The Tolerance of Liberals
Some people don't understand what it means to win with grace
The Tolerance of Liberals
When you tell someone that you don’t respect their choices, they tend to react with anger. That’s what happened last week, when I made a very public acknowledgement of my sorrow at the re-election of Barack Obama. The emails were numerous, many caustic, some unprintable in a family newspaper, and a few threatening. One fellow called me a “dirty cu*t,” another questioned my sanity and a third tried to use his law degree to shame me into silence. Note to the middle-aged male attorneys out there: save your arrogance for the pretty little things on bar stools who are more susceptible to your checkbook-er-charms.
Given the fact that I’m a conservative in a very liberal town, one in which there were precincts that registered zero votes for Mitt Romney (voter fraud? What voter fraud?) the hostility of my readers doesn’t surprise. What does, however, is the level of vitriol that spews from mouths and fingers when you say something that annoys.
I spent a good part of Thursday ‘unfriending’ people from Facebook, and not only the crass-and-crowing liberals. Some of the comments lobbed by suicidal conservatives made me realize that even among my fellow travelers there are extremes which should be avoided at all costs. Of course, the balance is always tipped in favor of liberals when it comes to offensive behavior; remember the nice things allegedly mature women said about Sarah Palin? Remember how they accused her of not being the mother of her Downs Syndrome child, the one a few shameless souls thought she should abort? And remember the deafening silence of the Democrats or, more specifically, female Democrats? The hatred was palpable.
I’m nowhere as important or ubiquitous as the comely and savvy governor, so my critics are both less vocal and less newsworthy. Still, it was with profound sadness that I read the emails in response to my piece last week, because they represented a hollowing-out of the human soul, a degradation of the spirit that separates sentient beings from damp clods of earth. I have learned that when someone is unable to defend his position, he resorts to ad hominem attacks with tangential topics. For example, there was the fellow who assured me I was racist because I refused to use the term “President Obama” in my column, even though I’d referred to him as “president.” There was the woman who said that she was a Catholic who believed in abortion, and don’t dare tell me that she wasn’t in good standing with the church (okay, I won’t. I’ll leave that to the Bishops.)
There was the gay man from San Francisco who, even though I hadn’t said anything about same-sex marriage in the piece, felt it necessary to tell me that his ‘husband’ was a much better “American” than I was because his “people” came over on the Mayflower. There was the black woman who said that Barack Obama was so much better than those mediocre white men who had been keeping her people down all these years. To her, I was moved to mention that mediocre white men had freed the slaves, passed the Civil Rights Act, ended segregation, and risked death at KKK road blocks like my father. I also reminded her that this president had come from the womb of a mediocre white woman
I could tell the comment was not appreciated by the response, which included several words not even Andrew Dice Clay could pronounce.
Some people actually tried to engage in civil discourse, but they were about as common as a bar of soap at an Occupy rally. Others mocked my sadness, going so far as to say that I should just jump in front of a Regional Rail car and be done with it. Given the problems SEPTA has in running its trains on time, this is probably not the most effective way to do myself in if I were so inclined.
And then there were those who were convinced that I hated Barack Obama, even though I said I didn’t. Apparently, when a white person doesn’t vote for the “First Black President” and then brazenly admits it in print, she must be hiding some crisp percale sheets in her linen closet. These were the most depressing emails, the ones that saw racism in the shadows and refused to believe that anyone could actually embrace a conservative without ulterior, sinister motives.
Every four years, there are winners and losers. But there is a bitter edge to it this time, a sense that we’ve been ripped along jagged lines that draw blood.
I’m not done fighting for my beliefs, not by a long shot. But I do seek an armistice of sorts. Not yielding, not compromising.
Just finding that place where, as Yeats wrote, “peace comes dropping slow.”
your America is dead Christine. We had the funeral last week. sayonara!— Ryan- You're a confused, sad individual Christine. Your beliefs don't add up. Time to re-think your life, sweetie.— Bradley85
- jeez. wow. DO NOT get down. we will come back. the midterms are around the corner. always love your stuff.— rysagr
- I have friends all over the political spectrum, and my experience has shown liberals to be the least tolerant. As a result, I avoid political conversations with them. Their loss...they could expand their horizons but choose not to.— FletcherT
- Fletcher, this is as pathetic as the whining over the Liberal Media. You can't lie and cheat, as the right did regarding WMD and startign the Iraq War and then cry that the media is biased when they call you on the lying and cheating. The idea that John McCain is out there today calling benghazi the biggestintelligence failure ever is embarrassing. Hello 9/11, hello WMD's!!! You can't stand firmly with a party that at it's core is intolerant against homosexuality, choice, the help given to those in poverty, minorities, science and claim that the other side is intollerant of your beliefs. Evolution is not a belief. It's not an opinion. It's freaking science. It's not an acceptable opinion that 2+2 =5. it's wrong. You want tolerance? Get on the right side of the truth. — shamdog
- This really is sad. How much longer are we going to have to be subjected to these pitiful displays of victimization? These lamentations about the country and liberals' behavior leads me to ask why you are so concerned with the speck in the liberal's eye while ignoring the plank in the conservative's eye?— Ed G
- I have friends all over the political spectrum, and my experience has shown liberals to be the least tolerant. As a result, I avoid political conversations with them. Their loss...they could expand their horizons but choose not to.
