Tuesday, October 31, 2017

I Have Had IT With These People

I'll warn you straight up, folks. This is going to get down and dirty, and if you aren't up for that, come back tomorrow when I'm in a better mood, please.

Earlier today, on the Pajiba website, I posted something that is factual. Namely, that Donald Trump's chief pollster was quoted very recently as saying there's "no question" that Trump would have lost in last year's election had he been running against Bernie Sanders. I also stated that some of us have known that all along, which I believe to be true.

By the end of this afternoon, there were several responses to my post. Every single one of them were rude to me, dismissive of me, or both. If you want to see for yourself, check the article about White House Chief of Staff John Kelly with the words "Morning Briefing" in the title. There are now over 300 comments so, getting to mine requires quite a bit of scrolling down. For the record, no one disputed the fact of what Trump's pollster had said. Instead, some folks chose to just be not very polite.

Now, let's get down to the nitty gritty, as it were.

In supporting Bernie Sanders, I chose to believe in a man who, I feel, cares about us. Cares about the future of our country. Hilary Clinton, while she was highly qualified, is a centrist who comes across as cold and calculating. There are a whole lot of us who believed in Bernie and still do, and we are not going anywhere. We believe in a living wage, we believe in health care being a fundamental human right, and we believe in the future.

Every single person I know who supported Hilary Clinton felt they had good reasons to do so. Some wanted a centrist in the White House. Some wanted to make history by electing a woman. I get it, and I respect them. However, there was all along a notable lack of respect on their part for myself and my fellow Sanders supporters.

They called us "unrealistic". They called us "spoiled children who want everything." And worse, in some cases.

So, let me say a few things.

In my life, I have had times when I went as long as four days with no food. My late wife and I survived an attempt on our lives made by rogue police officers who were protecting a drug dealer in our apartment building. I've been dirt poor at times, and homeless, for a few brief but terrifying hours.

In other words, I've never had it easy.

Now, these are words on a screen and I have no proof to back up what I've said. Nonetheless, every word of it is true.

I know that some people believe things will never change, no matter who we elect or what we do. I disagree with them but I always try to do so politely. I'm just that kind of person.

Sadly, the level of politeness and respect I once considered to be normal in our society is now far too rare a thing.



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