I went to a local park and had lunch with a friend of mine today. It’s beautiful here, but we can tell that it’s Summer’s last attempt to hold Autumn at bay, and we’ll be suffering through the misery of sixty degree afternoons soon enough. There’s even rumor of an inch of rain before the end of the year, which we both know will turn our freeways deadly. Um, it also seemed like a good excuse to walk away from the computer and enjoy actual human contact for a change. While we ate sandwiches and watched little kids chase each other, we talked about the election. We’re two small blue spots in a sea of red here, and we’d shared hopes and fears over the last several months.
“I guess we’re supposed to be gracious in victory,” I said, “but I’m profoundly offended to hear ‘we need to look forward and not backward’ and ‘we need to stop being so partisan’ from the very same fucking motherfuckers who have been telling us that we hate our country and love terrorists for the last eight years? These are the same people who worked really hard to make sure that I and everyone who didn’t agree with their blind support of Bush and Bush policies didn’t feel welcome in our own fucking country for eight years!”
I looked down at my hands, which had involuntarily clenched into fists. I felt a frightening and unexpected, uncharacteristic fury rise in my chest.
“I want to grab these people by the throat and scream at them ‘HOW DO YOU LIKE IT FUCKER?! YOU LOST! YOU FAIL! YOU GO HOME NOW!’”
I kept my voice low, but was really worked up, shocked and horrified at the level of anger I was feeling.
We looked at each other for a moment. I was embarrassed by my outburst. This really isn’t like me. Fortunately, my friend is incredibly cool and unflappable. She is also incredibly wise. She put her sandwich down and wiped the corners of her mouth with a paper napkin.
She pointed out at the different people in the park and said, “They are home. We share this country, all of us, whether we like it or not.
“We voted against intolerance for people that don’t share ‘the right’ views because we and people we respect and admire have been the victims of intolerance for too long. We voted against hypocrisy and fear and hate. We voted for a chance to change.”
I unclenched my fists and looked at little half-moons in the palms of my hands. “I should feel celebratory. I should feel happy and relieved. Why in the world do I suddenly feel so angry?”
“Seething quietly and privately is understandable and totally warranted. Just, every time you want to grab someone by the throat, try to remember how both Obama and McCain have always reacted to boos from their audiences. One man said ‘we don’t need any more of that’ – and that’s the administration we voted for. Because we don’t need any more of that. We need to chip away at the havens of hate in this country until there is nothing left for the haters to fight with. Because that is going to be the biggest payback of all.
“Someday, the people that ‘don’t feel welcome’ in a tolerant and just place aren’t going to feel welcome anywhere.
“We don’t need to take any shit from anyone, but we can not become the bullies we’ve hated. Or else we didn’t win anything at all.”
While I processed all of this, she smiled and added, “Yes, my horse is very high, and I like it that way. I can see a long way from up here.”
“Damn. You’re wise,” I said. “I’m going to have to write down ‘We don’t need any more of that’ and use it to get over eight years of resentment. It’s going to take awhile to get over being called a traitor and being told to, effectively, ‘shut up and sing,’ but you’re absolutely right. We can not become the bullies we’ve hated.”
We finished our sandwiches, and walked through the park before we both had to get home to our families.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have had a second cup of coffee this morning,” I offered.
“I’m sure you’ll get your cool back once it wears off.”
I hope she’s right.
Afterthought: This doesn’t mean that progressives suddenly drop our agenda to fundamentally change things. This doesn’t mean that we don’t fight for what we believe in over the next four and hopefully eight years. This means that, as human beings and as Americans, we can choose to live in John McCain’s vision of an angry, divided, fearful America, or Barack Obama’s vision of a tolerant, united, hopeful America. It’s not going to be easy for me, especially after the hateful, divisive campaign McCain ran and eight years of being screamed at by George Bush’s True Believers. But as my friend said, “We need to chip away at the havens of hate in this country until there is nothing left for the haters to fight with. Because that is going to be the biggest payback of all … we can not become the bullies we’ve hated. Or else we didn’t win anything at all.”
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Great post.
That’s really the trick, isn’t it? Being tolerant of the intolerant? It’s so easy to get caught up in “us vs. them” and counting everything as a showdown between enemies. I’m a Republican (leaning towards Libertarian) and have never felt comfortable in any party. Because they are PARTIES, and the exclusivity is sad. I didn’t vote for Obama, but I sincerely hope he is a good president – because we always need a good president, no matter what party he’s from.
