It Came From Facebook…
Einstein once said that stupidity has no limits. The optimist in me wants to believe otherwise, but the events of the last week have killed that. Apparently the entirety of the NYC SF/F publishing community resides permanently in an alternate dimension where consequences are things that happen to other people. Or at least these people think so.
Yes, I am referring to Ms Gallo, whose apology for calling her company’s authors and customers “neo-nazis” and “unrepentant bigots” 
and a whole lot more amounted to “I’m sorry you got upset when I called you neo-nazis and unrepentant bigots”. As for the “personal page”, when a highly-ranked exec of a company posts about a book from their employer, in which they were involved, complete with a taunt aimed towards Sad Puppies, well, most companies reserve the right to fire anyone who sullies their reputation, which Gallo most certainly did.
As a Sad Puppy supporter and the organizer for Sad Puppies 4, I have to say I’m horribly offended by all of this.
I mean really. I am Kate the Impaler, charter member of the Evil Legion of Evil. And this woman thinks calling me “unrepentantly racist, misogynist, and homophobic” as well as part of a “neo-nazi” group is going to shut me up? Puh-leeze, lady (Given that she responded to polite requests and corrections with cat pictures, this is about the level of maturity on display).
For starters, the Evil Legion of Evil is not Nazi, neo or otherwise. As if we’d associate ourselves with those losers. Seriously, how can an Evil organization expect to be taken seriously if it models itself after a political ideology that started by kicking out some of the most competent people in the country, and went on to our world’s version of “Never start a land war in Asia”, invading Russia.
We are most certainly not racist, misogynist, or homophobic. How could we be when half the ELOE’s founders are female, when the International Lord of HATE (Hi, Larry!) is Hispanic, right alongside Her Draconic Majesty, The Beautiful But Evil Space Princess, Sarah Hoyt. We even have a Brain in a Jar, and a Powder Blue Care Bear with a Bleeding Heart And a Flamethrower, two Redheads of Doom (no one really knows which one is The Redhead of Doom and which is the Other Redhead of Doom). I’m not entirely sure how one classifies the sexuality of a brain in a jar (presumably sapiosexual) but I’m not going to be the one to ask.
Is that not a truly diverse group of people? I haven’t even started on the Vile Faceless Minions or the Mini-Onions in the Tower, or… Oh, nevermind. These twits will never believe a word of it anyway.
Take it from me, the ELOE is as equal opportunity as it gets. Every minion, regardless of age, sex, or anything else, gets one chance to screw up. After that, I start rounding off the stakes and Genghis Kratman starts assembling crosses so we can line the roads with examples of what happens to minions who can’t manage their one simple task. All very meritocratic. Anyone can rise from a Vile Faceless Minion all the way to a Valued Minion, and even earn a Name.
Hmph. I need to go prepare a special stake. Nicely rounded and smoothed, with plenty of lubrication. Someone needs a lot of reflection on her failures, starting with an extended lesson on what constitutes failure.
Honestly, an Impaler’s work is never done.
Mad Genius Club 
80 responses to “Attack of the Infinite Stupid”
Never forget rule #147 of the evil overlord list:
“I will classify my lieutenants in three categories: untrusted, trusted, and completely trusted. Promotion to the third category will be awarded posthumously.”
Hmmm… an evil overlord with a completely trusted ghost-lieutenant. There’s a story in there somewhere….
But could you *really* trust a ghost? What have they got to lose by betraying you? 😉
But what do they have to gain?
It depends on their sense of humor. They might not do much damage, but I rather doubt the Evil Overlord would appreciate his underwear suddenly being on display to his minions.
That’s why I, as an overlord, do not bother wearing any.
Ah! You’re taking the ultimate weapon of terror approach!
I find being creative in my cruelty not only keeps the doldrums away, but provides a bit of spice to minions’ lives.
Yes, yes it does.
“The goggles! They block NOTHING!!!!”
Absolutely. Although I suspect that a ghost wouldn’t be completely trusted simply because he still has the ability to act.
Where do you think the meat of the story will come from? 😉
Thanks for the screenshots. I hadn’t seen them but it didn’t stop me from lambasting Tor. I notice you haven’t said anything about Tom Doherty’s nonapology apology either. Too bad. I would love to hear your take on that piece of writing!
I’m not Kate but I liked Tom Doherty’s post.
He acknowledged that Gallo was slandering people and said (correctly IMO) that she didn’t speak for all of Tor Books.
Would I have liked Mr. Doherty to say that she’s a *former* Tor Books employee?
Yes I would, but I doubt that it’s “that easy” fire somebody at her level.
I’m suspecting that his post is a “First Shot” at the idiots inside Tor Books.
