Trust me, after “dishing it out” on a blog with an open comments section for over a decade I am more than capable of “taking it.” And I’ll be absentee-voting a straight Democratic ticket from the grave. (Finally some voter fraud from Dems the right has been fantasizing about!) But I have to say the feedback I’ve received from peers (and seen directed at others) to a number of viral news stories in recent years where I haven’t stuck to the party’s talking points does shed a fluorescent light on how the dreaded “both sides” and independent voter is born. I’m smart enough to know that unless you’re registered as an independent (for your rebel-at-heart ego) but still vote 100% Democratic, it is a too-clever-by-half recipe for 2016 happening all over again. But kindly keep it in mind that not everybody knows that -- and we need all the help we can get.
Nice to see I'm not the only one who reacted the way I did to the weekend's feeding frenzy, where I had people snap at me that it didn't matter whether the kids did in fact chant "Build the wall" (there are hours of footage including every epithet hurled by the so-called Black Hebrew Israelites yet nowhere do we hear that); who approached whom; or that they actually hadn't "crashed" a Native American rally (as widely reported). The only thing that mattered was "the vibe" they perceived (right or wrong) emanating from one boy's face. (Read Julie Irwin Zimmerman's motherly take HERE.)
To a friend who told me she hadn't even watched the video who said this:
No matter what other storyline emerges, it doesn't change the fact that the teenager is wearing a MAGA hat in support of the worst president our democracy has ever seen, while attending a march in support of forced pregnancy and the diminished status of women's rights.I reluctantly but felt necessarily replied this:
You’re so right. But as much as I hate going there, we do have to acknowledge that they can’t help being born in Kentucky, with families that put them in a parochial school that took them to that disgusting march. (For all we know the school provided the hats.) We’re all disgusted by MAGA and what it stands for, but many of us do not think their actual behavior warrants this reaction.I must say I sure wish my fellow liberal voters had gotten half as worked up on Nov. 8, 2016, as they pretend to be about this.
4 comments:
Just one point: he volunteered and paid to go to the march. The school may have even given credit for going(some apparently do per internet reports [a 25lb salt lick may be required]). So he did have a choice in being there.
Fair enough. But your agency is limited as a child -- and you are a product of your environment. He's not an adult.
More importantly, he DIDN"t do anything objectionable, in my opinion.
Man, white skin has it's privileges. As a Democrat, I wish I didn't have to vote for "The White Democrat" to have my voice not heard as my vote needs to get them across the finish line. I don't care about those racist kids. What I do care about is the empathy that people like you are willing to give them as cover for their racism. As you say, if they a product of their environment and don't know any better, they sure as hell know where to go trigger others. Please be happy with yourself that you can have this point of view for this group of racist kids, while minorities deal with this bullshit hourly, daily, monthly and yearly in silence. BRAVO TO YOU!
Kennneth.. You need to do further research. You are off the mark here. He stepped in to stop poc from having harrasment thrown. Further, look at today's vid of those kids shouting shit at females. You need to get clear on this one..
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