Again, thanks so much for sharing this. Your friend really is very wise.
I had totally forgot about these bumper stickers until
someone mentioned them on the radio.
Not my president – Lame
Don’t blame me I voted for (Kerry, Gore, Duakis, etc.)
I think there is something to be said for being gracious in victory and defeat.
Bumper stickers like those are really neither.
Wil, Please read this and understand something…
4 weeks ago I was called a Racist on the bus because I said I disagreed with SOME of Obama’s policies. Last week I was called a hate monger because I was standing in front of a car that had a McCain bumper sticker on it. Obama himself insinuated that a desire to keep the money I work hard to earn is “selfishness.”
I didn’t vote for Obama. Not because of hate or fear, but because I don’t agree with his stance on SOME policies. I am, glad he won. it is a historic event and I am truly proud of OUR Country for electing him.
Yes. some in the far right are hate mongering fascists. But the truth is, some of the far left is just as intolerant and hateful. There is no shortage of close minded idiots out there. Just because someone says you hate your country or are a terrorist, or a racist or a hate monger doesn’t mean you are. You of all people should know not to listen to the dicks of the world.
You are Blue, I am Red… we both are geeks. We all are geeks. We are more alike than we are different.
The presidential election didn’t take away my home. Yet. I won’t lose it till Obama’s tax increase destroys the small company that employs me.
First step toward accomplishing a goal is to define objectives; be specific about what needs to be changed; be even more specific about what each end-result will be.
No one will galvanize more than four people behind hand-waving complaints about how bad things have gotten and idealistic generalizations like “things need to be better”.
So, to that end:
– What, exactly, is the agenda of which you speak? Maybe I should know. I apologize, if needed, but I don’t.
– What things, exactly, will be fundamentally changed? And what does “fundamentally” mean in this context?
– As precisely as practical, what are the beliefs we would fight for? I expect people, as readers of your blog, believe we all share similar beliefs but without explicitly naming them it’s self-defeatingly nebulous.
Of course, if you’re just venting 8 years of repressed rage from behind a caffeine haze… well, it’s your blog.
But be aware: without something resembling a viable goal/objectives (in posts like this one), you’re just inciting more undirected negative energy. Please, don’t do that in public.
Be the Buddha.
We mustn’t lose perspective.
* President Bush has an miniscule approval rating (as does the Democrat-controlled Congress), and McCain was painted as offering four more years of the Bush agenda.
* McCain never excited even his own party’s base.
* The economy is in the crapper, and it happened on a Republican’s watch.
* The war in Iraq has been much longer and costlier than many had anticipated, and is quite unpopular.
* Obama is younger and FAR more charismatic than McCain.
* The Obama campaign was much more skillfully executed than the McCain campaign.
* Hollywood has lobbied non-stop for Obama.
* Obama outspent and outadvertised McCain by an order of magnitude.
* Record numbers of black and young voters were motivated for the first time to engage in the political process, and overwhelmingly supported McCain.
Despite ALL of this, Obama squeaked by with only a slender majority of 53%. And on top of that, conservative measures like Proposition 8 in California and Amendment 2 in Florida passed.
Anyone who thinks this election was a mandate or somehow signals a signifant leftward movement of the nation is sorely mistaken.
I’m going to agree with several others on this post and say that I’m eating lunch in my classroom away from the teacher’s lounge this week until things have calmed down. I just don’t want to hear about how now they have to hide their guns and Bibles.
Interesting how this Obama supporter doesn’t want to argue and fight while those McCain supporters I work with do. Wonder which of us is more rational?
>”John McCain’s vision of an angry, divided, fearful America”
I voted for McCain, but not because of his vision of an angry, etc. America.
The platform Obama ran on was this: 1) an end to the economic crisis, 2) energy independence, 3) universal health-care, 4) tax cuts for 95% of Americans, and 5) a balanced budget.
All I’m saying here, is if Obama can’t acheive these things, sure he can try to blame it all on Bush, but ultimately he and Congress will answer to the voters.
I’m hearing the phrases “landslide” and “leftward shift” being thrown around, but really, what I see is an excitement for a man not seen since the days of the Beatles’ invasion. And that’s great. Part of me feels a tinge of pride. But I sure hope this the end of the idea that America is a racist country.
