On Bannergate

From Lemony Snicket, The Penultimate Peril, chapter 8 (maybe it's silly but to me it seems applicable):

"'No matter what we do, however,' [Person A] said, 'we can't erase the wrongs we did you, Baudelaires.'

'[Person A]'s right,' [Person B] said. 'We should have been as noble as you are.'

'You're noble enough,' Violet said, and her siblings nodded in agreement, as [Persons A and B] embraced them again. When someone has disappointed you, as [Persons A and B] disappointed the Baudelaires, it is often difficult to decide whether to continue the acquaintance, even if the disappointers have done noble things in the meantime. There are some who say that you should forgive everyone, even the people who have disappointed you immeasurably. There are others who say you should not forgive anyone, and should stomp off in a huff no matter how many times they apologize. Of these two philosophies, the second one is of course much more fun, but it can also grow exhausting to stomp off in a huff every time someone has disappointed you, as everyone disappoints everyone eventually, and one can't stomp off in a huff every minute of the day. When the Baudelaires thought about the harm each [of the two] had done to them, it was as if they had gotten a bruise quite some time ago, one that had mostly faded but that still hurt when they touched it, and when they touched this bruise it made them want to stomp off in a huff. But on that evening--or, more properly, very early Wednesday morning--the siblings did not want to stomp off into the hotel, where so many wicked people were gathered, or into the pond, which was likely to be very cold and clammy at this time of night. They wanted to forgive these two adults, and to embrace them, despite their disappointment.

'I don't mean to break up all this embracing,' [Person C] said, 'but we have work to do, volunteers.'"

I echo: we have work to do.

[N.B. I'm not saying that I personally am disappointed, but some definitely have been. I also don't mean to imply that I've been more "noble" than anyone else. Earlier in the book, Person C tells the Baudelaires when they doubt how noble they really are that they are "noble enough" and "that's all we can ask for in this world." I hope that we the bloggernacle can all embrace and then accomplish good things.]

[In the interest of full disclosure: I did not know about BoH, although I should have guessed because I was tipped off about a secret project before I left for Romania this summer. I just never put two and two together. I read/skimmed BoH but never commented and just thought it was kind of weird. I posted two comments on Rusty's investigative posts, one pointing out that the fully-formed blogroll was suspicious and one pointing a finger at Kaimi (sorry, Kaimi!) and suspecting Steve of knowing. I think the whole thing is pretty funny overall, and the demasking was the most fun, but I was sad when some people, including people I really like, like annegb and NFlanders, were hurt and angry. I also worry about lurkers or new readers who may have been hurt in the fallout. I'm relieved that SeptimusH's posts about the sisters are all made-up, which is something I was hoping all along. Before all was disclosed I briefly had a link in my sidebar under "I also blog at" that went to Aaron B. Cox's profile as a little joke for my own benefit. I didn't think anyone would notice and I was just amusing myself, but at least one person did notice and email me. I think that's all. So, back to work.]