Blackmoor Vituperative

Replace the word “Muslims” with “Jews” and then ask yourself “Do I sound like a fucking Nazi?”

Here’s a hint: if you have to make excuses for it (“I’m not racist! Islam is not a race!”), then the answer is yes, you do sound like a fucking Nazi. So either change what you are saying, or be prepared for all of your descendants to be embarrassed to be related to you because you were an ignorant bigot.

A brief reminder of what’s real and what’s not.

1. Danger posed to us by immigrants: not real.
2. Immigrants fleeing imminent death: real.
3. Danger posed to us by Democrats going door to door to confiscate our guns: not real.
4. Danger posed to us by heavily-armed right-wing “patriots”: real.
5. Ghosts, angels, gods, demons, devils, ancient astronauts, bigfoot, flying saucers, homeopathic “medicine”, and cow-mutilating aliens: not real.
6. Being more likely to die of heart disease, cancer, or chronic lower respiratory disease than from all other causes of death combined: real.
7. Vaccines causing autism: not real.
8. Measles, mumps, and whooping cough making a comeback because parents decide not to vaccinate their children: real.
9. Conspiracy among scientists to promote “the global warming scam”: not real.
10. Global temperatures increasing faster than was predicted 20 years ago: real.

Superman reminds some kids how Americans are supposed to act.

Congressman (R): “Our veterans should come first! As long as one veteran is sick, homeless, or hungry, it would be an affront to them to take in any refugees! That’s why I voted to keep them out.”

Interviewer: “So you are a strong supporter of veterans?”

Congressman (R): “What? Fuck no! Those leeches can starve for all I care. They should have died in the sand like they were supposed to. I have voted five times to defund them. You’d think they’d take the hint.”

Interviewer: “So your argument for not helping refugees is because we don’t help veterans enough, and we don’t help veterans enough because of … you. So … you are the reason you don’t want to help refugees…?”

Congressman (R): “Eh. Whatever keeps my constituents happy.”

Interviewer: “So voters want –”

Congressman (R): “What? Fuck no! Those morons will vote for a turd if you call it a Big Mac. I’m talking about my superpac. Great buncha guys. We’re going to Cabo next weekend. You should come. We’re getting some Ukrainian hookers. Those girls will do anything. Well, they have to. (laughs) “

You are three times more likely to be killed by an acquaintance than by a stranger.
(https://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/offenses/expanded_information/data/shrtable_10.html)

I find it disappointing to learn how many otherwise reasonable people are willing to say unkind things about people they do not know: i.e., southerners, gun owners, Muslims…

Prejudice and irrational fear make a poor basis for public policy.

Fun fact! The US Post Office is one of the very, very few parts of our federal government that is authorized by our Constitution:

“The Congress shall have Power […] To establish Post Offices and post Roads;”
— US Constitution, Article I, Section 8, Clause 7

(That same clause authorizes what we today call the US Interstate Highway System.)

As for the USPS losing money, it does and it doesn’t. It routinely makes more than it spends on actual operating costs. The “losing billions” that people sometimes refer to pertains to payments made into a fund for employees’ future retirement for the next 75 years. These payments are the result of a 2006 law passed by Congress, and it’s a requirement that is imposed on no other public or private institution.

But when you see people talk about the Post Office “losing billions”, that’s what they are talking about: failure to pay into a fund for the future health and retirement benefits for people who are not yet born.

If I were conspiratorially minded, I would think that this unique requirement was imposed on the USPS specifically to drive it out of business, by the same people who today call for its privatization because it “loses billions”. But that’s just crazy, right?

There should be a name for the phenomenon of, “I’m right to believe this even if the reasons I state for believing it are false”. I see it all the time. Guns. GMOs. Black pets around Halloween. Being offended at someone’s costume. No matter how portentous or trivial the topic, facts just don’t seem relevant. It’s not a “liberal” vs “conservative” thing, either: it’s universal.

But it’s easier to block people who spew nonsense than argue with them. It’s not like an argument on the Internet ever changed anyone’s mind, anyway.

Years ago, while watching The Wraith, I wondered out loud why “cool” villains like Dracula (or Nick Cassavetes in The Wraith) were always surrounded by incompetent creeps and toadies like Renfield (or “Skank” in The Wraith) — people I wouldn’t trust to guard an egg salad sandwich. Her reply was, in essence, because those are the kinds of followers they deserve — that they are not, in fact, “cool” at all.

I am reminded of that conversation whenever I read comments by Larry Correia and Brad Torgersen where they make weak attempts to distance themselves from Theodore Beale without distancing themselves from what Beale says or does. When you find yourself on the same side as the Theodore Beales of the world, it’s time to reevaluate your position.

How long do you think it will take for us to get from this…

To this…