Unfortunately Wil, you have failed in your understanding of the situation. We do need to come together as a people to solve the problems at hand. The only way this will happen is by compromise. What you don’t understand is that not only does the other side have the right to their beliefs (and to voice their beliefs) but that you must also be willing to accept that they might be right about any given situation. For every Bill O’Reilly, there is a Chris Matthews. Not all conservatives are baby killing war mongers and not all liberals are tree hugging druggies. Unfortunately, you don’t seem to have that ability and that is the sad truth.
For all your claiming of anger and hatred of “the right”, you sure are angry and hateful.
I’m a very fiscally conservative person, and don’t hate anybody… You seem to lump all conservatives together, which you really need to think about. I don’t lump all socialists together.
Wow.
I really, really like your friend. =D
You know, after reading this, and seeing South Park last night. South Park got it exactly right on how they portrayed the supporters on each side. All this crying and jumping up and down, do you honestly think much is gonna change? I think the Who got it right in the song won’t get fooled again, “meet the new boss, same as the old boss”. That being said I thank God (yes I am one of those idiot fly over state people who voted republican) That the Democrats didn’t get a overwhelming majority in congress
For those reds out there, try to take it easy a bit on Wil. He’s expressing a human thought and emotion aimed at the heads of the political right, but not against every conservative voice out there. I draw a line, in the middle, and think we all need to compromise and take a more balanced stance. We’re all living here. We’ve got to make the best of it. Even if Prop 8 sucks.
As per his words:
“It’s going to take awhile to get over being called a traitor and being told to, effectively, ‘shut up and sing,’ but you’re absolutely right. We can not become the bullies we’ve hated.”
So, in that statement, he admits he can’t take that aggressive point for exactly the reason why a few here are getting so upset with him.
At least, that’s how I’m reading it.
I don’t lump all conservatives together, but what is in the kool-aid in the GOP that makes a father push his out-of-the-country daughter even further away? What makes him sling political insults that somehow turn personal whenever she calls? What makes him send racist epithets by email, the kind of stuff he raised her to always stand up against? What makes him insult her, her husband, and her marriage, all in the name of being right?
What makes her father morph from a reasonable person of good common sense, to a dense, small mass of seething hate?
There’s more to it than just “I don’t agree with some policies” going on here.
I don’t assume that all people who voted McCain are bigots. But they are somehow free to assume manage to turn the word liberal into a bad word.
The country was formed by community organizers, some of who were frakking atheists.
And yet, we’ll always be the bigger ones, always trying to reach compromise, always trying to bring together.
I lost my dad to the frakking GOP and Fox News.
So if Wil wants to feel a little bit human in his own damn blog, he has the right to.
I think the word needed here for everybody is… moderation. I don’t see a radical shift to the left happening quickly, if at all. That would be the surest way to spark near warfare between people who maybe could agree or at least compromise if they would sit down and talk decently and respectfully. But many people exposed to media have been pushed to this extreme point of view on EVERYTHING (“Those strawberry jelly eating hatemongers!!1”) that we have to use words like vitriol to describe how we feel around children playing. How pathetic is that! The intolerance abounds.
Once again, I find myself saying that I am still amazed at the capacity of the human race to divide itself. I am beginning to find awe in its capacity to hate itself too. The answer to all this hate and intolerance is not a radical shift to the left. *dodges flames, is used to it as a Flaming Moderate*
The answer is not taking the high road and then feeling proud of yourself either. That still places the other person below you in your mind. The answer is ancient but true and I know I’m still going to get flamed for saying it.
Love your enemy. Love is what conquers hatred and intolerance. It is not enough to merely tolerate their existence, for that will not change the world. Love for other people is the radical shift the world needs.
Chew on this for a while: the Right wants everyone to Live Morally, right? and the Left wants everyone to be on an even playing field through various agencies- read: Help Others. Am I still getting this right here? The way I see it, you put these two sides together, and you have the basic ideals of Christianity expressed without the Christ part. Now, I don’t think either of these things can be legislated from the top of society down, and certainly not one or the other without love or respect. But, we’ve already seen that politicians are willing to dispose of Love and Respect to keep or expand their position. So we can’t depend on them- even Obama- to do it.
We have to. We have to be the ones to love our neighbors whether they eat strawberry or grape jelly. We have to be active not only online but in communicating to OUR politicians that they are there to serve US and we will not stand for anything less than LOVING service to our country- even if it means things end up in the middle of the spectrum where everyone compromises something and takes its dear sweet time getting there.
