Thursday, October 28, 2004
Madness
This comment to a recent post seems to be consistent with the desperate maniacal hostility from Kerry supporters that has been steadily cropping up as the election draws near.
Christian conservatives are idiots. They're so dumb. Some of them think abortion, gay marriage, and stem cells are the most critical issues facing us today.
Bush has harmed our country. He's bad for the environment, he's bad for science (I'm speaking as a soon-to-be MIT PhD candidate), and he's a liar. Whether he lies consciously or unconsciously doesn't matter. Both possibilities are scary.
Bush will go down in future historical analyses as one of the most incompetent presidents in American history.
I want him to get booted out of office and I want his supporters to suffer the attendant anguish.
To paraphrase from something I saw on your blog, "It doesn't matter which conservative you attack, so long as you start by attacking at least one of them." So I'm attacking you.
You guys don't even know the Bible. Your ignorance in that regard is risible. As if anyone can get salvation simply by "believing on" the name of someone else. You can't win salvation by proxy--it's not so easy.
Ok friend, take care. I didn't mean the attack personally. (I like Christians, and I don't even know if you're one of them--only skimmed through your blog).
But I do think you're ignorant and stupid and short-sighted. Luckily people change.
Titus at Baby Seal Club has done a terrific job of documenting election violence, the overwhelming majority of which (28 incidents to 3) is committed by anti-Bush thugs. Here's a couple of examples from Florida:
“The brown shirts have arrived and they’re all Democrats,” said Sid Dinerstein, county GOP chairman.
Also on Sunday night, a student leading a Republican protest at Florida Atlantic University saw her Ford Explorer vandalized by Democrats attending a John Kerry rally. University police responded to the incident and eventually broke it up.
“Some people surrounded us and started yelling obscenities and racist comments at me,” said Dana Roberts, FAU College Republican chairwoman. “I’m African-American and they were yelling that I’ve sided with the Ku Klux Klan. There were people telling them to stop, but they poured beer on the car and vandalized it with Kerry bumper stickers.”
Between 5 and 7 p.m. Friday, an unknown Kerry supporter drove by a GOP rally near a K-Mart on Palmetto Park Road and threw rocks and sand at rally-goers. Several car windows were broken.
“I was singled out as the leader and had rocks thrown in my face,” said Jack Furnari, president of the Boca Raton Republicans.
It gets worse:
A Florida man has been charged with attempting to run over controversial Republican congresswoman Katherine Harris with his Cadillac. According to the below Sarasota Police Department report, Barry Seltzer, 46, told cops that he was simply exercising his "political expression" when he drove his car at Harris and several supporters, who were campaigning last night at a Sarasota intersection.
LGF poster Yishai personally experienced a similar incident
10 minutes ago, a kerry freak in a red sports car drove over my lawn, ran over my Bush/Cheney sign, and almost smashed into my neighbor who was outside watching the lunar eclipse. She dove out of the way!
And the list goes on and on.
It would be useful to me to try to understand what has happened to bring this insanity on. I had two recent encounters with family members that have motivated me to (once again) attempt to establish a sane dialog about the issues at stake in this election.
Thinking about what was said in the comment mentioned above, I came to some conclusions that I found useful. The person is obviously academically intelligent. As someone who deals with angry customers on a regular basis, I know a vent when I see one. People vent like that when they feel frustrated and helpless, and as the commenter states, he or she is looking for a target, and even regrets it to some degree once some of the pressure has been released. All "facts" and blanket statements are based on suppositions that are never questioned. It's a portrait of someone whose worldview is failing, and rather than taking responsibility for the failure, my commenter seeks to find someone to blame. I think this is exactly the psychological motivation for the widespread Bush Derangement Syndrome that has begun to manifest in these recent physical attacks.
To my commenter I would say, as a Christian I try to turn the other cheek to personal attacks. Like some of my customers, once you've vented your frustration you show signs of a conscience. I welcome any rational debate of the topics you raise in your comment. I think a discussion of some of the theological points you raise would be particularly entertaining. I've left my comments open as a courtesy so casual readers don't have to register. I ask that you show a little moderation and restraint in the future so that I can keep them open.
