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Hal, Montel, Sylvia, and expiration dates

Darth Rotor

Salted Sith Cynic
Darth Rotor
Joined
Aug 4, 2006
Messages
38,527
Mr Randi mentions in today's commentary Hal Bidlacks letter to Montel, Williams, first discussed on this forum on 7 Feb,. I surmise that Hal's letter was first presented a few days prior to that.
QUESTION TO BE ANSWERED
Our most excellent friend Dr. Hal Bidlack (US Air Force, ret.) is alarmed at the recent actions of Montel Williams in supporting the flummery of “psychic” Sylvia Browne. He expresses himself eloquently at www.stopsylviabrowne.com/articles/openlettertomontel.shtml. I suggest that you click in and see how he asks that Williams show some consideration and responsibility in his position as a former military man, and as a US citizen…
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I expect Mr Randi is a very busy man, and just caught up with Hal's posing the question of honor to said TV talk show host. Since he has raised it as a matter of current interest, a little thread necromancy via proxy is in order.

1. The betting line in that thread seemed to favor "the under" on Montel answering the question in any public fashion. No odds given on an email answer. IMO, the packaging of the question was an obstacle to any public reply, along the lines of a slap to the face with a gauntlet before a duel. With that under consideration, I have a few questions for Hal, and those interested in the topic.

A. What is the shelf life of your hopes for a reply, Hal?

B. Do you consider it honorable to publicly post a private answer from Montel? (My guess is no, without consent of Mr W.)

C. Have you considered reposing the question in a more approachable tone?

D. Is there a next step?

E. Does anyone care, other than Hal? I am sure an answer would be gratifying in receipt, if not in content.

F. Have you considered bearding the lion in his den, and trying to get on the show?

Point F is a high risk, high reward course of action, but is aimed at a high pay off target, if you can dodge the flak. Mr Randi's other current note regarding how Laura got railroaded on Oprah's show is a good case study in what you'd likely be up against should "you choose to accept the mission."

No guts, no glory, eh Hal? :D

Full Disclosure: Montel Williams is a classmate of mine from the US Naval Academy. (Not a close friend. I note how little I knew him in my post on page 4 of the JREF Forum thread linked above). I am an interested observer in seeing this play out, popcorn and beer to hand. Absent the usual Squid/Zoomie interservice rivalry silliness, I hold no ill feeling against Hal for his having called Montel out on a matter of principle, integrity, and honesty. I think it's a question well asked, albeit in a confrontational tone.

PS: Zoomies wear Powder Blue due to an over reliance on consultants. :p

PPS: The powdered soap reply is tired, please make an original riposte, if one is desired. ;)

DR
 
Darth Rotor said:
A. What is the shelf life of your hopes for a reply, Hal?

I would think no reply in a fortnight probably means there will not be one.

B. Do you consider it honorable to publicly post a private answer from Montel?

If Montel replies to an open letter, he would surely expect the reply to be made public as well. In fact he would probably not reply other than in the form of an open reply.

C. Have you considered reposing the question in a more approachable tone?

I consider the tone spot on. Perhaps you give an example how you would have modified the letter. Remember that you want your letter to have impact and express clearly your concerns about Montel's actions

D. Is there a next step?

A suitable follow up could be to invite public discussion on television or radio as a means of upping the ante for a specific response from Montel.

E. Does anyone care, other than Hal? I am sure an answer would be gratifying in receipt, if not in content.

Yes. And I'm probably not the only one.

F. Have you considered bearding the lion in his den, and trying to get on the show?

That would be crazy.
I would say, pick an independant venue, with or without Montel's presence.

No guts, no glory, eh Hal? :D

But you have to distinguish between bravery and stupidity.

Full Disclosure: Montel Williams is a classmate of mine from the US Naval Academy. (Not a close friend. I note how little I knew him in my post on page 4 of the JREF Forum thread linked above). I am an interested observer in seeing this play out, popcorn and beer to hand. Absent the usual Squid/Zoomie interservice rivalry silliness, I hold no ill feeling against Hal for his having called Montel out on a matter of principle, integrity, and honesty. I think it's a question well asked, albeit in a confrontational tone.

Your role is an easy one as is all of ours.
I give credit to Hal for attempting to open the dialogue with Montel, regardless of possible repercusions. His purpose is, I think, to get some groundswell of opinion against SB and to get get some build momentum towards having that dispicable person removed from a position where she can affect public attitudes.
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BJ
 
Hey, Pool Boy went to USNA and he finds Montels behavior via Sylvia a slur against the academy.

He also plans to join Hal in his campaign for Academy grads (yes, even Coast Guard) to really call this man on his behavior.

Montel may have been an officer, but he is certainly no gentleman at this point. You think he really believes her BS?

Give us Magnum PI anyday!
 
Oh and Pool Boy would gladly go on Montels show. He would eat Montel up for breakfast and spit him out. Trust me, Montel would be back in his plebe days. BRACE UP MONTEL!
 
I respected Hal's letter enough to send it to several people, who probably don't even know who Sylvia is.
 
It seems to me HB put a great deal of thought into his letter to get it just right. I am at a loss to see how this letter could be improved so I post it here and ask DR to attempt the impossible task of improving it.

