Hi kc of AFA.

I call some Republicans extremists. Some negatively call our President a Muslim. When Ruthie stood up and fought for an Audism Free America, she made herself into a public figure and disagreements are sure to come. If this cannot be handled, then perhaps it’s not for her. It’s the same for me. I’ve taken a lot of backstabbing criticism – and I don’t try to suppress it because I understand it comes with the job. I allow it on my sites.

As for Patti’s post, thanks for sharing it. I’ve since taken her words with a grain of salt because she consistently contradicts herself. You may share this with her. She’s called people names. It’s OK for her to do it, but not for others? As for the commenters, have they asked me for my side of the story? They have not. Of the few that have, returned to DeafRead and DeafVIDEO.TV. I did not need to put together new words to convince these people. I just needed to present old videos. Frankly, it did not take much.

There is also another reason I take her words with a grain of salt. She cries cyberbullying only when the action is against her or her friends, as opposed to whenever it occurs. If someone else is being cyberbullied, she’s silent. This says to me she isn’t attempting to combat cyberbullying, but to use cyberbullying to silence those who oppose or disagree with her or her friends.

I will have you know that a letter was written to me by a domestic violence agency by her request. After hearing my side of the story, I received the agency’s support and was told something akin to this: “I could do whatever I wanted about Patti”. I am given the greenlight to address Patti’s ethics and practices.

The term “audism” is acknowledged by many to be abused, overused. Which is a sad thing. Because audism is real. It happens to me all the time. Now Patti is overusing the word cyberbullying. Anything that is not in her favor is cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is real. Abuse of the term diminishes the importance and severity of those who are injured by unsafe online activities. This is how I see your complaint.

If you want a pinch of irony, I have some for you. Ruthie, after attempting to get DeafVIDEO.TV to adopt an audism-free policy, boycotted the site. Now through you, she is trying to use DeafVIDEO.TV’s R-List. May I remind you and all, that YouTube does not at all offer this protection. And I said “audism is not allowed at DeafVIDEO.TV” over a year ago on September 9, 2009. I explained why it would be classified as harassment on the R-List. That was not enough. Why? Because it was not enough to declare victory, and most importantly, use it to censor people who opposed or disagreed with them.

If I were AFA, I would be upset with the exploitation of the word “audism”. The exploitation created by the deafhood movement to leverage the powerful word. By allowing them to say that disagreeing with deafhood was audism, AFA allowed the important term to be misunderstood, torn apart and beaten into nothingness. I don’t say it was the deafhood movement who set the term “audism” on a road to self-destruction, but that AFA is solely responsible by allowing it. Recovery of the term’s true definition will be daunting, challenging and — next to impossible.

You, Ruthie or Patti are welcome to come into DeafVIDEO.TV to correct the information either by leaving a video comment for Bgmaron08, or publishing a vlog. It’s not right for me to judge what the truth is. It’s your word against his. Like an esteemed vlogger recently said, I don’t control information. I have my own beliefs, and above these beliefs is the belief that people’s own beliefs should be respected. Just as I respect your belief that you feel Ruthie was called an extremist.

She just needs to decide if she has the thick skin required for the job. Paramount achievements are rarely accomplished easily. And you know very well as many others do, managing the sites isn’t an easy task.

This reply is turning out to be a potential post, and you very well know I will get comments which support it. Just as you possess the right to correct information, publishing this letter would be a way to correct some of the misinformation out there.