And he wins. It's how their side works. They wear you down until you have no more energy to engage them.

Problem is I know you too well. Your current energy level is down because of of more than just this place and simple minded dolts like this are just putting you over the edge. Just promise me you won't rule us out completely when you regroup.

If you need a break take it but don't give this idiot the satisfaction that he's broken you. You're twice the guy he is in all categories of life. You've lived more than the middle class white sheltered life he retreats into when his fingers tire of their online bullying.

I tried to warn when you came back that you were being too nice and that he'd take advantage of that trait. The same thing happened to me. I too sensed the intelligence and underestimated the cold heart. Never again. This is a new breed of citizen that got empowered by recent events. In a normal fight they'd piss their pants before throwing a punch but now they feel the strength of political and military advantage is in their hands and they're willing to take their shot.

You know as well as I do though from life experience that the bullies never win even though they can certainly cause some temporary heartache. I'll keep fighting in your absence. I'm generally a lover not a fighter but I've always had a quirk in my personality when bullies raise their ugly heads.

You nailed it in your assessment and, even though I'm sorry he's caused you to lose the fun for now, I'm encouraged that someone else I truly respect has now seen the real Tom. I'm still not convinced he's really who he portrays himself to be. There's this major contradiction in this good father figure he's been exposing and this ruthless neo-con warrior lurking online. I've never known bullies to be able to limit that trait in other aspects of life. It always pops out in times of stress. If the loving family persona is the true one then this online stuff is this big joke to someone with a very warped sense of humor or there's truly something very dark inside him that he never lets out to his loved ones.

Who knows? All I know is that in my Don Quixote quest in life to tilt at windmills of bullying, I've yet to lose a battle. My guess is your shield is as dented as mine is.

Art