Troll frag

Northeast has left a new comment on your post "Troll Patrol":

Hmmm . . . still no link to the document in question. Just incessant excuses for its absence. "The government must have seen it . . . TRUST them." "It's not his burden of proof." Yawn.

And then, irrelevant comments about the blog owner's rights and intelligence. Well, let's see. She proclaims herself a passionate advocate of peace and harmony, but then spends every other post calling conservatives stupid and evil. Ask her a simple question, and she goes on a hysterical rampage to "out" you while all her friends make threats of violence. But never answer the question, other than to call it ludicrous. Typical liberals.

I think I'll stick around and help educate you. You're welcome!

Well, this has all been an amusing diversion, but ultimately a waste of everyone's time. We all got a little outraged, and I'd like to thank my friends who had such nice things to say about me. I appreciate it very much. But we all have better things to do than spend time in engaging someone like this. Heck, even Northeast, who has spent the past two days obsessively checking this blog and its comments section (thanks for sending my stats up, though!) must have better things to do than waste his time with a group of people he obviously feels are "dumbasses." (As an aside, I see that my previous troll and her sister have also been checking obsessively over the past couple of days. I'm sure they had a good little chuckle over Northeast and his comments about me and my friends, which tells us everything we need to know about them. Perhaps the three of them can get together for a potluck, although I'm sure all the food and drink would taste decidedly bitter.)

A few things here. Northeast's continued harping on the birther "controversy" is fairly indicative of his mindset. It's old news, Skippy, thoroughly debunked. I haven't written anything about it for over a year (you can read my birther entry here, if you so choose) because it is a non-issue. His continued demands for me to produce the document are just...well, they're just silly. His patron saint, the lunatic Orly Taitz, has had numerous lawsuits thrown out of court, and has even been fined for frivolously wasting the court's time. If you're on the same team as Orly Taitz, Northeast, you might want to rethink your position. After all, bat-shit crazy can rub off on a person.

Yes, I do have strong opinions about some of the conservatives in the government and in the news, and what they are doing to my country. Yes, I think some of them are stupid (Christine O'Donnell), and I think some of them are evil (Sharron Angle). I think some of them are stupid and evil (Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, et al). I'm not the first to state these opinions, and I certainly hope I won't be the last. Everyone has the right to their own opinions, and since this is my blog, I choose to express them here. Northeast obviously has differing opinions; perhaps he will start his own blog, where he can express his own opinions. I'm sure he'll understand if I don't stop by to read it.

And if you think my previous entry was a "hysterical rampage," you really don't know me very well. And you don't want to. I'm fine with that, believe me.

I do appreciate his kind offer to stick around and help educate us, but I think he'll also understand if I don't take him up on it. I enjoy other viewpoints, and I have had several people express them here over the years. However, Northeast doesn't want a discussion; he wants merely to belittle and insult. You don't start an intelligent conversation or even a lively debate with someone by starting off with calling them an "ignorant dumbass." And you don't subsequently insult their friends by continuing to call them names. These are not the signs of someone who has any desire to engage in any sort of real discussion.

Since that is the case, as owner and proprietor of this blog, I have made an executive decision. I don't like to do this, because I loathe censorship, and I let 99% of comments that are left here stand. It's a rarity for me to do so, but I will be deleting all further comments from Northeast, or any other nom de plume he decides to use. His goal is not to further any dialogue; his goal is to kill it, and beat those who disagree with him into submission. (Remember my tip, Northeast...bag o' oranges!)

I'm not going to moderate comments, but I get emails for them all, and I will be deleting his as soon as I see them. You may still see them if you get here before I do, and I apologize for that. I'll see them all, but I'm cool with that.

You're welcome.

Troll Patrol

I really wasn't planning on addressing the lovely comment from a new troll, but there are a couple of things that are just too good to let by.

"You're an ignorant dumbass. Shut up and let me school you on this issue, and then retract this false and idiotic post."

I'm not even going to bother mentioning the birther issue raised by "Northeast." I've written about it before, it's a dead issue, and as Marty noted, it's astounding that there are still people so obsessed by this ridiculous rumor that this latest troll actually found my entry by searching for "Obama birth certificate." If all you do is search for blog entries by average bloggers like me, people who have no real influence in the broader sense, you just might have a teensy problem.

