Pied Piper Pitt Bids Farewell To DUmmieland

It's the end of an Era of Shameless Self-Hype. The Puffed Up Verbose One who uses five melodramatic words when just one would work, Pied Piper Pitt, is leaving DUmmieland. And what was the reason for this sudden departure? Most likely it was the result of recently getting egg on his face for backing up the "integrity" of JASON LEOPOLD. As the Lib of the infamous team of Leopold and Lib, Pitt stuck his neck out backing the journalistic credentials of the factually challenged Leopold who stated that Karl Rove received a target letter from Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. When it turned out to be untrue, the branch from which Pitt was sawing himself off from the tree of credibility came tumbling down which is why he now needs to beat a humiliating retreat as you can see in his typically overblown farewell speech in this POST titled, "A humble answer." So let us all now watch Pied Piper Pitt fade into the distance in Bolshevik Red while the commentary of your humble correspondent, who bids adieu to a DUmmie who has provided LOTS of laughs in many DUFU editions, is in the [brackets]:

A humble answer

[Humble and Pitt don't exactly go together.]

Somehow, I managed to become central to a DU flameout that I have since completely missed. I headed up to New Hampshire to dog-sit for my mom, who went to South Carolina for a "We're all turning 60!" reunion gathering this weekend. I haven't bothered since then to check the web, because the internet connection here in the woods is dial-up and galactically slow. So I finally got around to checking in tonight, and lo & behold...

[And the LORD said unto Pitt, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.]

* One thread from a man I once considered an ally shitting on me, another truthout writer, and basically everything not oriented with pushing his film project;

[And he also hid the key to the strawberry ice cream icebox.]

* Several threads about Raw Story and atheists, which became my problem because I chose to support Raw for the five thousand good things they've done, rather than burn them down for one ill-advised article;

[Just do us a favor and don't waste five thousand words to explain how you got Raw Egg on your face over this.]

* Several threads about all this together.

[Redundancy can be quite catchy as well as contagious.]

To answer your question, kpete, about why there is so much fighting, I can give you the perspective of someone who has been here since May of 2001. That perspective is pretty straightforward: most of the people who post here agree with you completely. Those that don't - people whose professional jealousy overwhelms their good sense, people whose single-issue monomania denies the viability of even a nanoblip of disagreement, people who get phony-tough behind a fake name and a keyboard, and people who are here to do nothing more than tear up the process - will always make this place disagreeable. This place will never, ever, ever live up to its potential because of this, and that is sad.

[You'll get way more than a nanoblip of disagreement from Skinner over your characterization of DUmmieland about that "place will never, ever, ever live up to its potential." So now that DUmmieland hasn't lived up to Pied Piper Pitt's haughty expectations, he's DUmping it.]

Before too much time passes, there is going to be a decent crowd of people on this forum who will owe Jason Leopold an apology. I'll bet you all the money in my wallet they won't offer one, but there it is. For myself, I apologize to anyone who felt that my support for Raw Story equalled support for a column that unnecessarily (and incoherently) attacked a group of good people. That was not my intention, and in retrospect, I should have made that clear from the jump. I wanted to help Larissa, because I believe she deserves that help and respect, and inadvertantly made things worse. That was my failure, and I am sorry for it.

[We are so sorry, Jason Leopold, that you are so whacked out that you flat out lied in your article about Karl Rove getting a letter naming him as a target. Please forgive us for not believing in your lie.]

This is a good thread, kpete, and well-meaning in every sense. But I have been here too long and seen too much shit (and, to be fair, caused too much of my own shit) to believe this place can or will ever rise to the level of integrity that people like you bring to it every day. The same reasons why this place will never reach its potential are the same reasons why the Left spends so much time on the outside looking in politically. You would think we wouldn't have to learn the same hard lessons over and over again, but you'd be wrong.

[Does this ever get to some CONCLUSION? However, have no fear. The Good Doctor is taking notes. Just keep wandering all over the place, Pitt, and maybe we can find a cure for Terminal Verbosity in the meantime.]

It has been said by many long-time posters that the healthiest thing one can do from time to time is take a break from this place. I seldom do, and when I have tried in the past, I always get sucked back in. But I think the time has come for a real one. I have too much to deal with in my personal life, too many pages to edit for my next book, too many real enemies in the Bush administration and congress to fight, and too many good Democrats to help get elected in '06, to spend my energy here fighting people that - in any sane, stable community - would be natural allies.

