Goodbye

+1 

The idea that this is 'political correctness' is too retarded to even be given consideration. What bsh did is ILLEGAL. It's illegal for a reason. It has nothing to do with whether the person who was the victim protests or not. When a 25 year old man, for instance, shows porn to a bunch of minors in his home or sends them illicit pictures, they may not protest but it's still corruption of a minor. These laws exist because kids below the age of majority lack the faculties to fully consent to sex, and so can be manipulated and abused by older people. The process through which this happens, which at the same time makes the victim compliant, is known as grooming.

In brief:

Kids can't consent to sexual activity of any sort, which is why we have laws against statutory rape and is why every child protective organization guards against grooming behavior. So whether the victim was 'offended' or not is completely irrelevant.

Political correctness has nothing to do with child abuse.

The fact that any of this needs to explained to a mod is pathetic.

That crosses a line. To suggest that I was "grooming" Press is to suggest that I intended to commit some kind of sexual assault. This discussion of statutory rape implies that I somehow engaged in or intended to engage in that kind of action, which is way out of bounds. Whether you found what I said to be inappropriate--and I acknowledge that it was--do NOT make me out to be some kind of child predator.

I made a joke I should not have made because I was not considering the age of the person to whom I was saying it. It literally did not occur to me. I should have been more cognizant of what I was saying and who I was saying it to, but there was no intent behind what I said beyond humor. That is the extent of what happened.

It is one thing to disagree with or disapprove of what I said. It is a whole separate thing to make the kind of accusations that are implicit in what you wrote. That is absolutely beyond the pale and should be recanted.

I am now going to lock this thread. Please do not seek to bump, memorialize, or otherwise make this thread widely available. This thread, and the one which caused me to make this thread, are my greatest shames on DART. I will not ask you to remember me for all the good I tried to do, because I lost the right to make that request. But I would rather not be remembered at all than be remembered for this error in judgement. Damnatio Memoriae. Let it be done.