Sad Puppies - still more bark than bite

I was recently disappointed by the Sad Puppies. This year I am (for the second year) a coordinator for Denver Comic Con's literary programming. A certain author who lives in the Colorado area is a strong Puppy-supporter, and last year I asked her to participate in a panel discussing the Puppies phenomenon. She declined, which made me a little sad because I refuse to hold such a panel unless supporters of both sides are there to present their view of the matter.

But you know, last year was very contentious, with the Rabid Puppies getting mixed in and crapping on everything. And Sad Puppy 3 leadership was certainly less than friendly. And this author was only a supporter, not actually a spokesperson or anything. We had the two Puppy-nominated Best Novel authors at last year's con, and both of them refused to be on the panel as well, so I could totally understand and respect her desire to not get involved in all that mess.

However this year that author is one of the leaders of Sad Puppies 4! And earlier in the year one of the other leaders of SP4 stated she would like to participate in a panel discussing the Puppies at WorldCon! And Sad Puppies 4 has also been handled far better than Sad Puppies 3 - no slate, no Rabid Puppy overlap, far better relations, etc. I've seen a number of people who were very turned off by SP3 come around to SP4 and accept them as another voice in the process. I myself am cautiously optimistic. This, together with the decent relationship we forged with the author last year, caused me to have high hopes for a civilized, possibly even fun Puppy-panel this year.

Aaaaaaaaand the SP4 co-leader turned me down. Which means no panel this year, again, because I still won't have a panel without representation from both sides. So much frustration! Why even be a leader of a movement if you are unwilling to speak about it in public? I am disappointed. :( No wonder the puppies are sad.