Aasif Mandvi had debated with me a lot in the last twenty four hours, which I will speak more of in a moment and he wrote this comment:
@pawnmower @rustypaladin@aaronworthing@monaeltahawyu r welcome mona. Talking to bigots and islamaphobes on twitter is my new pass time.
— aasif mandvi (@aasif) September 28, 2012
Which I am not sure is fair to any of the people he directed that toward, but oh well. Anyway, Mona replied to him as follows:
@aasif @pawnmower @rustypaladin@aaronworthingYou're a star in a million ways, Aasif!
— Mona Eltahawy (@monaeltahawy) September 28, 2012
This would be the first time she even mentioned me in a tweet. So I saw an opening:
Btw, @monaeltahawyinstead of letting @aasif fight your battles for you, why don't you debate me directly?
— Aaron Worthing (@AaronWorthing) September 28, 2012
I have never threatened you, or called you any bigoted names. So why not debate me? @monaeltahawy @aasif
— Aaron Worthing (@AaronWorthing) September 28, 2012
And I admit I didn’t see this response until I was working on this post but she wrote:
@aaronworthing@aasif That's why I haven't blocked u.Ur free to say/debate what u like Aaron. I've made my point. Working on other things
— Mona Eltahawy (@monaeltahawy) September 28, 2012
And I tried pointing out that we had common ground, after all.
I mean @monaeltahawy i have even gone to jail for my principles, too, so we have that in common. So debate me. @aasif
— Aaron Worthing (@AaronWorthing) September 28, 2012
Of course our cases are a little different. She intentionally broke the law and has since been calling it civil disobedience. By comparison, I broke no law, but I incurred the wrath of a man, Brett Kimberlin, who was willing to file false charges against me in retaliation for my having exercised my right to free speech. But I didn’t go into those details, and in any case, there was a break in the dam:
@aaronworthing@aasif Good for you, Aaron. I don't debate on Twitter.Meet me in NYC and I'll happily debate you in more than 140 characters
— Mona Eltahawy (@monaeltahawy) September 28, 2012
How about if I got a radio show to do it. Would you agree to that? @monaeltahawy@aasif
— Aaron Worthing (@AaronWorthing) September 28, 2012
Now Mr. Mandvi thought I was crazy, probably having no idea who I was or my background (not surprising, really) so I pointed out to him that I have been on several radio shows and I even suggested a specific program on which we could do it:
hey, @badmesmer, do you think we could have @aasifand/or @monaeltahawyon the show to debate freedom of speech v. vandalism if they agree?
— Aaron Worthing (@AaronWorthing) September 28, 2012
You see I am going to be on the Own the Narrative Network this Monday, starting at 11 pm Eastern time (usually ending at midnight). You can listen on Skye by using “OTNNetwork” as the call in number, or you can call in 832-699-0499. And this is a link to their website.
So I was publicly suggesting that we turn this into a debate with Ms. Eltahawy. And she didn’t agree, but she did say this:
@aaronworthing@aasif will get back to you soon. Have travel do work next week then let me check
— Mona Eltahawy (@monaeltahawy) September 29, 2012
And as I write this we have a commitment from Own the Narrative, but we are still waiting to hear from Ms. Eltahawy’s part, so stay tuned. I have stopped pestering her on twitter to give her some space. Hopefully she will get back to me soon.
But that was after a lot of fun today. I’ll talk more about that momentarily, as updates to this post or as separate posts, but right now I want to get the news out about the potential debate, so let me publish this.
So bottom line: we might have a debate. Stay tuned. I am as curious to see how this turns out as anyone.
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My wife and I have lost our jobs due to the harassment of convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin, including an attempt to get us killed and to frame me for a crime carrying a sentence of up to ten years. I know that claim sounds fantastic, but if you read starting here, you will see absolute proof of these claims using documentary and video evidence. If you would like to help in the fight to hold Mr. Kimberlin accountable, please hit the Blogger’s Defense Team button on the right. And thank you.
Follow me at Twitter @aaronworthing, mostly for snark and site updates. And you can purchase my book (or borrow it for free if you have Amazon Prime), Archangel: A Novel of Alternate, Recent History here. And you can read a little more about my novel, here.
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Disclaimer:
I have accused some people, particularly Brett Kimberlin, of reprehensible conduct. In some cases, the conduct is even criminal. In all cases, the only justice I want is through the appropriate legal process—such as the criminal justice system. I do not want to see vigilante violence against any person or any threat of such violence. This kind of conduct is not only morally wrong, but it is counter-productive.
In the particular case of Brett Kimberlin, I do not want you to even contact him. Do not call him. Do not write him a letter. Do not write him an email. Do not text-message him. Do not engage in any kind of directed communication. I say this in part because under Maryland law, that can quickly become harassment and I don’t want that to happen to him.
And for that matter, don’t go on his property. Don’t sneak around and try to photograph him. Frankly try not to even be within his field of vision. Your behavior could quickly cross the line into harassment in that way too (not to mention trespass and other concerns).
And do not contact his organizations, either. And most of all, leave his family alone.
The only exception to all that is that if you are reporting on this, there is of course nothing wrong with contacting him for things like his official response to any stories you might report. And even then if he tells you to stop contacting him, obey that request. That this is a key element in making out a harassment claim under Maryland law—that a person asks you to stop and you refuse.
And let me say something else. In my heart of hearts, I don’t believe that any person supporting me has done any of the above. But if any of you have, stop it, and if you haven’t don’t start.
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