Monday, September 29, 2014

Flogger Obsession with Denigration....


Ray Ortensie's debut at the Trashing Confederate Flags Facebook group reminded me of a post at X-Roads from last month. Another example of "academics" of presumably average intelligence assassinating their brains in order to wield the put-down and indulge their desire to denigrate.

Here's the post and an edit of the resulting comments thread (my responses are in red):
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Quote of the Week: August 17-23, 2014
Posted on August 23, 2014   

Courtesy of Ray Ortensie:

Verona was inspired by Valdosta, Georgia, and sits in approximately the same location, in extreme south Georgia, just a half-hour north of the Florida line. But the fictional town is not Valdosta with the name changed. There are many similarities, however. Incidentally, I have never been to Valdosta.

Discuss.
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Joshism on August 23, 2014 at 2:44 pm said:

What is Verona?

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Brooks D. Simpson on August 23, 2014 at 2:51 pm said:

I assume it’s the name of a fictional town based on a real town but really not.

More proof that Simpson's January review of Southern Man and August review of Sweet Southern Boys at Amazon are fraudulent; if he had read the novels, as his reviews falsely imply, he wouldn't have to assume; he would know.

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rortensie on August 23, 2014 at 5:55 pm said:

In Connie’s fantasy world…
Now, as I understand it, Mr. Ortensie is a teacher, a professor and thus should be educated enough to understand the difference between fiction and fantasy. But in case he really is confused about it, here are the applicable definitions from Dictionary.com:

fiction
noun
1. the class of literature comprising works of imaginative narration, especially in prose form.
2. works of this class, as novels or short stories:

fantasy
noun
1. imagination unrestricted by reality (as modifier): a fantasy world
2. a creation of the imagination, esp a weird or bizarre one

Here's an interesting article about the origins of fiction writing.

http://sciencenordic.com/origin-fiction

It sez fiction writing originated in the nonfiction of the Middle Ages. While I take the author's attempts to discredit the Bible and ancient Christian scholarship with a large grain of salt, I do find interesting his claim that early historians injected fiction into their "factual" histories, and thus contributed greatly to the origins of fiction writing.  And it's still happening, as the fictional components of flogger "civil war" blogs so clearly demonstrates.

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Brooks D. Simpson on August 23, 2014 at 2:52 pm said:

By the way, there is a Verona, Georgia.

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rortensie on August 23, 2014 at 6:01 pm said:

See, and I did not even check that. One would assume she would have checked that…however, should have known better.
Well, since my novel is set in American state of Georgia (which I did check), not the Democratic Republic of Georgia in Eurasia, there was no need to check any place BUT the southeastern state of Georgia. One would assume an academic of the caliber of Mr. Ortensie would understand that, but I guess it makes too much sense...
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Andrew Raker on August 24, 2014 at 12:02 pm said:

“Incidentally, I have never been to Valdosta.”

Has she been to anywhere in reality?
As a matter of fact, Mr. Raker, if you're talking physical location, I've been to Canada, Mexico and 42 of the 50 states in the ha-ha Union, and I have resided in Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Illinois and Florida. Is that real enough for you, sugar?

If that's not what you mean, muster your courage, come here to my blog, and let's discuss what you mean by "anywhere in reality" 'kay?

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rortensie on August 24, 2014 at 1:24 pm said:

Having lived in Valdosta for two years back ten years ago, I believe most long-term residents I knew or met would take quite an offense to her “thoughts.”
Wouldn't you folks just LOVE to know how he came to this "belief"? First, what does he mean by long-term residents, and why does duration of residence matter, anyway? Second, how does he know WHAT people he knew or met would take offense at, unless he chose as his acquaintances those folks who thought just like him? And how does he know what my "thoughts" are?
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For the curious, the paragraph that started the discussion is taken from my author website, from the "Extras" page. I have to admit to mystification that a sage, learned, lofty academic/historian like um, Ray Ortensie would bother himself with pop fiction, or with the website of a self-published pop-fiction author. 

But then, why is Simpson so obsessed with the Virginia Flaggers? Why is Corey Meyer so eaten up with VaFlagger obsession he created a Facebook page centered on them? Why is Mackey obsessed with "neo-Confederates"?

They claim it's because we are about "heritage, not history" and presumably history is what these folks care about.  But that doesn't explain their ongoing obsession and their orgiastic joy in denigration. There's something else at work here, and it isn't a pure and innocent interest in historical accuracy.

I mean, Ray Ortensie purposely copied a paragraph from my author website and conveyed it to Simpson in some manner, perhaps by email, or else he sent Simpson a link to the Extras page where that paragraph appears.

Why? What was his motive for doing that? I mean, aside from grasping for the addictive pleasure that accompanies flogger denigration?

But then, why did Simpson risk exposing himself as a petty fraud with his phony reviews of my books on Amazon if not from the same motive (which he has demonstrated repeatedly in the past)?

