And to make the crow go down properly, one has to swallow pride.
In criticizing Occidentalism.org, I included a paragraph that referenced – unfairly – The Korea Liberator and one of its contributors, whom I still have never named. However, my criticisms of Occi itself stand. My feelings about that site remain unchanged.
However, a few hours after posting, I received comments from the KL that reminded me that I had left in the paragraph in question, which I had actually felt iffy about shortly after I wrote it, but since I wrote that post in several parts over nearly three months, I neglected to properly re-examine the older parts of the post. When negative responses started coming in around that part, I quickly conceded that it was kinda messed up to dredge up stuff from the past – me and one of the KL writers had been at odds on the Internet when were were undergraduates – so I took the offending paragraph out and deleted all references to that material only. I deleted exactly one comment that essentially duplicated the material I wanted to expunge, and only a phrase from another comment that referenced that material.
The paragraph in question was only up for a few hours in the middle of the night (Korea time), and I fully admit my negligence in not having thought more about what I had been saying, as well as in not properly editing and proofing before hitting the "POST" button. I fully acknowledge that, in my anger over the Occidentalism.org site and in an immature replay of mostly freshman-year flamewar habits, I rashly said things that I had no place to say, given the amount of time that had passed, the use of an unfair argument relying on the logic of "implied guilt," and the fact that even at the time of my freshman-year follies, some of what I "knew" about this person was, indeed, hearsay.
So I have retracted my words and apologize for unfairly bringing The Korea Liberator and one of its writers into an argument that I should not have.
I do this under no duress and in complete sincerity. I believe that words are important and that people should take responsibility for them as well as what they imply; that is why I still maintain my stance about Occidentalism.org. But it is also why that I do not want people to think me as unethical, irrational, or unreasonable as some of the things and people that and whom my site does criticize.
In writing a critical blog that touches upon sensitive issues and engages in sometimes tough criticism, people get emotional, or get defensive, and sometimes even say things we shouldn't. I was guilty of stepping over the line here and I take seriously my belief about taking responsibility for the words we use and the people they affect.
Now, I know that some of you out there who don't like me because of my politics and opinions will see this as disingenuous and see this as a "tactic" or "ploy." I can't change that – it's inevitable. I just hope that you will take this apology just as I mean it – as a simple and direct means of addressing a mistake that I made. I can't go "back to the future" in a machine and prevent myself from pushing the "post" button, so short of that, I can make every reasonable effort to retract, recant, and apologize for inappopriately bringing in parties into the argument a site that I personally and politically abhor – Occidentalism.org.
Some of you will see this as "backtracking" or me being "inconsistent." I just see it as living up to the standards to which I hold for myself. I hope that instead of continuing needless attacks for the sake of doing so – I am conceding here, so your point has been completely taken – that you can also play the role of the bigger man and accept my post-level apology with some degree of magnanimity.
