People With Too Much Time On Their Hands

By Mitchell

Speaking of The Corner as I was below, I've been reading some of the enlightening message that they've been sent lately by people who, shall we say, disagree rather strongly with some of their opinions. Here's an example:

Ther you go u dumb f***ing spic b**ch... u house spic. If u aint agianst the Baby- Bush NAZI government,then u r a F***ING SPIC B**CH, YOU F***ING SPIC B**CH.

Your cavalier pettiness, your comprehensive repulsiveness, amazes me. I defy you to say something else - anything else - of less significance or materiality than these examples. I do not think it's possible. Judging from these comments, you are simply sub-human. For your sake I hope these comments are the product of high fever or temporary mental illness, and not representative of your qualities as a supposed human being. These comments will trail you forever. Congratulations. You are a moral predator.

And those are some of the milder ones.

Of course, it's not just NRO that gets comments like that - just read the comments box at Amy's site, or any other blog that gets any kind of traffic. Now, I don't pretend to agree with everything I read even on the blogs I like. Sometimes I comment, sometimes I ignore it altogether, on occasion I stop reading the site. But I don't cross the line.

Do people really have nothing better to do than read blogs they disagree with, and then deluge them with rude, obscene comments? I mean, I barely have time to keep up with the blogs I like, let alone waste time reading the ones I don't. There's something to be said for educating yourself by researching the message of your opponents, but this is ridiculous. These people seem to absolutely revel in spewing forth hatred, as if they're competing to see who can be more bile-projecting, having mistaken coarseness for cleverness.

Do these people realize how difficult they're making it to engage in a serious, thoughtful discussion of the issues about which they profess to be so concerned? Probably, because they aren't really interested in talking; they prefer to shout, and loud enough so no other voices can be heard. It's not about discussion for them, because there's nothing to discuss - they're right and everyone else is wrong, and that's that. Boy, I wish I could be that certain about my opinions - I'm not even sure I've made the right menu choice when I go to a restaurant.

But this is a part of the coarseness that preoccupies us. As I've said many times - no discipline, no restraint, all rules cast aside in the name of doing your own thing. Don't restrain me, I'm just fulfilling my potential, I'm just being who I am. And for heaven's sake, don't tell me to grow up. You're cutting in to my endorsement deals!

Anyway, maybe I am old-fashioned, but I don't think there's anything wrong with being civil. Outspoken, yes. Passionate, by all means. But just because you feel strongly about something doesn't mean you have to stop acting like a human being. We're born with that dignity inside us - in God's name, let's start using it.