Flogger motives ... both fascinating and repulsive to consider.

10 comments :

  1. Why do they care about the setting of your book?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My guess? Because I'm a proSoutherner and I don't portray white Southerners, especially men, as evil racists, religious bigots/zealots, inbred idiots, philanderers, domestic abusers and/or rightwing terrorists. That's evidently some sort of social obligation white Southern writers incur just being um, white and Southern. An obligation I thoroughly reject. My characters are flawed, no doubt about it, but decent and personable, not the repulsive regional stererotypes all too common in pop culture (and so loved by the New York publishing establishment).

      Of course, I could be wrong. You know how Simpson "tiptoes" through the Internet looking for Confederate heritage folks to bash? Maybe Ortensie "tiptoes" around cyberspace looking for any writings with a fictional setting to bash. I wonder if he knows how many there are... Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County, Michener's Centennial, and then we have Metropolis, Gotham City, Castle Rock, Mordor,Smallville, and on and on.

      Here's a list of fourteen fictional settings based on, or inspired by, real places (just like Verona was inspired by Valdosta, imagine that!). http://mentalfloss.com/article/28715/14-literary-settings-inspired-real-places

      Can we expect Mr. Ortensie to get on XRoads and bellyache about them? I won't hold my breath. Floggers and floggerettes denigrate my books because I wrote them, and they really, really, you know, don't like me.

      Delete
    2. Good for you. We need more pro-Southern media.

      Still don't get why he cares, but whatever.

      Delete
  2. I'd say their obsession is driven by the fact that the North lost the war culturally, politically and ideologically. Their attempts to defame the Confederate dead and those who honour and remember them are driven by a fact that is cruel and astonishing to them. The Union troops, the "winners", are objects of contempt and scorn, in film and popular works of fiction. So much so, that even small boys in the deep North, playing soldier, or with toy soldiers, will gravitate towards the Confederate naturally and no matter how strenuous the objections of Yankee school marms become. In short, they're what Clyde Wilson described as "sore winners."

    ReplyDelete
  3. Actually, I don't go looking for your stuff as I do not read fiction but was pointed there by someone in Valdosta and asked if I had ever seen it before. Also, all of my research has focused on the South during the Civil War but I guess you failed to research that part.

    Also, if you do not mind, please remove my image. I don't mind if you want to "bash" me, that is fine, I understand that individuals need people to hate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ray, get over yourself.
      You're not an object of hate, you're a lesson in arrogance and narcissism at best.

      Delete
    2. So, Mr. Ortensie, if that's who you really are, someone from Valdosta referred you to the Extras page on my author website? And because of that, for some reason, you decided to send the first paragraph about Verona, Georgia, the fictional location of my Legacy of Fortitude series, to Brooks Simpson? Did you decide to do that on your own, or did the "someone from Valdosta" suggest it?

      For what reason did you send it to Simpson? Were you hoping and/or expecting it to produce a comment thread that you could participate in and wield your put-downs?

      You don't read fiction, so you haven't read my novels, but you call my fiction a fantasy world. Or maybe you are saying my novels are the result of a fantasy world I live in? If that's what you're implying, how do you know it? Are you a mental health professional who makes diagnoses about people you have never met based on something you read on the Internet?

      I failed to research that part of what? The focus of your research, i.e., the South during the Civil War? Let me see how to explain this... I didn't fail to research it. I simply have no interest in researching it. I don't care what you research, or teach, or write about ... until and unless you participate in the flogger obsession of attacking Southern heritage and its supporters. And if/when that happens, there's always a chance I will defend or counter-attack.

      Okay, I've removed your photo, but of the two of us, you and I, who started the bashing? Who sent the paragraph from my author site to Simpson? Hint: it wasn't me. Who participated in the Connie-bashing thread that followed? I count THREE gratuitous Connie-bashing comments by YOU in that thread. So exactly which of us individuals is exhibiting a need of "people to hate"? Maybe you'd like to make the case that your Connie-bashing results not from hate but from positive feelings toward me, like admiration or approbation?

      You painted yourself into that corner, Mr. Ortensie. Wear it.

      Delete
    3. Carl, he's something, isn't he?

      "It wasn't me, I don't care about fiction and stuff like that, it's somebody from Valdosta's fault. They made me go read it...."

      And did they then make him send it to Simpson? And THEN, did this someone in Valdosta make him participate in the comment thread?

      Poor Ray, he's just a helpless victim caught in the grip of forces beyond his ability to control, forces that compelled him to read my blog, compelled him to notify Simpson, and compelled him post snarky comments about me at XRoads...

      Must be a terrible thing to lose one's free will...

      Delete
    4. I'll say Connie. But then again from his perspective giving over his thinking to someone else might also seem like bliss.
      I wouldn't know, I'm not a drone and never wanted to be.

      Delete

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