Very thoughtful respnse. Not that my opinion counts for much. But, I will say that Judy pretty much nailed John Knapp.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "geezerfreak" <geezerfreak@> > wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote: > <snip> > > > The humiliation of having Michael confirm what I > > > said has just about driven Barry around the bend. If > > > you consider yourself a friend of his, you ought to > > > be helping him deal with it by gently drawing him > > > closer to reality and reassuring him that he'll > > > survive. You aren't doing him any favors by > > > validating his fantasies. He's in enough trouble > > > already. > > > > You know Judy, I've known Barry for nearly 30 years. It's more > > than 30 years actually (damn how time flies!). You are engaging > > in utter fantasy about him. Barry has an extremely keen sense of > > humor. He's one of the few people I've known who can truly get > > as much pleasure laughing at himself as someone else. > > Look, I know you have to defend him because he's your > friend, but I've known him for almost 14 years now-- > not as long as you have, and only via this medium-- > but long enough to have a pretty clear idea of who he > is. I have never *once* seen him laugh at himself. > Maybe he does it in "real life" with people he's close > to and not threatened by, but he has a need to present > himself quite differently in this venue. > > And enough others over the years have validated my > take on him, both in public and in private, for me to > know I'm not indulging in some purely personal fantasy > about him. He's one of the most mean-spirited, > hypocritical, dishonest, ego-driven, angry, unhappy > individuals I've ever encountered anywhere. > > > If you think for one second that Barry is "humilated" by > > what Michael said you haven't learned a thing about him > > in all of these years of endless sparring. > > He's doing everything he can to avoid the appearance > of humiliation, but the intensity of his reaction, and > its very high fantasy quotient, gives it away. > > > Tweaking you is sport to him. He amuses himself doing it. > > Barry (like me) likes to laugh and does not like to be > > bored. > > There's more than a desire to laugh behind his attacks > on me (and others), Geeze. If you can't see that, you > haven't been paying attention. Again, this is not just > my take by a very long shot. There's something very > deeply twisted about him. > > And you might want to read up on the psychology of > boredom. It's not a benign symptom. But I agree with > you that it's a big part of what's troubling him. > > > What makes many of your posts so damn boring and redundant is > > that you take yourself SO seriously. This particular episode > > started because a sharp intellect (Ruth) realized that > > debating with you is a dead end. A humorless dead end at that. > > She decided to leave FFL since you would respond even when she > > wasn't addressing you. > > Well, of course I would, if she said something I wanted > to comment on. That she decided she wasn't going to > speak to me doesn't somehow mean I have to stop > expressing my opinion about what she says. That's sort > of like saying, "You can't see me because I have my > eyes closed." But there's no obligation whatsoever for > her to respond, so the reason she gave is patently > bogus. > > She did not cover herself with glory in the discussion > we had about abduction experiences. She took a position > at the outset--the one I initially commented on--and then > felt she had to stick to it even though it became obvious > she wasn't as well informed as she had thought. That's an > unusual situation for her, and she didn't know how to > handle it. > > > She has better things to do than going around in cirlcles > > with your own special brand of madness. > > I consistently fail to be impressed by generalized > accusations for which no evidence or examples are > provided. > > > It isn't Barry needin help m'dear. It's you. I could care > > less whether you get it or not. > > I think both of you need help, frankly. Enablers > need treatment as well as those they enable. > > > In the meantime I'll enjoy (when I have time to check in) > > Barry's prodding and poking of you. You take his bait every > > time. After all these years you still go for it. > > How interesting that you don't see the same thing on > his side. >