord’s Evil Lair in wheelchairs? No doubt the horde of Evil Minions will die laughing.
———————————
They’re the Experts! They only sound stupid to you because you’re not as Educated as they are.
“It’s the Walker Brigade!”
Shades of Saturday Night Live when it was actually somewhat funny.
(For those that don’t know, the US during WWII thought the Nazis wouldn’t shoot disabled soldiers, so they created a brigade of grunts with walkers. Did not go well. Rather good skit.)
Eh, like that ever stopped Cohen the Octogenarian Barbarian and his Silver Horde
it doesn’t help matters much when Wizards of the Coast are near constantly shooting themselves in the foot with their woke, DE&I, progressive nonsense.
Why do people never use the correct order for that acronym? DIE. (I know, bad joke. I don’t care. I still think it should be DIE)
So let me get this straight, WOC/Hasbro having rules that are inclusive of black people and other people of color in Dungeons & Dragons is bad and must be fought, and is also too ‘woke’? 🙄
This comment more than shows why people object to Larry being invited to this con next year.
Okay, that requirement’s utterly stupid, and should’ve been totally nixed by WOC/Hasbro Games, but wanting more minority representation in Dungeons & Dragons is not bad in and of itself.
“Honestly, how does the “wrong think” even come up when playing fantasy roll playing games?”
“Orcs are a racisty racist stand in for black people.”
Pretty much exactly like that. Never mind that it’s horseshit of the purest ray serene. These people just Make Shit Up and then say that you disagreeing with them is just more evidence that you’re raaaaacist.
Don’t ask these people what dragons represent…
Huh, I didn’t think Dragoncon was nearly as bad as all this.
I mean, sure, this type of culture has mostly taken over fandom, and you can see that at Dragoncon to some extent, just because they’re a large percentage of the people there, but I haven’t heard anything about them disinviting people, and the general impression I get is that it’s too big for any small group of whiners to make a big difference.
Baen always still has a big presence there, and the Dragon Awards still seem to be mostly in the “too big/open source to corrupt fully” category.
When did DragonCon go evil?
I’ve never been to MarsCon. The drive to the area has always been a pain. But I’d go just to hang with you, Bridget, and a few others. If this small, screeching cabal of “social justice” howler monkeys succeeds in getting you disinvited, you can be sure I’ll never go. I don’t care who the next GOH is.
Their definition of “social justice”is funny. It’s only Justice when they get their way. And given the number of cons that have bowed to their foot-stompy tantrums, they are no longer the “oppressed victims” they claim to be. They’re privileged, entitled bullies. Fuck them.
Please, if you have any love for Larry’s work at all, SHUT THE FUCK UP. Please. You are actively hurting Larry, and you probably just sealed the deal on him getting tanked from this con. Just.. stop saying stupid shit.
Matt. you’re a friend so I’ll only say this once. You may or may not be right…but PLEASE, stop telling people to not freely express their thoughts as they see fit. I understand where you’re coming from…but I personally stopped playing by ‘polite’ rules a lonnnnng time ago. So have many other people and it’s only going to annoy people.
If telling people to not give the opposition what they want is wrong, I don’t want to be right.
So basically, let the Madisons of the world run their mouths and never ever say anything.
Fuck no. Not happening.
Yeah, no. I’m clear evidence that ain’t how this works.
However, when your enemy sets a clear trap, it is pretty stupid to walk directly into it.
So when they’re trying to ban me, and their straw grasping allegations settle on “Larry’s fans are sexist REEEEE!”
You ain’t helping by making sexist insults, which they’ll immediately screen cap, ignoring the 600 other posts, and use that as further leverage to force the committee to boot me.
That just complicates my life, and forces me to dodge ammo you just gave them, so I can get back to crushing them on the facts for the audience.
^^^THIS. ALL OF THIS
Uhm. Look in the mirror, will ya?
What everybody else said. Thanks, Larry.
. . . this sort of crap is why I left Fecesbook behind me last summer, never looking back. . . .
So, that’s where you went off to. Good for you. Now, if I could only get people to connect up SOMEWHERE else, I’d be happy and do the same thing you did there.
Well, that, and nearly dying. And I found I didn’t miss FB, the longer I stayed off it…
I’ve known John Ringo for well over 20 years now. I consider him a friend and am honored that he considers me a friend as well. He was also Guest of Honor at a convention I chaired; like you, he is an excellent guest and completely professional.
