Something I’ve experienced traveling around the state is that there is a palpable fear of even letting your friends know you are a Democrat, or even in line with what Democratic politicians are doing. There’s vandalism that takes place here, and people are scared of that. Having your yard sign stolen or your flag taken down is one thing, but having your car keyed or trash left in your yard, that’s another. I know people who have been harassed after they are outed as a Democrat, and then people give them trouble. People hear those stories. They’re not fake. They’re not made up. I’ve seen and heard some really ugly language.
I’m not a Dem (I’m a Leftists), but this pretty much sums it up. The Right plays dirty. They aren’t bound by any sense of decency. I’d say the only way we can beat them is to respond with our own violence (which I, personally, detest). I don’t see us beating them because they don’t believe in rules of engagement. Sorry to be so demoralizing in this post.
Dude, if someone tells me refugees deserve to drown in the Rio Grande, that climate change is a hoax, that the only good gay is a dead gay, or that Trump needs to be reelected so he can be a “day one dictator” and rain punishment upon his enemies, I am not going to be fucking OK with that.
Ok, and my point is that the person saying that will likely have the same violent attitude with anyone who disagrees with them. Challenge their beliefs, tell them you think they’re out of line, and that if necessary you’ll rise up against the fascism they long for. Right now, it’s not OK to disagree with them for fear of violence. We need to let them know that we are not afraid, and that they are wrong.
Thank you for the clarification. I thought you were making a “let’s all learn to civilly agree to disagree” argument, which is just capitulating to extremism by normalizing it.
No worries, I completely understand how I came off that way. My bad, but that wasn’t at all what I was trying to say.