And not in a bad way, either.

I may have ranted, once or twice, about a certain LJ community related to horses, of which I am a member. I apologize for the sidelong nature of some of these rants--I think it is appropriate to rant about Stuff That Bugs Me over here, but I don't generally like linking directly to the drama because that feels less like venting and more like ratting out.

With that said.

This community (it's equestrian, I guess I don't need to be that coy) is high-volume and often heated. There are a lot of great members, lots of stories and pictures of and about horses I would love to know personally, good advice and suggestions.

And, because it is a community of people, and because it's a community devoted to a pastime that requires a certain level of skill and commitment just to avoid mental and physical injury, there are always those people who either do know better than others... or think they do.

And because it's both horse people and the Internet, some of them are not a bit shy about expressing this opinion. And like any group of people you do get those folks who think they are being the outspoken, no-bullshit salt of the earth when in fact they are being bullies. And you also get those who are just plain bullies, although they consistently claim they are only bullying for the good of the horses belonging to those they bully.

Because it is always the fault of the victim.

Anyways, last week I posted a snotty little post here about the moderators not moderating, and there was a spectacular blowup over there when a moderator post went nova and people started hashing out some of the community's issues. (And fighting over icons, but that's neither here nor there.)

I got there late but made the same point there that I have made here: I don't pay any attention, or assign any weight, to the advice or opinions of bullies. I mean, there are people in that group who would mock and denigrate you for saying the sky is blue. In return, if they posted "your horse should receive food and water at least once a day for its health," I would turn up my nose and ignore it as a prelude to more obnoxious self-serving asshattery.

In other words, if you cause people to think you are always being a jerk, they are going to start to ignore your posts because they expect more contentless, pointless jerkery.

I only say that because this week one of the group's hot-button issues came up again. And to my astonishment, a number of the biggest asshats in the whole asshaberdashery responded strongly (as expected) but also (and as I had not thought they could) with something approaching fairness and common sense. I mean, the discussion got heated, but for the most part posters refrained from trying to hurt and score points off each other. And some of the people I thought had no room in their heads for anything but malice actually made good points, or at least half-sensible ones with thought behind them.

I'm not saying my comment made any difference, but if there is a movement afoot for some of these members to try to be, you know, useful, I will be shocked, astonished, and really very pleased.

Fingers crossed!