Like a few other fans throughout this thread I rarely post on this forum anymore, it is a shame because I enjoy how Meat interacts with fans and to be honest he was one of the first, and actually still is one of the very few artists who I see interacting with fans via a message board and that speaks volumes to me about how much he does appreciate the fans even if there is the occasional rant.
I do take issue with the opening statement, having been a forum admin for over ten years on bigger message boards it is something that I would have locked straight away and not allowed to escalate like this has done. That's just me though and I'm sure the admins/moderators here have reasons for keeping it open, after all freedom of speech, etc. I don't think however it is fair to call out 97% of your fans on this board for being whatever, some of them on here are critical, perhaps a bit too harsh, whatever but it's your tightest fanclub on the internet and the people who hang around on boards like this are always the harshest critics. I hang around on the Mike Portnoy/Dream Theater boards loads and they take an absolute hammering from their fans, they all love the music and albums but if James has an off night live he'll get hammered for it, and Mike Portnoy is (And especially now that he isn't in the band anymore) always getting it in the neck.
I'm sure it's what comes of being famous and in that limelight, far be it from me to tell you how to act but you've dealt with criticism before and surely you can just shrug it off. As I said maybe people were a bit harsh but it's so easy to come across as harsh when you let your fingers run away with you and not reread what you write.
The politics thing, I was surprised when Meat endorsed Romney, but he explained his reasoning and I can appreciate that. Being from Britain I only hear the more extreme ends of the views on both sides, I personally would have been an Obama supporter were I American but we have the freedom to choose, hell I voted Conservative over here in the UK last election. (Yes I do regret it.) Of course people should have respected your choice, but your threw yourself out there into the public eye with your support and politics causes people to go a bit over the top. Again the internet has unfortunately lead to people being a bit harsher then then normally would be, hiding behind anonymity and nicknames, not that I think people should be forced into giving their real names but it does make it easier for people to be nastier.
At the end of it, I am and will continue to be a Meat Loaf fan, regardless of political support (Unless you like... become a Nazi or something then I'll probably have second thoughts) or any bad performances because it was your music I was brought up with and that I have loved for years. Yes as a fan I'll be critical of some moments, and at the end of it you're human like I am so I'll disagree with what some of your views may be.
I don't think it is fair at all for you to come on here and call out your fans or argue with them regardless of what they might have said, if you had an issue surely you should have spoke privately to a moderator and got it sorted that way. Instead creating this kind of public mess doesn't help anyone, it's just caused petty arguments and doesn't exactly look great for any Meat Loaf fans who might come across these forums.
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