Matt Good's Political Views

[thefutureisxrated]

The fact of the matter is this: Matt will always have to fight an uphill battle to gain respect for his political views. He is in the minority with his political views, as are the people who believe in the political idealogy he follows. This is by no means an insult, but rather the sorry, unceremonious truth. The majority of voting Americans are pro-Bush and will back anything on his agenda that he puts forth. I say the Majority of Americans back Bush because once again, many voting eligible Americans didn't exercise their constitutional right to vote. How people will bitch and moan about how crappy our political system is, but who took the time to do something about it? Not enough people. Meanwhile, the pro-Regime Americans came out in droves and put the Cockmaster-in-Chief back into power.

So, what I'm getting at is this: Matt is a very intelligent person who took up a great political cause. I sincerely believe that his logic should be adopted by more people. But I also believe that Matt failed to calculate the scrutiny he would face for putting his views on the table like he did. I honestly don't know how he can be surprised by such behavior... I would expect it if I were in his shoes. It's not right, but it's the trend. How unfortunate. So, in the end, we lose another great political theorist. How stands to lose here and who stands to gain?

[guitarchick]

Well said there, Slappy Mutt Mutt.

[summerbronze]

I question your certainty regarding your reaction if you were in Matt's shoes.

 

You say he should have expected "it". You say you would have been prepared for "it". And you seem to define "it" as simply scrutiny.

 

However, I don't think you (or anyone) has any real idea of the extent of the negativity Matt faced. And I think death threats and whatnot are not scrutiny at all but a whole different kind of behavior. Moreover, having someone stalk you, or send death threats, is something you need to experience in order to know how you would react to it. Even if you "expect it", that does mean that you know how you'd react to it if it actually happened. It's like if you've ever been diagnosed with a serious or terminal illness. Everyone has thought about it, and most of us think we'd be upset, and then ultimately accept it and adjust to it. However I would also suggest that most of us have no idea of the emotional reaction we'd have because I think you'd have to have gone through it to really know.

[thefutureisxrated]

I see your point, but still stick to my guns. Stalking is no blow-off matter, as obviously it was such an ordeal for him that MGB made a video about it. The stalkers were here before the Mblog was. The stalking of Matt Good didn't begin with the first post of the MBlog. Hopefully, they found the person(s) who were stalking Matt Good and took proper legal recourse against them.

My point is that when you make your political views open for all to see, your going to face scrutiny from every angle. In my opinion, scrutiny should just be a voiced disagreement to his views, but once again, idiot people take it too far and start making death threats to him. If your Matt Good, you have to expect this. I'm not Matt Good, obviously, and if I were doing what he was doing on the MBlog, I would expect all different types of scrutiny, including death threats. It wouldn't minimize the situation in the least, but it's something that if it were to happen, I wouldn't be flabbergasted. I just got the impression from Matt that he was totally blindsided by the fact that he received such scrutiny. I wrote for my university paper for a couple years. The university has an enrollment of over 30,000 people. I took to writing opinion articles on politics. My email address was listed on the bottom of the articles. Low and Behold, guess what? I received death threats and all kinds of scrutiny. Was I surprised? NO. It was actually something that I expected, because people for the most part are uncivilized pigs. They don't know how to properly voice disagreement, so they take the Jerry Springer route and threaten to kick your ass and kill you.

So, my point is this: Matt had to be expecting this sort of response to his opinions. I could understand if this all started to begin with the MBlog and it caught him off-guard; but this type of harassment and scrutiny has followed him around since his MGB days. Matt had to have known he would get shit for his opinions when he left his email address and a comments area after each article. To say he didn't expect this makes Matt either the most naive person in music or the biggest bullshitter this side of the Pacific. It seems to me that every time matt goes through an illness, he emerges from it with a new outlook on music. Dare I postulate that this move could be very good for his career? Matt Good rides off into the sunset on his trusty horse. Will he return? Sure he will and when he does, all sorts of buzz will surround his arrival.

[summerbronze]

First, "your" is very different from "you're". And you say you wrote for a university publication?

 

Second, of course Matt expected "scrutiny". What I'm arguing, is just because you expect something to happen does not necessarily prepare you fully. Some things inherently cannot be prepared for. Like the death of a loved one for example. Sure, it is expected. Someone you love will die. We all know this. Just because you expect it does not mean you aren't going to react to it in ways you may not anticipate.

[Maverick]

Personally I would have to agree with summerbronze on this one. I think Matt expected that he would be verbally assaulted and scrutinized by rightists, Bush followers, etc. Yet, I think he just couldn't put up with how concentrated and frustrating it became. And then it finally became almost nightmarish. He probably figured he could deal with a great deal of the bullshit but it just became mind boggling to the point at which he asked himself, "is this worth it?" Because, let's be honest, when it's not worth it anymore it's time to throw in the towel for a while. Who knows though? Maybe he's gone back to the drawing board and is thinking up new ways to approach his blog and ultimately deal with the inevitability of having to avoid or put up with morons on a daily basis.

