bookmark_borderChronic venous insufficiency is not funny

File this under the category of, “things that shouldn’t need to be stated.”

I stumbled across this post in my Facebook feed.

Nothing remarkable about the post itself. Like many people, I’ve heard the news that President Trump has been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a common condition for older people which means that he experiences swelling in his legs and will likely start wearing compression socks.

What is remarkable, and not in a good way, is what I saw in the lower left corner of the post: the fact that the most common reaction that readers had to this post was the “laughing face.”

Out of the 1,600 people who reacted to this post, a plurality reacted with laughter.

Hundreds of people think that President Trump being diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency is funny.

What the heck is wrong with these people???

Why on earth would someone think that a person being diagnosed with a medical condition is funny?

What kind of person laughs at another person’s medical diagnosis?

I simply do not understand this reaction. I don’t get it. At all. It is baffling to me.

I can’t imagine ever finding a public figure’s medical diagnosis to be humorous, no matter how much I disliked the public figure.

It’s difficult to find a better example of the meanness, the nastiness, the cruelty of the progressive left than this.

In our society, we hear again and again about the “cruelty” of the Trump administration, the “intolerance” of right-wing ideology, the idea that conservatives “lack empathy” for those different from themselves. Yet it is the progressive left that chooses to respond with humor, with mocking, with ridicule, with laughter when a person that they dislike is diagnosed with a medical condition.

This behavior is actually cruel.

This behavior is actually intolerant.

This behavior is what actually demonstrates a lack of empathy.

The progressive left has absolutely no claim to the moral high ground when they choose to react with laughter to the president’s medical diagnosis. Every time they accuse the right of cruelty, intolerance, or a lack of empathy, they demonstrate their own complete and utter hypocrisy.

Perhaps someone should visit the profile pages of each of the people who left a “laughing face” reaction to this WMUR news story, and scan their profile pages for any mention of a health struggle or medical diagnosis, affecting either the person themselves, a family member, or a friend. Then, that someone should leave a “laughing face” reaction on each of these posts. I wonder how these people would enjoy being the recipient of their own behavior. I wonder if they would still consider health problems to be funny, if they or their family members or friends were the ones being made fun of.

To state the obvious truth that I alluded to at the beginning of this blog post, the fact that President Trump has been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency is not funny. If it weren’t for the moral bankruptcy of the progressive left, such a thing wouldn’t need to be stated. But unfortunately, it does.

bookmark_border“Heroes of what, exactly?”

“Heroes of what, exactly?”

This is a comment that I saw on a post with a cool graphic depicting Confederate soldiers of various ranks and wearing various uniforms, with the caption “our heroes.”

This comment is yet another example of the bigotry, intolerance, and idiocy of “woke” ideology.

“Heroes of what, exactly?”

My first thought in response to this comment is… what does that even mean? I wasn’t aware that a person needed to be a hero of something in order to be a hero. I wasn’t aware that the term “heroes” required such a specifier in order to make sense. What exactly does it mean to be a hero of something?

It’s probably pointless of me to even ask these questions, because this comment isn’t really an attempt to make a logical and reasoned argument, but rather a mindless act of aggression for the sake of aggression. It’s an attempt to attack, to dominate, to question for the sake of questioning. Seemingly, this commenter thinks that he’s making an incisive and salient point, that being a mean bully somehow demonstrates his cleverness, that failing to answer the question to his satisfaction (or at all) somehow makes Confederate supporters look foolish and stupid. He seems to be saying “gotcha!”… as if our inability to specify what Confederate soldiers are heroes of, somehow proves wrong our assertion that they are heroes.

In reality, it’s the commenter himself who looks foolish and stupid.

In reality, all that is demonstrated by this thoughtless and incoherent comment is the fact that the commenter is a mean and aggressive bully.

We consider Confederate soldiers to be our heroes, and we have every right to do so. People don’t need to be heroes of anything in order to be heroes.

An additional observation that demonstrates the bigotry, intolerance, and idiocy of “woke” ideology: I left a comment on the original post expressing agreement and stating, “their lives mattered.” Several people chose to react to my comment with the “laughing face” emoji. The fact that every person’s life matters should be so obvious that it shouldn’t even need to be stated. Yet several people chose to express the opinion, not only that the lives of others don’t matter, but that the very idea that the lives of others might matter, is laughable. In other words, to these people, the possibility that people who are different from them might actually have value, is considered ridiculous.

What kind of person laughs at the idea that other people’s lives mattered? What kind of person ridicules the possibility that those who are different from them might actually have value? An intolerant bully and bigot with no mind and no soul.

In conclusion, Confederate soldiers are heroes, and their lives mattered. Period. Full stop. End of story.

bookmark_borderHaving a different opinion does not make someone “delusional” or “out of touch with reality”

“Just came to the comments section to see whether MAGA is as delusional and out of touch with reality as ever before. I was not disappointed.”

Yes, because for people to have different viewpoints, ideas, and perspectives than you, is totally the same thing as being delusional and out of touch with reality. 

