Appleseed steps over the line... again.

I've been advised by several instructors in Appleseed that they are in the middle of a meltdown in IL. Fred has banned several instructors.

At the heart of it is the "firing" of "The Guy" last fall. Guy and Fred had it out. Guy had been doing a lot of Appleseeds, and Fred kept trying to stick his nose in. Guy kept hearing what needed to be done to improve things, and implemented it. Fred and his gang of Master Instructors kept trying to butt in and force the "traditional" Appleseed instruction.

The instructors in IL, some very high ranking, were all (or mostly) from the lineage of "The Guy."
In the words of Fred: "If you add clean water to dirty water, you end up with dirty water."

Some of Fred's cronies had suggested: "burning Illinois to the ground and starting fresh." They were also involved (many crony-instructors known to be untrustworthy) by way of forwarding communications marked as being confidential.

Fred has banned at least 10 folks from the forum for showing support to the accused. How many more will be cast out?

And, in casting these people out, Fred has been engaging in the same behavior that I've observed from Appleseeders: "attacking the person," and "pile on." As proof, here is an excerpt of a PM sent to over 50 Appleseed instructors:

"They (Fred & his cronies) are saying that XXX has been using Appleseed to grow his own private militia. Many here know that "militia" is the ultimate kryptonite, not unlike "check your ego at the door". It is used as a last ditch, desperate effort to discredit your opponent, shut him down, and cast him in a poor light."

I am writing this on 3/9/2011. I will save it for publication until after a meeting scheduled this coming Saturday. I've been contacted by more than one of the people involved (directly involved and indirectly) and advised of such. Their overwhelming response: "Usagi, you were right."