Sometimes it's hard to know how to respond to some things. In some cases it's pointless to even bother, but as a blogger I sometimes feel compelled to say something about what's going on around me. Besides,by addressing controversy I get content for a blog post so I might as well speak my mind.
 |
| Anti-Racist Action banner from Art Against Racism (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
As recent visitors to my blog have been reading, I've embarked upon a series of posts that I've called the President Trump Acclimation Series where I clarify and try to correct some of the issues that have arisen in the minds of some who have questioned why I voted for Trump.
The reason why I'm doing this series, besides the questioning, is that I'm annoyed with the continuous reciting of the litany of labels that come from the anti-Trump crowd--racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, and so on. From the left we hear about the rise in bullying since the election of Donald Trump, but mostly what I see is the bullying against Trump supporters. This "harassment" comes from supposed friends and even relatives, people who suspect or happen to find out that someone voted for Trump, and a continual haranguing from left-wing media commentators and pundits.
I plan to continue this series until I stop hearing these labels being cited in my comment section, on other online sites, and on the television "news" shows. Or until inauguration day--whichever comes first. And that is if I keep feeling like doing the series. Stopping these posts is my prerogative just as not reading them is yours. I hope you'll stick with me so we can continue the good discussion we've been having. I also hope we can learn something.
Why I Am A Racist
How do I know that I am a racist? Because people have told me that I am. And how do those people know that I'm a racist? Because I announced that I voted for Donald J. Trump for President of the United States. Now, this is faulty deductive reasoning the way I see it. Using this model can it also be said that I'm a billionaire because I voted for Trump? This line of logic makes about as much sense as saying that everyone who voted for Clinton is at heart a woman with criminal intent or that if you voted for Sanders then you're a crazy old coot.
We each vote for our preferred candidate for very personal reasons. Some of those reasons may have a commonality with others who also voted for our chosen candidate while we might vote for the same candidate as someone else for very different reasons. If a particular candidate were actually a racist or displayed a proclivity for racism then it would not necessarily follow that one who voted for that candidate did so because of the racism. Typically most of us vote for a candidate based on economic proposals, social agendas, foreign policies, or some other relevant issues that are important to us.
Yet, after this recent election, once it was clear that Trump had won the electoral college (the vote that makes the difference in this country), we who voted for this man were excoriated for our vote by the sore losers on the other side. Sure, I can understand your disappointment and even anger, but is that a call to start spitting epithets at those on the other side?
Facebook was bad as were many blabbermouths in the media. To me this name calling and outright meanness was absolutely uncalled for and highly undignified. At no time in my many years watching elections have I seen such reprehensible behavior in response to an election outcome.
One particularly egregious response came from fellow blogger Andrew Leon at Strange Pegs. For many years I've tried to develop a friendly relationship with Mr. Leon despite his tendency toward pomposity and arrogance. I've enjoyed his writing style as well as some of his subject matter. However, after I read his post It's Not That I Don't Understand You , I was rather disgusted since this post seemed to be more directed toward me than anyone else. To belie any suggestion that I'm being overly sensitive or paranoid about his post I would direct you to a comment that I left on his earlier post Dying of Cancer. I had left a polite reasonable comment in response to that post and his response to me was so flagrantly rude that at that point I decided that I would not visit his blog any longer if he were going to take such a bellicose attitude toward me.
His second post on his "Trump voters are racists" topic was brought to my attention by another blogger friend who directed me to the post with the thought that the post was directed primarily toward me. After reading that post I was pretty much in agreement that Mr. Leon had me in mind when he wrote the post. To add insult to insult, not only did he say that I and other Trump voters are racists, but also we are assholes. Sounds like a sore loser to me--all common sense and ability to reason is replaced by emotional response. This emotional response seems to be the hallmark of the left. If they don't get their way then they call names, make false charges, pout, stir up civil unrest, and so on.
I've found that the best way to end a conversation is to call someone a "racist." How does one respond? To say "I'm not a racist" etc--Mr. Leon rattles off some likely retorts we accused might counter with--doesn't appease the argument. The leftist technique is name off a list of responses that they must have found in some leftist handbook or something. Then to really nip the bud with finality the leftist can cap things off by calling their opposition an "Asshole!"--yeah, that's always a constructive approach to sensible dialogue.
With Andrew Leon it's essentially that there is no need to have any discussion because I'm a racist and an asshole and he's right and I'm wrong. End of debate. Nothing to talk about.
Okay, that sounds real constructive I suppose.
On the Other Hand...
But then I got to thinking. Andrew Leon is a pretty brilliant guy. He's got a college degree and he's like a teacher or something. Mr. Leon knows just about everything about everything. I know that from reading his blog. He probably is one of the smartest guys in the world. And I ain't so smart. I certainly don't think as fast and as intelligent as Andrew Leon.
That's why I got to thinking: This blog post I've been talking about must have been intended for humor. Maybe it was like a parody or a satire or a treatise filled with witticism--an intellectual wit that is beyond my lowly capacity to understand such things.
Yes, of course! Mr. Leon was just funnin' us with some high sort of intellectual humor, but I'm not smart enough to get it...
Or maybe he thought we were engaging in some kind of exchange of ideas--something like a cross blog conversation.
Reading back it still doesn't seem to be very funny to me. I guess my initial reaction was based on a correct assumption--Mr. Leon really does think I am an asshole and a racist. The air of bitter gravitas mingled with an ugly dose of distemperatude permeates the mind of the reader of his blog post.
And here I am saying I'm not a racist, but I can say anything since this is my blog. Even though Andrew Leon says I'm a racist (and an asshole) because I voted for Donald Trump. I don't want to get into a blog feud with anyone and besides Mr. Leon has had more experience with that sort of thing than I have. I've always tried to be the nice helpful blogger who sometimes strayed onto the fringe of controversy, but always tried to be as diplomatic as I could be with visitors to my site or on the sites which I visited. Besides, if I keep going with my series it's likely that I will offend more people.
People sure get offended easily these days.
And now look what I've done. My main point in this post was to disprove the accusations of Donald Trump's racism. Now the post is too long. I'll continue this topic in an upcoming post. Right now I need to think up some nasty things to do in order to maintain my reputation as an asshole.
I might do a post on Wednesday, but then again maybe not. However I will post another Battle of the Bands match on Thursday December 1st. This next Battle will be a fun little ditty that hopefully lifts spirits as we enter the holiday season. Please don't miss it!
Has someone ever unjustly accused you of something? Do you think guilt by association across the board applies to a voter? If you kept track of what candidates were saying during the campaign, was it due to directly listening to their speeches or was it based on what commentators or others said that they said and sound clips taken out of context?
.jpeg)