Then there is the "shut up and let me school you" remark. Hey, got a tip for you, man. If by some chance you have a wife or a girlfriend (it's hard to tell for certain, but I'm pretty sure that Northeast is male), I hear that using a bag of oranges to beat them doesn't leave marks. That'll keep the little woman quiet, and she won't utter a peep when you "school" her.

I was especially amused by the demand to "retract this false and idiotic post." That's right...you come onto my blog, leave comments that are insulting to both myself and my readers, and you expect me to retract my post. That is simply delightful! I wouldn't be a bit surprised if you're a teabagger, Northeast, and if so, I'm sure you constantly howl about First Amendment rights. Here's a news flash, Skippy: this is my blog, these are my opinions, and there ain't no retracting going on here, other than your testicles retracting into your body cavity.

Finally--and this is what made me decide to write about this...and I am the Decider on my blog, thank you very much--here is the information that I found for that lovely flower of humanity, Northeast. That's right, at around 3:30 this afternoon, Northeast was leaving nasty comments via the computer system of the New York State Unified Court system. I wonder how their employer would feel about that?

Someone hold my tongue, because I’m tired of doing it

I was initially planning on writing about Sarah Palin and her assertion to Baba Wawa that she could beat President Obama in a Presidential election. It is sounding increasingly like she will be running in 2012, so I'll have plenty of opportunities to write about her in the near future; in the meantime, I'm just kind of sick of thinking about the silly bunt and the classy Palin family. I'll take a break while I can, and bide my time until the election gears up for real (should be any day now...actually, I think it's already started). You all know how I feel about Palin, so you know I'll have plenty to say when the time comes. Heh heh.

Instead, I'll write about a status update I saw from someone that I stand a high probability of seeing around the holidays:

"Kenya called. They want their idiot back."

As my Dad would say, "Oh, for pete's sake." I had to laugh. Is this really still an issue for this person? Really? There are several real and substantive issues that you could go after the President on...instead, you're still harping on the Kenya thing? I find that incredibly petty, and quite pathetic.

I do not like discord; I like to promote harmony and generally do my best to avoid confrontation. However, I am getting a little tired of sitting quietly while the conservatives around me feel free to toss out ridiculous remarks, and spew outright lies (I'll be waiting for a remark about the $200 million per day Asia trip...feel free to lob that one my way, and sit back and hear my response.) I'm in Indiana. I'm surrounded by conservatives (except for a few bastions of liberalism, including in the county where I reside, thank goodness). I am constantly subjected to hearing comments that I find abhorrent and false statements put forth as the truth. I think most of these people think that if they make remarks like that, everyone around them will agree and nod happily as they join in the liberal-bashing.

Guess what? There's a new sheriff in town. I don't know why they think they can get away with such comments without any opposition. Hell, everyone already knows that I'm a mouthy broad, and that I often speak up about things. Why should I hold back? They certainly don't. Maybe it's time they got a big pushback and realized that theirs isn't the only opinion. Sometimes, I think an opposing opinion is welcome. A while back at a Thanksgiving get-together, a relative by marriage (a distant one...very distant) said that he thought Hurricane Katrina happened to New Orleans because of all that "stuff" that goes on there. In retrospect, I wish I'd asked, "Gee, just what kind of 'stuff' do you mean? Please elaborate, and do so in detail." Ha! But I just said that I'd been to New Orleans, and that there are a lot of good people there. Both my sister and my Dad told me later that they really appreciated that I spoke up and said what I did. (My Dad actually told me that he admired me for speaking up, and that remains one of my happiest memories and proudest moments.) I suppose it's easy to condemn people when you never take the time to know them; that doesn't make it right.

I don't usually go in search of confrontation, but I'm done with shying away from it in the interest of peace and harmony. It's time that people understand that when they make such outrageous statements, or even a false statement presented as fact, there might be someone there who has another opinion and who will challenge them on their smug certainty. They seem to have no qualms about whether or not I might be offended, or anyone else might be offended. Why am I so concerned about pushing back? I won't bring anything up, but I will no longer be afraid of responding.

