Jackie, I don't really care enough about this to go back and reread your posts or my posts (once was enough) so I'm not going to match you with a meta-analysis. My time is too valuable for that. The general attitude that comes across from your posts is Jon is at fault and Richie is just responding to whatever big bad Jon did to him. Maybe in your heart of hearts you don't mean to come across that way, but you do.

Also, you can't say you don't make things up because I saw a post from you not too long ago where you made up a quote that you think may be something like what Jon said and you put it in quotation marks. But it was all based on your THEORY of what Jon said because Richie said he was given an ultimatum. It wasn't that long ago so you can probably remember it. But, yes, you did make it up. None of us know what was said between Jon and Richie. And your whole notion that Jon is feeding the press digs at Richie is hardly based on cold, hard facts. It's just another theory.

And I stand by the way Richie has been saying, "I write the songs" lately comes across like he wants to be seen as the mastermind of the band. That's my interpretation, which like your theories is <i>not necessarily the way it is</i>, but how it comes across to me.

Richie's comments about Runaway and Bounce are insulting to Jon (Runaway) and the band (Bounce) because he's insulting their hard work. How would you take it Jon said someone else did "The Answer" and did it better than Richie did just because it has the same title? I know that's a bad example because I can't think of another song with that title, but Richie said someone else did "Runaway" and did it better than Jon because there's an old song with that title. That's pretty low. And if Jon had said it, you would be all over it. If it weren't for Runaway, Bon Jovi wouldn't have gotten a record deal and where would Richie be right now? Probably not in the position to bite the hand that feeds him.

No one has to tell me Jon's not perfect. But he's also not the villain he's been made out to be through the years on this board either. If you'd been around here for the last decade+, you would know that Jon has been made out to be everything but the devil himself. SOMEONE has to defend him. Jon has had very few champions on this website through the years. The fact is, the most I've ever seen positive comments directed toward Jon has come in the last year since Richie left. So if, like me, you actually LIKE and RESPECT Jon, you've learned to be on the defensive. I can't even begin to tell you how many fans of Jon have just given up and left because of the negativity. Yes, they do go to Backstage where it's actually okay to like Jon. So then they're called "Backstagers" around here in a demeaning tone. Try being a fan of Jon on Dry County. It's no easy existence. That's why I defend him, not because I think he's perfect.

And, for the record, before Richie started bailing on tours and running his mouth like he has been lately, I didn't have any problem with HIM. Sure, I don't like his singing voice. I never have and I never will. I don't apologize for that. The first time I heard him singing, I didn't know it was him and my reaction was, "What is this SHIT?" It was my honest reaction. I don't like my singing voice either. I don't like the minister of music at my church's singing voice. I'm entitled to have my own taste in singers.

But I never had problem with him as a human being. I just had a problem with his fans who always acted like he was God and Jon was someone to be scorned. And, girl, that goes back to the days of pen-pals before I ever even knew the internet existed. There's always been a divide between Richie Fans and Jon Fans and there always will be.

Gah, this post is too freaking long. I wouldn't even bother reading it if it were me. LOL