Hey, Anonymous, Grow a Pair

Okay. OKAY. I already blew it with the title of this post proving no doubt that I'm a sexist who thinks only men post anonymously, or can write, or something like that.

Well, I'm not changing it now. Take it in the spirit in which it was written, as I will take your comments, Anonymous 1 and Anonymous 2 (or is it the same person?) in the spirit in which they were written.

It's pretty cool to put something out there anonymously, with a nice protective screen between you and the receiver of your comments. Safe. No repercussions. You can sit and gloat, happy that you got your jabs in, then probably check back daily to see if Slate had the nerve to publish your comments. Much to your chagrin, I did not publish them in the comments section. Probably grated ya. This should make you very happy, then. I decided that I'd publish them front page center. Give you the milk crate on the corner of the blogosphere with a spotlight on it instead of relegating your insights to the less visited comments section.

I checked some other blogs prior to writing this. Many of whom had put up similar posts to the "History" post. None of them had comments like these. You're special. Thanks so much for visiting my little blog.

Anonymous 1:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "History":

Yes! Incredible. I would have never thought in my lifetime that we could have *2 consecutive* retards as president! God Bless America! We'll need it.

Well, looking past the obviously nasty use of the word retard (do people still say that? Who knew? Like in public and everything?), I'm curious which two you are referring to? William Henry Harrison and John Tyler, both Whigs? Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant, both corrupt? Or are you thinking in more current terms? Ronald Reagan and George Bush the first? Bill Clinton and George W. Bush? Or maybe you're thinking of two terms of George W. and thinking it was a different person each term?

Let's just go back a little. Clinton was a philanderer and not good at hiding it, nevertheless he was anything but an unintelligent man, or as you would so kindly put it, a retard. George W. Bush, his assault on syntax aside, was in my opinion misguided and I didn't like him, but again, he is not a stupid man. Barack Obama, definitely not a stupid man. None of these three qualify for your "retard" label. Then again, I don't know anyone who does since it's not a term I use.

As for "God Bless America! We'll need it." I tend to agree with you. As long as there are folks like you around we need all the prayers we can get. Now why don't you go to your mega-church and volunteer to help some special needs members. It will do you good.

Anonymous 2, your comment will be broken up a bit to make it easier for me to respond. I'm a bit retarded that way.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "History":

tell me, exactly why is this cool? because he's a democrat? if so, in a recent entry, you questioned whether it would matter (10/02/08 but, i'm sure you can explain or excuse it), and i agree.

I went back and read the entry for 10/2/08. It was a two part piece completely quoted from an email I had received. I said in that post--that it was not necessarily my opinion but the opinion of the writer, so it wasn't me who questioned whether it would matter, it was the writer of the piece I published verbatim to see what other folks thought of it. I'll see if I can contact him and ask him your question.

Because he's a democrat? Well, the Dems have made their share of mistakes, that's for sure, but given what the Republicans have done in the last eight years, I'd have to say yeah, that is one reason it's cool. Perhaps the new administration can do a better job than the Republicans have done. Hope does spring eternal, doesn't it?

Is it because of his ethnic origins? if so, you are white-guilt-ified or prejudiced, at best, because there are better available and quite frankly, McStain was just as antagonistic to the idiot-in-cheif as Obama has been("I voted with the president 90%" ad, notwithstanding, i'm sure you know that, but who cares, he's coddling those gopers).

White-guilt-ified. Wow. I think we should make some tshirts. I never owned slaves and I've always treated people as people no matter what color they were, so I carry no guilt. I am prejudiced against people who won't stand up for what they believe, so I'll give you that one. Mark it on your side of the tally sheet. And what exactly is a "goper"? Is that a GOP-er or something I need to look up in the new slang dictionary?

I will absolutely admit that as a child of the sixties who watched the Civil Rights era unfold on television followed by the televising of the Vietnam War, that yeah, his ethnicity is a factor in my thinking it's cool. I didn't think I'd see this happen in my lifetime. I was dismayed that racism (and I see it every day, don't you?) seemed to be so entrenched in this country. But then I looked at the faces of the crowd in Lafayette Square. It wasn't just Jesse Jackson crying, it was white people. Lots and lots of white people and brown people and yellow people. It was AMERICAN people. I think the emotion stemmed not just from the fact that a man of color was elected, but that there was a feeling of hope in a time when hope is very much needed. I actually wondered what President Bush was thinking at that moment. I believe that as much as I disagreed with him on just about everything, that he truly felt he was doing the right thing. If he was watching those faces that night, it had to sting. Your reference to McCain as McStain makes me curious for whom you voted, or if you voted at all. And I do agree with you that McCain did as much to distance himself from W as was humanly possible, in the end he couldn't.

Is it because of his ideology? duh, I'll count the bummed-out that Joey McCarthy
and Bobby F Kennedy ruined; you count the dead that any single socialist dictator smoked: you'll have the higher score and you will lose.

Now that is a truly curious statement, "the bummed out that Joey McCarthy and Bobby F Kennedy ruined." Ruined? Lessee, McCarthy certainly ruined a lot of people's lives and deprived them of their livelihoods through blacklisting. So okay, score one for you. Exactly how did Bobby Kennedy ruin people? Unless of course you're talking about his nearly obsessive investigation and prosecution of the Mafia, or maybe his hatred of that pillar of the community J. Edgar Hoover. If you're truly comparing our President-elect to a socialist dictator, well I'm gonna have to ask you what you "smoked." Nevertheless, by your "Heads I win, Tails you lose" scenario, I guess I do lose. Not sure what I've lost yet, but I guess I'll know when I can't find it.