— FletcherT
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Of course you do, Fletcher. (Who ever says, 'I only have friends on one side of the political spectrum'?)
Anyway, it's very hard to be tolerant of ignorant, irrational, and backwards thinking when you'd like to see society progress. It's not easy, believe me.— Bradley85 - Ryan, unfortunately you might be right. Our America today resembles Soviet Union - the country I left in 1988. You might think it is a good thing. I beg to differ. I saw first hand what "EVERYTHING BELONGS TO PEOPLE" means and it's not pretty. This country used to pride itself on independent people who knew how to take care of themselves and rely on the government for simple things - defense, law enforcement, international relationships, etc. What we are moving towards is the government that controls our lives, regulates private industries and redistributes wealth. By no means I am a rich man, but, since my family came to the US, we worked hard to get what we have now, and we started with 0 (that's ZERO) - no English, no money, nothing. Just huge desire to succeed. We were able to accomplish what we dreamed of. We did it all because this country presented us with one thing we never had in the USSR - opportunity. We asked for nothing but the opportunity. And it pains me to watch this great country of ours moving on the path to the one full of freeloaders and lazy bums who look for their government's giveaways. It comes with the price - the government control. And the more freeloaders there are, the bigger chance of Obamas of the world to be reelected time and time again. I myself my not live to see the Greece on the shores of the Atlantic and Pacific, but unfortunately my kids and grand kids might. I pray for all Americans to wake up and stand up to those politicians who want to control us trough keeping us down and in need for the government. It might happen, it might not. In case if it doesn't we all eventually lose. You might not realize it now, but we all will lose. Unless, of course, your idea of America is Soviet Union. But remember, Soviet Union didn't survive as a country. Makes you think, doesn't it?— hollandpa
- “there were precincts that registered zero votes for Mitt Romney (voter fraud? What voter fraud?)” “remember the nice things allegedly mature women said about Sarah Palin? Remember how they accused her of not being the mother of her Downs Syndrome child, the one a few shameless souls thought she should abort? And remember the deafening silence of the Democrats or, more specifically, female Democrats? “ Flowers, as usual, makes hollow, empty, petulant and completely ironic statements – if you’re trying to make a point about the discourse in today’s politics, you’re doing it wrong by engaging in the same. Please qualify those statements above, or just stop with this endless, self-centered useless week-long-now diatribe because of how you feel about the election results. Ugly political platforms have ugly consequences. So does the lack of enough self respect to learn the facts about what is going on this country. Time to grow up, girl! But you’ve never had a reputation of rising above anything you seem to think is from the gutter …— Tuptim
hollandpa, you nailed it.
And look at all the nasty comments we see today. Everyone of them comes from a liberal. Point made. Case closed.— PlumberJoe- I feel your pain. I am a lone Liberal in bright red Denton County, TX. If I put an Obama bumper sticker on my car it would probably be bombed our someone would shoot at me. There is real unreasoned hatred for this President from people who are really nice and caring when not on the subject of politics. A real Jeckle and Hyde. Anyway I can feel your pain on the other end of the spectrum. It's too bad we can't just discuss and express our opinions without others with an agenda twisting them into their own purposes. After all this is America and that means we do not have to agree but should respect one another as Americans. Certainly something should bring us together.— willin46
- willin46, something will bring us together. That is what people do when calamity strikes.
The stock market is now down to its July lows. More darkness to follow.
How did you find this Blog site from TX.— PlumberJoe - hollandpa did nail it, PJ. Those who voted for Obamaa- seem to exult in allowing Obamaa- and his policies 4 more years to destroy America. And there is nothing sophisticated or progressive or tolerant about today's liberals.— Thoughtful&concernedvoter
Well, what have we got here?
Don't you weasels ever give up?
He wasn't born in kenya.
"The Tolerance . . . " of right-wing whackaloons:
"Impeach Obama Robocall Campaign Launched By Conservative Group"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/14/impeach-obama-robocall-campaign_n_2132682.html- Every single time Christine writes a hateful, shameful, lie-filled, self-pity filled column and gets correctly called out for it, she retaliates by publishing one of these uber-stupid, lying, ultra-whiny rants about "liberals" being "nasty" to her. Christine conveniently forgets that she is bar-none, the nastiest, most partisan, inflammatory hack out there. THAT is why people call you out. You stink.— sophistry
Email Christine M. at cflowers1961@yahoo.com Reach Christine M. at cflowers1961@yahoo.com.
