World in the Satin Bag

So, apparently William Sanders noticed my blog post about him the other day, which was partially in response to some things that Joe Sherry posted. And, in typical Sanders fashion, he’s opened up a lovely discussion about me, even though he claims to not care what I think. We all believe that.I don’t much care to go into a rant about his comments this time around, partly because I’ve already discussed it in the comments section of the original thread he’s upset about. A few points do need to be made, though, but I’ll be relatively brief. I think at this point we’re more than aware of Sanders’s (yes I used the correct apostrophe this time) attitude and the manner in which he addresses people, particularly those he doesn’t like. Sanders may very well be a nice guy in real life, Internet personas being what they are, but professionalism is certainly not his strong suit.So, to the points: Yes, I was aware that the “interview” that Sanders did was a mock interview. That’s sort of the whole point, isn’t it? Am I the only one that finds it remarkably pathetic that someone has to create a fake interview with themselves in order to do whatever it is that Sanders is doing? Setting the record straight, perhaps? Sanders isn’t nearly as clever as the people over at The Onion, who actually do trick people from time to time. But, I’m glad he got a sense of joy out of it, silly as it is. There’s certainly plenty that was not correctly understood about Sanders’s statements in his rejection. Still, the word “sheethead” is not the same as “shithead,” as he so aptly claims, and rightfully shares similarities to slang terms used for blacks or certain groups of Asian descent. Perhaps one should look at the comments in this post to get a clear idea of what “sheethead” means to some people. Sanders may very well think that he’s just referring to a small group of people, but other people can’t possibly know at any time what he’s actually thinking, and for him not to realize that many people are aware of the more negative aspect of the term he used, or at least not to acknowledge it when it was brought to light, is one his failings. So Sanders meant something else by the term, but he wasn’t man enough to acknowledge that other people don’t see it the same way and that it was an error in judgment, or at least a moment of educational clarity and that he was at least sorry for the misunderstanding? Apologizing for something that simple is really not that hard. This is like the Don Imus of the interwebs. Wait, no it’s not. Imus publicly apologized. I did incorrectly state “ads” in my original post. I meant to say links. That was an incorrect assumption on my part when I read a blog post referring to the removal of advertising for Helix. What they meant was link advertising–such as a blogroll. I said “if” Sanders works in this business, not when. Whether he wants to work in it again or not is irrelevant, as is the fact that he’s retired. One can still work and be retired. Helix might have been a non-profit venture, but work was still done on the project. It’s not like Sanders just went, “Poof. There you go.” Unless he’s Jesus or something, which is highly unlikely. I’m actually quite happy that Sanders took the time out of his day to open a discussion about me, being so unknown as I am. I’m glad he got a laugh too. I certainly laughed at his post about me, and the previous things he’s said in regards to this whole issue. He wouldn’t be saying the things he says if he wasn’t enjoying it would he? Well, maybe, but so be it.I also appreciate the free traffic. True, it’s negative publicity, but I checked my feed thing today and I’ve gained several new readers on both email and RSS. So, that makes me happy. I think it’s pretty silly that one of the things being discussed is my first name, as if Shaun is really the worst thing to happen to English-language names. Really, there are worse names to be concerned about, like Apple or Pilot Inspector. Shaun is a relatively common spelling and really not that big of a deal. It’s not like I’m named Schauwnne. I was criticized for my misuse of copyright stuff at the bottom of my site. I admit, I don’t know a whole lot in regards to copyright or Creative Commons. I’ve changed it a bit, but if anyone still has suggestions on how to improve that section, feel free to let me know. I have been misusing the apostrophe. Having been corrected and having researched it, I can say that I was improperly taught on the use of apostrophes at the end of names with Ss. Now I know and knowing is half the battle. Thanks for the help–to the people who left comments on my original post. Mr. Sanders: it’s not too late to grow up, even just a little. Really. I think that’s all. If anyone else has something to add, go for it.

It’s amazing really. This man has no off button. None, not even a pause button. Instead of doing, as Joe Sherry has intelligently pointed out, what he should have done, he has done the opposite and probably should earn the award for most angry, foul-mouthed, horrendously pathetic and cranky editor to ever grace the publishing industry. In Joe Sherry’s words: Not to get too deep into the initial issue, as this has all been covered before, but what bothered me most about this whole situation was not necessarily the opening statement (bad as it came across), but rather in how Sanders responded to the criticism…it appears that Sanders was so angry that anyone would possibly be offended by something he said and no longer wish to be associated with his magazine that he accused those writers of having their panties in a wad (more or less) and of being cowards, among other less complimentary things. This is what bothered me the most. Well, this is what bothered me the most as well. You see, I saw the comments in the original rejection letter and thought, “Well, I understand what he means, but these are stupid words.” And then I read Sanders’s responses and started to get the impression that these weren’t simply stupid things said by people that don’t always think through things all the way–I’m guilty of this at times. I saw his anger, his hatred, and his violent words towards the people who disagreed with him and thought his comments were offensive. He never once made an honest apology, but continued shoving his foot into his mouth in a display of close-minded anger, the kind of anger we’d expect of the extreme religious right who still think the Earth is only a few thousand years old and refuse to accept that science has made the world a better place.Now comes word that Helix is closing its doors. It seems true that Helix has had plans to close for a while, and I’m willing to accept this as truth as one of the contributors of Helix, quoted in Joe Sherry’s article, has stated that it is true. But, considering the controversy over this whole thing, are we at all surprised by this? Let’s just say that Helix wasn’t planning to close their doors before the incident, do any of us honestly think that Helix would last much longer anyway? Some places have already withdrawn their support by removing *links* to Helix and the blogosphere has turned William Sanders’s name into an alternative to searching for the anti-christ. Authors have been requesting that their work be removed from Helix’s archives. Many were denied (and still are being denied, with Sanders’s grumpy, and very “professional” comments attached). In all honesty, the market has become so tainted by Sanders’s inability to save face for even a moment, or at least shut his mouth and stop fuming like delinquent teenager.And now we’re left with these comments about those of us who spoke out about him: At this point the Blogtrotters and other hostile entities will be leaping grasshopperlikeabout, emitting shrill piping sounds of joy, clapping their tiny hands, bursting into “Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead,” and other childish expressions of triumph. One hopes that they do not injure themselves patting themselves on the back.…The point is, all this was decided long before the Blogtrotters went into their latest shit-flinging frenzy. So as much as it no doubt pleases them to believe that they were responsible for taking down the Great Monster, they should rather offer thanks to the freeloaders who, simply by sitting on their rumps and doing nothing to support the magazine, did more to terminate Helix than all the silly whining bastards put together.Of course they won’t believe this; they will choose to believe what they want to believe, just as they always do. If there is one thing the Blogtrotters and the Silly Righteous Girls have demonstrated throughout this affair, it is their total imperviousness to reality. Yeah, and if that wasn’t enough you can see his continued spewing of hatred here, in which he’s apparently interviewed about his comments and tries desperately to make himself sound like a rational human being who never did anything wrong. I read about three or four questions worth and realized this is the same garbage he’s been spewing the whole time since the beginning of this fiasco, with the same style of language, the same unapologetic attitude, and the same anger and bigotry that got him flamed by bloggers in the first place.So a word to William Sanders: Grow up. If you ever work in this business again, pray you get hired by someone that doesn’t know what kind of person you are, because you’ve yet to learn what it means to be an adult. No human being should be as angry as you. Maybe some therapy in your near future would help you deal with whatever deep-seeded psychological damage has turned you into this grumpy person. And with that, I think I’m done with this whole thing. We’ll see if he can get his foot any deeper down his throat in the next few months or years.