Now I’ve Seen Everything

I hear my favorite fiction writer is lecturing about civility.  Yet another “the right needs to stop being so gosh darn mean to us” piece, as if the writer is completely innocent and isn’t every bit as nasty as he claims his brethren on the right are.  It really is a must read, for nothing else but to get a glimpse into the twisted mind of this conspiracy theorist.  It really reads like a bad game of Clue, as the author connects his dots to see who is in whose pockets and who from the right has ganged up to defeat the innocent lefties. You won’t be disappointed…the infamous “Let the attacks begin” reference is again referenced….incorrectly.  Maybe if you repeat a lie often enough…? (Insert my favorite Real eyes realize real lies quote here).

I can’t speak to the origins of much of this fairy tale, but I did literally laugh out loud when I read “The fact that the site has gone largely silent during tax season surely seems indicative that the owner is busy just then. Significant glance at Gabe Santos.*”   Is Gabe Santos in the tax business?  I thought Bryan Baum was, and whence the tax reference, but maybe Santos is too.  Either way, the logic, as usual, is incorrect.  My site has just been quiet because there just hasn’t been much to write about lately.  I appreciate you throwing me a bone tonight, though.  Definitely gave me a good laugh.  (Actually, I’ve just been busy counting all the money that the city has been paying me to smear its opponents.  It’s all about cronyism, right? 🙂 )

On another note, Chris Rodriguez’s radio program has been quite entertaining and enlightening at the times I’ve gotten to listen in.  Sure wish Mr. Wray or Ms. Fissinger would debate him on it sometime, but then it doesn’t seem either of them is really interested in a debate in which they can’t censor out everything the opposition says.  Keep up the good work!

 

*This quote was gracefully taken from Free Range Longmont, and all credit and ridiculousness associated with it belongs to the author of the quoted article, one Mr. M. Douglas Wray.  Longmont Responds is graciously thankful to Mr. Wray for allowing fair use of quoting his article in order to show the context in which it is quoted.

Trayvon Martin

The thing that is really pissing me off about the whole Trayvon Martin fiasco is how so many have jumped to conclusions and the emotional reactions.

It is a shame that this kid died, it really is.  The lives of everyone associated with Trayvon and George Zimmerman have been turned completely upside down now.  I understand there is prejudice in the world and that racism is not dead, and because of those prejudices, there are some people who are going to be starting at a disadvantage.  I get all that.  But regardless, there are ways to handle situations that are as awful as this one.  Let me give a few points about how NOT to handle them.

1 – Don’t put a bounty on the head of the person who did the shooting.  Thank you, New Black Panther party, for living “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”.  The Middle East has been trying that for centuries now…how has that worked?  I understand you are pissed off, but talk about a completely childish and remarkably backwards way to try to make things “better” that will NEVER end racism.  That attitude is precisely why so many are prejudiced against you, and if you are truly interested in stopping racism and not using it as a tool, you would quit pouring gasoline on the fire.

2 – Let’s have the powers that be denounce this bounty ASAP.  There are many people with whom I disagree on their policies, but I certainly would like to give them credit for being rational enough to tell the NBPs that they are seriously messed up in the head on this one.   In the Middle East, radical Islam causes all kinds of death and mayhem, yet very few seem to denounce it, and so people who don’t know any better start to equate all Islam with terrorism.  The denouncing better start mighty quick on this one before the same prejudices are unfairly reinforced here.

3 – Do not tweet the address of the person who did the shooting.  Oh, and especially don’t tweet the WRONG address of that person.  Thank you, Spike Lee, for contributing to this vengeful attitude that is so pervasive right now.  Were you hoping someone would go and kill Zimmerman?  Will you accept responsibility if someone kills the owner of the house at the address you gave?  I doubt it.  Dumbass.

4 – Don’t act like you know what happened the night of the shooting.  You don’t know.  So many people heard “black man shot…..” and knew it just HAD to be an unprovoked, racist, vicious attack on a completely innocent bystander.  And  you know what?  Maybe it was, because I don’t know, and unless you are Zimmerman, you also don’t know.  To jump to that conclusion, and get everyone all fired up and calling for blood and bounties, will NOT fix the problem, and it will make people stop taking what you say seriously.  I’ve seen many stories that have said Zimmerman has been an exceptional neighbor.  I have also seen stories that have detailed Trayvon’s recent past.  Suspended from school three times.  Drug user.  Attacked a bus driver.  His twitter account was NO_LIMIT_N***A .  Does all of this mean he was being a punk that night and provoked Zimmerman, who then shot Trayvon in self defense?  Nope, no more than the fact that he was a black man who was shot means his killer was racist.  WE DON’T KNOW, so act responsibly and don’t act like you have all of the answers, because you don’t.

Prejudice is out there now, and this is the kind of situation that can add to it or help defuse it, depending on how it is handled by all sides.  I’ve detailed how to change things for the worse.  Will the rational minds prevail in the end?  I sure hope so, for everyone’s sake.

