I would walk through fire for the women of DU, my wife, my daughter, my mother, every woman I know.

[WilliamPitt]

179. Your first sentence is factually correct.

But there's a little more meat on the bone.

1. The poster in question went after my mother, who posts here, in a vile way. I saw bright, flaming red, and reacted in a way I'm ashamed of to this day...but it was my mother being attacked. Not me. Her, to get to me. It got to me.

2. At the time I responded, I did not know the poster in question was a woman. That is not an excuse - threatening bodily harm against anyone is shameful - but it is a fact. I did not know the poster in question was a woman. Screen names do not always provide gender information. Hers didn't. I didn't know, and I never clicked the icon to check.

So. Sit in judgment as you wish. I fucked up, no doubt and for sure...but it's not as cut-and-dried as your comment would suggest. Go after my mother and you're going to hear about it from me...but if it makes any difference, that my-fault fiasco profoundly altered the way I approach online conversation, here and elsewhere. I no longer allow vile shit to get so far under my skin that I erupt the way I did against that person. It's not worth it; that happened years ago, and here you are chucking it in my face. The Internet never forgets. Neither, apparently, do you.

Now you know maybe a little more than you did when you posted that comment. Hope it helps.

Fuck the Eagles.