Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Spring Break--Auditing--SWOTING

Well, I've spent the last two days working on the SWOT --"Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats--analysis for the Government Program's audit submission. Here's an example of my sterling bureaucratic prose:
Offering a variety of empirical political science classes, public law, and political theory, Morehead State is the only political science program in the state that can claim to fully embrace the possibilities of political science education.
Maybe I did something in a past life to deserve this, but I can't imagine what.

10 comments:

Ric Caric said...

To this particular Anonymous. I decided that your presence on this blog was a waste of my time. So I'm banning you. If you want to slip your comments in, you'll have to say something of substance. If you absolutely need an outlet for your hostility toward me, you could always comment at the "anti-caric" blog.

Anonymous said...

I've also found that a complete blanket of silence works well towards stupid people like 'cleo'. Ignore this person for a while, and he or she will stop. This person is pathetic and a moron, and h/she does not deserve your time or concern.

I'd rather you spend your time writing about the things that we both care more about.

Keep the thought coming!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Dr. Caric, when there's someone out there dedicated to hating you, I would think it is kind of flattering! You know that you're having an impact when you get haters. Everytime someone breaks through, he or she gets a network of nay-sayers. You're in good company! Keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

Thing is, Caric knows the naysayers have a point.

Unknown said...

Man Dr. Caric that it sucks thats how you have to spend your bring break.

Anonymous said...

ah, life's too short to hate on people. If I didn't like Caric's blog, I'd not waste my time with it. I respect disagreement, but nobody's perfect...

Anonymous said...

Perhaps it was THIS life. I don't know and you do have excellent insights into the political scene. I find that I agree with you far more than I disagree with you. Your posts are well thought out and very on point.

My only complaint having looked back through your archives is a tendency to take this forum far too seriously. I'd have to go back and look again to remember which items struck me that way but the pattern seems to be one of attacking, sometimes quite harshly the people who appear to be in agreement with you. You are clearly exceptionally well informed but with all due respect, this is a blog. It is not an academic excercise and I think that is what struck me at times. You appeared to be grading the people who were in agreement with you or ignoring them entirely and instead focused your energy on what seemed to be a rather sophomoric insult-contest with your conservative commentators. Admitidly, these people are idiots. They won't go far in life if they think clever insults are synonymous with political discourse. What surprised me was the number of times you engaged that kind of ignorance. I've no clue who you have just banned from your blog but if it were mine, I would long ago have banned the GOP insult people. As I recall, they are regular commentators on a blog called.....Protein---something. It was/is an odd name. I just remember the Protein part. You had quite a war of words with them off and on last year. The thing is, it was all wasted effort in my view. Why did you not ban them? It really drug the discourse into the gutter.
As I said, I browsed all through your posts and the responces and there were some other spots where I felt you were too harsh on people with whom you agreed...to the point of what looked like you were trying to embarrass them. There were some that stood out really starkly but I don't recall the names. I do recall that you had rather a particular contempt for one of the people who appeared to be in agreement with you on the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. It was some sort of church/state thing. As I say there were a few like that but given the volume of posts and responces I have read here my memory of any one topic or individual is sketchy. I'd have to look again to specify the places where you really ripped some people new ones. Of course this is your forum but my guess is that even Arianna Huffington doesn't get set off quite as easily as you. (I like her blog as well.)
I suppose my primary point here is just relax. It's a blog, not a class. Some of your reactions indicate a very narcissistic personality. I do not know you so I am not affirmatively saying this is the kind of person you are. But you appear to be at your best when you lift yourself above the fray.
I've no clue why I am dishing out all this unsolicited advise but I have a dual impression of you. I see reflected in your writing a thoughtful, progressive, intelligent individual, every inch the PHD that you earned. At other times it seems as though another person is doing the writing. It comes across as petty, bitter, and retributive. Of course it is your blog, not mine but I feel that it could be better if you could embrace those who agree with you rather than condemn them for not saying what you believe the way you think it should be stated.
Perhaps it is the pressure of a blue-state person living in a reddish state. I do not have to deal with that sort of thing. I live in NYC but travel a great deal in my profession. I am never in "red America". I'm either in the Northeast, the Northwest (IE: Washington, Oregon) or California. So I don't deal with the pressures you deal with. Perhaps I would react exactly as you do. I rarely come into contact with the red-state mentality. My circle are very liberal and enlightened..as are you I think. You would be very at home with us.
Good God I've written for 30 minutes. I am alone at the moment and intrigued by an enlightened erudite PHD living among such extreme conservatism. It probably is responsible for your rather unpleasent habit of lashing out at even your political allies. Again, I have no clue why I am saying all of this. Too much Merlot at dinner, before dinner, after dinner, right now. Perhaps that drives me at the moment. But I feel you are a kindred spirit, at least to a certain degree and it saddens me to see a brilliant mind turned bitter by the ignorance of his surroundings. Embrace the progressives Dr. Caric. Lash out at the people who are the real source of your frustration. I shall take my leave for now. Good luck to you from a fellow progressive.

Anonymous said...

Hello Todd Mayo.

Ric Caric said...

Thanks for the thoughtful comment there. I'll keep what you said about being nicer to favorable commenters in mind.

I generally don't reply to favorable comments. I generally feel that I don't have anything to add. But I also save some time that way.

Maybe I should rethink that.

In relation to negative comments, I was ok with the insults from the Protein Wisdom crowd because their comments were from a political perspective and were often (but not always) related to the substance of my posts.

What makes me angry is the people who post here just to be nasty.

And you're right. Such comments bother me much more than they should and I sometimes respond far too much in kind.

I'll try to do better in the future.

Thanks for your concern and I'm glad you enjoy the blog.

Ric