Stupid Things
Conservatives Say, Part Deux
“I am heterosexual, which according to gay folks, now makes
me a homophobe.”
Only if you think it does, Bunky. Most gay folks I know (and
unlike you I know some, having a son, a daughter and two sons in law) never
make that association. It’s much like “The Gay Agenda,” (a term invented by
some conservative schmuck) in that no gay person I’ve ever talked to has had
the faintest clue what the hell the gay agenda is. The primary reason, I think,
is that persons like you, (apparently) ascribe your own biases regarding
personal liberties and behavior to others. Without going into the imagined details
too far, I’ve heard homophobic men speak of “recruiting” as a goal of the gay
community. Since I am aware, without any fear of being less that totally
correct, that being gay isn’t learned or acquired behavior, this makes as much
sense as the Celtics “recruiting” me, a fat pleasingly plump 6-foot 1inch,
75year old, to play center. Can’t do it. Not gonna try.
If there actually
was gay agenda it would be indistinguishable from the “straight agenda,” which
doesn’t exist because straight persons don’t need one. Fair and equitable treatment
under the law is as close to an agenda as the LGBT community has ever had.
So, my right-wing
friend, if you think being straight makes you a homophobe, then you almost
assuredly are. I assure you that if only you are aware of such feelings, no
LGBT person will ever assume them, based simply on your sexual orientation.
And, finally,
as a classroom teacher for twenty years and a member of an NEA and AFT
affiliated union bargaining and contract team for twelve of those years, I was party
to (too) many, situations where a teacher was accused of inappropriate
activities with students. In none of these cases was a gay teacher involved.
Not one. Likewise, I served almost 50 working years with teachers and Naval
personnel whose sexual orientation never was an issue, gay or straight. So,
maybe the problem is you?
“I am non-union, which makes me a traitor to the working
class and an ally of big business.”
Nah, it just makes you non-union. Now if you meant actually “anti-union”,
then perhaps you should evaluate why that’s true. It’s certainly possible to
not join a union in most states, even if many in your workplace are members. Of course, that also means you really ought to
have to negotiate your own salary and benefits. I once had a professor in grad
school say in a business law class, that “Any company which gets a union,
deserves one.”
Working class
persons in unionized industries who today opt not to pay dues and join, can do
so due to the efforts, since the early 20th century, of their forebears.
If some unions have experienced corruption, that isn’t a rank and file issue,
but a personal corruption issue. Unfortunately, the greed of those union
officials deserving of censure pales into relative insignificance compared to
men like your president, who has a well-documented history of making contracts
with union labor and defaulting on them, daring them to sue. Anyone with a
shred of history background, knows why unions evolved.
"I am not a Muslim, which now labels me as an infidel."
Infidel (def): (literally "unfaithful") is a term
used in certain religions for those accused of unbelief in the central tenets
of their own religion, for members of another religion, or for the irreligious.
Sure, you are, just as a Jew is Non-Christian, or a Chinese Taoist is
non-Buddhist. It’s a word, dummy, and it means non-Muslim to Muslims. The
radical Islamists who use it as a trigger word are, at this point, closing in
on 14 centuries after the founding of their faith. Consider how European Catholics
treated Muslims, Jews and just about anyone else non-Catholic (even other Christians
daring to “Protest”) at the same time from Christianity's invention. Torquemada would have understood. However, acting as if
all Muslims are Jihadists even though none has ever so much as threatened you, does make you an asshole.
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