The Absurd Duque-Grapski Fight
Christian Duque and Charlie Grapski have a lot in common. They are radicals, especially but not exclusively on matters related to SG. They weren’t highly regarded by many when they attended UF. And like many of the more successful Keys they love to hate, they still hang around Gainesville and Alachua County long after their college days were done.
(Disclaimer: While I wasn’t a radical, per se, the Powers That Be like Marc Adler probably didn’t care much for me either in my day. But I did contribute to former SG Vice President Joel Howell’s seat on the Budget Committee which partially enabled his VP nomination by 2002’s Ignite Party. Not bad. Anyway, I’m just saying I’m not exactly an Indie hero like Sowell or Argento may be to some – but at least I had a good sense to leave when my SG work was done.)
Anyway… normally, I let mass emails go unanswered. I do watch Duque’s blog occassionally, and I am sad to see the tragic fall of the UF SG Observer. But what I won’t leave alone is a recent spat that clogged my inbox, a spat I wasn’t party to.
Apparently, Christian and Charlie had a falling out over some radical protest and an arrest by local police. So when one sent an email out to the mailing list for his blog, in which he comment about the other person, of course it got responded. I didn’t need to see all that or become a witness to their falling out.
But what bothers me most about the whole incident is Chris Carmody’s response. That is, he thinks the two of them should see who can handle being Tasered the longest. That is the essence of his response, and I really think it was quite uncalled for.
Carmody and I were once friends and occassional allies at UF, so I don’t want him to think it’s personal. I just think when responding to an ugly mass email you should just remind the writer(s) that the rest of us don’t care. There’s no reason to name-call and recommend bodily harm.
Even to Duque and Grapski, whose personal feud, having spread to mass emails, really has become quite absurd.
I agree Ken. The feud has been going on for some time and it should never have made it to your inbox. Normally I send out press-releases and don’t expect the recipients to reply en masse — Charlie did so.
It’s very bizarre if you think about it. When I was of use to Charlie — he loved TR. Now that we are on opposing camps, he says my blog is nothing but a rag and “useless to his political cause.”
In the end, there’s a lot of animosity and on my end hurt feelings. I’ll make a conscious effort to avoid future mailings of this sort.
On Carmody, he privately made comments that turned the comments you read on their head — I was stunned by his tasering remarks (personally), however, he’s a regular contributor and well-respected. We all drop the ball at times, I guess.