American Spectator Slams Our Own Matt Collins

[He Who Pawns]

Stop grand-standing, Collins. Why does everything have to be about you?

I thought you had learned your lesson when I humbled you here a couple months ago. You have been a vastly better poster since that time, and I thought you had a turned the corner. But here you are, once again, trying to make yourself the center of attention.

Learn to be humble and quit trying to make everything be about YOU.

It's about liberty, not about you.

 

[Matt Collins]

No. My point is still entirely valid. "Talking" to someone is not having conversations with someone. You choose to snub those you disagree with, rather than discussing policy.

We did discuss policy, and we do agree on many things, did you not read anything I've posted?

why it is counterproductive.

Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.

In my opinion, you are equally at fault as Wamp.

Really? When did I violate my oath to the Constitution? When did I ever steal from anyone?!

Why can't you just swallow your pride, admit you can do more, and do it? You could be having a discussion with Wamp right now, but you choose to troll the boards and attempt to justify yourself to a community that is, for the most part, on your side. You don't need to be convincing us of anything....you need to be convincing those you don't agree with. You should be educating....you're letting a great opportunity go to waste, in my opinion.

Again, you don't understand the political situation on the ground here.

 

[Matt Collins]

Stop grand-standing, Collins. Why does everything have to be about you?

It's not. And sometimes grand-standing is needed to call attention to issues and ideas.

I thought you had learned your lesson when I humbled you here a couple months ago.

You never humbled me, you simple hurled insults until you were banned. I'm open to debate and discussion, but per TOS you are not allowed to insult others.

But here you are, once again, trying to make yourself the center of attention. It's about liberty, not about you.

You fail to understand that I am not making it about me. I am only incidental. I am making it about the issues. I am making it about principle. I am making it about the fact that we are working to limit our government. If you can't see that then you are blind.

 

[He Who Pawns]

You fail to understand that I am not making it about me. I am only incidental. I am making it about the issues. I am making it about principle. I am making it about the fact that we are working to limit our government. If you can't see that then you are blind.

Do you really think that a bizarre blog story about a libertarian hobbit with a ponytail refusing to shake the hand of some random politician is somehow "good PR"?

You got destroyed here a couple of months ago in several threads in the Vent, Collins. I thought you had changed your ways and stopped trying to aggrandize yourself. But it looks like you are back to your old tricks. Stop it.

 

[Matt Collins]

Do you really think that a bizarre blog story about a libertarian hobbit with a ponytail refusing to shake the hand of some random politician is somehow "good PR"?

You got destroyed here a couple of months ago in several threads in the Vent, Collins. I thought you had changed your ways and stopped trying to aggrandize yourself. But it looks like you are back to your old tricks. Stop it.

I don't have a ponytail, I am not a hobbit, I've gotten a 4:1 ratio response of good:bad feedback regarding the action, and you are quickly on your way to getting banned again.

 

[He Who Pawns]

I don't have a ponytail, I am not a hobbit, I've gotten a 4:1 ratio response of good:bad feedback regarding the action, and you are quickly on your way to getting banned again.

What happened to your ponytail, Matt? If you keep this up, you will be back on everyone's shit list and back to getting skewered here on a regular basis.

You did a great job of changing your ways and improving your online presence over the last 2 months -- no more "I just talked to Rand" or "Kokesh just called me" thread titles -- but sadly, I see that you are slipping back to your old ways now. I suggest that you cut out the nonsense and go back to promoting liberty, instead of trying to promote yourself, because it always backfires on you.

 

[Matt Collins]

What happened to your ponytail, Matt?

Cut it off months ago.

If you keep this up, you will be back on everyone's shit list and back to getting skewered here on a regular basis.

You did a great job of changing your ways and improving your online presence over the last 2 months -- no more "I just talked to Rand" or "Kokesh just called me" thread titles -- but sadly, I see that you are slipping back to your old ways now. I suggest that you cut out the nonsense and go back to promoting liberty, instead of trying to promote yourself, because it always backfires on you.

Sorry, who placed you in an authority position over me?

I am open for constructive criticism but you are crossing the line and I'm telling ya you're about to get banned again.

 

[He Who Pawns]

Cut it off months ago.

