On September 19, 2020, shortly after I learned of her passing, I posted an in memoriam to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, someone who I have thought very highly of for a very long time.
I want to step aside from the usual fare of this blog to examine some of the responses that I received to my post, both here and on Tumblr. First, let's look at a thread posted here on Blogger:
Time for Trump to appoint his 3rd SCOTUS Justice.
A few quick points...
First, if Trump gets more picks for SCOTUS, don't be surprised if posts of the sort that I make and you read become a thing of the past. If SCOTUS moves further to the right, I fear we'll see government censorship, pressure on platforms to censor, or outright reversals on protections for LBGTQ Americans. Remember that Republicans fought tooth and nail to keep laws banning homosexuality. If they feel emboldened and think they can get away with it, I wouldn't be surprised to see new laws targeting gays and, especially, transgender Americans.
Second, if you don't think RBG and her lifetime of working to expand equality to all citizens, especially women, makes her a hero ... then fuck off.Cops are heroes, military personnel are heroes, the person who dives in to traffic to save a person is a hero, doctors are heroes. Lawyers are garbage scum.
I agree that copes are heroes. So are those or volunteer to put their lives at risk in the military. And so are those ordinary people who take great risk to help others. On that we can agree. But "Lawyers are garbage scum"? Really? First, how do you know that I'm not a lawyer? Second, just think about some of the things that RBG did as a lawyer. She litigated cases to the Supreme Court to ensure that women had rights equal to those of men. She litigated cases to prevent forced sterilization of women. Had she not done those things, women would still be even more second-class citizens than they are and forced sterilizations (just to cite one example) might still be going on. Sure, some lawyers are scum. So are some cops, soldiers, and everyday people. But lawyers like RBG who spent a career trying to make the world a better place are absolutely hereos.
I think a lot of people should be forcibly sterilized regardless of gender. Legislating from the bench should be unconstitutional, anyone who supports that is just as bad as the vile judges who do it. If you are a lawyer, hope you enjoy the heat and pitchforks.
I started to write a response discussing "legislating from the bench". And I thought about a response to hoping that if I'm a lawyer I "enjoy the heat and pitchforks". The hate that you feel is palpable. In any event, I kept coming back to your first sentence. People should be forcibly sterilized? OK. I guess that makes you a Nazi. Please go away and don't come back.
If you want me to go away and not come back you are going to have to force that to happen.
Then, on Tumblr, I received the following:
So here is my question: What compels someone to post comments like these? I accept and understand that not everybody shares my political views. That's fine. Further, I understand that the point of this blog is not politics and that I'm "stepping out of character" to post something even remotely political. I get that. But when one person posts a heartfelt thought, in this case nothing more than a photo, the years of her life, and the Jewish memorial thought of "may her memory be a blessing," what compels others to express the sort of thoughts shown above from Unknown and icasualcollectionkryptonite?
Look, I could go on a lot longer. I could talk about why RBG meant a lot to me. I could talk about how communities like ours benefit from voices like hers. But I suspect that I'm mostly preaching to the proverbial choir. But these negative comments that I've received... Yes, they bothered me. They bothered me on a personal level. And so I felt the need to vent and share. OK. I'll wrap this up. But let me know what you think, whether about RBG, about my feelings, or about the comments that I've posted above.
I think you're absolutely justified in being upset. Those people are fucking vile, not just for having shitty opinions, but for responding to your posts with them. Like, you're a content creator they enjoy, what do they gain from trying to antagonize you?
ReplyDelete20 bucks says those guys were in full on Snowflake mode during the Merrick Garland debacle. Fuck 'em, if anything the debate surrounding RBG has shown that Republicans won't even pretend to fight fair. One set of rules for them, another for everyone else.
ReplyDeleteSo it's time to start playing just as dirty. Impeach Barr, Impeach Trump, lock up every minute of Senate floor time so that Coney Barrett doesn't see one second of discussion. Replace the Judiciary Act of 1869, pack in as many judges as is necessary. Their time is up. The demographics of the country have changed, the Republicans are on a ticking clock, and they're wailing and gnashing teeth at the realization that their views are not the majority views of this country. The only way they can stay in power is to cheat, and soon even that won't be enough to save them.
Merrick Garland who?
DeleteIs it painful being that stupid?
DeleteGarland didn't have the votes, PERIOD! The people VOTED Republicans into the Senate majority for a reason. It wasn't to rubber stamp everyone NObama wanted
You try and pack the court and demoncrat hunting season opens
I don't know why someone who considers themselves a conservative Republican would even be on a site like this. Amyway, it's your blog, feel free to express yourself in anyway you like. RBG was definitely a great woman, and her presence on the highest court will surely be missed. Especially if Trump gets to push another pick in.
