Perhaps what Nicole was suggesting, Kevin, is that it seemed almost impossible to get Larry to respond to the accusations of the slapping/punching/hair pulling, what ever exact form the abuse of the child was. I think that we all would have been a little easier on Larry if he had just accepted that the whole cause of all this was that the Mother had done something that was seemingly seriously abusive. His responses sounded earily like the cover-ups I've seen in reporting war actions... kind of like, "of course, we regret that several civilian children were killed in the cross fire." I feel that Larry is so intent upon proving that this individual case is clearly one of social injustice that he either minimized or downplayed the abuse that was poured on the little girl.

I think that the folks on Mudcat are liberal to the extreme... far more than the general public. And yet everyone was saying that the initial action taken against this woman had nothing to do with her being an Irish Traveller (or even any awareness that she is.) It seems like even mentioning that this woman has lied, shop-lifted and used illegal drivers licenses is looked upon as being prejudicial. I think that Mudcat members (including me) have tried to focus on what the woman did, not whether there is prejudice against Irish Travellers. Most people I've talked to didn't even realize that they existed... never even heard the term. It's hard to claim broad prejudice against a group that almost no one has ever even heard of. "I hate those... who are they?"

I guess that I also personally get tired of how damning the image of Americans is on Mudcat. It's like we're all a bunch a Damn Biggots, ready to shoot anyone who takes out a wallet, or steals a pair of blue jeans. Maybe I should write an open letter to the people of the United States, as someone has to the people of Iraq. Truth is, Kevin, most Americans are open-hearted and not prejudiced. Just as I believe most Iraqis, Brits and Afghans are. Of course there is prejudice here (and in England, Afghanistan and everywhere where there are people. There are some people in positions of authority that are prejudiced, too. But, it seems like everyone in authority is being tarred and feathered on some of these threads. I for one would like to STAND UP for the decency of 95% of all Americans, Brits and Afghans. By tarring and feathering everyone in generalities that run rampant on Mudcat, it just breeds mistrust and suspicion.

So this one's for you, Kevin. I don't agree with some of the things that you're saying on this thread, but I think you're a fine man, and I consider you a friend.

Brother Jerry