No more going along to get along. And if I hear that tired bullshit about wondering where the President's birth certificate is, I'm not going to hold back. It's ludicrous, and anyone who continues to bitch about it is a dumbass.

I'm loaded and ready for bear. Even a mama grizzly that happens to wander by.

Quite the quandary

Sorry I've been so quiet this week, but something is really weighing on my mind.

I don't want to go into too many details, but I feel the need to write about it, and maybe someone will have some advice for me. I think this is something I need to figure out on my own (and perhaps even on the fly), but any helpful hints would be welcome.

I recently had a phone conversation with someone I'm close to, and it turned into a discussion of how I need to be "ready." Well, it wasn't so much of a discussion as me listening to how the world is going to end soon, and I need to be ready so I can go to heaven. I would never hurt this person, not in a million years, so for once I held my tongue. (I can do it when I need to. Don't act so surprised.) I was told that I really should be baptized in order to make sure. I did say that this sort of thing is really very personal for some people, and I got a sharp retort: "Personal? What could be so personal that I shouldn't want to make sure people I love are going to heaven?" ::sigh::

A couple of things here. First of all, I have my own thoughts and ideas about religion. I've written a little about them here, but not in great detail. I have had many dealings with the topic over the years, and not all of them have been pleasant. In fact, I have come to realize recently that there are some things that I have blocked out, and I am just now remembering them. Want an example? My ex telling me that he thought I was possessed by a demon. Right. It's no wonder I've blocked stuff like that out. It's still hard for me to believe I had to deal with that. I can laugh about it now, but it was obviously traumatic enough at the time that it was lost to me for many years. Anyway, I have my own ideas about it, and suffice it to say that they don't jibe with those of the person I was talking with. I came to the realization quite a few years ago that I didn't believe a lot of the stuff that I was brought up to believe. My epiphany resulted in a strange mixture of discomfort and relief. Discomfort because I was breaking away from the indoctrination I'd received, but relief because...well, because I was breaking away from the indoctrination I'd received!

I don't feel the need to go into any more detail at the moment. However, you get the idea. If I were to say what I really think about this particular brand of religion, it would not be received well. There is a certain mindset there that these are things that will happen, it is all laid out in the Bible, and if I don't follow along, I won't be joining the rest of the gang in heaven. I am caught between Scylla and Charybdis (and I'm so excited to get to use that...it's a rarity). I don't want to hurt or worry this person, but I also can't pretend to be something I'm not. I can't enthusiastically jump on the bandwagon and say that I believe certain things that I don't believe. I just can't do it.

The other thing is that as we were talking, this person started to cry. Yes, they started to cry because they were so worried and frightened that everyone they love might not go to heaven because they aren't "ready." That pissed me off. Not at this person, but at the religion that put such fear into this kind and decent person that it made them cry. What kind of a cruel god would cause a person to burst into tears because they are so afraid that their loved ones will be tossed into the fiery pits of hell? Why would I want to be associated with such a capricious and malicious entity? All my life, I heard promises of the riches of heaven, how everyone will be walking on streets of gold. Why would I want to walk on streets of gold? Why is that even an incentive that is promised to believers? I don't like a lot of bling. And there will be no toil. Sometimes our struggles in life are what lead us to a greater understanding of the world around us, and a greater empathy for our fellow human beings. A little toil can be a good thing.

I'm not trying to make light of it, I just honestly don't get it. The whole paradise thing just seems silly to me, and the whole intimidation thing seems cruel. The certainty of apparently every religion that theirs is the only path to heaven isn't logical to me. The surrender of my mind and rationality to the unknown and unknowable goes completely against my grain.

I think you see my dilemma. How can I manage to not hurt this person but stick to my own convictions? The closest I can figure is to say that this is something that I find very personal and it is my decision to make. I guess I will be kind of forceful if I need to...not mean, but attempting to put a rest to it by saying that this is MY decision and no one else's, and that it is something that I think about often. (That is completely true.) This is weighing heavily on me, and is it any wonder that I get where John is coming from?