Survey Says…

I got a comment the other day from one “takenote” (no idea who this is, but since this user is anonymous, obviously it means she’s a rusty zippered coward.  But I digress.)  The comment read:

“gs, glad to see you’re following me wherever I go. There’s a name for that. And it hasn’t gone unnoticed.”

Not being completely hip to internet speak, I wasn’t sure what the “gs” stood for.  Maybe a shortened form of “geez”?  Typo?  I just wasn’t sure.  But then I saw a tweet from one of the local lefties shortly thereafter:

“Longmont council member worked for Tom DeLay and Roy Blunt, but still thinks he’s “fair and balanced” FOTFL”.

Since I had just cracked a joke about keeping the discussion fair and balanced, I assumed this was directed towards me.  And then it occurred to me…the fiction ‘riters have trouble mentioning Gabe Santos without invoking the name of Tom Delay.  And suddenly, “gs” made sense to me.  In addition to being Bryan Baum, Stephanie Baum, the Rodriguez’s, a representative of the city of Longmont, and many other people, I guess I can now add Gabe Santos to the list.

My apologies to Mr. Santos for invoking the wrath of this woman falsely against you.  I think he’ll understand, though.

Response to Jerry Day – Why I’m a Republican

The response to a recent TC letter entitled “Why I’m a Democrat” got a very quick response today from Jerry Day.

Jerry, you’re close, but unfortunately you are guilty of the same over generalization that Mr. Peacock is.  You gave some great examples that definitely disprove Mr. Peacock’s theory that the democrats and only the democrats are the civil ones.  But unfortunately, there are examples on both sides of really sleazy things that are said and done.

The slimeball politics recently put on display in Longmont by a local left leaning malcontent are not what I consider typical of your average democrat.  Most of the dems I know are indeed very civil and happy to debate, but again, the squeaky wheels and pointed fingers give the rest a bad name.

So Jerry, I’m glad you’re a republican, and I imagine you and I would agree on a great many things.  But don’t fall into the fiction ‘riters trap of making an entire group out to be as bad as a few bitter, closed minded trolls.  We’re bigger than that, and all (I’d even venture to say most) dems aren’t like that.  Lots of dems are out there that are interested in discussing ideas and truly making things better, even if they may disagree with us on the best way to get there.  THOSE are the ones you seek out and have conversations with, not the ones who are too selfish to know any better and are simply more interested in hearing themselves rant.  Those are the ones with whom productive things really CAN be done.

A Response To Allen Peacock – Why I’m A Democrat

A letter to the TC today caught my eye.  I don’t consider myself a democrat, but it interests me to hear why others embrace those viewpoints.  So when I see a letter titled “Why I’m a Democrat”, of course I had to read it, because I truly was curious.

Then I read the very first sentence:  “I have a page-long list of why I’m a Democrat, but one reason strikes me now: Democrats are polite, respectful ladies and gentlemen.”

Wow.  The single biggest reason why you are a democrat is that they are polite, respectful ladies and gentlemen?  I know a lot of democrats, and most of them are great people.  I also know a lot of republicans, and most of them are also great people.  I also know some exceptionally pompous, closed minded and just plain bitter democrats.  And I also know some racist, homophobic and arguably backwards republicans.   The point is, neither party has the monopoly on politeness and respectfulness, and any person who claims their side has it is wearing blinders.

Mr. Peacock also ends his letter with this:  “Democrats prefer to discuss issues.”  Again, by implying that republicans don’t prefer to discuss the issues, you are not being truthful.  Many on both sides are not interested in discussing issues at all…they simply want to put their fingers in their ears and call the other side names.  One need only read a few stories over at the Fiction ‘Riters of Longmont for a great local example of a group that isn’t interested in discussing issues.  Are they the only group that does this?  Of course not.  But again, don’t claim that democrats have the monopoly there.

The real reason you are a democrat is that your views align with those of most democrats, which is perfectly fine and valid.  Kudos if you are one of those that does prefer to discuss the issues and IS polite and respectful, but your letter doesn’t support your argument.

Afghanistan Parallels

The recent situation in Afghanistan in which a lone gunman went on a rampage and killed a bunch of Afghan civilians, including women and children, got me thinking about parallels to comments from the overly righteous fiction ‘riters of Longmont.

This gunman clearly acted on his own, and unfortunately he is a member of the US military.  The reactionaries among them (such as Al Queda supporters) are no doubt jumping on the opportunity to blame the entire US military for the actions of one crazy person who also happens to be a member of said military.  The blame, of course, rests on this individual, not the military as a whole.  Blaming the entire military for the actions of this one deranged gunman is doing nothing to help the situation there, just like trying to make the entire group seem like they all have the characteristics of this one person is disingenuous.

This myopic way of looking at things (calling out an entire group based on the behavior of one individual) sounds remarkably similar to the pot stirring tactics and Finger pointing of a couple of Longmont’s more vocal rabble rousers.  In both cases, the cause of the better good is not being advanced.  And in both cases, the guilty are too close minded to care.  If your goal is making the world a better place to live, then you are failing.  Badly.