The following is a portion of an exchange or emails between me and one of my right wing friends. I am sure most of you have received similar or much worse communications, as have I. In fact as right-wing stuff goes it is quite mild. Yet it has bothered me all out of proportion to how I would normally react. So I thought venting here would be cathartic and I might learn how others respond when they get fed up.
My friend sent this:
A word once spoken cannot be recalled - especially in this electronic day and age!!!
The Quote of the Decade:
"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America's debts weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that, 'the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better."
~ Senator Barack H. Obama, March 2006
Pass it on 'til eternity... (...It was so nice of him to give us this great quote for posterity!) SO, USE IT!
Only 86% will send this on. Should be 100%.
Please send it on, if only to one person.
I responded:
What is amazing is that he delivered what he said he would do. He has lowered the annual federal deficit more that any president has done in the past 50 years. Indeed it should be passed on so that people understand that a politician can actually at times deliver on their promises.
I added a chart that appeared in Rachel Maddow's blog that demonstrates that during Obama's time in office the annual federal budget as a percentage of GDP has decreased at a greater rate than under any president in the past 60 years.
My friend answered:
well , it is amazing how numbers can be manipulated.
as far as him doing what he says he will do, when do we seniors start not paying any taxes on income under fifty thousand a year( i think both you and i)?
17 trillion is the highest in history . unmployment pays the longest term and most in history .
we handout more foodstamps that at any time in history . and to far more people .
you can keep thinking san fransisco style as long as you i suppose .
i think the rich are getting richer from his phony propped upstock market and the poor are getting more commited to
subsistence ,
sad shit , Joe . wish i could believe you when you say it ain't so ..
Like I said, I am sure that most of you have received worse. Also except for this, he is truly a sweet kind man and personally generous.
He also happens to be obsessed with Obama as many are and many of his emails appear to be strongly racist although I have never seen him behave so.
Usually I do not respond to the crap he and others like him sends by email, knowing the impersonality of the medium allows most people to avoid the ambiguity of responsibility for what they do. Sometimes I try to point out their factual errors as I did with my response above. Alas, every now and then, however, I will explode and write something intemperate.
What got to me in this case, was his accusing me of being a San Franciscan and although I am one, it engendered in me the same rage I would fall into when many years ago someone would call me a WOP, and as I am sure many reading this also have experienced when they are on the receiving end of a racial, ethnic or gender based slur.
As a result, in fury, I wrote in reply:
And you unfortunately remain a racist. When you decide name calling is not a form of argument. So will I.
As far as I can tell the things you complain about like taxes, food stamps and unemployment are good things to do since your idol GWB ruined the economy. No competent economist, even conservative ones, believes we work our way out of the mess your good friends put us into by cutting food stamps. Try thinking for yourself for a change instead of relying on Rush and the others blowing smoke into your brains.
I have not sent it yet. As I said I like the guy.
So, I ask: Should I send it? Should I ignore it? Or, do you have something better?