I'm A Lost Cause

Funny thing about leftists. If they disagree with what you say, they'll no longer defend to the death your right to say it. Instead they'll try to dig into your writings for completely unrelated stuff and publicly shame you and turn peoples' opinions against you.

I had a guy try that on me this week, pulling up old blog posts from this site and holding them up on an entirely unrelated site as examples of what a horrible person I am. Of course, since I'm not actually ashamed of anything I've written, it didn't faze me much.

I told him that if he wanted to continue his campaign against me, that blog isn't the place, and to post on my blog. And that's definitely the best way to go. I have a lot to say about the things he points out, but every time I respond on that blog, I'm just further worsening the atmosphere for people who could care less about our little argument. Of course, he really doesn't want to discuss anything with me. He wants to call me out in public and make me toe the line, to shut up and stop saying things he finds objectionable.

It almost -- almost worked! He replied:

I’m sure I’m going to regret this, but all right, I’ll make one comment over there saying everything I want to get off my chest.

But then, a little while later:

Actually, some people you just can’t reach, and it’d be futile of me to try. So never mind. Best thing is to just go back to skipping over comments and avoid being baited.

So, I'm incorrigible. I'm not worth the waste of his words of enlightenment. Mom's going to be so disappointed. Anyway, that's one thing I like about leftists, they're not judgmental.

By the way, what did I say that was so objectionable? Just for the record here is the most recent set. Apparently he's been doing a slow burn for the last year or so, but I'm not going to collect all that. Since this is the series that caused the blow up, it should be sufficiently horrendous to get me on the short list for history's greatest monster. I'm not including full context, because it gets really convoluted, plus, I want to focus on what I said. My words aren't likely to look better in context than they are in isolation. Italics are quotes from others:

April’s comment in the first throwaway panel about the wedding being invaded by “gypsy assassins” just made me wonder if perhaps that wasn’t the best word choice.
I think there’s a blanket excuse from being culturally sensitive toward people who are trying to kill you.

...

 If you can’t have your fictional characters speak in the [terms the] character would use, even if offensive, you can’t really do honest fiction — you can only create politically-correct fantasy worlds where, for example, people who say “gypsy” don’t exist.

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So are you saying we should accept the Paula Dean[sic] precedent as appropriate? I dissent.

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So you are saying that the treatment of Paula Dean[sic. Again. I suck.] was appropriate, because there is “something wrong” with her. Thanks for clarifying.

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I thought Lenny Bruce had it all explained half a century ago. We’ve undone everything he taught.

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JP “Please dear, a Roma assassin squad is crashing your wedding. You know, maybe it’s attitudes like that that drive them into the criminal underworld.”

I’m afraid it’s already too late for Wilson, Manley and me. Whatever gypsies call a fatwa has no doubt already been issued because of our insensitivity and the real-life gypsy assassins are en route.

I’m being extremely wary about any approaching caravan wagons, men in colorful vests, or women in those peasant dress outfits. I won’t go quietly!

 ...

JP: Don’t let this get around or everyone will want Gypsy Assassination Squad crashing their wedding. They’re a great live act, even if they’ve never fulfilled the promise of their first album.
Oh, my, you’re right! That’s an awesome name for a band!

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I saw Bela Lugosi drinking a piña colada at Trader Vic’s. His hair was perfect.

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“…flapjap syrup…” Now, listen. I’ve recently been educated about inappropriate use of ethic[sic] slurs, and I don’t want you making the same mistakes I did. You need to use more sensitive language: “Flapjapanese,” or perhaps “Flapasians.” And whatever you do, don’t mention the war!

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Gosh, some of my favorites! Your outrage is delicious.

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BTW, did this have something to do with gay people? I didn’t check to see if Flapasians is gay slang. Or are you projecting? What exactly do I think of gay people? I don’t actually have a problem with gay people. I make fun of lots of people on my blog. People who get offended very easily and then try shut down people who won’t toe their line, basically pretending they are victims but acting like bullies, those are a popular target.

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Hey, it’s fine that you don’t like me or my opinions. Surprisingly, I’m growing less and less fond of you and your opinions, but on the whole I’m OK with you not having happy thoughts about me (that’s actually the point of a lot of the stuff you’ve pointed out, in context). However, this isn’t really the place to wage your campaign. Please, harangue me on my blog posts, where we can discuss things fully and not waste the time and ruin the experience of people who come here to snark on comics.

And that's all she (meaning me) wrote.

Try as I might, I just can't muster up a huge heaping load of guilt over all that.