Just like buses....

[Disaffected.citizen]

... no threads locked in over a year; and now three locked in a period of six weeks!

[Fred in Skirts]

I really don't see the reason for locking the thread as the political crap was moved to another area. Oh well I am not a moderator and have no say in the matter. I don't play the religion or political games here and will not. This is a forum for those of us that wear skirts and dresses.

[crfriend]

I really don't see the reason for locking the thread as the political crap was moved to another area. Oh well I am not a moderator and have no say in the matter.

The problem was that the original thread had become so polluted that all its original context had been lost, and woe be it to the poor sod who started reading it hoping for something relevant or on-topic for this forum. Quite honestly I thought seriously of binning the whole thing, but decided to entomb it instead so the fearless might derive some germs of interest from it and also get a taste of how political discussions cannot be carried on in a civil manner in an uncivilised society.

This is a forum for those of us that wear skirts and dresses.

The problem is that no matter how hard we try, we're awash in this mess. Try jumping into the local sewage-treatment-facility primary-tanks sometime and not coming away without smelling like cr@p. Some revel in it, and some are appalled -- and never the twain shall meet. Once belief creeps in, intellect leaves by the back door and civility goes out the window.

[moonshadow]

What do cockroaches and political discussions on the internet have in common?

You stomp one out and two more take it's place!

[moonshadow]

As has been pretty well illustrated, I'm not particularly good at political discussions. I weigh in from time to time, and normally wind up with my foot in my mouth or worse, completely pissed off.

Sometimes I wonder, what's the point of all this talk? Talk is so cheap. If one's got so much of a big problem with something, get out and get involved in it! What does ranting and complaining on a male skirting website accomplish?

Then I think about my role as a fashion freestyler and what it represents.... you see, I don't simply just "wear skirts", I buck the system every time I slip one on. It's more than just a large sandwich board, I'm living the role, going into the obnoxious corners of the world and letting my light shine bright.

My skirts send out the following messages:

• I will not be controlled by "the man"
• I support equality of the feminine to the masculine
• I stand with the social outcast
• I support Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender rights, and stand with them respectively
• I support a man's freedom to be who he wants to be, even it it's a feminine man
• If you are broken, beaten, or among the damned, I will stand and fight with you

I don't just pull out a picket sign once or twice a year and write on occasional letter to the local news editor, no I live the liberation day after day risking all.

When they said "stop wearing those things or else...."

I said, "or else what?" and proceeded to put on a brighter one! With more flowers!

We're livin it guys...! We didn't just put on a "real men wear kilts" bumper sticker on our cars, no sir, we don't just talk the talk, we walk the walk... and that's why wearing a skirt is so cool!

[crfriend]

As has been pretty well illustrated, I'm not particularly good at political discussions. I weigh in from time to time, and normally wind up with my foot in my mouth or worse, completely pissed off.

The trick is to recall that you're actually talking to another human being, albeit one who has a different viewpoint than you, and that civility in the face of disagreement counts for something. The big problem is not the disagreement, the big problem is a lack of civil behaviour.

There's part of me that actually hope that this current pack gets precisely the world they're asking for. Sure, guys like us on the margins are going to be the first victims, but when the system turns on those who created it there'll be no one left to protect them and they shall receive the full brunt of it. Recall the old adage that ends off, "... and when they came for me there was no one left to speak out."

Quite honestly I was so upset with the level of vitriol and grief, both here (! [0]) and erupting from the Alabaster City [1] on a daily basis that I wound up getting physically ill the other night. And my heart fairly bleeds that the insanity here has caused death and injury in Canada.

Is this really the world we want to live in? If so, then let der fuhrer remain quiet; if no, then let him speak up against the insanity. It's got to come from somewhere, and nobody is going to take a guy in a skirt seriously. This has got to come from the oligarchs. The common man has no meaning any more.

[0] Put bluntly, I expect better.
[1] Where I'm seeing precisely what I expect to, and am disgusted to the core by it.

[Pdxfashionpioneer]

Hi Carl,

I have to respectfully disagree with you. Plenty of people take me seriously when I'm in a skirt or dress. And the average individual counts for plenty in politics. Yes, money's the lifeblood of the process, but the purpose of spending the money is to get the average individual to vote for the candidate they've bought (just kidding on this last, they've only bought access)

All of those demonstrations world-wide against the travel ban has gotten the political party's attention and for that matter, Donald Trump's. So far it's only pissed him off but either he'll listen and adjust or he'll lead the Republicans into debacle in the mid-terms.

[crfriend]

I have to respectfully disagree with you. Plenty of people take me seriously when I'm in a skirt or dress.

Individuals may -- and likely do -- take you seriously, but what of society as a whole? I don't think the notion translates very well in what passes for here.

And the average individual counts for plenty in politics.

In what dimension of "alternate facts" do you dwell? I'd like to join you.

All of those demonstrations world-wide against the travel ban has gotten the political party's attention and for that matter, Donald Trump's. So far it's only pissed him off [...]

The oligarchs don't care; they're completely unaffected by it. Trump doesn't care; he started the thing and fed off an inarticulate frenzy to put the thing in place. The only folks who care are either the ones directly affected by it (and I have concerns about a very good friend of mine in this regard if he decides to visit his family back in Iran -- and he's lived here since before the fall of the Shah) or the bleeding hearts who understand that silence is assent -- and they're all Little People so their voices do not matter. The only way that the oligarchs will demand an end to it is if they start feeling the pinch in their bank statements.

The above is not to say we should not speak out, for we should -- if only for our own peace of mind and to say that we stood on the right side of the matter.

[moonshadow]

Dave, not sure what happened to your reply....

But...




Nah... come on guys.... lighten up!

It's just politicks? It's just a thang... a rich man's thang... ain't none of us rich anyway...



I've got a box of f____ it's... take one pass the rest down!

[r.m.anderson]

Looks like a BACK ALLEY entrance to some speakeasy joint !
Enter and everyone knows your name - well maybe not everyone -
Hey it's that dude in the skirt - I'll take two of what he's (she's) having ???
And beware the restroom identification label on the door better it be the
symbol of a Scotsman triangle almost universally accepted ! LOL !

[crfriend]

Dave, not sure what happened to your reply....

Al nuked it while I was -- yet again -- providing references and citations (which quite clearly haven't been read) to drive the point home which Dave seems unable to understand. Al was understandably and considerably torqued off about Dave's recent behaviour of "calling people out". That's fine in old oaters [0] but is not acceptable behaviour in polite society. Suggestions have been mooted and conversation is taking place amongst the members of the moderation team as to what to do about this problem.

I love the shot from Portland -- a wonderful town from what I've seen. Sapphire and I spent a couple of days there in the mid '90s when we were on a round-the-county train journey and the city captivated me. I need to go back someday.

[0] a 1950s/60s term for "western"-themed movies here in the States.