Why Do We Have To Fight

Today I made a comment on my home Clay Aiken board an within minutes I had the usual suspects telling me my opinion is wrong. It's funny. It's always the same people. The people who think nothing is wrong in Clayland.

In Clayland we have two extreme ends of his fandom. Then we have the rest of us who are really the majority but in most cases are afraid to say anything. We have the "haters" on one side. They spend their life trying to bring Clay down. They discuss him 24/7 and no matter what he does find fault with him. They talk about his music, his looks, and his humanitarian work. They call him evil incarnate.

Then you have the extreme opposite. The "do-goers". Their "job" is to defend Clay even though he has told them to stop it and ignore all the crap that is said about him. They engage the "haters", the media and fans. They attack any fan that goes against their agenda. They call you a bad fan. They have a wall of shame. I'm sure I'm on it having been banned at one time.

Most of us fall somewhere in between. We support Clay and his projects. He has brought awareness of the plight of children in many areas of the world and the misconception that most people have about children with disabilities. We support his music. We love to go the concerts, many time more than once because of the friendships we have made though our Clay fandom.

Do I believe that Clay is perfect? No. He has his faults and his fallacies. Don't we all. He was thrust into the limelight. Every word that he has uttered publicly has been dissected to pieces. Things he said five years ago are still used against him. He is no longer the naive young man that we saw in 2003 but a man whose life has been torn asunder.

This summer bought us new gossip. We haven't heard from either principles but yet everyone feels they know the truth. We have several more weeks before the expected event and I hope at that time the principles will share their reasons and feelings. It's their private life and they have every right not to, but that would be the first step in healing this fandom. Many people just want to hear from Clay. Let the fans leave if they can't accept Clay as he is and not try to make him fit their perception.

I have said before that Clay had me at "take" and I am here for the long run. My love for Clay is unconditional.

Just Me!