Just as I never misspelled "divisive" (or even specifically used that word), I never used the word "offensive" and I'm not offended. Annoyed, weary, and a bit disgusted, sure...but not offended.
I'm not a liberal (by the balanced definition, which is "to the left of center", not the one implied by FOX/Rush/DR66's posts, which is "anyone to the left of hard-right"). Even if I was, it would take a bit more than the usual tired "HA HA! Liberals are naive and silly!" rhetoric to offend me.
(Of course, several people just read that and immediately thought, "Of course you're a liberal. You don't agree with us on everything, and I don't trust you when you say you agree." Circular reasoning on display.)
And yes, those other stereotypes were pretty blatant and could easily be offensive, but I saw them as part of the character of the article. As blatant as they were, they didn't detract from the message or the narrative of the article for me.
The "intertitle", however, was very much off the subject of "guns are necessary" and "violence persists" and into the flight of partisan politics. Again, just because Republicans yell "liberals want yer guns!" at the top of their lungs a million times a minute doesn't mean it's true.
Just because the Democratic party decided to hitch their wagon to that particular pile of donkey manure DOES NOT mean that you have to be conservative to despise gun control, anymore than you have to be liberal to be pro-choice, or religious to support prayer in schools, or have a disability to support universal accessibility, or gay to support gay marriage.
And, since the message seems to continually get lost or ignored, those who self-identify as conservatives aren't any more right than anyone else. Nor any more experienced in life. Nor any less naive or idealistic.
It's just as accurate to say "conflict is the opiate of conservatives" as it is to say "utopia is the opiate of liberals". In other words, it's total crap but it makes a nice stereotype to attack.
Don't try to divide people up into two bins by the issues, because you will inevitably fail. There are MORE than two sides to most issues, and trying to make everything "with us or against us" will inevitably result in everyone else choosing "against". |