 

What do I see in Matt Good? I think there's a good in him (pardon the pun) and the intellect that drives him to do what he loves no matter what can potentially stand in his way. I know it sounds superheroish (is that a word?). He has the ability and the drive to be a productive informer and entertainer and I think this will ultimately cause his return.

 

I'm certainly not going to speak for him. We'll just have to see....

[thefutureisxrated]

Let's not get too picky about simple grammatical errors. I use a software called Naturally Speaking, which basically types for me what I say into a headset. You have to train it and all the bugs are not out of it yet, so those little mishaps can and will occur.

Continuing my point from the previous remarks, I think Matt is being dramatic. You can argue with me on this point till YOU'RE blue in the face, but my opinion on this issue is cemented. I'll point out once again that Matt is the one who allowed a comments link to be added to each post and that Matt is the one who chose to put his email address on the site for all to see. Long before the end of the MBlog, Matt was the recipient of scrutiny on his site. He often commented on how people were going too far with their comments. So, when this issue first arises, you issue a warning. When it happens again, you take away the means to produce such nonsense comments. A very simple fix to a very complicated problem. Anybody who has ever been in a chat room or used a message board before knows that you're bound to see random, idiotic remarks mixed in with intelligent, topic related posts. It's a shame that Matt would have to resort to this, as you would expect MGB fans to be a bit more mature and educated than most, but it's those who aren't fans of MG that ruin the atmosphere for everyone who is.

So Matt creates his MBlog and posts opinions that are far from mainstream. Then, MG gives people an opportunity to comment on these opinions. When one gets into the business of making their political opinions known to the public, you're going to face all kinds of reactions. Email Bill O'Reilly or Bill Maher and ask them how many negative comments they get emailed on a daily basis. Ask them how many death threats they receive on a weekly basis. I'm sure the number is through the roof. If it becomes too much to take, then take action which eliminates the source of the negativity. Once again, I stress that Matt should have taken his email address and comments links off the Blog if it became this overbearing for him. Then I hear he posted some sort of phone number on his site!? Take some time off from the site, get healthy, take your trip to Europe. But don't sit there and tell me that your very beliefs in others have been shaken by what some loser drunk college kid or some high school kids write to be funny. Track IP addresses if you must.

Matt Good is a showman and he is quite intelligent. I firmly believe that this whole issue only stands to benefit his career. Matt leaves in dramatic fashion, is nowhere to be seen or heard from in some time, and all of a sudden reemerges to a captive audience.

[summerbronze]

I did not intend to be picky about the grammatical errors. I find grammatical errors distract me from the content, and found it irresistable to comment about the reference to working for a university paper. I think if I had a nifty computer that typed everything for me, I would proof-read to correct errors. I'm sure now I've mentioned this, you'll be sifting through every comment I make in order to find a grammatical mistake and throw it back in my face. That's what I would do if I were you.

 

Besides, what have I left to comment about, since YOUR mind is so firmly made up. I wouldn't want to become "blue in the face"...

 

What I will say is that it sounds a bit to me like you think Matt owes his fans something and has short-changed them/us by discontinuing his blog. Your comments have a decided "how-dare-he" ring to them, only thinly veiled with the "what-did-he-expect?" argument. Whether or not he was fully prepared for the reaction, he had no obligation to continue the blog. How the blog was structured, and for how long it should last, were matters entirely for Matt to decide. What he gave his fans was a gift, and what you say sounds ungracious and greedy.

[Maverick]

Yeah,

 

I find it very difficult to be overly judgemental about Matt's decision and actions or lack there of because of the past events on his blog. I think summerbronze articulated that very well.

 

Take care.

[thefutureisxrated]

I'm not in the business of scouring through posts to find grammar mistakes. People are in a hurry and these types of mistakes happen. I didn't proof-read because up until this point, I hadn't come across any errors this software produced. I've been using it for about a month now...

I don't feel that Matt owes his fans anything. He started the MBlog and he ended it. Nobody was paying him for his troubles, so the decision was his to make. I'm just criticizing as a whole the reasons he gave for ending the MBlog. What ultimately caused the demise of the blog, in Matt's eyes, could have been neutralized a long time ago. If I were in his shoes, I would have eliminated the comments links and removed my email address from the site a long time ago. In all reality, who cares what you, I, and anybody else think about Matt's opinions? You read his posts, agree or disagree, and then go on your way. By leaving the comments links and his email, he set himself up for the scrutiny and harassment.

Another reason I'm being critical of his reasoning is because we have to look at who this web site catered to. It would be one thing if MG's fan base had an average age of 35. But we all know that the average person who visited MBlog was probably 18-24. When your fan base is of that age, the maturity level is not always high. Imagine the conversation, "hey, you know what would be funny? Fucking with Matt Good!” I go so far as to question how many of these people who left these negative comments were even fans of MG.

I have a hard time swallowing that his beliefs in others have been shaken by idiots who have nothing better to do with their time. You have to expect the idiots when your site is visited by 18-24 year olds (I'll post a poll on the "bored" to see the average age demographic of people who visited MBlog). Do I think his decision was motivated by greed? Yes, but to a point. Like I said previous, I believe this is a great career move for him because when he re-emerges, there will be all kinds of fanfare surrounding his return. It's not a bad idea.