In Support of Reid - A Request for Public Apology

The below letter was posted to 1000 Days at Sea by John. Since our editor is out, and in the spirit of timely and open discourse, I decided to post it on John's behalf. Please do not be deterred by the gay bashing in the second sentence. Shortly thereafter he begins to decry name calling, extol the virtues of respecting others and the importance of humility. He winds things up by calling us "assholes". My comments follow his. - RD

John said...

I have emailed the following comments to 1000 Days Of Hell

Excuse me, but from May 2007 until yesterday, you all have said that the Maersk Dunedin Collision never happened. You even had your unnamed “Danish sailing friend” (sounds just as “gay” now as when you first said it) “who also has a close working business relationship with Maersk” verify that no such collision could have occurred. You have repeatedly said/published, in the harshest terms that Stowe was lying about the collision to cover for shoddy construction of his boat and/or poor seamanship. Now there is an official US Coast Guard report proving that there was indeed an accident and that Stowe was not lying about how his boat/bowsprit was damaged. Yes, you have posted what you are calling a “retraction” admitting that an accident did in fact occur - admitting the truth after you had been proven wrong must have taken exceptional courage and humility. Your gracious retraction aside, IMHO you owe Stowe a public apology for calling him a liar (in this instance); although I seriously doubt you have the moral character or intellectual honesty to admit your guilt and sincerely ask for forgiveness for your deliberate and malicious intent to defame this man.

Parody is one thing (it’s also SUPPOSED to be funny), but deliberately impugning a man’s character is just plain wrong. It would appear that you have been stripped of the moral superiority in which you clothed yourselves while you engaged in your self-righteous judgmentalism of Stowe and his checkered past. Seemingly, your hearts are just as black as you claim Stowe’s is. Your first mistake was forgetting that it is only those who have not sinned who get to cast the stones. I'm sure that producing a prestigious, world-class blog must require a tremendous amount of time (why the fact checking alone must take nanoseconds each and every day), but if and when you have a spare moment to lay down your poisoned pen you might want to google "The Golden Rule."

In my first email to you I ask this question:
“I understand that I’m running the risk of being labeled a “Reid-Hovian” in asking my question, but I’m trying to figure out if you guys are just mean-spirited assholes tearing down someone because you have nothing better to do, or if this Stowe character actually did something to one of you (stole money, screwed your wife, etc…) and now is pay back time?”

Apparently the answer is that you guys are just mean-spirited assholes!
B&C In Tenn.

P.S.
Be advised that you cannot become annoyed, irritated or angry with me for pointing out your “variations on the truth” and moral failures, I’m engaging in “PARODY!”
You know, you guys just might actually be on to something here, this pointing out character flaws in flaky people and calling them names is FUN AS HELL!!

Regatta Dog's response on behalf of 1000 Days of Hell

Dear John (always wanted to write that),

Our first apologies go to you for not meeting your expectations in the retraction that was posted immediately upon learning of the CG report. After reading the retraction again, I agree with you that it did not go far enough and would like to take this time to apologize to Reid for making a gross error in our interpretation of the various data and opinions available to us. Reid was telling the truth about having a collision at sea and we are sorry to have claimed there was no collision. Reid is still at fault for the collision by not having adequate equipment on board or keeping adequate watch. It happened, but it was still the fault of his incompetence.

We will not apologize, however, for calling Reid a liar just because he told the truth about the collision. He has lied numerous times regarding his accomplishments. Reid may also have lied to sponsors/donors about tax deductibility of donations, though we have yet to confirm that. Reid certainly mislead his donors and sponsors by selling them a bill of goods on what he was going to accomplish. He hasn't the resources on board to achieve even half of them.

I will not ask for Reid's forgiveness for anything. According to a recent post, Reid is a forgiver of all anyway, but I don't seek his forgiveness. In the big scheme of things, John, this bowsprit drama is a side show. When you write of our "deliberate and malicious attempt to defame this man", please keep in mind that we are simply trying to bring to light Reid's own actions or inactions. We erred with the bowsprit, but that does not mean that Reid should get a free ride. Reid's defamation is his own doing through deceiving sponsors/donors, apparently being a deadbeat dad, and dumping raw sewage into the Hudson River. That he'd take a completely inexperienced young woman on a 1000 day cruise through some of the most dangerous waters on the planet grossly unprepared in a bondo boat is yet another way Reid defames himself.

Lastly, John, Reid Stowe was arrested, convicted and served time in prison for the role he played in a smuggling operation that, according to court documents, brought 26,000-30,000 pounds of marijuana into the United States.

Do you really think anything we say about a bowsprit is going to do anything to defame Reid any more than he has himself? I agree with you that "deliberately impugning a man's character is wrong", but I judge a man's character by his actions, not his words. The man has no character, John. I'd be embarrassed to support him so publicly.

To address your last question of whether we are just mean spirited assholes or if Reid did anything to us - neither is the case. We didn't put the spotlight on Reid - Reid put the spotlight on Reid. For years Reid has been demanding attention to feed the appetite of his ego, which appears to be insatiable. Many people have followed him blindly (Hovians)- not knowing the real Reid Stowe. We are simply trying to alert people to beware of this demigod. He is not at all what he pretends to be.

Quite simply, John, he's an asshat.

- RD

P.S. - I Googled "Golden Rule" and appreciate your help there. I was looking for a new health plan. Thanks, John.