Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 21:16:46 -0400 (EDT)
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
From: "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl at KeithLynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Lee Strong
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

Lee Strong wrote:

> On 12 October 2004, Keith Lynch noted that Lee Strong had not
> participated in a WSFA activity since April 2004.

> I delayed responding because I wanted to see if anyone else had a
> comment, ...

Someone still might.  Most of us were at Capclave.  That really
reduces one's online time.

I'm pleased to hear that your reason for non-attendance was not ill
health.  I had been concerned.

> I come to a **science fiction association** for the purpose of
> enjoying **science fiction**.

As do most of us.  We discuss other things, of course, but we do so
in a shared context.  We like talking to people who have similar
interests, and who will understand our references and allusions.

> As a practical matter, fandom's chief activities are gossiping about
> oneself and other fans, drinking beer, and engaging in cheap sex.

That's not at all my experience.  I do not gossip, and I do not drink
beer or anything else alcoholic.

Ironically, another WSFAn was just complaining to me that he thinks
other WSFAns condemn him for drinking!

> ...I seek sex that's priceless rather than cheap.

As do I.

And nobody has condemned me for any of the above.

Have you looked at the Capclave schedule?  Nearly all the scheduled
events directly concerned SF, math, science, or SF-related art.  Most
of the dealers were selling almost nothing but SF books.  (SF should
be construed as including fantasy in this paragraph.)

> Second, and more importantly, WSFA is a very hostile environment for
> a Republican.

Fans tend to be anti-authoritarian.  This is no less anti-Democrat
than anti-Republican.  During a Republican administration, there is
likely to be more of the latter, for obvious reasons.

> On 16 April 2004, the club applauded Madeleine Yeh's symbolic
> decapitation of Attorney General John Ashcroft specifically and
> Republicans generally.  Subsequently, Madeleine offered a symbolic
> decapitation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield and invoked
> malevolent occult forces against George W. Bush.  Eric Jablow was
> the only person who objected.

Eric Jablow was the only person who objected *on the record*.  Several
other people, including me, objected privately.

Anyhow, she is just one person.  Her ideas are not those of all WSFA
members.  And most WSFA members did not applaud.

Much of the dislike of Bush, Ashcroft, et al., are *from* Republicans,
who are appalled at how un-Republican the current administration has
been acting, with no-fly lists, secret searches, "papers, please" at
airports and railroad stations, the highest national debt and deficit
in history, people imprisoned for years without a trial, and the
torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

I've seen little objection to the war in Afghanistan, only to the war
in Iraq, which many people believe has nothing to do with terrorism.
Fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 terrorists were Saudis, but no action has
been taken against Saudi Arabia.

I for one dislike the Democrats just as much as the Republicans.  In
recent years I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that government
not only does more harm than good, but that this cannot be fixed, and
we'd be better off without any government at all.  This idea, needless
to say, is not shared by most WSFAns.

While I have certainly criticized the current administration, I have
also criticized Clinton and his administration, John Kerry, Al Gore,
and Ralph Nader.  I have also criticized Michael Moore, CBS News, and
everyone else who has spread lies about either candidate, or about
anything else.  Other WSFAns have done the same.

> Accordingly, I have not participated in WSFA activities since April
> 2004.

I hope you return after the election.  Note that the next meeting is
after the election.

Certainly if Kerry wins, you'll soon start hearing more anti-Democrat
than anti-Republican comments at WSFA.