Sorry, who placed you in an authority position over me?

It was by taking my advice - reluctantly - that you repaired your reputation here over the last couple of months. Why throw it all away? Self-promotion, attention whoring, and bizarre blog entries about rude behavior are hardly good ways to help this movement.

Does Rand know that you refused to shake this person's hand? Is that what Rand would do? Is that what Dr Paul would do?

You're embarrassing yourself, Matt, and disgracing our movement.

 

[Matt Collins]

Does Rand know that you refused to shake this person's hand? Is that what Rand would do? Is that what Dr Paul would do?

Haven't had to chance to mention it to him yet. But trust me this is way below his radar.

You're embarrassing yourself, Matt, and disgracing our movement.

Really? Most of the posts in this thread prove otherwise.

 

[He Who Pawns]

Haven't had to chance to mention it to him yet. But trust me this is way below his radar.

You better hope I do not put it on his radar screen. Any further bizarre, self-promoting, embarrassing behavior by you will be quickly pointed out to Rand from this day forward. You are on warning. So stop the self-promotion and self aggrandizement immediately.

I let you slide when you personally attacked a Paul family member here on this forum. You will not be given any more slack by me.

You didn't answer my question, Matt. Do you think Dr Paul would do some strange stunt like this, refusing to shake someone's hand? Would Dr Paul do it, yes or no?

 

[emazur]

Do you really think that a bizarre blog story about a libertarian hobbit with a ponytail refusing to shake the hand of some random politician is somehow "good PR"?

That's just cold blooded - you need to STFU either voluntarily or by moderator.

To Matt, I haven't read through this whole thread but I read your response and I thought it was excellent and well thought out. I suppose some might think it right to criticize you for refusing to shake someone's damn hand, but every individual is entitled to draw his own line and take a stand. Bush got booed on his way out of the White House. Neocons got booed at the tea parties. After 8 years of hell, if Ron Paul refused to shake the hand of Dubya or Dick Fuckin' Cheney, not only would he be right, I think he would get tremendous support for taking such a stand. How bad does it have to get before it's considered OK not to shake a political figure's hand? Richard Nixon bad? Fidel Castro bad? Adolf Hitler bad? Kim Jong Ill perhaps?

 

[rockandrollsouls]

That's just cold blooded - you need to STFU either voluntarily or by moderator.

To Matt, I haven't read through this whole thread but I read your response and I thought it was excellent and well thought out. I suppose some might think it right to criticize you for refusing to shake someone's damn hand, but every individual is entitled to draw his own line and take a stand. Bush got booed on his way out of the White House. Neocons got booed at the tea parties. After 8 years of hell, if Ron Paul refused to shake the hand of Dubya or Dick Fuckin' Cheney, not only would he be right, I think he would get tremendous support for taking such a stand. How bad does it have to get before it's considered OK not to shake a political figure's hand? Richard Nixon bad? Fidel Castro bad? Adolf Hitler bad? Kim Jong Ill perhaps?

Then perhaps you should consider reading the entire thread with the well thought out responses and arguments prior to opening your mouth? You readily admit you didn't read the thread or the rationale behind the stances some of us have taken. A bit ignorant, no? Looks to me like you saw what you wanted to see, maintained a predetermined stance, and chose a side (which, once again, Matt managed to fracture and create on this forum....) Consequently, I suggest you actually read the debate that's been taking place before telling someone to "STFU."

Do you really think that a bizarre blog story about a libertarian hobbit with a ponytail refusing to shake the hand of some random politician is somehow "good PR"?

You got destroyed here a couple of months ago in several threads in the Vent, Collins. I thought you had changed your ways and stopped trying to aggrandize yourself. But it looks like you are back to your old tricks. Stop it.

Fucking thank you.

 

[rockandrollsouls]

You better hope I do not put it on his radar screen. Any further bizarre, self-promoting, embarrassing behavior by you will be quickly pointed out to Rand from this day forward. You are on warning. So stop the self-promotion and self aggrandizement immediately.

I let you slide when you personally attacked a Paul family member here on this forum. You will not be given any more slack by me.

You didn't answer my question, Matt. Do you think Dr Paul would do some strange stunt like this, refusing to shake someone's hand? Would Dr Paul do it, yes or no?

