Archive for January 16th, 2008

Staff Work and “Bob”

The University of South Carolina’s main football rival was Clemson. A lot of USC people carried this rivalry over into being happy when Clemson lost to other teams.

I disagreed with this on two grounds. First, the obvious one that I always rooted for a Palmetto State team anywhere. But the second is more subtle.

I though that if Clemson lot, it meant that if they beat us that year, it made it even more shameful. Secondly, if we beat THEM, it made the victory sweeter.

I used to get a lot of bitches about how I quoted people who were flattering to ME. As I explained, I have heard all the bitches about what I say thousands of times, so I’m just tired of the repetition. I certainly don’t MIND them after fifty years in this fight, and when Pain or somebody else calls me down legitimately, I quote them and thank them.

Being wrong and SEEING it is how I learned most of what I learned.

But there is another consideration that relates to the Carolina-Clemson example. There are literally a million blogs out there, and THIS is the one YOU chose to spend time on. If “Bob” did not have a lot of good things to say, this should not make YOU feel particularly satisfied.

As Tim just said, “As usual,the people here were right on it.”

When I was working with Congressman AshBROOK, we would be having a staff talk and people would use the “Ashbrook” with him sitting right there. We referred to HIM as “John.” When we said “Ashbrook” it was in reference to the Ashbrook position on things, the Ashbrook image, the institution we were meeting about, to which we were devoting almost all of our waking hours.

Here we use “Bob” for both the institution and the old Bastard himself. If I should finally be hanged or put in the loony bin, it will probably be easier for you to continue using BUGS, for BOB’s Underground Graduate Seminar, right on.

And there is the matter of qualifications. I am not overly pleasant when it comes to commenters. I am hard on you and I am often unfair, so it takes moral COURAGE to get in here with me and roughhouse. Every other quality has been justifiably doubted, but nobody on either side has ever denied that I have a huge amount of raw brain power and knowledge.

“BUGS is for those who have outgrown their college education, whether they had one or not.” And you know first hand that old professor Bob allows no relaxing of that standard. You got your degree here at BUGS, which beats the hell out of anyone who jumped the hoops through another of a million PhDs.

When we spoke of “Ashbrook” we spoke of the fact that we had been hired, kept our jobs, were on a side of right, and were proud to be part of that staff, of that TEAM.

By now, I hope that “Bob” means a lot more here than just ME.

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