Oh by the way, there are idiots making comments over at Tor.com who agree with the B*tch and are “damning” Mr. Doherty for his post.
Oh to Kate, didn’t you know that you are a minion of the Evil Vox Day?
That’s what the idiots at Tor.com are calling you (if not by name). [Evil Grin]
One question has occurred to me: Does Mr. Doherty have the actual independence of action and authority to clean house as needed … or does he have to submit to prior approval by MacMillan people, to whom the damage to Tor’s reputation and possible effect on bottom line is somewhat less than overwhelming?
I suspect he doesn’t. I also have no idea what the rules on firing at that level are in NY, or the terms of the gallowgal’s contract
I’m nobody’s minion. I’m Kate the Impaler – named members of the ELOE are not minions. Ever.
I know that! You know that! But the idiots on tor.com don’t know that! [Evil Grin]
And I’ll never be anyone’s minion because I’m holding out for “myrmidon”
The pony is non-negotiable 🙂
Unfortunately, the only pony available is Derpy.
More screenshots – including Jim Butcher’s reaction – here. http://cedarwrites.com/fear-and-loathing-at-tor/
Thanks, Cedar. The sneering cat pics make a really nice touch.
In fairness, there is slightly more merit to their case than any of us has yet admitted.
Italian Fascism was merely an Italian adaptation of an American political school of thought. Vox Day is an American who lives in Italy. I have not seen from him a Maoist style self criticism recanting any even incidental association with a certain widespread American political organization.
The Italian Fascists were known for wearing black shirts. So now are the Goths. Some in the Evil League of Evil are Goth, like Goths, or enjoy Goth or Goth inspired music. Ringo, for one.
This all pales before the real scourge of Neo-Nazism in our society. If you trust certain sorts, ten percent or more of the population are Hitlerites. These sorts, who are stupid enough to make Hitler’s birthday their big holiday, probably should not be trusted in any way.
Hey, if actual neo-nazis want to follow that loser’s philosophy they can. If they follow it to the point of invading Russia, well, the collective IQ of the world just went up a few points.
I wasn’t casting stones at people who outright identify as Nazis or Neo-Nazis. Look up the exact date, and you will know who I was throwing stones at, beyond Italian-Americans and Goths. With apologies to Italian-Americans and Goths.
Mr Doherty’s response was basic legalese of the “I really don’t want to have to be doing this but since I’m going to be in a universe of hurt if I don’t, here’s the proforma”. The key will be the actions that are taken.
Huh. The woman is a specie-ist. Her overt discrimination against Care-bears and lowly monkeys is enough to make me not wish to show her my brightly colored buttocks. But to show that I can rise above such pettiness, I shall, on request, generously allow her to gaze upon its magnificence, albeit briefly.
I’m quite certain she won’t appreciate the honor you’re giving her with that, oh generous Monkey.
I have to say that is probably the best approach of all, Dave…and it made me laugh, too. 😉
Kate, these people annoy me. You know I haven’t ever ID’d as part of the Sad Puppies, even though I respect y’all highly. So take it as given that I am upset because I do not like my friends — good and honorable people, all — vilified for *no damned good reason*.
Over on my site I finally put up a new essay – on what a proper apology should contain:
I even made File 770 without trying. I guess he’s watching me now or something.
Kinda creepy knowing you’re always being watched, isn’t it? They make a big deal over us taking so long to notice the Gallo post, but we aren’t the ones watching them constantly for any little slip-up.
Well, it’s not as if they’re still relevant, so . . .
As a real two-bit blogger and incredibly insignificant player in all of this, I’ll admit, the prospect of being shared over there made me kind of hesitant for awhile to post on the Hugos.
I will say that the comments over there, while toxic, generally stay over there. I haven’t gotten any trolls from the links that were shared. We have had some here at MGC, but this is a known hotbed of villainy, in their eyes 😀
Yeah, it was almost disappointing. I’ll occasionally read the comments if someone I like is trying to engage over there, but someone had turned my suggesting that someone else’s conclusion re:No Award everything, even non-Puppy noms to spite the system seemed petty into my having called HER a petty spiteful bitch (that last word never having been mentioned anywhere in the thread until she claimed to have been called one), I was just all “I’m done, I’m out.”
You forgot the ‘scum’ part. It’s “Hotbed of scum and villainy”. Us scum really appreciate proper recognition. 😉
Scum can be fascinating. Did you know that purple sulfur bacteria form mats under the green stuff on the surface?
Ooh, neat! Do you have pics?
I don’t, but I will see what I can find online. This was a class presentation for microbiology and I didn’t have my camera(s)
And slime molds have really interesting sex lives. Way more entertaining than even the specialist little SJW daisy has managed to dream up.
