Oh how I love the delicious whiff of irony in the morning.
I reproduce this image as a perfect example of that which psychologists call "projection". That is imbuing your opponents with the negative characteristics or actions as a defense against that which you display yourself.
Shorter version ... accuse them of what you are guilty of!
Today I saw a minor example of intolerance, which led me to suspect that my fellow Kossacks may have other, and better examples worth sharing.
As many of you are aware, I occasionally publish stories describing my motorcycle rides.
Generally those Diaries are well received with a mixture of admiration at the exploits tinged with a certain, and reasonable, questioning of my sanity. When I publish such pieces here I don't expect the entire audience to fully understand this activity, and I have to say that I am always so very grateful that commenters are kind.
I also link those Diaries all over the place. This is my blogging home, but the primary target for those Ride Reports are elsewhere.
One of the places they are very well appreciated is a Motorcycle Forum devoted to the specific model of bike I ride. Well you would expect that, wouldn't you?
Until yesterday, when I received this email from the owner of that Forum:
Maybe a big problem, I don't know. The fact is though, I truly do NOT like your posting links to the Daily Kos website. I do try to keep politics off this site for the most part. I realize that you are posting links to your ride reports and not to the political commentary but the pages are still clearly branded with the links to the political areas of the site.
I know you are a moderator there and I know that you and I are at different ends of the political spectrum and I support your right to your political beliefs but I have my own beliefs that differ greatly from yours.
I have put my heart into this site and I honestly would prefer to not contribute a single hit to the Daily Kos. I don't want this site to generate any traffic at all to the Daily Kos.
I don't really expect you to understand nor agree but that's just the way it is. Now to be honest, I frequent some conservative sites but I don't post links to them either.
Apart from this guy elevating me to Daily Kos Moderator, which made me smile, I was a little surprised. I know I have been hidden by some Facebook friends, even some family members for my political commentary. I don't mind that, indeed, I expect it. What surprises me is that some people are so small-minded that they will respond this way to a Diary that was chock full of the very content that they seek to attract to this pay-site, and I wonder if the visceral reaction is because we are actually being effective.
Anyway, I responded because I don't know when to keep my moth shut :)
I am very sorry that you feel that your members are unable to filter the very substantial motorcycle content of my Ride Reports from a few links on that Blog.
I am also a little surprised that you feel so threatened that you need to keep your motorcycle site "pure", that in some manner my being a Liberal, and in the majority in this country in some way threatens your existence.
I have always believed in keeping my motorcycle content free of other influences, which includes the racist jokes and religious posts that regularly are tolerated, and I do not demur however offensive I find them. Each to his own, I come here to discuss motorcycling.
I feel my record in that matter is pretty good, and of late I have added value to your site with virtually all of my contributions.
But I find that you are not tolerant, not able to separate the wheat from the chaff and clearly unwilling to try. That is the sites loss, because I can find the information I need elsewhere ... Maybe on a site less judgemental than yours..
You have my Paypal address. Please feel free to return my subscription. I know you are right wing, I have always known. That never stopped me sending you $12 each year, and setting aside matters not pertinent to the subject at hand.
If you feel unable to reciprocate, then it is your site and I will not outstay my welcome and have you feel any discomfort.
It would appear, from a first glance, that the Right are rattled. So much so that they cannot bear even to see a link to teh Great Orange Satan, because this is a place they see as filled with hate, and a threat to their very existence.
How would I feel if I saw a Ride Report linked to the Drudge Report? Pretty sad for the writer, but I can and do set aside my distaste for the racist jokes and political postings long enough to share a common love.
I may be an outlier in this, I don't know, but I always feel that one way to reach across the aisle is to find things we have in common, and share them with each other. Turn a blind eye from time to time, because it is easier for folk who respect each other to reach a compromise, than it is for those who thrive on conflict.
I write this quite conscious that this is a minor, trivial example that in reality costs me little. I am aware that some have suffered real harm from this type of bigotry and intolerance, and simply wondered what stories others might have to tell.