Your departure is PEN-L's loss, not yours. LBO is more fun anyway. PEN-L tries to be serious and promote civility, but the results for civility are uneven and the seriousness stifles my matchless sense of humor. Plus it only encourages Devine.
Calling someone a stalinist is hardly the worst thing in the world, in the only sense it can mean anything here. Nobody called a stalinist is being accused of murdering millions of kulaks or having Trotsky ice-picked. For some, being called a stalinist is a compliment. I've seen much worse here. Louey called me a welfare capitalist, and fat besides. He said I had a 38 inch waist, which only called attention to the fact that I have a 48 inch waist. You happened to miss Louie, who is on serial-killer sabbatical from the list.
As Nathan has mentioned, while I too have high regard for Bicycle Boy Perelman, and while I also appreciate the time he sacrifices to hosting the list, his moderation in political controversies has always been a model of inconsistency. I've raised this more than once myself, but since criticism is healthy I figure you can't be too healthy.
I most regret the in-fighting among people with whom I seem to get along, and from whose posts I benefit. In fact, I seem to get along with everyone these days except Louie, who actually loves me to death but won't admit it. And I'm not even a socialist. Shit. I'm less internationalist than Brad DeLong.
I don't get along with Rakesh, who has just arrived, but how do we know it's really Rakesh and not some imposter whose real name is Hyman Blumenstock or Tachion Babushka?
My only beef with Leo was that for a while it seemed like he got me in a thread with David Horowitz and Louis Menashe.
There is something to be said for the Henwood policy of not trying to stifle abuse altogether, but to keep it to a dull roar. Thereby steam is let off but nobody blows a gasket, at least not usually. Whereas on PEN-L the mean temperature is lower but the variance higher.
Can't we all get along? I guess not. It's hard when you're so damn serious.
mbs