why is everyone so hard on gporter?

[Mechaman]

Nobody is hard on gporter.  He just has a victim complex.

^^^^
This.  But there's more:

I will admit that some of my earlier criticisms of GPORTER were when I was in my ASSHOLE stage (really, I feel kind of embarrassed reading my late 2009-early 2010 posts), so I admit I haven't always been exactly fair to the kid.  At one point I was man enough to apologize to GPORTER, to admit that I was wrong in the way I treated him.
However, over time he has shown that he has an inability to take even the most constructive of criticism well.  I even remember once he flat out told me he didn't care "what I thought" about how to make one of his timelines better.  To me, someone who shows that much blatant disrespect to people who read timelines and just flatout ignores all criticism doesn't deserve respect.  I credit all of my hard work on writing my timelines, all of the praise I get for how well written and thought out they are, to the people who read and comment on it.  If it weren't for some comments by some readers of my writing I wouldn't be as good at doing it as I am.  To hear a poster disrespect people who take the effort to read timelines and comment on them......that is just one of the most disrespectful things anyone could do (at least in my mind).

That is why I stopped giving a toss about how victimized GPORTER feels.

[Mechaman]

GPorter is not mentally handicapped AFAIK. He admitted to be dyslexic, which is just as pointless as a serial killer admitting to be kleptomaniac. If he really were (which I see no reason to assume), then probably banning him would be the best thing to do for him. Otherwise, he's simply a troll who likes to say inanities.

Well I'm Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.  I am easily distracted by scantily clad women and advertisements on TV for all you can eat Stuffed French Toast at IHop!  It's amazing I can function at all on a competent level on this forum!
I am so mentally handicapped (at least using the standard set by this forum) that I demand everybody immediately start ignoring every rude, abrasive, dismissive, assholish post I've ever made because I really can't help it because of my mental defect!

[Mechaman]

GPorter is not mentally handicapped AFAIK. He admitted to be dyslexic, which is just as pointless as a serial killer admitting to be kleptomaniac. If he really were (which I see no reason to assume), then probably banning him would be the best thing to do for him. Otherwise, he's simply a troll who likes to say inanities.

I am so mentally handicapped (at least using the standard set by this forum) that I demand everybody immediately start ignoring every post I've ever made because I really can't help it because of my mental defect!

I'll keep that in mind

LMAO man, that was classic.
You are easily the worst person in History.

[Mechaman]

I believe this thread underscores a recurrent theme: those of us who legitimately criticize and those of us who act like assholes.

Yes I admit I sometimes fall into both camps.  I admit I probably have made fun of GPORTER's posting style quite a bit, but for good reason: he's really good at portraying a victim messiah complex (something the lot of you have fallen for).

Most of our criticism is exactly that, not on his mental disability (if he actually has any) but on his inability to take even the most constructive of criticism well.  This may surprise people but you can be in the middle on issues, there is no "either or" limitations.  This isn't multiple choice, this is fill in the blank.

I have in the past apologized very politely to GPORTER for my earlier insults of his TLs (they were admittedly extremely rude) and said I would be willing to offer an assistance I could to help him.  Admittedly his TLs have gotten better over time and I hope that is because, for whatever amount of time, he willfully considered what other people had to say.

However, his latest spree of threads in the Forum Community makes it hard for me to take him seriously as a poster.  I know, it's hateful and evil to not take the mentally disabled (if he is, at all.  I have serious doubts) seriously, but with threads like "should I run for PResident?" (with no negative option, in my apparently bigoted and hateful mind there needs to be at least one negative and one affirmative option in each poll, unless it's a joke poll) and "why everybody so meen to me" (where I *shocker* actually defended GPORTER) and a few others make me doubt he isn't a troll.

But no, instead we are expected to roll over and take his blatant ignorance of any helpful advice we might be giving him because if we dare respond to his ignorance we are being hateful towards somebody with disabilities.  And we are also expected to stay quiet about the sudden emergence of his Messianic Victim Complex lest we be labeled pathetic pieces of trash scum suckers who enjoy preying on the weak.
Just because he might have a mental disability doesn't make him exempt from criticism of his behavior.  In fact to say that it's okay for mentally disabled people to be dismissive and rude towards other people is insulting to people without consequence (like us "being "hard" on GPORTER") who actually have mental disabilities.

Get off your moral high horses people.

[Mechaman]

One last thought for everybody here:

What the hell is somebody who can't take criticism doing on an internet forum?  Especially one revolving around politics?

[Mechaman]

Whether he's an idiot or not or makes bad posts or not is irrelevant. You have a choice over what to do with your time. You can choose to spend it making fun of someone who's retarded if you want. But I'm not going to do it.

At the very least you ought to admit to yourselves that there is no benevolent motive involved on your part (like "helping" him).

If he's faking it all, which is possible of course, there is no grounds to feel sorry for him. But there is also no reason at all to bash his fake lack of intelligence.

Notice that no one here said things like "Gporter is a retard" (so far, regardless of context, you were the only who stated that), "Gporter is stupid", "Gporter is an idiot" etc. etc.

When I'm critical about his statements/writing, I'm telling why, without calling him that way. This is a FORUM. If you post here, others are likely to respond.

When I say that development in his timeline doesn't make sense, is that "mean"? When I say I find his statement laughable, is that mean?

Gporter may not be that stupid after all, considering that his writing improved. He's still a poor writer, but better than he used to be. Would he achieve that without criticism? I guess no.

So, keeping him under a jar won't help him any more than actually reacting to him.

Personally, I'm extremely grateful to all those who offered a constructive criticism to my writings on what-if or corrected my flawed English. I'm grateful, because it helped me a lot.

This.

We are criticizing GPORTER for being an inconsiderate jerk, not for being retarded.  From the tone of many on here it sounds like it's impossible for us to criticize GPORTER for being anything other than mentally defective.  It's almost as if his mental problems automatically prevent him from being a jerk [/forum logic].

Which of course is a lot like saying black people can't be racist.

If anything we are the ones who are treating him like a normal person by having the audacity to expect him to handle criticism well.

[Mechaman]

I think there's some truth to the term 'differently abled.' He ain't altogether dumb, that's clear from  some of his smarter analysis posts in the what-if board. Yeah he's oversensitive about some stuff and hasn't figured out how to deal with it. Most of the stuff he considers mean really isn't. But some of it is, and it should stop.

^^^^
I believe that Shua has probably said it best.  I'm not at all denying that there have been some vicious and negative things said about GPORTER.  In fact I've probably said some of them.  But that doesn't discount all LEGITIMATE criticisms of GPORTER just because some of them happen to be heavy handed in negativity.
Just saying.

[Mechaman]

I haven't really read any of his posts recently, so I was thinking more of what happened earlier.

Of course someone who has mental problems can be a jerk. It's probably even more likely than that someone who doesn't will.

Regardless, there are plenty of mean people on the forum. But stupid posters tend to catch a lot more flak than mean posters around here.

Well I think we all learned something today.  Maybe later we can all come together, have a group hug, sing Kumbaya and hold hands together.

But honestly folks, what Gustaf says is pretty true.  A lot of people, whether they care to admit it or not, can be jerks.  I admittedly am not a jerk, I'm an asshole.  That's much worse, but people put up with me anyway.

But I'm trying to look back on my past and make some important changes.  I believe that the rest of you guys should try the same thing too.  After all what everyone needs more in the world are hugs, not drugs (though admittedly that isn't that bad either).