An Open Letter to Lt. Commander Montel Williams, USN, (Ret)
From Lt Colonel Hal Bidlack, Ph.D., USAF (Ret)
Commander Williams,


I write you today as one military man to another. Like you, I spent over 20 years in the armed forces. I retired in September of 2006 with over 25 years of active duty military service. My postings included service as an ICBM launch officer and instructor, State Department military advisor, as well as temporary postings at the White House and the Pentagon. For much of my career I was a professor of political science at the United States Air Force Academy, specializing in American national government and constitutional theory.

Over the years, I have taken pleasure in much of your work. I am intensely proud of my military service, and I took satisfaction in your regular references to your own. I believe that your bravery in confronting multiple sclerosis is exemplary, and your service in both the United States Marine Corps and the United States Navy should stand as an example for others to follow.

Thus, it is with great concern that I must ask you a question that may seem trivial to civilians, but as military men we know this is the gravest question I may ask: have you lost your honor?

It saddens me to conclude that perhaps you have, as this is the most vile, most corrupt charge that can be made against a military man. I speak, Sir, of your involvement with Sylvia Browne, and your apparent willingness to be at best a stooge and at worst a co-conspirator in her dishonest and cruel violation of so many families while chasing so many dollars. The recent fiasco involving her disingenuous, cruel, and heartless "reading" on your program involving Shawn Hornbeck is only the latest in a long line of her sad attempts to use the magician’s technique of "cold reading" for her own profit at the cost of simple decency. You most certainly know of the many other examples I could cite of her behavior and your apparent complicity, such as the Sago Mines, the 9/11 firefighter, and others. As one who was in the Pentagon during the attack, I find the last example particularly egregious.

Surely, a man of your intelligence and insight cannot be unaware of her checkered past and her willingness to say almost anything to those most grieving, most pained, most suffering. Having lost my own dear wife to cancer when she was only 44, I am exceptionally sensitive to those who prey upon others during such horrible times.

For a number of years now, it is been my pleasure to be associated with Mr. James Randi, and to be the master of ceremonies for the annual meeting of his organization, the James Randi Educational Foundation. It was at the second of our annual meetings that I heard Penn Jillette say it best, when he said that people like Ms. Browne "rape the memories of the survivors" by inserting invented memories in the place of real ones. As I myself know how deeply pain is felt at such times, and how desperate one is for any consolation whatsoever, I find vultures distasteful, and those who enable them, puzzling.

Given Ms. Browne's regular appearances on your program, and given your clear intelligence and common sense, it seems impossible to me that you are unaware of what is truly happening on your own program. In many other instances, you have demonstrated yourself to be a man of compassion and decency, and so I find myself at a loss to explain how a brother officer, sworn to a code of honor, could stand idly by while profit is made from pain.

And so Sir, I must ask this question. If you are too smart to be fooled, as I believe you are, can you have been placed in the position where you have no control over the content of the show that carries your own name? Is it possible that you simply cannot speak from your heart on those dreadful days when Ms. Browne is your guest?

If the answer to the above is no, and you are in fact fully aware and fully complicit in this dishonest and distasteful affair, I am left with only a final question to ask, and it pains me greatly to do so. As a military man, you understand why this is so difficult for me to ask:

Commander Williams, have you lost your honor?

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Good luck, DR.
You're going to need it.
 
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DR, I don't know why you have such a problem with what HB did, but I think that the zoomie / squid rivalry is something that most people out-grow upon graduation from their respective Service Academy.

My father graduated from West Point and served 21 years and respected anyone wearing a uniform no matter which branch they were from.
 
Skeptic Guy said:
DR, I don't know why you have such a problem with what HB did, but I think that the zoomie / squid rivalry is something that most people out-grow upon graduation from their respective Service Academy.

My father graduated from West Point and served 21 years and respected anyone wearing a uniform no matter which branch they were from.
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I don't have a problem with Hal's initiative. Hal's his own man, and a smart one. You will note that I think it a question well asked, and that I am interested in the reply, with popcorn and beer to hand. What does that turn of phrase connote to you? Maybe you won't note it, and maybe it didn't register, as you did a speed reading of my post? I am guessing here. Interservice rivalry is a fun way to screw with one another, I had many a good laugh, and a good mutual ribbing, with the Brothers in Arms from all services. Maybe you just don't get that.

The zoomie-squid thing is sent to Hal with humorous intent, and because he used to teach at the Air Force Academy.

billy:

Commander Williams, have you lost your honor?
Confrontational, glove slap to the face. I read for content, context, and tone. What do you read for?

Your guess that no answer in a forthnight (as far as we know) means no answer is probably correct.

I am glad you care. I am interested in seeing what such an answer would look like, and would not have commented further had Randi not re raised the matter three weeks after the original thread we had discussing Hal's letter.

DR
 
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No, I get it. I guess I misunderstood your intent. I apologize if I did, but it seemed that you were suggesting that Montel would not respond because he was a Squid and Hal is a Zoomie.

I stand corrected.
 
Skeptic Guy said:
No, I get it. I guess I misunderstood your intent. I apologize if I did, but it seemed that you were suggesting that Montel would not respond because he was a Squid and Hal is a Zoomie.

I stand corrected.
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:D No apology needed, sometimes when we post, we (as in my Sith Lord alter ego and myself) presume everyone reads what is written with the same filters used in writing, which is not always the case.

It gets funnier, as Montel would probably refer to me as a Squid, or perhaps a Flying Fish, since he began as a Marine.

Speaking of squids, have you heard of the 33 foot long squid some Kiwis caught off of Antarctica?

DR
 
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