Anything less is probably un-American and definitely un-Christian.
I guess that “Stop the Hate” only applies to Republicans. I’ve never hated anyone, but all this hate talk is making me wonder why.
Wil Wheaton says “Don’t be a Dick.” Wise words.
Not that I blame the GOP and Fox. He has a brain. He has a choice. He decided he’d rather be right than have a daughter.
But the point is they can be full of fear and full of hate, and sometimes turning the other cheek gets a little old, even when it’s the right thing to do.
I love how the republicans posting here seem to be able to filter out the contents of Wil’s post, and are seemingly unable or unwilling to read the comments.
And you wonder why we get frustrated.
Your friend sounds awesome.
Also, I love that you go for sandwich lunches in the park 🙂
I’ve read the comments. Most of them are hate filled. Practice what you preach. Wil is great, and smart, and I love reading his blogs. Obama is going to be a great President, stick to his ideals.
I’ll admit it, I read this post with your friend being voiced by Gates McFadden.
I understand and accept the point, but there’s a small structural problem with the argument. We can separate the people, policies and attacks. The evidence of a whole day suggests that many conservatives can’t do the same thing. Our desire to implement the very policies that lead to our victory is being painted as personal attacks on the people who established the failed policies.
Hopefully it will pass as our opponents mature, but it’s important to remember that people well into their 40s have literally never lived in a period when there ideas weren’t preeminent and held above reproach. There was a brief period of Reagan-lite with Clinton, but the Republican-dominated Congress didn’t let him stray far. Today most of us are hoping for far more from Obama. It will be a shock, and it will take a long time for everyone involved to see that well-deserved attacks on failed policies are NOT attacks on individuals. But those failed policies have to be tossed onto the same wretched scrap heap as communism and absolute monarchies.
I live in a red state and the last few years have been really painful. I’ve been referred to as a baby killer, troop hater, unpatriotic and a host of other things that really shouldn’t be written. I can assure you I’m none of those things.
I’m taking the high road and just asking people to give Obama a chance to be everyone’s president. He can’t solve everything immediately – McCain couldn’t have either. But I’m begging people to just give Obama a chance and realize that politics sometimes requires more compromise than any of us finds palatable.
Some here are scared. They’re very frightened. I think it’s the fear of what a black man is going to do. Obviously, not everyone feels that, but the racism is alive and well.
I was very scared when Bush was elected. I told a friend that night our economy would be in the toilet in six months and we’d be at war in a year. Unfortunately, although my timing was off, those words were prophetic.
I’m looking forward to some positive changes in our nation.
I cried when it was announced Obama went over the 270 needed. For the first time in my life I know the majority of people in this nation are willing to judge a man based on who he is, not how he looks. His color was immaterial. It’s a new day in America. Finally. Thankfully.
Wil, you have definitely summed up a lot of what I’ve felt since election night. Eight years of being told I’m un-American for daring to question the path we’ve been on or for not drinking the Kool-Aid. I think a lot of people are tired of it, which is why there was such a groundswell of support this time. On election night, as I watched all the tweets filtering past, one bitter person took the first opportunity they had to post after the election was finally over that now liberals are suffering from contagious nationalism. So for eight years we’re unpatriotic, but now we’re too patriotic. Have your cake and eat it too, why don’t you?
I try to remind myself that the pols running these campaigns see the ploy of “My opponent is a _________” (fill in the blank–“far left liberal,” “far right conservative,” “socialist,” “communist,” or any other label they can demonize) as just that, a ploy to win the election. They don’t seem to be bothered by the fact that many of the people they are trying to sway actually believe their words. When the campaign is over, they turn those words off (see any concession speech complimenting the race run by the winner) but those who have followed them are left believing the divisive words and left with such feelings of fear or hate that they cannot imagine ever working with their former opponent and new leader. This to me is extremely sad.
I hope that politicians do take this as a mandate. I’m not naive enough to think things will go smoothly, but Lord, I sure hope it is better than it has been. It’s so little to ask for, honestly.
great post Wil…
but i hate when this blog gets political.
patsyterrell, my terror is not in any way related to the fact that Baraack Obama is an African-American. It’s completely, totally, and solely related to the fact tha he thinks “major redistributive change” is a Good Thing that should be pursued. To accuse those of us scared of his policies of racism is, itself, racist.