Christian conservatives are idiots. They're so dumb. Some of them think abortion, gay marriage, and stem cells are the most critical issues facing us today.
Bush has harmed our country. He's bad for the environment, he's bad for science (I'm speaking as a soon-to-be MIT PhD candidate), and he's a liar. Whether he lies consciously or unconsciously doesn't matter. Both possibilities are scary.
Bush will go down in future historical analyses as one of the most incompetent presidents in American history.
I want him to get booted out of office and I want his supporters to suffer the attendant anguish.
To paraphrase from something I saw on your blog, "It doesn't matter which conservative you attack, so long as you start by attacking at least one of them." So I'm attacking you.
You guys don't even know the Bible. Your ignorance in that regard is risible. As if anyone can get salvation simply by "believing on" the name of someone else. You can't win salvation by proxy--it's not so easy.
Ok friend, take care. I didn't mean the attack personally. (I like Christians, and I don't even know if you're one of them--only skimmed through your blog).
But I do think you're ignorant and stupid and short-sighted. Luckily people change.
Titus at Baby Seal Club has done a terrific job of documenting election violence, the overwhelming majority of which (28 incidents to 3) is committed by anti-Bush thugs. Here's a couple of examples from Florida:
“The brown shirts have arrived and they’re all Democrats,” said Sid Dinerstein, county GOP chairman.
Also on Sunday night, a student leading a Republican protest at Florida Atlantic University saw her Ford Explorer vandalized by Democrats attending a John Kerry rally. University police responded to the incident and eventually broke it up.
“Some people surrounded us and started yelling obscenities and racist comments at me,” said Dana Roberts, FAU College Republican chairwoman. “I’m African-American and they were yelling that I’ve sided with the Ku Klux Klan. There were people telling them to stop, but they poured beer on the car and vandalized it with Kerry bumper stickers.”
Between 5 and 7 p.m. Friday, an unknown Kerry supporter drove by a GOP rally near a K-Mart on Palmetto Park Road and threw rocks and sand at rally-goers. Several car windows were broken.
“I was singled out as the leader and had rocks thrown in my face,” said Jack Furnari, president of the Boca Raton Republicans.
It gets worse:
A Florida man has been charged with attempting to run over controversial Republican congresswoman Katherine Harris with his Cadillac. According to the below Sarasota Police Department report, Barry Seltzer, 46, told cops that he was simply exercising his "political expression" when he drove his car at Harris and several supporters, who were campaigning last night at a Sarasota intersection.
LGF poster Yishai personally experienced a similar incident
10 minutes ago, a kerry freak in a red sports car drove over my lawn, ran over my Bush/Cheney sign, and almost smashed into my neighbor who was outside watching the lunar eclipse. She dove out of the way!
And the list goes on and on.
It would be useful to me to try to understand what has happened to bring this insanity on. I had two recent encounters with family members that have motivated me to (once again) attempt to establish a sane dialog about the issues at stake in this election.
Thinking about what was said in the comment mentioned above, I came to some conclusions that I found useful. The person is obviously academically intelligent. As someone who deals with angry customers on a regular basis, I know a vent when I see one. People vent like that when they feel frustrated and helpless, and as the commenter states, he or she is looking for a target, and even regrets it to some degree once some of the pressure has been released. All "facts" and blanket statements are based on suppositions that are never questioned. It's a portrait of someone whose worldview is failing, and rather than taking responsibility for the failure, my commenter seeks to find someone to blame. I think this is exactly the psychological motivation for the widespread Bush Derangement Syndrome that has begun to manifest in these recent physical attacks.
To my commenter I would say, as a Christian I try to turn the other cheek to personal attacks. Like some of my customers, once you've vented your frustration you show signs of a conscience. I welcome any rational debate of the topics you raise in your comment. I think a discussion of some of the theological points you raise would be particularly entertaining. I've left my comments open as a courtesy so casual readers don't have to register. I ask that you show a little moderation and restraint in the future so that I can keep them open.
papijoe 6:55 AM
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