Butters of BaseOps & Proportionality

I was banned in a thread over at The Digital Clown Show, after I gave my opinion that Lt Col Wilkerson likely was guilty of sexual assault as a board of senior officers found him.  Some opinions are not allowed on that forum.  A guy I went to college with, aka Butters, then seized the opportunity to expose my identity, and to make some claims about me.  Of course, I wasn't able to respond to him since I had been banned from that forum.  While I had a suspicion of who Butters was, I wanted to take some time before responding to him.

The other day I sent my old college chum a request on Facebook, and invited him to have a discussion.  I mean we were FB friends, after all.  Instead, he blocked me without comment.  So I puzzled over how to respond to a person who is not interested in having a fair discussion, but who would rather simply run their mouth unanswered.  So, I decided it might be a good opportunity to talk about the concept of proportionality.



Discussion and debate is an opportunity for proportional engagement.  Two people face each other, make claims, ask and answer questions, and provide conclusions in an environment where both can respond in kind.  It's a fair and just arrangement.  It's a proportional arrangement.  The concept of proportionality applies more broadly in the law, as well as in military operations.  According to Wiki:

Proportionality is a general principle in law which covers several special (although related) concepts. The concept of proportionality is used as a criterion of fairness and justice in statutory interpretation processes, especially in constitutional law, as a logical method intended to assist in discerning the correct balance between the restriction imposed by a corrective measure and the severity of the nature of the prohibited act. Within municipal (domestic) law, it is used to convey the idea that the punishment of an offender should fit the crime. Under international humanitarian law governing the legal use of force in an armed conflict, proportionality and distinction are important factors in assessing military necessity.

Unfortunately, there will be no discussion or debate with Butters, as he vigorously avoids a proportional discussion.  Fortunately, there is still a proportional response, and a discussion that can be had, and with that in mind I would now like to demonstrate the concept of proportionality by responding in kind to Butters' claims and revelations about your humble blogger.

Butters explains:

Technically, remotely piloting, not flying.  

Unfortunately, ignoring him will not make him go away. This guy has been like this since High School. He has not changed one bit. This nut job actually spent the time to become an ordained minister in a certain religion just so he could argue with those who follow it. That was almost 20 years ago.

Butters offers up some slightly incorrect information, from his recollection of college.  While it is true that I did study religion in college, and I did go to various religious institutions both as part of classwork and as part of my own personal study, it is incorrect to claim that I became an ordained minister.  I did get a degree in religion, but it was an academic degree, and I did attend various religious meetings across the spectrum, and did visit churches of most every stripe, but I never did become an ordained minister.

Now to demonstrate proportionality, while I know nothing of Butters' high school experience, I did draw a very distinct impression of what it was probably like.  Butters was a scrawny, awkward, timid fellow with a nervous laugh that led me to think he had probably been bullied in high school to some degree.  He seemed a very unsure guy who would be knocked over by a stiff wind, or who would tremble if looked at directly in the eye.  He had a sarcastic dry sense of humor, but his nervous laughter and awkward appearance did not exude any kind of confidence, a fact that was no doubt exacerbated by the great college environment of FSU where all but the most awkward had a great time outside the classroom.  It was a party school, at least for most of us.  While in some ways Butters seemed older than the rest of us, as he was prematurely balding even back in college, he appeared to me underdeveloped socially.  His appearance reminded me of a depressed parrot that had started to peck out its own feathers.  I must admit that I'm unaware of his social life as we did not travel in the same circles, and I'm not sure how he spent his time when he wasn't mastering the rigorous criminology degree program, but I am confident that his college experience was much less satisfying than it was for me.

Butters continues:

No, he is a product of DODDS, I had the displeasure of knowing him in college. Heard his high school stories more than anyone cared to hear and I knew some guys that dealt with him in the Europen DODDS system.



He was passed over.

I didn't realize it back then, but I imagine my high school stories probably would have reminded Butters of those guys back in high school that he didn't like.  Those he would call assholes, and likely label arrogant or cocky.  I imagine it gave him considerable pleasure to relate that I was passed over, as that measuring stick of self worth is likely one that Butters clings to.  For him it's no doubt needed validation.  This, despite Butters once telling me that:

...I am the slow burning Lt Col. Better to be lucky than good. Did a short tour to [redacted]. So, I got a little Jt Staff on my record. Didn't really count because it was only 12 months but it was enough to fool the board. Timing was also in my favor. No shit, my wing only had 2 IPZ Majs. Me and the AMXS/CC. So, he got the DP and I got the poor mans DP.. the DP in the push line they can only put on one PRF, well mine was the only other PRF.

Yes, Butters demonstrates a duality in his communication.  While he may behave one way with an individual, he may behave completely different in an anonymous setting.  Butters says:

Could not stand to be near the guy. Argumentative asshole. Made up argments if there were none to be had.

And Butters helps others unmask my identity:

Sorry been out on the boat all day. He gives his name in the video be posted here showing off his spy car. (but pretended it wasn't him) So put 2 and 2 together. 

Love how the DFC said "his" crew when he was the co-pilot.

I will not come right out and say it since he is a vindictive little bitch with no mortgage and an armored car.

Speaking of cars, I remember upon commissioning, Butters purchased a brand new gloss black Ford Cobra.  His cool car didn't illicit the kind of responses from others that he might have hoped for.  Still, it was a cool car in a mid-life crisis kind of way.  In the spirit of being proportional, I will not come right out and unmask Butters, either.

Butters continues to relate:

He is not cadre at FSU (he wishes) what picture are you talking about? His blog is PYB.net and the picture there looks just like the fat stupid looking guy in the video showing off his spy car. They also have the same name.

No, that is not him. Also, the picture is not the greatest, but my eyes say those are silver oak leaves.

Yes, it's him. I never noticed the ear rings. This guy really thinks the reason he was passed over to O-5 was because a cop pulled him over illegally.

Butters then confirms my identity.  In the spirit of proportionality, I will simply confirm that the major in this news story about a breath-taking aerial achievement, is in fact, Butters.

Finally, when asked to compare your humble blogger with some other personality, Butters says:

No, Tim was a lying asshole. PYB is just an asshole.

Well, it's hard to argue with that.

ETA (10/26/2014):  After this forum falsely accused me of being USAFPilot on their forum, one of their moderators went into a bit of a frenzy mode.  One of the results is he deleted several horribly unprofessional posts celebrated on his forum, and he also deleted Butters' contributions where he outed me.