Being easily offended by just about everything is the latest status symbol.
Recently, a far-left "literary magazine" that no one ever heard of, imploded when the entire editorial staff resigned in protest. Why? Well, the same staff approved for publication a rather innocuous article by an Israeli woman about what the terrorist attack by Hamas was like.
Oh, I said terrorist attack. My bad. You are probably offended. Hamas is as sweet and innocent as the Girl Scouts of America. Although, those girls will knee-cap you if you order a case of thin mints and then later refuse to pay up!
The far-left decries censorship, yet the editors of what is now presumably a defunct online "magazine" deleted the "offending" article before they left. By all accounts, the article was hardly incendiary or advocating for retribution or violence. Some said it was actually just boring (I concur). That new-age writing style of meandering toward a topic with, "My grandma always taught me to make sure my shoes were tied....." for 500 words before getting on to an unrelated topic (mea culpa!).
Of course, the irony here is layered. First, these "editors" approved the article and are only now resigning because other people have decried the article. Second, by censoring the article, they are engaging in the same sort of literary fascism that Republicans do - it is little more than electronic book-burning. Third, what are they afraid of, ideas? And fourth and most importantly, by destroying their own magazine, they have simply given more fuel to the far-right.
That's akin to saying you are against Trump, so to protest him, you won't vote at all. Sounds stupid, but people have actually gone this route. Some even promise to vote for Trump in protest! Or are these just trolls from Russia?
Of course, the right is just as culpable. Republicans "clutch their pearls" and act all offended when someone calls them out on their gibberish. "How dare you!" they say, "abusing my feelings with facts! I have my own alternative facts and they must be respected!" Meanwhile, the same person will savage his political opponent with the worst language imaginable. But that's OK, because they're "owning the libs!"
Religious types engage in this nonsense all the time. Each religion claims to be the "one true religion" but if you disagree with this (because you believe in a different God) then not only are you a blasphemer (who should be stoned to death) but they are offended by your blasphemy and they must be coddled and nurtured. "There, there, it's going to be OK. We killed the blasphemer just like you wanted!" The real victim here was his feelings.
Pretty much, though, this "I take offense" crap is Police Tape roping off indefensible ideas. When all else fails, resort to Patriotism. If that fails, start weeping and say you are a victim of those mean old bullies who hurt your feelings! Wah!
I say this as someone who was bullied as a kid, and mocked, bullied and abused ever since. Funny thing, though, when I complained to grown-ups, they didn't want to hear about it. Nobody does, it seems. The world is a cruel place sometimes.
Or, maybe not. What I realized was that high school was a scant four years of my life and not the centerpiece of it. As I wrote before, the "bully" in my high school never left our home town and drove his car through the barely frozen ice on the lake and died. Suicide? Drunk? Just plain stoo-pid? Yup, and I have no compunction about mocking him now that he is dead. At least he isn't around to hear it, as I was when he bullied me.
But maybe also I have a strong personality. I am saddened when I read about these youngsters who kill themselves over nothing. "Little Timmy was bullied on Facebook! Every day he would go on Facebook to read all the horrible things people said about him!" Get the fuck off Facebook, Timmy! Get the fuck off Facebook, everyone! And all social media, for that matter - it is like voluntarily going back to high school. Just plain stoo-pid!
Nowhere is this "I'm offended" argument (if you can call it that) is raised more than with regard to this "transgender" thing. Now, transgender people have been around a long time - long before Ed Wood, even. And there have been transsexuals, transvestites, cross-dressers, drag queens, and a host of various combinations of all of the above - and no, they are not all the same thing.
But for some reason this has become a "hot button" issue in the last couple of years. And like the "immigration" issue, it is not a organic thing, but an orchestrated action by certain political groups to make this an issue. The far-right wants to paint this as a "battle for the soul of America!" while the Left, stupidly, as always, says, "Well, I guess we have to do the opposite of whatever the Right is doing!"
