Call Olbermann, we got us THE WORST PERSON ON METAFILTER July 26, 2008 2:36 AM   Subscribe

No, you're not a kind person, and you haven't faced anyone threatening. You are so full of shit that it isn't even amusing on metafilter.
posted by Brian B. at 9:19 PM on July 25

...in response to Dee Extrovert.

Brian should be ashamed of himself, but probably lacks that ability. So let's all be ashamed of him.

Brian B., while demonstrating that he is apparently incapable of dealing with Muslims as decent human beings capable of human feelings and independent thought, picked a fight with Dee Xtrovert, favorite of 293 of us. While it can be argued that she did not respond well, I would rank her "You remind me of a boy I knew in Sarajevo" as one of the best written and classy-but-devastating, counter-attacks I have ever seen on MetaFilter.
posted by wendell to Etiquette/Policy at 2:36 AM (35 comments total)

Oh piss.
posted by puke & cry at 3:09 AM on July 26, 2008


Using the quadratic, I get any further close-minded.
--posted by brian b.

in my mind.
posted by sleepy pete at 3:14 AM on July 26, 2008 [1 favorite]


"... So let's all be ashamed of him. ..."
posted by wendell to etiquette/policy at 5:36 AM

Sorry, but it's Saturday, and I'm going to listen to Car Talk, and then trim some overgrown bushes along the fence in the back yard. After that, I'm gonna change the oil in the truck, put a new front sight on a pistol, take the dog for a walk, and stop on the way back for a beer or two.

But good luck recruiting for OutrageFilter, now with extra Favorites weighting!
posted by paulsc at 3:25 AM on July 26, 2008 [19 favorites]


Could we not do this in the existing thread? Also, link to the evil comments, or at least the evil-doer?
posted by Plutor at 3:30 AM on July 26, 2008


Sorry, but it's Saturday, and I'm going to listen to Car Talk

Wow, crazy. That would make me want to resight a pistol as well.
posted by sleepy pete at 3:42 AM on July 26, 2008 [4 favorites]


"So let's all be ashamed of him."

No thanks. He's not my kid, and I didn't raise him. He's not my friend, or family. I usually consider you a friend, though, wendell. And pulling out the number of favorites a comment has received is just some straight-up appeal-to-authority (or popular opinion or whatever) BS that you should be ashamed of.

What about the 60,000+ users who didn't favorite that comment? Will their voices be silenced?
posted by Eideteker at 3:52 AM on July 26, 2008


And if there's a WORST PERSON ON METAFILTER contest, I want to be made aware of it ahead of time, because I think I've got a serious shot at the title.

You're all like, oh no, not Eideteker. He's brusque, but he's got a good heart. You douchewads* haven't seen anything. I've been going easy on you. Probably too easy.
posted by Eideteker at 3:56 AM on July 26, 2008 [2 favorites]


You should be ashamed of yourself, Eideteker.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 4:00 AM on July 26, 2008


Brian B. has had a disagreement with the newly canonized Saint Dee the Xtrovert.

I pray to Metafilter's Holy Trinity to smite him. If someone endures a horrible tragedy, they are entitled to never have anyone contradict them for the rest of their life.
posted by Mayor Curley at 4:37 AM on July 26, 2008 [11 favorites]


It was OK, as far as classy counter attacks go I suppose. Not great, not bad.
posted by mattoxic at 4:40 AM on July 26, 2008


I'm pretty sure that the members of MetaFilter, if they are capable of posting here, don't need anyone to white knight for them. So no, I won't be ashamed. I'll just stay out of that thread and let them work it out like the adults they are. But currently Dee Xtrovert has a big deck of Whiny Muslim Playing Cards while Brian B. is only armed with a single Rude Commentor card, so I think she might win this round.
posted by cmonkey at 4:45 AM on July 26, 2008


Well, at least he didn't spam us all with email.
posted by Dave Faris at 4:50 AM on July 26, 2008 [1 favorite]


I read carefully through that exchange (and I recommend that anyone else tempted to weigh in here also do so) and I don't think Brian B. did anything so terribly wrong. He didn't throw the first insult. He pointed out some inconsistencies and received an insult hidden in several paragraphs of pathos.

How playing the pity card to camouflage the weakness inherent in her arguments qualifies as one of "the best written and classy-but-devastating, counter-attacks" wendell has ever seen here is perplexing.

None of this is to deny the moving power of her story, but that is not relevant here.
posted by idest at 4:51 AM on July 26, 2008 [2 favorites]


Nope, I'm not responsible for him either, so feel no shame. Dragging out the number of favourites someone got as proof of their "goodness"? I'd be ashamed of that, although I'm certain the intent was pure.

I would, however, get behind a movement to agree that Brian B is some kind of arsehole, but we hardly need a MeTa thread for that - if we did one for every arsehole in this place, it would be MeTa threads all the way down.
posted by dg at 4:52 AM on July 26, 2008


Dear Brian,

Pushy Kuretz.

Love,

Sgt.
posted by sgt.serenity at 5:08 AM on July 26, 2008


Eideteker: "You're all like, oh no, not Eideteker. He's brusque, but he's got a good heart. You douchewads* haven't seen anything. I've been going easy on you. Probably too easy."

