Banned and Blocked

UPDATE: Okay, now that I've calmed down about this and in the cool morning light am reading what I posted, I made this sound more out-of-the-blue than it really was. Let me give you some context.

We were in fact discussing politics when the topic turned to the Internet, the Tea Parties and right-wing blogs. We were talking about the merits and relative influence of blogs, back in the day and now. As part of that discussion, I brought up LGF and how influential it was on me post 9-11 and how I posted there a lot and still have Internet friends to this day from that time. I then responded to questions about how, exactly, my views on Islam and the Middle East changed after 9-11 by describing some of the early debates on this issue in the right-wing blogosphere.

That's when my new friend--who is actually quite a cool guy--made the connection. To me, it seemed out of the blue, but now that I have thought about it and read the comments below, it does seem less remarkable given that this guy used to read all the same blogs as I did back then and that I had described my views and where I posted them!

Still, I was amazed!

You would think that leaving home and everyone one knows and going to the actual opposite side of the planet would involve leaving behind most things, let alone minor things. And, yet, here I am tonight in Vienna in a bar with friends from the UN and the diplomatic community when the guy across the table, a European, looks at me with a funny look and says:

"Wait a minute. You're KevinV! You are KevinV from Little Green Footballs. You got banned."

Damn.

I mean, what are the chances of THAT happening? Seriously, I would think I'd have more of a chance of running into Gordon in a cafe here than that happening.

So, here we are, with this guy, an official from a (thank God, a friendly) nation's diplomatic service who seems to know everything I've thought about the War on Terror and the Islam question and, yes, my views on Bush when we all believed in him.

So, we start talking about everything and the night we all got banned, which, to be honest, was quite forgotten and IF remembered is quite hilarious, when it all comes back to me: where the HELL is Solus Rex anyway? We exchanged emails for two days around the banning, one sentence affairs, and then...gone.

Who knows?

This I know and have to know quite well: the Internet, whether one is talking politics or pornography, is not the real world. People come and go, and nothing is quite real. It's cost-free stance taking and no responsibility speaking.

The only difference, the only one for me, are the folks here, who I consider old friends, though I've met all of one of you. I think we understand one another and that we seek each other out across the vast miles so we know: we are not alone.

"I always thought you were one of the best posters....I haven't even looked at LGF in 5 years."

I'll take that as a compliment!