Finally, someone on my side of things. This is entirely about Collin's pride here. He knows full well there are a wealth of other things he could be doing that really do promote liberty, he's not doing them, and he's trying to justify a jackass move and personal grandstanding as, somehow, making progress for liberty.

Give me a break.

We did discuss policy, and we do agree on many things, did you not read anything I've posted?

Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.

Really? When did I violate my oath to the Constitution? When did I ever steal from anyone?!


Again, you don't understand the political situation on the ground here.

Acknowledging his support for HR 1207 isn't "discussing policy." You know that....don't go twisting words and arguments like you commonly do, buddy. Read my rationale for you being equally at fault as Wamp. If you are hindering freedom in another manner, I don't see how you are immune, and you certainly are hindering progress. Furthermore, don't tell me "I don't understand the situation on the ground." Who the bloody hell are you? Patraeus or Bush attempting to patronize me? Fact of the matter is you could be doing more, you choose other measures that hinder the progression of freedom, and then you have the nerve to come on the board and attempt to justify yourself when you could be changing minds in your local party as we speak. It's your pride, again, Collins, and I'm not going to have a back and forth with you about it anymore. You gingerly pick and prod at parts of my argument that you know are valid to keep a petty debate going, and you simply refuse to acknowledge the aspects of it you know are true.

Just go do what we supported you to do. Promote freedom with every ounce of strength you have or get the hell out of your position. I'm not looking to play politics, splinter a party, or place blame. The goal here is to change minds and advance freedom; you've forgotten that.

 

[Aratus]

He Who Pawns...

long tyme no see... and i

see thee be in rarified form?

what am i, more nondescript than

and blandly boring than chopped liver?

i thought i did the definative posting on this all...

 

[Aratus]

i do opine... on this tempest in a teapot!

dr. rand paul is a very polite man! ---matt collins, your explanations do say
why this hit piece is a hatchet jobbie bespeaking of many more to follow!
you are in a good humour and taking all this in and seeing the humor
inside the same! we all now enter the political fray that is multi-facetted
and multi-sided. wheat from chaff. jack conway still sits with 1.3 million
greenbacks and has spent some of the same. he who once went to NC
on a luncheon junket! ms. darlene fitzgerald price again wonders where
she whistleblower stands inside our vast universe of potentialities, she
also wants to "tea leave" read the voters well long ahead of november
of 2010. dare a meantion a lt-gov who ought to run for governor? sorta?

dr. rand paul is a very polite man! ---alan keyes likes that there johnson
fellow and was at a fundraising dinner for the same. advice and consent, yes!
evidently mr. johnson got pointers on how to run for a senate seat. we now
come to trey grayson and WHOSE senate seat he ought to run for! hint... hint
hint...hint... trey... think of how long mitch mcconnell has served the voters of
KY, and how long you have to wait until a certain said senate race. dear dear
dear trey grayon... adorable YOUNG trey grayson... ask dear OLD mitch mcconnell
for some MORE pointers... sit on the advice for say five or eleven years... and THEN
RUN FULL STEAM, FULL BLAST! Aratus adroitly thinks darlene fitzgerald price and
dr. rand paul just might have a string of debates BETWEEN august and october of 2010...

He Who Pawns...

Matt Collins was a tad rude.
Matt Collins clearly did nothing wrong.
Matt Collins could run for office someday...
if he doesn't move from where he lives, he'd be
running for office in that there state that is one state
OVER from good ole Kentucky. from what i can gather, from
what i can see, DOCTOR RAND PAUL is on the verge of running for the
senate seat in KENTUCKY that Jim Bunning is comfortably sitting in right now...
IF and i say IF we soon see both Trey Grayson & Rand Paul tossing their
hats into the ring, as Senator Bunning grandly goes back an' forth
about HAVING a THIRD go at it, this most minor rudeness by the
unsalaried and diligent campaign manager that Rand Paul
semi-officially has... will go onto a proverbial backburner
as the intensity of the actual three-way race insted
has the mass media glomming onto each daily
development. the sense of anticipation and
suspense is heightened by the poker
player bluffs being played out by
2 auld-tyme sitting senators...

