@i love the way frances jeffrey coker keeps on exposing herself on bwog unintentionally. It’s really funny, confirming both her low tactics and also her lack of foresight.

totally agree with #24 above. One of the biggest, perhaps THE biggest, grievance people have had with the strike is the way people who don’t support it are called “evil,” as frances just did, even when they have legitimate reasons for doing so.

i though frances jeffrey coker had acknowledged this yesterday, and me being naive, i hoped she would stop this polarizing, inflammatory rhetoric. But no. She is determined to see it as good versus evil.

frances, if you read this, please acknowledge over a great many students do not see how “so much good came out this whole striker thing,” cease taking the moral highground, admit serious mistakes were made, and above all, stop calling the people who don’t support you “evil” when they have very real and as yet unanswered concerns with this whole pitiful saga. You were making good progress on this front yesterday, please try regain that ground and move the debate forward sensibly. If you want to do something constructive, please respond to the questions sent to you numerous most times, most recently in that open letter from Chas Carey et al. posted here: http://bwog.net/articles/it_s_over

if you don’t do that, may i suggest you stop posting? It’s unfortunate for the hunger strikers (many of whom are not as emotive or as quick to attack as you) that the more you open your mouth, the more you give people reason to oppose the strike.

@respect Since we’re on the topic of respect, I have one suggestion for future strikers or protesters of any sort:

Make sure your leadership does not stoop to the level of making public and misguided, intolerant insults. Let me start by saying that i support at least some of the strike’s demands (the ones regarding expansion with respect and a need for better response to hate crimes). Some of the biggest factors that turned me off about this particular strike, however, were the very public and very immature, self-aggrandizing comments made by a number of the hunger strikers (not all, but at least some). I won’t mention them by name but I think a fair number of you who have been tracking the strike will know exactly who has been making ignorant, polarizing and hate-mongering comments.

I understand that many cruel things have also been said about the strikers, and that (as I noticed someone said in an earlier post yesterday) they have been “provoked”. I’m truly sorry and appalled that they have had to deal with irrational, spiteful and unjustified comments. However, I feel that as the most public faces and representatives of the strike, and thereby an example for their supporters, they also have the responsibility NOT to lower themselves to the level of people throwing food at the tents, or anonymous commenters saying mean things online. Making dumb statements right back, or publicly belittling opponents in a mocking, derogatory way, does NOTHING to advance your cause. Instead, it only leads to more hatred and more misunderstanding. It lessens your credibility as a campus leader, and also the credibility of your project in the eyes of the student body.

If you choose to take such a public stance on very controversial issues, you should expect criticism, in both valid and invalid forms. What is important, however, is to keep your cool and set a good example, rather than being arrogant and condescending. If you do not think you maintain a cool front in public even in the face of opposition, do your cause a favor and do not volunteer yourself as a leader. Cede the spotlight to someone who can represent the cause well. After all, if you are going to adopt the tactics of Gandhi and MLK Jr, you might as well adopt the grace and dignity that they also embodied in public.

@LOLmarx so does this count as a victory for the bourgeois?