ReplyDeleteDid you go to school in Baltimore?
DeleteWell I agree with you that RBG was great and she will be missed. On your commenter, I basically say Don't feed the trolls. Not sure why someone like that is on here, but there are a lot of shitty people on the internet that don't deserve your time
ReplyDeleteDid you go to school in Baltimore?
DeleteThe best reason I can think as to why a trumpian conservative would legitimatly be here, outside of just trawling the internet looking for potentially left-wing content to rag on, would be because they don't entirely belive everything they think they do. That, perhaps they are from a conservative environment, and it's just something they've not really questioned, and enjoying content like this is perhaps the first time they've been able to scratch their proverbial itch.
ReplyDeleteThey spout out single line comments, and just sort of ignore it when someone breaks down what their saying, and calls out their bullshit. Largly because it's not really theirs, they just repeat what they've been told, or what they've heard. often people will point out their contradictions, and they'll just go somewhere ludicus, or even (falsely) claim to nihilists , in which case, they admit, that they don't really belive in anything they were saying.
Did you go to school in Baltimore?
DeleteYou want to know why? Look at what Democrats are doing. They act superior yet they are failing their constiuents left and right.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.educationviews.org/13-baltimore-city-high-schools-students-proficient-math/
*13 High Schools in Baltimore zero students are proficient in math. Baltimore has been run exclusively by Democrats since the 1960s
https://amac.us/americas-25-worst-cities-are-democrat-led-the-answer-new-leaders/
*The top ten homeless cities are sanctuary cities, all led by Democrats.
*The top-ten “most dangerous” are led by Democrats.
*The top-25 “most dangerous” are mostly Democrat-led, and among the poorest and least employed, with weak infrastructure, tax base and incentives for private investment.
*Among the 25 “most dangerous,” most face stifling poverty of 18 and 39 percent, against the national average of 12. 3 percent. These Democrat-led cities are America’s poorest.
*Most of these cities suffer unemployment rates from 4.4 and 9.3 percent, versus 3.7 nationally.
*Of the 20 “least healthy” cities, all but four are Democrat-led.
If you support failure, you deserve whatever you get.
Democrat politicians are scum bags taking advantage of the voters. Anyone who votes for them are just insane lunatics. No different than people with mental difficulties cutting themselves to make them "feel better".
Deletehttps://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/09/25/watch-trump-supporter-im-single-lesbian-mom-and-none-my-rights-have-been-taken/
ReplyDeletehttps://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/02/24/feminist-lesbian-quits-lgbt-to-be-conservative-free-speech-advocate/
Sexuality and Gender Identity have nothing to do with your politics, only those indoctrinated by the lunatic Left think so.
I've decided to wait a few days before commenting.
ReplyDeleteThat guy is a total dick.
This is to the other commenters who think they know what is means to be right wing. I've been a fan of this site for about 8 years, I might not agree with the political leans of the Mindy and other Blog Writers. My question would be, how does Feminization and Sissification conflict with my beliefs of being a right wing conservative.
Simon W
DeleteThanks for your reply and I appreciate the interest in discussion for the sake of discussion without hurling insults (at least at me...). Let me offer a few possible responses to the query you pose.
First, I wouldn't limit your discussion to "Feminization and Sissification". My blog, for example, is much more about transformation, though I suppose it's a matter of semantics in terms of how feminization and sissification are defined. In any event, from my perspective (and of course there are exceptions), it is the political and cultural right that we most often see expressing disdain for those who are outside of the "normal" spectrum of gender identity and sexual orientation. It is the political right that most often refuses to use preferred pronouns or dead names for transgender individuals or talks about "men in dresses" rather than showing any sympathy or understanding towards transgender individuals. Further, it is more often the right that seems to expect people to conform to gender stereotypes and, in particular, what I'd describe as "toxic masculinity".
Second, all too often, those views are reflected in the laws the political right seeks to pass. It was the right that passed "bathroom" bills. It has been the right that tried to prevent transgender individuals from getting new IDs that reflect their gender identity. It is the political right that has tried to prohibit protections for transgender individuals. For that matter, it is the right that still argues that same-sex marriage is inappropriate or should be banned. It is the right that argues that we should go back to a time when states could ban homosexual activity. And we've even seen people on the right suggest that we return to a "family" vote or other positions that lessen the limited equality that women have achieved.
Third, we've just "celebrated" national banned book week. Look through the list of books most likely to have been banned (or for which bans were sought or demanded) and you'll see that LGBTQ issues are, by far and away, the most common reasons for for books to be banned. Issues related to sexuality in general are also frequent excuses for books to be banned. And in a vast majority of those cases, the bans come from or are encouraged by those on the political and social right. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I have real concerns that if our government moves further right, especially if the federal judiciary moves even further right, that we will likely see more infringements of the First Amendment and I fear that stories or discussion of topics deemed "aberrant" or "perverted" will be among the early casualties (though I suspect that "hidden" pornography will remain relatively safe given that studies show that pornography is actually more popular in "red" states).