No, no, no! “wretched hive of scum and villainy!” Sheesh! 🙂
*hangs head* I am so NOT a film geek.
They complained that we found Gallo’s comment, but when Brad made a stupid remark about Scalzi, they spread it all over the internet within an hour.
Like I keep saying: it’s not wrong when THEY do it.
I made File 770 without trying, too. So help me G*d, I didn’t even know who/what it is, or why I should care, but I can hope for a bump in traffic. I haven’t had one in simply years, so I could use the exposure.
I’ve gotten a bump in traffic. No sales though, nor hits on my suggested reading list. Who said Bad Publicity is Good Publicity?
That’s a nice essay, there.
Thank you. I tend to save that blog for things worth saying. And things related to my writing. For blather I have LiveJournal, and for Anime I have mee.nu. And then there’s Twitter and FB, for sucking up my time unproductively.
Bravo!
I went and googled Irene Gallo on Tuesday, looking for any mention of her, just to get an idea of how the controversy was shaping up – I did see that some writer named Chuck Wendig has bravely put up a post entitled I Stand By Irene Gallo on his personal blog, but bravely chosen to turn off the comments … talk about a cheap gesture.
Cheap gestures are all they have. Those, and cheap shots.
And they usually fumble both.
Kate, this is too much. Your comments are simply beyond the im-pale.
😉
(readies the carp-apult)
Carp truck is late, you’re going to have to use giant mutant catfish.
I’ve got some trout available.
Hmm. Armed fish. Has anyone called in Leslie ???
And just what is your stake in this matter?
I’m doing it highwayman style, with a touch of Attila the Hun. You know – “Stand and de-liver!”
😀
“I beg your pardon, sir, I thought the toll for this road was an arm and a leg.”
Based on my casual review of popular media I must conclude that what the Brain in a Jar must do is simply decide what gender it identifies with and so declare. And do it loudly and to as many news outlets as will have it. Thus ensuring appearances on multiple magazine covers and quite possibly a reality show deal.
Well, any relationships it has will be highly cerebral.
As long as it never even hints of anything slightly conservative, anyway. That’s the new closet.
Ms. Paulk, would you say it is your “justice” or your “wrath” that you administer via suppository? I’m just
trying to get the frame righttrying to make sure I understand your position.“Yes”
Since she’s “Irene Gallo” can we call it GallowGate? or better yet “GallowsGate”?
Appropos of which, a Cat/One-Job meme (which, thinking of it might’ve been even better if I’d shortened the url to GallowsBait): http://tinyurl.com/GallowsGate
If we mock her, would it be gallows humour?
I’d hang around for that. . .
Not as long as the gallowgal would.
[…] Attack Of The Infinite Stupid by Kate Paulk […]
Don’t forget that these are the same people who think calling someone a lady is so horrible that it’s a termination-level offense, and who will screech incessantly until that happens. Resnick, Malzberg, and Rabe all lost their gigs over that.
On what planet is “lady” more offensive than “Nazi”?
Oh, yeah: CHORFWorld.
They have no sense of proportion. Anything they do is by definition right and proper, and anything we do is bad and evil and wrong.
Okay, fine. If I’m not allowed to do good, then I’m going to be evil, and I’m going to enjoy it. They’ll learn. It might take several rounds of reincarnation, but they’ll learn…
(Can I be the ELOE’s version of Bigfoot?)
I like the ‘bad idea’ scale that floated across my facebook one day: “On a scale of 1 to ‘Invading Russia in Winter’ where does this idea fall?”
Ooh, I LOVE that one!
Isn’t it amazing how on almost all of the blogs and sites they turn the comments off. Never really seen that happen on this side.
Heck, I get comments so infrequently, I turned moderation off.
Oh, I know. They think we have the same (non-existent) levels of self-control and restraint that they do.
If we did, they wouldn’t be *breathing*.
Meanwhile, over on Moshe Feder’s Facebook, he objects to Tom Doherty’s statement… and in the comments, someone calls Eric Flint a sexist? I know Eric Flint has been dodging and moving goalposts and invoking Vox Day’s name and otherwise desperately trying to avoid admitting the Sad Puppies have a lot of good points; I wonder if he can continue that if the puppy-kickers make him an explicit target.
That’s when we will see if there is as much honor and backbone as I’ve heard he has.
In trying to be reasonable, he’s made himself the target of unreasonable people. Remember, a few weeks back they LOVED Flint, even though he mentioned at the time he was still friends with Brad and Larry. Now he’s “betrayed” the anti-Puppies by not joining in their lynch mob.
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