An Interview With The Count ( Hey If Ralph Can Do One)

Why Banned And Dangerous?

The original name for the Blog was Ranger Bob And Friends and it's purpose was to catalog the idiotic things conservatives and Fox news fans were saying on a anti-Fox news blog called Newshounds. It was named after a conservative troll who went by Ranger Bob and many other monikers who made up stories about his life. He has claimed his Dad was the doctor for the Yankees, He went to Cornell, Cal and UCLA and he once had sex back stage with Linda Ronstadt...

Anyway I had a falling out with the folks and Newshounds (which I am glad to say is patched up) and changed the name to Banned And Dangerous.

Is This Your First blog?

Not exactly. I had a live journal which I had originally established as a place for personal opinions and a shrine to all of my personal likes. Today I mostly post on Banned And Dangerous though I still occasionally post on "The Castle" Usually pictures of a celebrity crush or 2 and a little football.

Why Count Istvan?

My Name is Istvan though I haven't ever gone by it. Of course there was an actual Count Istvan but I took the name from an Episode of the Andy Griffith show. When Barney believes wishes are being granted from a long dead Count named Istvan Telecky.

How Would You Describe Your Blog Style?

Originally I used a super amped up version of myself to post in a comedic style. Lots of F words and c**k s***ers and words like that. This was of course in the height of the biggest assault on our personal freedoms ever committed from our federal government all passed under the guise of keeping us safe. So I would sign off And George if your reading this go fuck yourself or an invite to "suck my left nut" Which I stole from Jim Anchower at the Onion. Lately there is no question I have softened the manner in which I post. Which I think is also true of myself on a personal level.

Are There Differences Between "Count Istvan" And Stephen?

Count Istvan was originally, not only on my blogs but on other blogs as well, Stephen but Stephen turned up a 1000 degrees. I do know many conservatives and I don't tell them to go F*** themselves. I am capable of the crude and lude comment that part of The Count is very much me. I will be watching a sporting event and comment that an announcer would be much easier to understand if he took an athletes C**k out his mouth that's me. But unlike The Count I am not a big fan of conflict. In fact if I have an issue that needs solved like If I feel I am getting taken advantage of from somebody I have found I get better results if I call in the guns and have them resolve the issue and that would be my wife. I am just not the guy to say anything if I get short changed 50 cents or my meal stinks at a restaurant. I think The Count might say Hey you f**ked me out of 50 cents or hey this f**king food is terrible asshole! I wouldn't. My wife would though if not quite in those words.

Similarities?

Yes for sure Like I said the crass comments that's me. Also the temper that I have unfortunately displayed on occasion is me. I have tried both as the Count and as myself to work on that. And it's not as if I am mad all the time or even for long periods of time but I don't let things build up and simmer. I throw a good old fashion 5th grader temper-tantrum and then I am over it. You rarely see me mad for longer than 30 minutes and it's usually more like 10.

Where did "The Name The View From My Ass" Come From?

I use to be a fan of the wwf/e and still will watch a few minutes on occasion though I haven't been close to a faithful viewer in years and probably won't be one again since the person I used to watch for the most keeps getting pregnant, anyway One of the announcers and suits in the company named Jim Ross wrote an article on the WWF/E website called Under The Big Black Hat. So when I was thinking of a name to name my little editorials that I wanted to convey their true value (none) other than they were what I thought I turned to that for inspiration. I also liked the fact I could use a donkey as kind of a joke.

I close with KTF which means Keep The Faith. I began closing my emails with that when talking to people who were going through some tough personal times and I liked it so I kept it.

Any Advice For Other Bloggers?

Don't take advice from me about blogging because I pretty much suck at it and never claimed otherwise. Banned And Dangerous is actually greatly improved by other bloggers who are so much better and smarter than I am. The thing that makes it all work is we are all so different. Want an effective blog? Get a group of people working to get to one destination but all of whom take a different path to get there. That's why I have such a laugh when some douchebag like Hannity, O'Reilly or Limbaugh ETC talks about Liberals as if we are all of one mind. Nothing could be further from the truth.

My other advice would be be yourself. I think I became a much happier person when I quit caring about not caring. I am never going to be "cool" even if somehow some way I was cool. That's just not me.

What Issues Do You Disagree With Other Progressives on?

First of all I hate the term progressives. I watch The Andy Griffith Show and listen to Sinatra what am I progressing to 1966? Besides the term came about because people of limited intelligence made us ashamed to say we were Liberals. There are few people less personally progressive than I am. If you saw me out smoking a cigar or saw my IPOD immediately you would say conservative and you would be wrong.

Which brings be to something I don't like that I often see from Liberals. They put political meanings on things that have none. Do Conservatives often do the same thing? Yes! But by our very definition we of all people should not. No Music in and of itself is a "conservative" music. Where is the Conservative message in Your Cheatin' Heart?

I always laugh when I hear a Liberal cry about commercialism or ownership society or whatever they call it. Especially when they are typing on a computer they own because they bought it at the store. Sometimes I read this and just think get real.

I get frustrated with other Liberals because they often have short attention spans and don't often fight the best battles. As I have said Liberals will often start on one crusade and then half way through some cow will get tipped over and they are off on another. Often our inability to stick to the task at hand means we seldom win a battle and when we do the battle is so insignificant that we often lose the war.

Finally it saddens me how much Liberals are behind the nanny state. I hear supposed Liberals talk about not eating meat or putting calorie counts on menu's or wanting to take away a persons right to smoke even in their own home and I feel like the animals on Animal Farm. When I hear this I can't tell the difference between the nanny left and the religious right. The Pigs are morphing into the humans. Look at the list of people on Brent Bozo III Parent Television Council. You know the people who think they know better than us what we should watch? Look how many of those people aren't Conservatives. It's really sad.

Thank You For Your Time

Thank you!