A few days ago I wrote a post about Dick’s and guns, and some readers seemed to lose their ever-loving minds over it, on both sides. I tried to run interference and ask commenters to be civil, with some level of success. But it pissed me off, because there is absolutely no excuse for Wisconsinites and Americans to treat each other like crap just because we disagree politically. It’s bullshit, and we ALL need to knock it the fuck off. NOW.
Have I got your attention? GOOD. I rarely swear, use all caps, or fail to speak politely because that is not who I am as a blogger. So when I do, you know I mean business. (You have no idea how hard it was not to add “please” after “now” in the first paragraph, seriously.)
Look, I’m the “nice” blogger, the one who tries to be fair, the one who doesn’t like to fight just for the sake of fighting. The one who doesn’t need to be right. The one who over-uses smiley-face emoticons.
But it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to sit back and watch us eat each other alive. There is simply NO reason for it.
We’re not animals.
We’re all adults.
I don’t give a rat’s ass that politicians on both sides of the aisle benefit from us being divided and that they encourage it. We have a CHOICE of whether or not to treat each other with respect. We have free will. We are NOT victims.
WE CAN DISAGREE WITHOUT TREATING EACH OTHER LIKE SHIT.
So I’d like to call a truce. Blogging Blue bloggers and readers of all political stripes: Can we at least try to disagree AND treat each other respectfully, like we did back in the olden days, like , say, the 90’s?
What do you say, guys? You in?
(Okay, I have to go take a nap now. The usage of all caps, swearing, and not a single “please” has done me in.)
I adore you, but I think you are asking for something the readers cannot do. Well, some of them. You know which ones I mean, too. Vitriol seems to be the mother\’s milk that keeps them feeling alive.
You might end up having to ban them from your comments section. I suggest one warning, and then gone.
I agree with you, but good luck with that… Some bloggers seem to exist only to inflame, call names, degrade, etc… and your intelligent thinking won\’t change that…
Maybe so. But that’s a risk I’m willing to take. The worst that can happen is that I look like an idiot. I’ve looked like an idiot before and no harm has befallen me. 🙂
🙂 (See, over-use of smiley-face emoticons-busted.)
I’m talking to anyone who will listen, Steve. Lots of people with whom I’ve spoken are tired of living like they’re always at war those of a different political team.
So I figured, hey, I’ve got access to this blog-thing, I might as well use it. That’s all.
Two feet of icy, heavy snow in the driveway and neighbors helping each other helps to put things in perspective. It is sad that leaders these days seek to divide us. We really have more in common than not.
Hang in there, we need reasonable voices, now more than ever.
Since this post is about treating each other with basic respect, and not about guns, all posts about guns will be deleted. Thanks for understanding.
Lisa, thanks for sharing this. I know I’ve been guilty of treating some folks like….well, you know, and I hope we can start to get back to what made Blogging Blue great, which was a lively comment section largely free from the personal vitriol and nastiness.
Geez, I certainly hope my \”bump,\” after eighty or so comments had some influence to the sanity exuding here. Thanks Lisa.
The snowy neighbor helping neighbor comment is apropos. It\’s so easy to treat others poorly when you\’re hiding behind a false name online. Have you guys ever considered requiring real, confirmed identities to comment. I\’ve been begging friends of the Journal Sentinel to push for such a system for years. It would be so much nicer to read the threads online there were the comments sections not such a den of iniquity.
Jim, I’ve thought about going to a “real name” system, but I haven’t found a plugin that allows me to do that without gumming up our comments.
Yes, there is a line between being passionate about something and flat out being rude and uncivil. I, like many other bloggers, am guilty of all of the above. That line is also very, very grey and moves depending on each person’s own ideals, perception, personality and a gazillion other factors.
Everyone also needs to understand, that if you are calling someone out on something that you feel to be untrue, there is no reason to get defensive. Simply, defend your stance with data.
So with all that being said, I just edited a one minute segment from the RwP show, stating my conservative friend BJ and myself’s “Top Ten List of Political Ideas/Ideals That We Agree On!”
It shows that us regular Joe’s can come to compromise and that we are much more alike than what politicians and the media would like us to believe.
Just look at the very first comment here by SuzyMetta4 and Lisa all I can say your post feel on deaf ears.
Amen Lisa. It\’s a shame the Second Amendment seems to only be a conversation stopper, rather than a conversation starter.
I have been shopping around the idea of Firearms Insurance as an alternative to gun control. Properly implemented it might avoid 2nd Amendment issues, and not one person on Facebook or G+ has given me the ANGRY RESPONSE yet.
TA,
How would this prevent high fatality rates at mas shootings?
Every now and again I\’ll browse through BB to see what the left is thinking. It\’s all gun control all the time here. Amazing. Keep up the good work. Gun control for Democrats is like abortions and rape for Republicans.
The reality is that you will never be able to add much more regulation to gun control in Wisconsin. Any politician that does so has signed his political death warrant. Outside of Milwaukee and Dane County, even the Democrats will vote you out. I assume this is all due to children getting shot in \”gun-free\” zones. In Wisconsin, the only change that is politically feasible and effective in protecting children is to allow teachers and parents to conceal carry. It\’s not rocket science.
Happy holidays to you too, Spock.