New Video, Same Eric Gurr

While YouTube is processing my latest video, another collaboration with TheWiz, I thought it would be neat to try to beat them to the punch. Debuting right here on Kiss & Tell, here is "Some Like It Hot".



The video is to dramatize the skirmish going on between the Hard Right on one hand, and myself and my cohorts on the other. I've said it many time in many ways, but this battle is not over party or ideology, but for the direction of U4Prez. Will it turn into every other political message board on the Internet, where conservatives and liberals play their petty games with one another, and victory is measured by how annoying and catty one can be as he is getting others to quit, or will it become something vibrant, living, the kind of democracy we allegedly promote? This is just my gut feeling on this, but I think almost everyone wants to revitalize U4Prez and return it to how it was at the start of the summer, when there was hope, when you could extemporize without being ganged up on, when GOTCHA games were dismissed for what they were, when negative attacks at least had some humor to them, and when such items like vote count manipulation and favoritism weren't a strong undercurrent waiting to bubble up to the surface and erupt, as it most certainly has.

Even I am in awe with just how viciously I attacked Eric Gurr. I don't withdraw any of the harsh words I've said about him over the last month; on the contrary, I am going to add to them. I would be a hypocrite if I didn't.

My big beef with Eric is, as creator, his function cannot include buddying up and playing U4Prez with the rest of us. Instead of going onto talk blog shows and trying to get his favorites on real television, his job is to promote an equitable playing field, a stable infrastructure, and a working template for his pride and joy to take flight.

I truly appreciate Eric wanting to be an active part of the U4Prez world. I feel it too. I quit almost a month ago, and yet I am more attached to U4Prez than ever. No one happily quits this place. There are several former members that could possibly be swayed to return under certain conditions, including me.

But in all this time of me jumping on Eric's case and really sticking it to him, I would have thought he got the hint, that if he wanted his baby to continue to grow and prosper, he couldn't jump in with the kiddies. He would have to keep the place up to spec. He would have to present an appearance that was aboveboard and not susceptible to rumor and accusation. I would have thought, with how viciously I left U4Prez and started this blog, with how his corporate bosses snatched him back for him to remain behind the scenes, with how many complaints there have been concerning vote count trustworthiness and favoritism, he would have learned.

For as much as I appreciate him signing the petition to reactivate the OliviaLLC profile and let me back onto U4Prez, I have to tell him, he hasn't learned a damn thing.

I cried foul when I saw Eric jumping onto Kempite's talk show, and I laid out my case for his favoritism. We can debate the merits therein, but that is how I felt at the time, and I still do, that anyone behind the scenes should not be part of the U4Prez world, and the moderators should not be in any position where they can influence and manipulate outcomes.

Let me be clear on this. Eric Gurr signing this petition to reinstate me is the EXACT SAME THING as going on Kempite's talk show.

And I would be a complete hypocrite for not pointing this out. It would be a gross double-standard on my part to cry bloody murder when Eric befriends Kempite in one aspect, then thank him for befriending me in another.

Nobody had to point this out to me. If there were such grumblings at U4Prez, I am oblivious to them. I came to this realization when I saw his name on the petition.

I realize how shitty this all must sound. One might think, Olivia's winning her war, she's as popular as ever, she should thank her lucky stars and accept being brought back and show a little fucking appreciation. Maybe that's the way I should take it, but I can't, because I have already laid down the gauntlet of favoritism. I have stated plainly that Eric has shown it to me, he's shown it to Kempite, and I am not going to allow him to play it again with me.

Whether or not this takes some of my personal momentum away, that remains to be seen. There is a principle at stake, and I was willing to resign over it. I played the favoritism card, I accused Eric and Kempite for being in cahoots, and I simply refuse to accuse others of such a crime, yet turn a blind eye when it's to my advantage. That is called hypocrisy, and instead of trying to rationalize it by trying to say it's two separate issues, or letting something go that others may not have even caught or even care about, I have to speak up.

Where was Eric when Catbus quit? Or GESmith? Elected_Al? Where did he show any regret for these three candidates, all with a degree of gravitas attached to their nomenclatures, all having contributed to the U4Prez world? Why didn't Eric fight for them? In the same way, he should remain consistent and not try to woo me back.

See, this is why I'm not coming back today.

And this is why, if I do come back after the general election, I am going to call on the president and anyone of stature within U4Prez to draw up a Constitution. If Eric isn't going to hold to his job of impartial moderator, we need to do it for him.

If Eric decides to let me in, as the creator and moderator allowing a candidate to rejoin and to have the profile she previously used unsuspended, there is a way for it to be done. That way, however, is not to sign a petition penned by Maditude, a candidate, and designed for other candidates to sign.

Eric, you are not a candidate! I know you want to be part of this world you created, because it is a neat little place. It has its own energy and feel, it's deciding its own course, it's vibrant and alive, and right now it's going through a tough time, because you're admiring your handiwork, but forgetting the most important thing. You are the creator. You have a job to do to make U4Prez run smoothly. I've been very critical about this. Basic bodily functions still cannot be performed. You have a vote count system that swings back and forth between two concepts, and whichever one you choose for a given day, that's what you go with. You don't need to spend $25,000 for a new program. You just need to think it through, write out a system, and stick to your guns on it, no matter who ends up winning. This is why the accusation of favoritism runs rampant, because no one can trust the voting system. It is too easily manipulated. When that happens, the concepts of negligence and favoritism follow suit. No one is asking you to spend your life savings to solve the problem. All that is being asked is consistency. You cannot be consistent, though, when you try to play candidate, and then neglect these nagging demands.

I've come to realize God is a very lonely guy, having created the earth and people but can't go out for a beer with them. I'm sure he would like to shake Nelson Mandela's hand, or be backstage at a Metallica concert, or make love to the most beautiful women on earth like Zeus used to. But he can't and won't, he has the whole cosmos to control, he can't jump in with the kiddies, no matter how bad he might want to.

I'm not saying Eric Gurr is God, but I am saying, in creating something wonderful, there is a price to pay. For Eric, that is letting the candidates run their course, without him getting involved.

I truly appreciate Eric signing the petition, probably just as much or more so as when Kempite appreciated Eric coming onto his talk show.

But both were items Eric shouldn't have taken part in in the first place. After a month of Olivia being on his back about these things, he still hasn't learned.

And I would be a complete hypocrite if I didn't call him out on it.