I'd suggest that there are real and meaningful differences between conservative views focused on tax policy, budgetary issues, the environment, policing, foreign affairs, etc., and the policies related to equality and how we deal with each other. Sadly, it is those later policies that have real world effects and cause real pain to the types of people most likely to be reading this blog and thinking (fantasizing) about the types of stories I (and others like me) write.
Please don't take any of the preceding as a personal attack. I appreciate that you've been reading my captions and that you're willing to engage in discussion. After all, the only way for us all to move forward as a society is via discussion, so I thank you for that. And I thank you for your denunciation of my anonymous troll.
Thanks for your reply and sorry about not replying sooner, because I have to work 60 hr weeks since the start of the Pandemic.
DeleteI don't take this as an personal attack and I do appreciate you taking your time to give your opinions.
I'll start off by saying, I don't live in the USA, so a lot of the issues you brought up are not really issues here in Australia. Our right wing doesn't really care about LGBTQ issues, as they don't really see a fight over it.
To the right wing perceptive, the LGBTQ community has morphed rapidly over the last decade, with terms and language having changed. They don't understand anymore and are leary of the new things coming out. Plus they don't pay attention to the LGBTQ community and the only time they notice, it always something political and charged.
Looking into the Bathroom bill, it was a cluster f'k from all sides. The Left trying to make a symbolic gesture by making bathroom effectively unisex and the Right saying no you can't. The Right did overreact and caused some hysteria and quite frankly I don't know why it had to be political, as Transgenders were already using their preferred bathroom.
The ID issue is very complicated to give a good opinion on, as with passports, they have to follow international agreements and not all countries accept another's passport.
Removing peoples rights to vote is a dead issue and any talk is just bluster, I've seen women talking about how the 19th should be repealed.
The Right also fears that the Left will infringe on the first amendment, As they keep hearing that the Rights opinions are bigoted and wrong. We need more olive branches.
Take what I said with a grain of salt, as some of these opinions are formed by watching or reading the limited media I'm exposed to. I've also seen the Left has a false notion of my country and it can be annoying.
Thanks for your reply and sorry about not replying sooner, because I have to work 60 hr weeks since the start of the Pandemic.
DeleteI don't take this as an personal attack and I do appreciate you taking your time to give your opinions.
I'll start off by saying, I don't live in the USA, so a lot of the issues you brought up are not really issues here in Australia. Our right wing doesn't really care about LGBTQ issues, as they don't really see a fight over it.
To the right wing perceptive, the LGBTQ community has morphed rapidly over the last decade, with terms and language having changed. They don't understand anymore and are leary of the new things coming out. Plus they don't pay attention to the LGBTQ community and the only time they notice, it always something political and charged.
Looking into the Bathroom bill, it was a cluster f'k from all sides. The Left trying to make a symbolic gesture by making bathroom effectively unisex and the Right saying no you can't. The Right did overreact and caused some hysteria and quite frankly I don't know why it had to be political, as Transgenders were already using their preferred bathroom.
The ID issue is very complicated to give a good opinion on, as with passports, they have to follow international agreements and not all countries accept another's passport.
Removing peoples rights to vote is a dead issue and any talk is just bluster, I've seen women talking about how the 19th should be repealed.
The Right also fears that the Left will infringe on the first amendment, As they keep hearing that the Rights opinions are bigoted and wrong. We need more olive branches.
Take what I said with a grain of salt, as some of these opinions are formed by watching or reading the limited media I'm exposed to. I've also seen the Left has a false notion of my country and it can be annoying.
I don't and wouldn't go to this blog for politics, but the memorial was an appropriate way to pay respects to someone who meant a lot to you. It would also have been appropriate to post such a memorial for someone on the other side, like Scalia. It would have been slightly weird given his beliefs on transgender and other issues related to sexuality, but there would have been nothing wrong with it.
ReplyDeleteThe internet is full of trolls on both sides. You don't need to respond to them or worry about them. Your work provides pleasure, and even joy, to many fans. That's the important thing. Please keep it up.
American politics is full of hate, and part of the reason this hate thrives is that you're so utterly split into two sides, even on issues far to complex to have a sane two way split, and both sides're convinced it's the other that's the problem. This judge thing is a great example. You've exactly swapped roles from the last Obama appointment, and're both saying the other is hypocritical for switching to the exact opposite position...when both sides have switched. There were identical comments when the last Con died, you just didn't see them because you didn't post a tribute.
ReplyDelete