Mike response simply wasn't an apology. It was just a, "well, I'm not sorry, and I don't know why I should be saying I'm sorry, but I'm sad my fans are angry at me."
Yeah, and I also loved how the "thousands and thousands" of posts were given the classic MP "quotes" treatment. They were written by his
"fans,
" the phonies, not his actual FANS. Even though many of those users posting-- heck, nearly all-- were longtime users of the MP forum.
This quote from Smirnoff really represents exactly what MP hasn't tackled yet, and will probably refuse to ever tackle now:
No. You STARTED it because up until now none of the DT cats have said ANYTHING negative towards you. You were the first to call James' comments "disrespectful" and all that junk. You threw the first punch here. Your "reaction" was simply inappropriate. Love you, bro, but I will call you out when it's some BS. You threw the first punch, simple as that. I think some people will also see it that way. There was no "action" from James for you to react to. He didn't say ANYTHING disrespectful towards you in a public forum.
What makes it more interesting is that Mike still hasn't acknowledged that HIS STUFF IS STILL ON DT.NET!!!
One last point: him criticizing James for NOT CALLING him to talk about things before James clarified things for HIS fans was just so painfully ironic. Did Mike call James to talk before he decided to launch his tragically unsuccessful crusade against James LaBrie and his fans? Most definitely not. The whole part of Mike's post reeked of: "I'm still pissed because James did exactly what I would have done, only James spoke like a professional, unlike me."
But as someone pointing out on MP.com, Mike's fans are now rebuking him as if he is an immature child. That, I think, is true on multiple levels, sad as it may be.
Anyway, everyone has had a time in their life where they've learned that a public figure, musician, athlete, etc., that they look up to can be a very human, imperfect, and sometimes even downright scummy person. I'm not saying MP is "scummy," but this has definitely been 'that' kind of experience for me. Sadly, this week I've seen a side of one of my favorite public figures that I never like having to see. And that person was MP.
I'm not going for a false-bravado here, really. It's just becoming harder and harder to reconcile the awesome guy who's made my night at many 'a concert with what I've seen this week.
Not much else for me to say. At this point, there's really nothing to chime in about. What Mike posted on his forum totally represents how he sees things, for better or worse-- most definitely for worse actually. I really do hope Mike will step away from the internet. We will see how he handles himself with the new drummer and new album come out.