What was done to him at ConCarolinas (and other cons) disgusted me, and ensures that I will never attend that convention.
Fingers crossed that MarsCon does not cave, but I won’t hold my breath.
What this country needs is a good 5-cent cigar and an annual CorreiaCon.
Hear Hear!!! Let there be an annual CorreiaCon!
CombatWombatCon just so everyone knows what they’re getting into 🙂
Be sure your interdimensional insurance policy is paid up first, though! 😀
Hoon!
Got alternatives for those of us who don’t smoke?
Fire extinguisher.
Fascinating. I know Metricula (sort of). I knew she was a bit loopy, but this is clearly unhinged.
She’s usually a program participant at DragonCon on the music track.
Well, they failed at FenCon in spite of everything, and we showed up and had fun. And supported the con, made nice with EVERY guest, and yes, we even ran a shuttle for EVERYONE. Yet here the wokies go again. Excellent responses Larry, as always. And yes, we are all tired of the BS and ‘conduct’ from that side of the con aisle. It’s no wonder we get a bit testy… sigh…
I bet she’s fun at parties
Thank you, Larry, for standing up against the lunatic fringe. As Captain Picard said, “It must be stopped, HERE!” The days of sitting back and taking the boot to the butt are over. I’ve a feeling that the boot is changing owners, and conservatives are about to go on the offensive, but with actual complaints, not made up foolishness.
Evil looms
Cowboy up.
Defeat it.
Enjoy the con.
Too many people fall into the trap of telling others that they need to be quiet when they are attacked. If someone tells the target of an outrage mob that they’re acting like a “victim” when they point out other people’s bad behavior- *they are engaging in gaslighting.*
*Victims* stay silent.
That’s why I find Larry’s comments so refreshing.
So, I have friends on both sides of Ye Olde Political Spectrum. They can’t say what beliefs of Larry’s are the issue, without angering a massive organization. One of my friends on the left recently told me that she had been told that by buying Brandon Sandersons novels, she was supporting the LDS church, because he’s a member. She then went on to list all the things wrong with the LDS church.
However, if they say that in a public forum, it ruins their image of trying to ensure that the con is “Inclusive” and doesn’t discriminate based on religion or gender or creed or whatever fancy phrasing they want to use. It also pisses off all the LDS con goers, who will then pull money from the con by not going, and blasting it. Let’s be honest people, there’s a lot of mormom nerds/con goers. (FANX anyone?)
Personally, MHI is one of my favorite series. I’ve also met Mr. Correia many, many times. The man’s personal connection to his fans is incredible. I’ve had him autograph multiple books, in multiple states where I’ve been when he’s signing. He’s remembered me, I mean seriously, how? Look at the size of his fan base, and he can still remember individuals?
I don’t care what his politics, or religious beliefs are. The evidence I’ve seen is that he’s a genuinely nice man, who has the same habit I do of reacting to personal attacks with the nuclear option because he’s sick of it.
Le GHASP!
Mr Correria! HOW COULD YOU!
[Insert Greta gif here]
You evil, capitalist,evil,bad,mountain owning,cheerleader husband, badbadevilbad, cis, gun owning, badevil, popular & witty & quite skillful author, BAD, un-neutered MAN. I mean MOUNTAIN of a MAN.
Also TT player.
HOW COULD YOU!
If you don’t like the tone of a con guest, or the programs or panel… don’t go. Hell’s teeth, there many which have no appeal to me. I don’t have a snit, imply that the people eager to go are evil, or try and get the GoH disinvited. If no one wants to go, the con will either die or find a different tack. Her problem, per se, is that the inverse is true. The con is likely to be a popular success and overly well supported, with a lot of people enjoying it and having fun, making a profit for next year for the con, and making those running it feel their time well-spent. That is reality and not the message those who wish to make part of the population into pariahs want.
Dave, you’re just clouding the issue with pertinent facts. They hate it when you do that. ~:D
“If no one wants to go, the con will either die or find a different tack. Her problem, per se, is that the inverse is true. The con is likely to be a popular success and overly well supported, with a lot of people enjoying it and having fun, making a profit for next year for the con, and making those running it feel their time well-spent. ”
This is extremely well put, and needs to be shouted from the house tops.