Maybe it is because treatments are more readily available - and paid for by Obamacare and thus taxpayer's money. Even prisoners in jail are getting these very, very expensive treatments and surgeries - on the logic that they are "life-saving" because people threaten to kill themselves if they don't get them.
This is taking the "I'm Offended!" rubric to its logical conclusion. And some have done just that. A mentally imbalanced US Serviceman sets himself on fire (fatally) to protest Israel's invasion of the Gaza strip. He was not a Muslim, or Palestinian or even Jewish. A cause from a far-off land was enough for him to self-immolate. His reward? Many hard-line Muslims point out that since he was a non-believer, they hope he goes to Hell - and that he will, since suicide is Haram. Take note, all you would-be suicide bombers! No 22 Virgins for you!
We can't have a discussion about anything without someone being offended. We can't counter bad ideas with good ones, only take offense. With the trans thing, I think there are legitimate topics for debate. Is having trans athletes competing with girls fair? The facts seems to say no. But the only counter-argument seems to be "I'm offended!" Should expensive treatments and surgeries be paid for by the government or private insurance? Or is this elective surgery that should be paid for by the patient? Should children be allowed to have these procedures? discuss. But we can't - because someone claims that raising the issue is "transphobic."
I said it before and I'll say it again, when you drive opinions underground, they will fester and explode. They won't go away, they will just seem to. And we will see this come January of next year, when the "dress rehearsal" of January 6th is repeated, this time, for real. I hope to have moved out of the country by then. Because, quite frankly, the Democrats seem to be doing little else other than crossing their fingers and hoping for the best. As Democrats tend to do.
Meanwhile, the GOP is making hay with these "social issues" and mocking Democrats as "special snowflakes" because they will quit at the drop of a hat if they feel offended. Political Correctness is a handgun that always backfires. Ask Al Franken about that - although he was a bit of a pompous douchebag (and I should know, right?). I am not afraid to laugh at my own ridiculousness.
So this "I'm offended" trend tends to simply divide-and-conquer the opposition, which Republicans need to do as they are, in reality, a minority party. They stay in power through gerrymandering, the electoral college, and the use of social issues to divide the Left and galvanize the Right. And they use Social Media to convince people that these are their own opinions that that came up with organically.
So we see radical leftists arguing Biden is "too old" and threatening to "not vote" or even vote for Trump in protest. No problem, bud! I'll save you a seat on the train to Auschwitz! Once there, you can debate these issues with centrist Democrats, on the way to the gas chamber. And if you think I am being dramatic, this is explicitly what Republicans say they are planning for. But hey, Political Correctness and your "feelings" are far more important. So says the Russian Internet Research Agency. The Chinese Communist Party concurs, Comrade!
I am writing this at a gay campground in Florida. Tonight is drag bingo night and I usually win something, if not just a box of cookies. Drag queens are not usually transgender, although I have met a few. What drag queens have, however, is a sense of humor. Most make jokes about themselves (and everyone else). Particularly if you are a 300-lb drag queen, it is hard to take yourself too seriously. The best thing to do is laugh about yourself and if others laugh at you, laugh even harder. Because bullies only win if you let them think you are offended - they will keep attacking you because your offense is like a salve to their own sense of low-self-esteem. Laughter is the only Kryptonite to bullies.
A reader chastises me (I'm Offended!) for making snarky remarks about some "trans" people who, bless their hearts, simply look like men in dresses. Sorry, but I have to call it as I see it. Maybe they feel like a woman inside but everyone else seems to know on the outside (except "straight" Republican men who are readily confused or intrigued). I was at the bar the other night and there was this adorable trans girl at the end of the bar and I just wanted to give her a big hug. How did I know she was trans and not simply a Lesbian or a straight girl? I dunno. You can just tell, I guess. Maybe it was her penis.
Oh, no! I did it again!
Stop being offended and live! Being offended is to be manipulated.
