"All fucking niggers must fucking hang." ~ Animal Mother - from the movie, Full Metal Jacket
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at 04:27PM 
ku # 690 ~ Spring rain • click to embiggen
The "opinion"/"point of view" expressed in the title of this entry is an opinion that differs from my opinion on the subject. That is to say, for me, it is an "opinion"/"point of view" with which I disagree.
However, that said, to call such a statement an "opinion" worthy of any consideration, much less one that should be granted even a scintilla of respect or tolerance, is absurd. In fact, it's a huge stretch to even call it an opinion.
The statement is flat out racist, bigoted, and evil.
Unfortunately, it seems that, in today's media circus, any statement - no matter how ridiculous, ill-informed, baseless, or bigoted (and the like) - is worthy of consideration (and some would say, respect and tolerance) as an "opinion". To which I would say, "BULLSHIT."
IMO, and that of many others way too numerous to name, labeling bullshit as bullshit is not an act of "intolerance". It is, quite simply and in plain direct language, telling it like it is.
Point in fact, the little boy in the I SEE RED PEOPLE picture is expressing pure unadulterated bullshit. He - or rather, more accurately, his mother who is using (and I mean that in the absolute worst connotation of the the word) him to advance her ridiculous name calling - is expressing an "opinion"/"point of view" that has absolutely no basis in fact.
The notion that the north country has "Reds" running around advocating a communist, much less a socialist agenda, is so far removed from the reality of this place (and ventures so far into the theater of the absurd) as to be utterly laughable. Just ask the internationally renowned artist Rockwell Kent (actually, you can't ask him - he's dead and gone) who called the north country his home. The man, his legacy, and even his very existence has been expunged - Soviet Union style - from the local record and lore.
Why? He was a life-long socialist. Even though he successfully championed many issues at the local, state, and national levels (much to the benefit of the local and national population), he was persona non grata simply because of his political beliefs. Forget his accomplishments as both an artist and a political activist - after all, he was a "socialist".
In any event, the mother who used her young son - who, I'll bet my bottom dollar, can't tell a "Red" from a hole in the ground - to advance a thoroughly specious "opinion" acted totally reprehensibly in so many ways. Whatever her position, what she has done is to render what should be thoughtful and civil discourse to the level of a name-calling, sewer dwelling "competition". And, of course, it's worth noting that the media chose to feature that "opinion".
Labeling her actions as reprehensible, intolerant, and/or bigoted is both fair and just. And, the one thing I will not tolerate lightly is intolerance. But to label the naming of reprehensible actions - calling a spade, a spade - as intolerant is really quite a stretch.
If we are to reclaim our country as a civil society, we need to drive real intolerance back into the dark shadows from whence it came. And the only way that's going to happen is to call it like it is and get back to the idea of a civil discourse that is centered around ideas, not name calling for political gain.
Reader Comments (1)
But what do you REALLY think? It's not really evident in your post....