Until Obama’s policies are enacted, I can only go by his words. Those words tell me that he is only inteerested in taking from those who work hard and succeed, and giving to those who do not. That is a fundamental destruction of everything this country stands for.
It’s not about them. Hating them has a bad tendency to give them power over us. It’s a specific type of power they are well accustomed at using to get their way. They are habitual users of the politics of outrage, a tactic they will deny, with even more outrage, when called to task over it, and then dismiss any criticism as the rantings of “the angry left.”
It’s more about us, what kind of people we are, what kind of example we want to leave. I don’t for one second think we should let up on the right wing, they are, to a large majority, a cruel and shameless bunch, and should be shut down not out of hate, but because of the innumerable disgraces they created which provoked that hate. We shouldn’t seek self-defeating compromise, but instead a way to oppose and fight without the madness of anger, but with a cool but determined clarity of purpose. Or, to put it more succintly: don’t be a dick.
Goes back to what I said a couple days ago, at the beginning of the day and end of the day we are all Americans first and our politics a far distant second. Remember it wasn’t so long ago Goldwater and Kennedy played cards together after work, part of it goes inherently to civility in the debate, because we are all very luck people to get to live in this country today.
This election has been hard, at my work. The most disturbing thing that I overheard while in the break room was
“I wonder how many presidents have been assassinated “.
I was not part of their conversation but I chimed in “4” not really believing that less then 24 hours after history was made that was the big topic.
I will admit I am a conservative and I may not have voted for Obama but he has won the election and we must work together to make things better.
It is also true respect is earned, the quickest way to lose my respect is to expect it. I almost lost my job when one of my managers told me I needed to respect her because she was a manager and I told her she was wrong, respect is earned.. I still work there.
Personally I look forward to the future can’t really go anywhere but up.
Peace
Wil, I’ve been following your blog and your tweets for quite a while now, and I’ve silently disagreed with a lot of what you have said. I’m a die-hard Republican, and have been for a long time.
Yet while you and I disagree with a great many things (except Prop 8 – I’m with you, bro!), I, a Republican, still respect and value your perspective. You are not unpatriotic, nor a terrorist, nor are you unwelcome in OUR country. Though I can’t speak for all Republicans, I want to extend my apologies to you (and all other Democrats) who have shared similar sentiments. We are in this country together, and though we do not share the same views on HOW our problems should be solved, it is our common goal to see fit that they are solved as best and as quickly as possible. It’s a long hard road, but we will get there.
Thomas Jefferson once said, “dissent is the greatest form of patriotism,” and I maintain that this is as true today as it was over 200 years ago. It is through disagreement, challenges and proper discourse that we make our country strong of its people, by its people, for its people. And it is through continued civil debate that we demonstrate to the world that a country can thrive with opposing view points.
I, too, am sickened by all of the name-calling (from both sides, Republican and Democrat) and extreme partisanism that has brought this country to the brink of eating itself alive. It abhors me to think that there are Americans, full citizens with the right to disagree with the status quo, who are subjected to such venom simply because of their own beliefs, even passions.
I, a Republican, would gladly and publicly extend the metaphorical olive branch to you and all other Democrats who have shared your frustrations over the last 8 years. Let us put down the knives, roll up our sleeves, and work towards uniting our country for the common good.
Wil, while you and I disagree, you would be most welcome in my home to kick back, have some of my beer, and casually, thoughtfully and intellectually discuss the politics of our time. Sans venom, sans hatred and sans insult.
Great post, Wil. I understand why you feel the way you do, and I could just hug your friend to bits.
I think it’s a bit discouraging that many –not all, thankfully, but many– of the self-described conservatives responding in this thread have breezed right past the heart of its intent and opted instead to dismiss its self-examining tone just so they can rant some more about how the left is filled with senseless hatred.
Miss the point, much?
Be rational, duckies. Be logical, be self-aware, please. We’re all only human, we’re all in this together. That’s basically what Wil is trying say here, am I right?
I’m pretty sure purposefully ignoring his good intentions just to go “BAAWWWWWWWW, BUTTHURT BY LIBERAL BIAS, BLAAAWWWWWW” on the internubs for another fifteen seconds really isn’t going to help any of us too much in the long run.
