[TheForge] ABANA

[Demon Buddha]

Dave Brown wrote:

> Actually all we have is George's say-so.  Which begs the question why is he
> fighting this battle and where is Jim McCarty if he has been so
> wronged?  And if he's so right in his position then the "careful" you
> credit him with shouldn't be necessary.  Now you want to put the Board
> (which isn't the same board from back then, there have been changes) in the
> impossible situation of trying to prove a negative.

	Actually, this is not necessarily so.  They should be able to
	prove that they did something RIGHT.  If we deal with this as
	an issue of equity, then the preponderance of evidence should
	suffice to determine some acceptable form and degree of the 
	truth.

>  I don't think it's the
> Boards' obligation to prove that they didn't do anything wrong.  Just like
> court, prove they did something wrong.

	George has made pointed charges.  Unless he's a completely
	psyched out, drooling lunatic, I believe the board must reply
	to his assertions.  Right or wrong, George's word holds some weight
	due to positions he has held within the association in the past.
	I put nothing beyond the realm of the possible where human
	behavior is concerned, but if we step back for a moment and
	take a look at George's actions, at least one thing becomes
	apparent to the naive eye: he's taking a hell of a risk insofar
	as being able to associate with other smiths because if it
	proves out that he has made all this up, his reputation would
	not be worth the match to light it afire with.  So it would
	seem that either he is indeed a drooling twinkie, or there is
	substance to his assertions.  All I can see so far is that
	the line has been drawn and the board has not responded in a 
	manner that has set the issue to rest.  We would not be having
	this exchange otherwise.