Tomec Smith responds, not in kind

Hi, Kary. Let's start with your assertion of my "canine" relationship with Stanton. I don't know Stanton personally. His website was recommended to me by a friend, colleague and former associate whose opinion I respect. The same friend also recommended that I join the CD list primarily to watch the flow of communication and learn from it.

Contrary to your conclusion, I read your note at length and thought about it before responding. The conclusion that I reached and will now share -- hopefully clearly enough so all can understand -- is that once you opened Maelstrom to a forum for professional colloquy you invited in a different "basket of snakes" from your "normal" clients.

It is one thing to argue that clients of the professionals supporting Maelstrom should adhere to certain arbitrary standards as long as they know before they join what the rules are. It is quite another to arbitrarily establish new rules on-the-fly, interpret both established and new rules in patently unreasonable, unfair and offensive ways as was done in the treatment and expulsion of Robin, Stanton and Rob while saying nothing about the pernicious invective of those on the other side of the dispute.

The only compelling rationale, that I can think of, for the actions taken by the CD listowners is that they are in fact clients of or acting under the guidance of the professionals sponsoring Maelstrom and that the list was established for "normal" Maelstrom clients rather than independent professionals. If true, this should have been made clear to other non-client listmembers before they joined, else you have arguably perpetrated fraud on the Internet.

The CD list description and welcome notice say that it is a forum for professional discourse. It says absolutely nothing about the Maelstrom mental patient client base nor the restrictions in your previous letter to Stanton which he copied me on and which is reprinted below. If CD is not a forum for professional discourse, you should not allow it to be so advertised nor such notices to be published from your server without appropriate disclosure. If it is a forum for professional discourse, you should not allow the treatment of professionals as mental patients -- regardless of what you happen to think of them or their ideas personally.

I accept at face value your assertion that Maelstrom provides a valuable service to many, many people. It is my sincere desire that such a service both continue and improve. However, you, your "bosses" and St. Johns University should consider whether and how to come to grips with the Internet free speech, censorship and good taste issues that you have inadvertently stumbled into lest you risk bringing descredit to yourselves and your institution.

Assuming that CD is a legitimate professional forum and, unless there are some issues hidden in the woodwork that you have not exposed, I submit for your consideration that St. Johns has three reasonable courses of action at this point:

1. Maintain the CD list on Maelstrom.
2. Move the CD list to a different server.
3. Shut down the CD list.

Regardless of which choice you make, I believe it is important to publicly apologize to the "CD3" that the "excommunication committee", and St. Johns University by implication, have offended, insulted, and subjected to rude, impertinent and unprofessional behavior.

Perhaps when the CD list was set up, those involved in its start-up did not anticipate the kinds of problems that might ensue. But, like Pandora, you have opened the box. This is a responsibility that, like it or not, rests on those presumably good people who support Maelstrom. The fact that you choose to see only one side of the problem is unfortunate. I empathize strongly with your concern for the Maelstrom clients. However, committing wrong in support of right is, at its very best, an arguable virtue.

I assure you that I am not trying to do anything to the Maelstrom client base. I didn't know they existed until I got your note from Stanton. To argue that I am somehow inchoately victimizing them would be the purist sophistry. The Maelstrom sponsor created the opportunity for this to happen by enabling the CD list.

Declaring the expression of concern by those like myself to be the issue does nothing to resolve the underlying problem which has been, perhaps, inadvertently engendered by those with good intent. Moreover, insulting others -- like me -- who were offended by the unprofessional treatment of forum participants is neither honest, professional nor demonstrative of academic integrity in support of the institution you purport to represent.

While it will not make a great difference in my life whether I continue to receive CD posts, I would be saddened if the lack of foresight of the Maelstrom supporters resulted in deprivation for its clients.

Free speech and good manners on the Internet concern me both personally and professionally to the utmost extent. We are still in the early stage of its lifecycle. Thus, it is important for people of good will to act prudently toward one another and to take this new freedom, which has been miraculously granted to us all, to heart and act responsibly, else it will surely perish.