Or, more usefully… Sent as an email to the con committee. Because it’s exactly what’s at stake.
This stuff is tiresome. Thanks for wading through it all over and over.
You’re frankly handling this really well. Keep it up.
Hopefully I’ll see you at a con near me someday. I’d love to shake your hand.
Well said Larry. Well said
If you do not like the GoH, or other things about a con, you don’t go, right? I mean isn’t what normal people do?
I love how “disrespecting the Hugos” is now apparently some sort of blasphemous crime.
If that’s the case, I’ve been a criminal for well over 20 years now. The 2000 Worldcon was the last one that had (IMO) more than one Hugo-worthy novel on the ballot, and even then it was an outlier.
And yeah, no one is believing Meretricious Martinet Robespierre’s “just raising issues” bullshit.
To the fathers out there with daughters: Pay attention to her even if it means making a few sacrifices at work. People like Madison are the result of parental neglect.
Somehow, I doubt that, and think that she had a normal upbringing, growing up with a belief system different than yours and the willingness to express it.
I really enjoy the books of Larry Correia (and John Ringo) even though I don’t agree with a lot of their politics.
Overall I agree with what Larry posted. Diversity and inclusion by definition should include white male’s who like guns, just like it should include women, people of color and white male’s who don’t like guns.
In some MarsCon facebook comments by Larry’s fans and some of the comments here seem to treat left leaning people with disdain. This is very off putting more me. I want to be able to enjoy Larry’s book without having to worry about whether my political beliefs align with his or a majority of his fans. His books are fun and I just want to enjoy them.
Are you a left-leaning person who can have a conversation with people of different viewpoints and ideas without screeching? If so, you are becoming more and more of a rarity. Granted, there are those on the right who do the same, but fewer and they garner less attention. While it may not be fair, understand that so many on the right (and any more to the right of Mao) are automatically lumped into the categories Larry’s accuser are throwing them that we have to assume people on the left agree. We never hear anyone of your persuasion sticking up for us or our viewpoints. Maybe not fair, but reality.
I truly don’t give a shit what your politics are.
I’ve also got a bunch of liberals and a couple of people who campaigned for Bernie defending me from this particular mob.
However, short hand labels are gonna happen, because every single person in that mob shares the exact same politics.
If you feel like the people on your side are making people on the left look bad to the rest of us, you really need to take it up with them. We’re too busying getting screamed at and run out of society to sort that out for you.
What I see is Larry’s fans (and Larry too) treating obnoxious assholes with disdain. I don’t have a problem with that.
We’re also taking note of the fact that a whole lot of obnoxious assholes hail from the left. If you’re from the left, and not being an obnoxious asshole, that’s cool. Join us in calling out the obnoxious assholes, whatever political stripes they wear, that’s even better.
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‘Progressives’ suppress free speech because they don’t have the means to suppress free thought.
Yet.
“Diversity and inclusion by definition should include white male’s who like guns, just like it should include women, people of color and white male’s who don’t like guns.”
Absolutely. But the problem is that the term “diversity and inclusion” has been poisoned. It’s the reason hackles get raised when it’s brought up in the office.
Why on Earth would you GAF about whether your political beliefs aligned with an author or a bunch of randos?
Can confirm Fencon was a great time.
I GAFIATED a few decades ago and only drove the 5 hours to Fencon to see Larry. Was not disappointed. Had a great time and left too much money at the charity auction!
I went to Fencon, my first con ever, precisely because the organizers politely told the SJW types to pound sand when they tried to cancel Larry. Hope Marscon does the same and it sounds like they will
Nonsense like this makes me glad I ditched Facebook years ago (I could only skim the threads because I have a dummy account for work). Utterly ridiculous pearl clutching, and from people who mostly have cartoons as their profile pictures so the actual cancel mob is probably made up of sock puppet accounts.
Side note, I was at Fencon and it was awesome to listen to Larry read us a preview of his upcoming book.
My response if I were the Con Chair:
Dear Mrs. Madison,
Fuck off and die you miserable shit.
Holy hell, get a load of the technicolor-haired social justice landwhale fanning itself over your response, and all of its adherents nodding along:
https://www.facebook.com/madisonmariaroberts/posts/pfbid03ReXWXSjgksAcSxQqtNh1642Cg6sZWWMJ3CjTfPSUH5zxR3GzCuq8J5PwNwHRoNcl
Yep. Struggle session. Very short on evidence, very long on “how DARE you!”