*smooch*
Sorry, this was all sorts of gooey fail; it served nothing other than to prove for the 3,554,456,777th time that the Left’s “passion” about the “issues” is simply a proxy for religion and self-fulfillment.
Wil – I can really relate to your initial feelings, before you were calmed by the wise words of your friend. I work in an office that is all Republican. And while I love them as my friends and co-workers, I vowed never to talk politics with them. It’s not that I have a problem with their different opinions. I objected to being dismissed as stupid because I didn’t agree with them. So much of political passions are subjective because it is how the issues effect your own personal needs in life. Yet many Republicans believe they are the only ones that can EVER be right. It reminds me of some religions that believe theirs is the only correct doctrines and everyone else is going to hell.
Mac Guy – you are one of the cool ones. I wish more of the conservative posters on this blog would be as generous as you, instead of continuing the rhetoric.
SAL9000…..please, can’t you…. um, could you try to….. oh hell…. just shut up.
Sorry Wil – I guess I was just acting like a dick…. if a girl can be a dick…..
Oh, yes. I often forget that one – leftist “tolerance” is conditional. Sorry, my bad.
I understand the anger, and there are times when I find myself seething with it as well. I have had ugly epithets screamed into my face, been shoved, told to leave the country. The 9/11 attacks brought out the best in some people … and the worst in a lot of the right-wing supporters who saw it as a handy tool with which to bash the people they’ve been told to hate & blame for everything that’s wrong in their lives.
Even writing this cursory a description of what the last eight years have been like makes me tighten up.
The best advice I’ve gotten is akin to what your friend said – but with a slightly different, more intense angle:
“Don’t let yourself be a victim of identity theft.”
Not the usual kind of identity theft, where the thief steals your credit cards, drains your bank accounts, takes out loans in your names.
No, this other kind of identity theft is one in which the thief steals your soul … when their hatred and intolerance and fear are so intense, and pushed on you so hard, that you lose sight of who you really are, and start responding to them in kind. When you see the snarling, sneering Fox News hosts twisting and bending the truth, indulging in self-serving “spin” in which everything the guys on their team do is right, and everything the guys on the other team do is wrong.
Identity theft.
If you allow yourself to get locked into this back-and-forth, which you can see in this very comment thread, you are allowing the haters & the ignorant and the senselessly frightened steal away the real you. And then you are no longer yourself – you are merely a mirror image of them, of their anger & vitriolic spewing rhetoric. You are dancing to their tune.
Resist this.
It’s OK if you lapse now & again – nobody’s perfect, and FSM knows, the amount of negative energy thrown out by our purported leaders these last eight years is hard to resist, or turn around. But if you manage to stop and recognize when something has set you off, and you’re not acting like yourself – the way you had that moment of clarity in the park, Wil – then you can step outside of the self-destructive negative feedback loop that Fox News & its enablers & manipulators want us to fall into. Where we all tear each other apart, blind to the larger crimes being committed in our names, to the looting of our future for the benefit of a few, for the destruction of the very planet.
It’s time for America to remember who it is – who we are.
We took an important first step on Tuesday. It’s going to be uphill every step of the way … but I have hope now that we can actually do it.
I agree with Wil’s anger towards the Bush Administration along with neocons. The roots of their beliefs lie with Leo Strauss and Pat Robertson, the founding fathers of the current neocon movement.
SAL9000 – so your comment about our discussion being “gooey fail” was you being tolerant??? I do apologize to you, because that was not very nice of me to tell you to shut up. I’m normally very polite, but perhaps your attitude inspired that reaction. Whenever Wil posts about politics, I can absolutely count on you to say something demeaning about all Democrats. Your contempt for liberals shines through every sentence. The one note gets old. Really.
One thing that’s really worrying me – and I hope it’s short term – is how many folk seem to have forgotten that their friends and neighbours are not their mortal enemies. Come to that, I recall a lot of liberals and ever right-wingers saying that hate Bush – but not that they hated Republicans, or the people who voted for him.
I really hope people stop taking this personally. Hate’s a caustic, addictive substance from which no good ever comes.
So much of what I’ve read here today, in the comments, has made me very sad. Wil’s reaction is a very human one. How many of us, no matter our race, our religion, our politics, have felt angry at someone or something because of perceived intolerances, real or imagined? Most of us have had his reaction at some point in our lives, the shock and embarrassment of finding out how angry we were about something. But anger is more often than not a destructive thing if we let it fester. It more often than not drives wedges between us, pits us against each other, causes us to tear each other down.