As for Obama's ideology, I don't agree with him on everything, but I agree with him on much, much more than I could ever have agreed with McCain. So yeah, that's cool. It was the first time in a long time I voted FOR someone rather than AGAINST someone. It's a subtle difference but a really cool one, at least for me.

McCain (and the Bushling) is high fiving president-elect Obama, and don't you forget that.

"The Bushling"!!! Kudos for that one. I really like that, no sarcasm intended at all. I like it much better than Shrub. As for high fiving, which at one time was a mostly urban black cultural greeting but has become acknowledged as a greeting world wide, I'm gonna let your subtle racism slide because I'm not sure you knew it was there in that statement. However, given your sophistication, I think you should understand protocol and manners. Here in America we hand over the reins of power in a civilized fashion, rather than put a bullet through the outgoing Prez's head, no matter what our secret desires might be. McCain was very gracious in his concession speech, and again, although I'm not a fan of McCain I do think that he sincerely believes in a civilized transition. He will also have to work with our new President as long as he remains in the Senate. Yeah, I think it's cool that we don't have to have a coup d'etat to change leadership.

call me in 12 months when we're still in iraq, the debt is even bigger, the draft (Rahm Emanuel, read him...good guy in some ways, i could like him) is looming for your oft-mentioned grand-kid, and even more corporations are being taxed higher overseas because it is cheaper than being taxed here(especially HERE in la).

Hmm, so you've been here before if you know that I have a grandson and you live in Louisiana, or at least are pretending to. I expect we will still be in Iraq in 12 months. I will leave out the part where I say we shouldn't have gone there to begin with. Ooops, it slipped out. A draft. Well, again, this will probably be an unexpected statement from me, but I think perhaps we need a draft. That having been said, I don't think the draft should consist of only military service. I think they should have their choice of the military (and you bet I'm praying that my sweet grandson doesn't have to go over there or anywhere else where people are shooting at him. I can't imagine how hard it is for all the mothers, grandmothers and wives of service men.) I think the kids should be given choices like the Teach America program, or the Peace Corps, or volunteering in inner city daycares or homeless shelters. There are a lot of alternative ways to serve one's country, and I don't think it would be so bad for some of these kids to see that not everyone has an iPod. Oh yeah, and NO exemptions for Senators' kids or others who can pull strings. Two years volunteering, then we pay for their college. Think how many kids we could have put through college on the money we spent in Iraq. Don't tell me we can't manage some kind of program like that.

Rahm Emanuel? I'm thinking I could like him too from what I've read. Time will tell whether he's too much of a political pitbull to get bipartisan legislation passed.

As for the deficit, Bush came in with a surplus and squandered it. Now we will all pay the price, and yes, my grandson's generation will pay it heavily. Corporations being taxed? Um, YUP, and again, YUP. Eisenhower was right. He saw all this coming but no one listened to him. Corporations have run amuck, I'm surprised people with stock portfolios aren't standing in front of banks and corporations with torches and pitchforks. Gordon Gekko was NOT right. Greed is NOT good, and the Oracle, Mr. Greenspan should have known better. The rampant deregulation naively let the foxes mind the henhouses and now all we have is feathers.

oh, and the cap and trade CO2 brownouts will surely feel more patriotic than our katrina blackouts, especially after a (equitably taxed) cigarette or 20.

Well, I'm gonna put my foot squarely in my mouth again here I suppose, at least as far as you're concerned. I'm simply not much of a nationalist. I guess that makes me unpatriotic in your eyes. I don't see it that way at all. I do want America to be as wonderful as she can be, which btw, doesn't involve things like wiretapping her citizens or torturing her enemies. So CO2 brownouts won't make me feel patriotic, neither did the Katrina blackouts. I really love your cigarette remark. Makes me think ya really actually might KNOW me a bit. I don't mind paying taxes on my cigarette (or 20). I DO mind that I pay those taxes and can't own a business with a big sign outside saying "This is a smoking establishment. Please know that before you come in." And I do so love the folks standing next to their running Escalades and Yukons crinkling up their nose because someone is smoking a cigarette twenty feet down from them in the open air. No score for you on that statement.

nothing we've done makes a difference and "change" was big with hitler, too. doesn't say "good" in a thesaurus next to it. all i can say is wow, how cool is that? cool means: not so hot.

Oh dear. A fixed sign are you? Nevermind. "Nothing we've done makes a difference." What are you saying? Much has changed because "we" did something. Child labor laws. Hate crime laws. Anti-discrimination laws. I'll leave you to find some others. "'Change' was big with Hitler"--HUH? Tell me you're not comparing Obama to Hitler. If you are, show me what criteria you're using.

You're right. Change isn't always good. Cutting back on Veteran's Benefits, cutting money for the upkeep of infrastructure, not good. Again I'll leave you to find some more examples. And no, the thesaurus doesn't have "good" next to "change." So what. It's pretty damn good when that little tree you planted ten years ago finally changes and starts making fruit isn't it?

"Cool means: not so hot." Right now I stick by my WOW, this election was so COOOOOOOOOOL. While I don't expect Obama to get everything right, or wave a magic wand and fix everything overnight, I do think that his priorities are more in line with mine. Bush's priorities would fall into the not so hot category for me.

And while we're talking about change, I'm still baffled by California voting for more room for chickens but voting against gay marriage. A chicken before a friend I always say. But maybe none of those California PETA folks have any gay friends. No matter. I'll eagerly await your Anonymous comment.

Unless of course, you grow a set and put your name on your statements. At least stand behind them.