Like the old saying: When the law is against you, argue the facts. When the facts are against you, argue the law. When you’ve got nothing, pound the table and yell.
Lotsa Lefties pounding the table these days, eh?
Gotta say, sounds like the con scene has changed since the days when all I had to worry about was getting my shin kicked by some 14 year old trying to get through me to Leonard Nimoy at the Commodore…
Really, this whole thing sounds like a Maoist struggle session. So fun and entertaining.
The notion of going to an event with that much earnest attention to their Official Code of Conduct, it makes me cringe. My mere existence probably breaks four or five of their rules.
The code of conduct exists as an excuse for othering people they disagree with, otherwise they ignore it.
See also: Cons that make a big deal about not allowing in people who are “abusive”…. then invite Chuck Wendig.
It seems to me on the one hand we have an accomplished author who has sold millions of excellent books who is invited to a convention as guest of honor because of his accomplishments (oh, no, did I gender him? probably. Does he care? no. AIEEE! violation!). On the other hand – because we must always consider integrity, motive and credibility – we have a three-named magenta-haired musician, not that there is anything wrong with that, who has zero published books shown in any online search who is attempting to raise a hate-mob of other unaccomplished and uncredentialed people in attacking the accomplished author.
This is not to deny the possibility that a relatively unknown person could have a valid point. It is to emphasize that, in the absence of demonstrated achievements in the relevant field, the unknown’s position could only be sustained on its own merits because they have zero authority, zero credibility, and zero relevant accomplishments coming out of the gate.
Then we get to the question of motive and bias. What possible motive could a person with no relevant accomplishments hope to achieve? The same one that trolls everywhere seek: recognition and acclaim from similarly situated persons, all of whom seem to believe that a pile of zeros together equates to some kind of positive number. They achieve a personal benefit of more page-hits, more name recognition, more intangibles which may lift them from their zero-status.
This is why Larry’s demolition of the merits of the claim is so devastating. There is no substance to the claim and no other backing or foundation for the claims. If they fail on their merits, they fail completely and leave the zeros with… zero.
Somebody ought to write a song about that…
https://youtu.be/IX2bE-OBtwk
I’d not even HEARD of MarsCon but now I have to buy myself a ticket. Dangit.
For the record: you can probably count me as one of the lefties who will continue to vocally defend you against these completely undeserved attacks.
I’m sorry that you have to deal with this crap.
https://compactmag.com/article/anatomy-of-a-book-cancellation.
Same manure, different barn.
I have no use at all of facebook. When a link I ckick lands me there, I vrash and re-load my browser, and rebuild the superstructure.
Corollary to :Don’t touch the poop,” is when by accident you do touch poop, scrub your hands with strong soap.
Mr. Zuckerberg can go to the outer darkness,
How DARE you defend yourself!
She seems to have raised trolling to an art form.
Now if Larry was a “real” author, they wouldn’t bother him.(Sarcasm) Seriously, people are getting tired of the wokescold yelling and screeching about everyone doing their own thing and starting to push back…and about time. Manners only go so far and the wokescold are relying on the innate manners and politeness of people to get their way before the average person realizes the damage was done.
Wow, I am a couple of days late to this party,
but here is my contribution anyway.
A number of years ago I came to the conclusion that while ideas come and go through history, there are general personality types that keep recurring. The woke attack mob are the mental equivalents of religious and political zealots down thru the ages. The elites that goad the mob and the mob itself, are emotionally driven to oppress others for their own sense of power and advantage, both materially and socially. It is an ancient conflict and it saddens me the human race still operates this way. All we can do is point this out and hold our ground like Larry does.
I know Larry and others have pointed some of this out but I think it is helpful to keep in mind this is nothing new. Sometimes perspective helps.
Sadly, every culture has their ‘Cultural Revolution’ and we’re in the midst of ours. Which is why everything from the arts and sciences, liturature and religion and even food are being attacked and ‘cancelled.’
It is a self-perpetuating mental illness that makes the mob members happy because they are the ones in control.
