2013/08/01

stupid is as stupid does

[Ed. note: I had to edit this post just after 5:36 P.M. when I noticed several grammatical  and spelling errors. I was really hot under the collar when I wrote this. Anyway, I also added a few paragraphs since I'm thinking more clearly now.]

I replied to a few racists on Facebook today. Some page called "My Fav Gun" - populated almost exclusively by racist assholes, so far as I could tell - had a post about how terrible it is that OJ and Casey Anthony were found not guilty (I agree) but how great it is that Zimmerman was found not guilty (but I believe that he was guilty in a very real sense).

Under several comments I posted replies which all boiled down to this, the same argument I used in the few "real-life" conversations about the case that I have had:
If you were being followed on a dark and rainy night by a fat little LEO wannabe, you'd confront him too. ("Kick his ass" is the phrase I usually used. These people were all full of bluster, so how could they deny a manly response to being followed?)
One person replied, "Jay you should have followed the case from the start ..." and proceeded to write an essay so full of BS and obvious lies that my response was simple:
I did follow the case from the start, and you are full of shit. Bye.
That person's arguments were so numerous, and all false, that I saw no point in dismantling them all. I just wanted to get away.

I don't like arguing, especially with fools. Lisa and I virtually never had arguments; I can only think of one, and that happened when I went off of my meds and became almost non-functional, glued to the couch and watching SpongeBob in a vain attempt to cheer myself up. She banished me from the house for a few hours and I eventually came around and restarted taking my meds. A few weeks later we started coming to NC and life became bearable for me again.

No, Lisa and I didn't argue. We discussed. We espoused our opinions to one another and provided background information in order to inform each other of how we arrived at our opinions. We didn't always convince each other, but that was OK too. When we first became a couple, she stated, "you do your thing and I'll do mine."

Back to the racist assholes:

I try so hard not to swear at people, especially those whom I would hope could change their minds (and especially my legislators, though that is quite difficult lately). Foul language and insults don't help to make your case, and usually mean that you have lost the argument, but damn it (there I go again) sometimes you know that you can't convince them that they are espousing a hateful or ignorant or outright fallacious position and it's the best way to get in a quick hit before you duck out like a chicken, angry and shaking.

So I've been trying to stay away from Facebook. I follow a lot of political pages, all centrist or left-wing. I have to do so to keep apprised of the terrific damage being perpetrated by the Republicans nationwide. And then there are the notifications that somebody I'm friends with has made an approving comment on one of those racist pages, which really gets me hot.

I get weekly newsletters from my elected Representatives and Senators. With the notable exception of the reports from Senator Kay Hagan, who seems to support everything that I do, these newsletters reliably enrage me.

I've started writing to Rep. Mark Meadows and State Rep. Michelle Presnell to let them know how disappointed I am in their votes. Both are in their first years in office, and I will do everything in my power to defeat them next time around. I've never had a political sign in my yard but I feel so strongly that those two are destructive elements that I would like to change that when the next election season comes up. No bumper stickers, though - I don't want to foment road rage.

1 comment:

  1. In that part of the country I wouldn't even want to put up a lawn sign. Too many of those people who travel your road know only 3 things, Love the lord, hate anyone who thinks differently from their own narrow view and love FOX news. Some of them could easily burn you down just because they don't share your opinions.

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