This is why I don’t like religion. It’s why I don’t like politics. It serves to separate people from each other. We have been put into political classes, racial classes, social classes and economic classes for the purpose of being manipulated and pitted against each other. We shove each other far into the left corner or the right corner to justify ourselves and invalidate others and we become the tyrants we claim hate.
I have had the fortune in my life to know good, decent, tolerant people of all class and creed, whether on the left or right, who had both very good and very bad ideas, at least from where I stood. It does not automatically make them bad people when I don’t see eye to eye with them, nor does it mean that we should be projecting a stereotype onto someone, of any political persuasion, without getting to know that person.
I hope one day that we can stop seeing each other as a political party or a religious group or a racial group or a stereotype and start seeing each other as individuals, unique creatures, as…well…as human beings.
None of this discussion makes me sad. I think it’s great; it signifies that we’re all passionate about our country, and want what we believe is best for it. *Of course* we’re going to disagree. *Of course* we’re going to get mad. *Of course* we’re going to be frustrated.
How would we NOT, and still care deeply?
I’m just thankful to live in a country where we all have the right and the ability to debate these issues. A country that–despite its problems–people are still literally DYING to try to get to. A country that can, as 9/11 showed, put its differences aside and pull together in a crisis.
So I say, argue on. I’d prefer it were done respectfully, but the arguments in and of themselves don’t bother me.
Dear Will,
Don’t be a dick. Be gracious in winning and be hopeful that your candidate does what you want.
signed,
Someone who lost and who is upset that he is being told to shut up and sing because “yes we can” won on Tuesday.
Well, you’ll be happy to read this, Wil.
I was a longtime fan and I am a conservative (mostly on fiscal issues, on social issues I’m quite libertarian). Like Biden, I supported the war, but could not believe they would screw it up this badly. No fan of Bush, but McCain is not Bush, and was the closest to a conservative in the race….and his prescriptions to have Iraq succeed are actually working.
Obama’s simply too far left for me. I was very proud to see that his race did not seem to be hindering him…..I was proud of my country for considering him seriously, but I’m not a leftist, and I think his policies are wrong so I didn’t vote for him.
And now I no longer feel even remotely welcome in the country I was born in. Do I hate Obama that much? No, I don’t ahte him at all. I think he’s a decent man who I happen to disagree with. I wish him an effective and safe tenure as President. He won fair and square and he’s the leader of this country now.
But you and the rest of the left hate me so much my fucking KIDS aren’t safe anymore. No “we may disagree, but we’re all Americans”, no “In the end, we’ll agree to disagree”…no, not hardly. My car has been vandalized twice because I dared to have a McCain sticker on it. My kids have been bullied at school because their “daddy’s a racist because he doesn’t like Obama”. Someone threw a bottle at my kitchen window when I was still foolish enough to have a sign in the yard. Several longtime friends stopped talking to me months ago. I was glared at in silence by the entire staff of my polling place when they saw my registration card. I have never seen such vile hatred and intolerance.
Obama brings out the best in his followers…..toward each other. He brings out the absolute worst in them toward their fellow citizens. I hope it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, but my 3 years overseas are about to be permanently extended. I’ve decided to close my business and go back. 17 people will be out of work, but I’m no longer welcome here. All because I was a visible supporter of the “wrong” candidate and I lived in a liberal town in California. And now Wil Wheaton wants me crushed, humiliated and driven out of the country. You’re getting 1 out of 3, Wil.
Enjoy your hate, treasure it. I’m sure it will make you a happy man.
As another blue dot in a sea of red, I can sympathize – especially when I overhear “…well, maybe he’ll get assassinated overnight…” in a hopeful tone.
I’m there with folks who say it’s already changed things: it finally, if shakily, affirms we live in a meritocracy.
You’re lucky you aren’t gay or that your loved ones aren’t gay. (I’m assuming.) Those of us who are feel very conflicted. On the one hand, we feel elated that Barack Obama won. But it has come at a price. He said he does not support gay marriage, but has weasled by saying he was against proposition 8. Unfortunately, his weak, mixed message and his unwillingness to come out more strongly against this hateful amendment led proponents of it to use his face and his voice in robocalls in California to African Americans. Partly due to this, and partly do to his candidacy, African Americans voted in record numbers and they voted for Obama and for hate against gays with Proposition 8. But I am still elated that Barack Obama will be the 44th President of the United States. But I am sad that he won’t probably be of much help to gays and lesbians in our quest for equality. And I’m even sadder that my marriage (last Friday) may be invalidated by popular demand. They don’t even know me.