Sadly for them, the revolution is self-perpetuating and eats its own. Just like with the revolutionaries in France fell to the guillotine right after, or often right along with the former ruling class. Can’t keep the movement moving unless it gets fed, and the lowest hanging and least dangerous fruit are the first to fall, then the next tier and then the next.
It is the same pattern that many cults follow. Which the Woke Movement does seem to meet the requirements of. Mindless acceptance of The Cause. Mindless following of the Movement. Complete bat-quano levels of hysteria when even a calm questioning voice is raised.
Holy shit. I read through everything that showed up for me in those FB threads, and the abject stupidity on display from the tone policing crowd is breathtaking. I sometimes wonder what it’s like going through life that fucking stupid – or that profoundly dishonest – and I’m never quite able to figure out why anybody considers that fulfilling enough to stick with it. You’re the best, Larry. I can’t wait for the next MHI book. That last cliffhanger is killing me!
I’d rather face real zombies than woke zombies. Real ones will smell better and make more sense, plus it’s legal to shoot them.
I can just see the next MH installment. Owen running and gunning through a crowd of shufflers all moaning about wind power and micro-aggressions and Earl hollering at him, “You’re shooting the wrong zombies…. but keep it up!”
So basically, she is yelling ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater, then whispering that she doesn’t want the theater evacuated, but in the next breath complains that someone stepped on her foot as they ran out of the theater?
Wow.
Worse. She’s the one hollering and raising a ruckus, and then when people come over to her to find out what’s going on, she points at someone else and does that weird horrid scream and fingerpointing thing from the “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” remake.
She’s the virtuous one here. Someone else (in this case our noble host and all of the people commenting in his favor) are the ones that are bad.
She doesn’t want everyone to evacuate the theater. Just the person in Seat 2 of Row 3, and the people that came with said person. Everyone else can and should stay and listen to her and hers.
Larry, I gotta say, I don’t know how the (heck) you put up with this (crap). My eyes literally glazed over because I have been getting this same (fecal matter) since forever. Seriously. The problem is, I am straight white mutt with no discernable ethnicity and therefore I’m an un-person. I have no voice, unless I want to bend over and let them shove their hand up my (butt) and (Muppet) my mouth with their opinions. Seriously, I had to culturally filter my speech constantly already to watch my (objectionable) language. Because my cultural formation was in the Marines. Micro-aggressions? Hostile tone? No… Marines don’t do micro-aggressions. Marines do macro-aggressions. If we hate your guts, and it actually matters, we will TELL you, and explain why, and we will leave you in zero doubt as to the hostility of our tone.
Also, by definition, ALL authors are Envious of GRR Martin, because he GOT PAID. The only author I am more envious of is that lady who wrote 50 shades, and made so much bank off a Twilight Bondage Porn Fanfic.
If left-wing people had their way, a convention being profitable would be a badge of shame. The way to go is to make its appeal more selective, then get government grants to sponsor it and hold workshops about how SF can become more inclusive and serve social justice.
There are other possibilities too: school trips organized by left-wing teachers, mandatory attendance as part of literature courses. This won’t be a problem once a convention’s educational value is established, i.e. once left-wing people have it firmly in hand.
Or it could become just a bunch of workshops with closed attendance, i.e. another “elite” institution.
Anyway, the first step is to purge the unclean.
The oikophobia of the pseudo-intellectual elite.
Anything the common rabble like must be somehow flawed and beneath their dignity as members of the Avant-garde intelligencia.
As a former resident of Richmond, I’m sorry about those people. Of course, given what Richmond’s turned into and what they’ve done the past couple years, you wouldn’t catch me giving them one red cent anyway.
I have never heard of this author. But for standing up to these people, for not buckling, for not appologising, and for being an inspiration, I am now a super fan and will buy his books. They look awesome in any case.
Thanks!
The Streisand effect in action. Welcome! You’ll have a blast.
Larry, as an official Minion, I’d just like to make sure you know that I would be delighted to make you a feral bite guard, a’la “Fury Road”, if that’s what it takes to make sure the ninnies feel safe around you. I could probably even knock up a tiger cage if need be.
Ogre de Albuquerque
It’s a cult. They repeat the activity that recruited them because they think that’s “smart,” and how “scholarship” works, and it’s all cult techniques. https://compactmag.com/article/a-black-professor-trapped-in-anti-racist-hell