[The reference to his personal life might have to do with the legal problems of the Schoolyard Dog. You can read all about it in a brief called, "The Minor-ity Report."]

In other words, I have better things to do with my time. Guess what, kpete: you and everyone who agrees with you also have better things to do with your time. If there are people here who want to turn this forum into a boneyard for jackals and phony-tough flame-warriors, you should let them. You can't stop it, no matter how hard you try, and your skills and passion are far better served in a place where you don't have to ask people on the same side to stop tearing each other apart.

[How about a schoolyard for jackals?]

See ya on the flip-side.

[See ya on the flip-flop side. And now for the DUmmie reaction to the Pied Piper Pitt departure...]

William Pitt - I cannot accept this. Please, please give me some hope. Don't we need you, Larisa, Leopold and each other now more than ever?
The light at the end of the tunnel is in view. I can see it...

[Please Pitt. Don't leave. I can see the light at the end of your long tunnel extending down to your voluminous vocal chords and beyond.]

Setting aside your mother, her dog, time and bandwidth...

[Especially bandwidth. And now more from the Pied Piper Pitt lemmings on this DUmmie THREAD titled, "Dear William Pitt: please don't leave DU."]

Dear William Pitt: please don't leave DU.

[We DUmmie lemmings need you to play on your Pipe to lead us over the cliff.]

Maybe you can keep posting your journal entries without reading the comments if things get to be too much? Or maybe, maybe, lots of other folks will chime in and tell you how much your work here means?

[Maybe you can send messages down from the heights of Mt. Sinai to us peons via courier.]

Will Pitt Has Disagreed With Me Several Times. As a result I never considered leaving DU. If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen.
Will Pitt does not own left wing or progressive thought.

[Pied Piper Pitt considers himself the Be All and End All of DUmmieland...but he still can't get a job with Mama T's Boy Toy.]

Will does however, open himself up to personal attack with his often smarmy responses.

[Make that OVERLONG smarmy responses.]

Will does open himself up sometimes to personal attacks with short, smarmy answers. The way he answers people sometimes can be construed as quite condescending and arrogant.

[And don't forget pompous.]

PLEEEEEEEEAAAAASSSSEEEEE, Mr. Pitt. Mr. Pitt, you are one of the reasons I visit DU often. For a long time, I just sat back and lurked. But you, Mr. Pitt, inspired me to become a member and to post. The WORLD needs more people like you. DU would not be the same without you. PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAASSSSSEEEEE STAY.
Please?

[PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAASSSSSEEEEE STAY, Mr. Pitt, so I can continue to kiss your pimpled tush.]

PLEASE DON'T LEAVE US WILL!!! WE NEED YOUR TRUTHS AND INSIGHTS!!

[TRUTHS LIKE HOW KARL ROVE RECEIVED A TARGET LETTER FROM FITZGERALD!!]

I've forgotten how many times he's left
Not to worry, Pitt groupies. He always comes back.

[There will always be a Second, Third, and Fourth Return of the Pitt.]

was it that Target letter question? as I haven't really been up on the RS/truthout reports on it, I can't really say, just that Will was asked about the discreptancy of some sort. If that is the reason he is upset, then I don't understand. Was the question ever answered, btw?

[That question was answered and Pitt was WRONG...as usual.]

I always learn things from Will also, and if he leaves he's caving to a very, very small group of people who don't appreciate him as much as the rest of us do. Ignore them, Will, and keep posting. I love everything I've ever read that you've written - you're a treasure to DU.

[It's more a matter of Pitt leaving with his tail between his legs after standing up for the "veracity" of the fact-challenged Jason Leopold.]

You read it right. Taking a break. This thread is silly.

[Especially since Pitt will be returning shortly with a long-winded speech which will make it seem like a more momentous occasion than MacArthur returning to the Phillipines.]

I've lost count of the times Pitt has threatened to leave. I'm sick of people kissing his ass and begging him to stay. Let him go if that's what he wants - I doubt he really does want - he's got too many sycophants around here.

[Please don't leave, Mr. Pitt. I am one of your loyal "sickophants" who hangs on your every word even if there are way too many of them.]