Wil, your post made me think you’d be interested in seeing this (if you didn’t already know about it):
http://www.zefrank.com/from52to48withlove/
@ Alice:
My original “fail” comment was directed at the blog entry, not individual comments, nor even individuals.
Wil’s entry typifies the Left mindset that is forced conscription to collective ThoughtSpeak. It is the antithesis of tolerance, acceptance, whateverance, that the Left tries to pawn it off as.
When you force surrender of individual thought and action under the auspices of “taking back my country” or “the greater good”, pretty much anything can be justified – such as grabbing, yelling, choking, and otherwise intimidating people.
@all those that are angry
You have every right to be angry. I’m angry.
I’m going to take that anger and do something with it. I’m going to take that anger and use it as fuel to get my ass out of bed early and go volunteer to make some of this vision become reality.
I’m going to take that anger and work for change that I feel reflects what I believe in. I don’t have to hide anymore, because there is an opportunity and a real need to make change.
People are scared of their jobs. They’re scared of their futures. They’re scared that the world is really going tilt and that we might really see some seriously bad shit. I’m scared of those things to.
I know what those people of the “Greatest Generation” (WWII) knew… that we’re going to have to buck up and work hard, and sacrifice to make a future for our kids. The days of innocence, the days of everything is easy in the bubble are over. We’re going to have to work hard, scrape by and save and be what our parents were doing in the 70s.
I know this, so my anger at the injustice fuels me to work towards the changes and the sacrifices needed so my kids and grandkids can have a safe tomorrow.
That’s just me.
@ bbock:
I think you’re kidding yourself if you don’t think Obama secretly doesn’t support gay marriage. Like any good self-sacrificing egoist, he knew that he’d likely not get elected if he voiced his support. And yes, you’d be more hard pressed to find a more homophobic segment than black Americans. The irony is thick, ain’t it?
The majority of Americans do not accept gay marriage. That’s just the way it is. Why that is is manifold, but it is not primarily religion nor hate, as Left ThoughtSpeak would have you believe.
Ultimately, I predict that the issue will have to be settled by the US Supreme Court, but it will be some time. I also predict that the path is not of “equality” – gays are not restricted from marrying – there are “rules” and/or conventions on who that can be, and those rules are applied to everyone.
Gay marriage will have to be approached from the perspective of secular business/finance contract law (a purely conservative domain, BTW). I then predict that it will pass judicial muster.
@Jay Maynard: Apparently, you chose to take the one line out of my entire comment that you could use to emo about, and didn’t read the rest of it. I’m sorry it’s that way, because I was attempting to say both sides have something good to say.
@jansob: I’m sorry that you’ve been targeted the way you have by people full of hatred. However, hatred is colorblind, politics-blind, and we can sit here and debate for days about whose side has more hate spewing (because I’ve seen a lot spewed from -both- sides). I hope you’re willing to reconsider sticking around to help put this country back together. I think the 17 people who work for you would be really grateful, and, truthfully, that’d be a really amazingly sefless action.
@SAL9000: 1) Please, speak plain English and not politicospeak, because there are plenty of us who aren’t privy to your isms. From what I’m reading, it’s apparently bad (or ‘too leftist’), now, to even think, or feel, anything that’s not completely level-headed? (I’ve known plenty on the right who fall under that category, too.) I don’t think that everyone who’s ever had a negative thought is actually going to act upon it. Also: Why is it that you expect tolerance when you don’t give it? Apparently, you expect fully Christ-like powers out of your opponents while you don’t personify those values yourself…
The reactionary hatred that is coming out of this is amazing me. He admitted to a feeling, people, not an act, and the feeling was because of being treated unfairly by a set of people that was apparently not small. Take a deep breath, realize he’s talking about people who are spewing hatred, not criticizing every McCain-voter out there. Those conservatives who have been hated on by Obama voters will know what I’m talking about when I say, it really sucks having people constantly criticizing you for not believing the way they do. Can more of you be like Mac Guy and act honorably, please? There are some of us who voted for Obama who are trying to do the same.
@Mac Guy: You are awesome and there is nothing left to say other than thank you. 🙂