AN EXAMPLE OF TOLERANCE
Bearing Drift’s J.R. observes here the outcome of Howling Latina’s continuing campaign for Hillary Clinton. This campaign includes both serious and derisive criticism of Barack Obama. So Howling Latina is being purged from Democrat blogrolls. Thus far the obvious purgers include the Richmond Democrat and Cobalt6. Apparently, she has also been delisted by Lefty Blogs.
Why the discussion? I don’t think J.R. has any beef with anyone’s “right” to take HL off their blogroll. I think he has made an observation that relates to the self serving way too many Democrats define tolerance. Too many Democrats make much of tolerating those whose appearance differs from their own, but heaven help anyone with a different belief. For example, the Richmond Democrat speaks of Republican Terrorism in the post previous to the one where the author explains why Howling Latina is being delisted. There is even a category (here) dedicated to this absurd nonsense. Cobalt6, on the other hand, does not call Republicans terrorists (see here). He settles for liars, morons…..
So what is Howling Latina’s “crime”? My guess is that she got confused about who she is suppose to call names.
Undoubtedly, Democrats can come up with a similar list of what they consider Republican hypocrisies. These lists, however, do not deal with the real problem. They simply distract us from where the real danger lies. The threat to our liberty does not come from disagreement. It comes from taking ourselves too seriously. It comes when the People will not accept the fact we each have the right to own opinions. It comes when we self-righteously insist that others live their lives according to our rules.
Hypocrisy lives high on the hog when self-reflection is being starved.
Hi there. Kari Chisholm from LeftyBlogs.com here. I’d encourage you to read this blog post before jumping to conclusions. Thanks.
Kari Chisholm – My apologies. I suppose it was obvious that some would construe my statement to mean that I thought you removed Howling Latina because you objected to the content of her posts. And to be honest, I suspected as much. When I looked at your site, I did not find Howling Latina listed, and I did not see an explanation.
Anyway, I am pleased to hear Lefty Blogs is particular about how it discriminates.
I think the real danger comes when we are seduced by the urge to dehumanize each other.
It is in all of our interests to make it stop. This is not – or should not be – a partisan issue.
Framing us as “the enemy”
David – Thanks for visting. Looks like you have written an interesting post.
Civil discourse is not a partisan issue, but uncivil discourse attracts attention. It sells. Too many people love having someone else to blame and to hate. They forget a fundamental truth. We each are our own worse enemy.
What should be most important to each of us having control over our own life. We should each be allowed to seek our own fate. We should each be allowed to identify our own ills and to seek our own cure. Instead, too many of us would rather spend our time telling other people their problems and administering our cures. Yet the best we have to offer anyone is a good example.