If you're willing to take a swing at me on Wednesday, you can count on my vote.
posted by Plutor at 5:22 AM on July 26, 2008


This callout needs mouthwash.
posted by peacay at 5:28 AM on July 26, 2008


I don't know, I enjoyed the comments Dee made, but if Brian B. disagrees with something she said and articulates it, even in a jerky manner, that's his prerogative. Trotting out favorites?
C'mon.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 5:30 AM on July 26, 2008 [1 favorite]


I came. Or nodded off. I forget which.
posted by turgid dahlia at 5:55 AM on July 26, 2008


If Brian doesn't know he's lost that argument, there doesn't seem to be much anyone ELSE can say to him.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 6:07 AM on July 26, 2008


Oh dear. so, what were you hoping to achieve here, Wendell? Brian B & Dee X are both articulate and capable of showing us their true colours all by themselves and those of us who wish to make judgments can do so based on their contributions without needing to be called to arms like this.

Eideteker is looking really sexy to me right now, though. PHWOAR.
posted by goshling at 6:08 AM on July 26, 2008


Brian should be ashamed of himself, but probably lacks that ability. So let's all be ashamed of him.

GodDAMNit Brian, no more horizontal stripes, they just make you look bigger!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:34 AM on July 26, 2008 [1 favorite]


I don't get it.
Was this thread designed to make me read that thread for an outrage that you quoted in its entirety at the top? Because I did. and, well, MEH. If this is the worst that MeFi has to offer, than we are sorely lacking quality asshats.

I find Jfuller's defensive position gathering citations more of an issue than this post's intended scuttlebutt.
posted by Busithoth at 6:40 AM on July 26, 2008


So let's all be ashamed of him.
posted by Sys Rq at 6:40 AM on July 26, 2008


wendell posted "Brian should be ashamed of himself, but probably lacks that ability. So let's all be ashamed of him."

Maybe he should be ashamed of himself. Personally, I found Dee Xtrovert had more to say to me that Brian B. did.

But I'd feel a bit more shameful for trying to organize a lynch mob, myself.

These callouts, these let's-all-get-together-and-proclaim-our-moral-superiority, it's just unseemly. You want to refute Brain B. in the thread, please do so. But opening another thread so we can proclaim ourselves more sensitive than, or morally superior to, Brian B.? Not interested.
posted by orthogonality at 6:41 AM on July 26, 2008 [17 favorites]


Not cool, wendell.

Also, you've got the chronology wrong: Brian B. posted the lead quote AFTER Dee went after him with an extremely detailed comparison to a beggar. So while it's kind of a half-assed and poorly aimed counter-snark, it's not exactly unjustified that he doesn't love Dee as much as others (myself included) do.
posted by anotherpanacea at 7:00 AM on July 26, 2008 [1 favorite]


it's not exactly unjustified that he doesn't love Dee as much as others (myself included) do.

Damn that's some turgid prose. Lemme try again: Brian B. has justification for not loving Dee. There. That's what I was trying to say. Don't know why I went all quadruple negative on that sentence. Too much Hegel, probably.
posted by anotherpanacea at 7:03 AM on July 26, 2008


I'm with orthogonality. I thought BrianB was clearly trolling and being an ass... but that doesn't really seem worthy of a call-out like this. DeeX had the choice of ignoring him, responding, flagging, or something else, and chose to respond at great length. To be honest, I think that what the two of them wrote stands for itself, and doesn't need to be rehashed here.
posted by Forktine at 7:06 AM on July 26, 2008 [1 favorite]


panacea: wendell's chronology holds up. DX was responding to BB, and then BB responded to that response.

This callout? It's worse than meh. Worse than feh, even. I fear it borders on gah.

Flag it and move on, wendell.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:09 AM on July 26, 2008


Sys- I'm confused. Are we agreed that the first line that wendell posted is the last thing that was said by either party?
posted by anotherpanacea at 7:26 AM on July 26, 2008


It was lame, and flagged to death. I removed Brian B's comment because it's shitty and directed at another user instead of having anything to do with the thread.

I'll agree with several others here that threads like this aren't really very constructive for mefi. It highlights the worst possible behavior on the site in a very public way (as opposed to just flagging or emailing) and then the whole lets-organize-a-mob is also not too constructive of an approach.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 7:38 AM on July 26, 2008


This is totally unfair - I've been subtly promoting myself as the worst person on Metafilter since 2001, and this guy comes along with a wee little snippy comment and gets the props?
posted by matty at 7:39 AM on July 26, 2008


I removed Brian B's comment because it's shitty and directed at another user instead of having anything to do with the thread.

Did you remove Dee's long comparison of BB to a beggar?
posted by anotherpanacea at 7:46 AM on July 26, 2008


Thanks for deleting the comment Matt. It was pretty awful behavior. As for worst person on Metafilter, man, I really hate that whole "worst person" schtick. I think it makes Olberman look unprofessional and it is not becoming of wendell. He's too cool for that nonsense.

I hope this thread gets closed soon as no good will come from it and the comment is now gone.
posted by caddis at 7:46 AM on July 26, 2008


I nipped the end of the thread that descended into arguments between then, and yeah, I'll close this up.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 7:48 AM on July 26, 2008


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