 

[BarryDonegan]

for those of you who weren't there and want to backseat politic, i can tell you from clear first hand experience, from being there, and from having spoken with Zach Wamp before in a critical manner, that he was CLEARLY working very hard to show us that he was improving his voting record.

the reason he was doing this was because he VISUALLY recognized what crowd we were with.

First off, at a press junket for Blue Collar Muse bloggers I confronted Zach Wamp, politely but firmly, about voting for the bailout. He apologized, publicly, then came and shook my hand for a near full two minutes, repeatedly saying "good question, i really mean that". (I DID shake his hand, but that is personal preference. and neither here nor there.)

Next time we see him at the GOP picnic, we are all wearing our GOP Excom laminates, and he says something to the effect of, 'I was the SIXTH person to cosponsor that bill. It's Ron's bill. We don't just need to Audit the Fed, we need to turn it on its ear. It's responsible for the crisis.' Matt didn't shake his hand, but Zach was walking backwards. At that exact same time I told him that we appreciated his vote, and that votes "like that" mean a lot to us.

It was OBVIOUS that he recognized us as the Ron Paul style Republicans and specifically told us what he knew we wanted to hear.

None of us have EVER kissed up to Zach in any way, all I ever did was confront him on the bailout. He clearly respects and understands that we have voters that think like us, and is starting to understand what votes matter to us. If we kissed up to him and made him think that he has us locked in already, he wouldn't care what bills we care about. I guarantee you that noone else at the entire picnic discussed a specific bill by its number, and noone was confronting him negatively about anything. the same thing happened at that press junket. It is the POLITICIANS JOB TO MAKE YOU LIKE HIM, not the other way around. he has a VESTED INTEREST TO MAKE YOU LIKE HIM. and most politicians are GOOD AT MAKING YOU LIKE THEM.

You are not required to be nice to people all the time in any relationship. In this situation nothing that happened was rude in the slightest, nor was it taken as rude. The newspapers in question took a blog about who Matt prefers for a gubernatorial race with a metaphorical personal anecdote and turned it into a savage hit piece. I guarantee you Zach Wamp did not recall the situation as rude. In fact, he probably thought, good thing i cosponsored hr1207.

Criticism from party officials is one of the most powerful ways to affect the voting record of a politician. Guess where we learned that little aspect of TN politics?

From the people already in the GOP. It is absolutely normal for an older party activist who is 60 or 70 to scream until red in the face, cuss, and run out of the room at a politician over appointments in the election commission, for example. Negative information is how politicians learn what their constituents find unacceptable so they can calculate political risk when making a voting choice.

 

[yongrel]

Refusing a handshake? Really?

Good job marginalizing yourself and others.

Silliness.

 

[dannno]

Negative information is how politicians learn what their constituents find unacceptable so they can calculate political risk when making a voting choice.

Ya, not only that, Matt got some publicity for a lot of our ideas that he eloquently wrote about in his reply.

Win - Win

 

[Matt Collins]

I see the haters are coming out in full force against me here.

It should be obvious that many (but not all) of the criticisms against me in this thread aren't constructive, but is just another opportunity for those that dislike me to attack me.

Again I am open to disagreement and different opinions, however many of the thinly veiled attacks on me (specifically by HeWhoPawns, Youngrel, and to a lesser extend RockNRoll) are starting to get old. I don't care if you don't like me, but don't try to disguise your dislike of me as some sort of constructive critisim, because in the above cases it's not.

 

[Matt Collins]

You better hope I do not put it on his radar screen.

I plan on asking his opinion on it next time I see him in a few days.

Any further bizarre, self-promoting, embarrassing behavior by you will be quickly pointed out to Rand from this day forward. You are on warning. So stop the self-promotion and self aggrandizement immediately.

And who made you the judge?


But here is a hint, Rand trusts me more than he trusts you

I let you slide when you personally attacked a Paul family member here on this forum.

And who would that be?

You will not be given any more slack by me.

You think I care? You honestly think that worries me?

You didn't answer my question, Matt. Do you think Dr Paul would do some strange stunt like this, refusing to shake someone's hand? Would Dr Paul do it, yes or no?

Possibly, I don't know, I am not him. He did say he refused to have dinner with Bush & Co.