Last week I published an article that was a tongue and cheek take on the Stanford IT EHLI List (see here for the List and here for Stanford’s comments on the list). While I thought it was rip for parody, the article I posted broke a vow that I made many years ago—I would not post political stuff here. I have taken that vow seriously and I have interpreted it very, very broadly. Originally, I thought the post was clear enough in making fun of EDC terms that it was not political, I should have realized that parody is inherently a statement about the source material. That source material and the parodic statement were political. So I took the article down.
To be clear, I did not take it down because of complaints. The vast majority of comments were supportive and understood the tongue and cheek approach. Two were mildly negative. One thought it wasn’t funny. But I am okay with taking a position that results in pushback. I think I am the only reviewer that has a negative opinion of the Spyderco Para3. What I should not have done was violate the no politics rule. You can get that elsewhere in heaping gobs. I hope you come here for gear related info. From now on I will stick to that. (Everyday Commentary)
Why EverydayCommentary took down EDC Style Guide Post
It is a shame, but I am not going to start castigating Anthony over this. I imagine his hesitancy is related to the Microtech/ZT lawsuit which he got tangled up in a couple of years ago. It seems to mesh with the timing of his “nothing remotely political” stance. He got burned badly in what should have been just a minor dust up, and is understandably a bit gun shy.
I get it, but the point about the importance of not surrendering ground in the very real cultural battle over language is a valid one, and one I agree with to my core. It is a shame to see any retreat on that front.