Obviously, your own personal viewpoint is the sole barometer of objective truth.

Thanks for this bigoted, intolerant, and mindless comment.

Well done!

Not.

bookmark_border“Must be really important to celebrate slave owners and traitors”

Um, yeah, it is actually really important for people who are different from the norm to be allowed to exist.

It is actually really important not to inflict excruciating, unbearable pain on innocent people.

It is actually really important to, like, not destroy everything that makes life worth living.

I’m not sure why this is such a difficult concept to grasp.

Thanks, Michael Fix, for this moronic, thoughtless, mean-spirited, idiotic, morally bankrupt, and senseless comment. Much appreciated.

bookmark_borderReflections on five years of excruciating, unbearable pain (and a bully who finds this entire situation funny)

Excruciating pain coursing through my entire body.

Rage and grief combined in a tsunami of anguish.

Agony more severe than what the pervious version of myself even believed it was possible for a person to experience.

My chest feels like it’s being crushed in a vice, my stomach feels like it’s filled with rocks, my soul feels as if it’s being eviscerated.

Again and again, I’ve tried to find words strong enough to capture these feelings. Although I consider myself a good writer, with a large vocabulary, again and again I fail.

I could scream at the top of my lungs until my throat bled and my voice became hoarse, I could punch and kick until every object in my house was destroyed and my hands and feet were shattered into a million pieces, and it still wouldn’t be enough to express the pain that I feel inside.

Images of horror seared forever into my consciousness.

Hideous, gaping wounds that will never heal.

What was once a normal city square with a war memorial a century old, a war memorial that had never hurt anyone, now turned into something profoundly dark, contaminated, evil. An abomination.

Just one example among dozens, hundreds, all combining to fundamentally change the world from good to bad.

Actions that should never have taken place, leaving permanent scars on the landscape.

Actions so horrifying, so repulsive, so reprehensible, that a part of my brain cannot fully comprehend that they actually happened. Perhaps it never will.

One sickening act after another. Display after display of vicious intolerance. All part of a slow, inexorable chipping away at beauty, at happiness, at goodness. All part of an effort to destroy me, to destroy people like me, everywhere. All part of a brutal campaign to obliterate from the world everything that makes life worth living.

A city, a state, a country, an entire world transformed so that only people who are like the majority can feel welcome there. Only those who fit in, only those who obey authority, only those who conform to social norms, allowed to exist.

More times than I can count, I’ve considered suicide. Death has often seemed preferable to continuing on into a bleak future, slogging through day after day of a meaningless and miserable existence.

Five years of this agonizing pain. This weekend, in fact, marks the anniversary. A holiday that most people associate with cookouts, beach days, or remembering our soldiers, is forever associated with genocide for me. (Many will argue that this word is too strong, but I believe it is entirely appropriate.)

To someone named Gerard, this entire situation is funny.

The situation that I’ve described above is humorous, amusing, entertaining, even hilarious to him.

Clearly, Gerard has never experienced pain, and has never experienced suffering. If he had, he would not consider the pain and suffering of other people to be funny.

Seeing symbols of yourself, symbols of inclusion, symbols of your right to exist, smashed to pieces with sledgehammers as a mob rejoices and a brass band plays. Knowing that the bullies who want to eradicate you from existence will never be punished, will never be held accountable, will never even be criticized by anyone but yourself, will forever be perceived as holding the moral high ground in the eyes of society.

This is something that Gerard has never experienced, but I have.

There are no words that can fully describe what this does to a person, the pain that it inflicts, how profoundly it changes a person, forever.

Gerard’s jeering, cruel laughing face emoji does not reflect negatively on me; it reflects negatively on him. Gerard lacks empathy, he lacks morality, he lacks logic, and I would go so far as to argue that he lacks both a mind and a soul. Gerard does not hold the moral high ground. I do.

bookmark_borderAn excellent response to an anti-statue bully

I came across the following comment on a social media post, and it is an absolutely excellent response to anti-statue bullies: 

“Hate and attack. That’s all you people know. Lack any intelligence to seek knowledge or understanding. Just hate and attack anyone or anything that doesn’t think like me. I am right and you are wrong and nothing can be said to make me think otherwise as my feelings count more than yours! That is the whole of you and those like you as seen by the rest of the world. Awful, hateful, spiteful people….exactly what you think you oppose!”

This comment hits the nail on the head. 100%. Spot-on. Exactly.

bookmark_borderExpressing a positive opinion about something is not “bootlicking”

This blog post falls under the category of “things that shouldn’t need to be stated, but apparently they do.”

The other day I was watching a YouTube video in which a doll collector criticized Mattel for laying off designers and other employees involved with the making of Barbie dolls. This YouTuber ranted at length about people who have defended Mattel, repeatedly characterizing these people’s opinions as “bootlicking.”

This reminded me of a situation a while back, in which a Democrat politician characterized a political opponent as “licking the boot” of Russia, because that political opponent failed to demonstrate sufficient enthusiasm about sending additional money to Ukraine.

Both situations make me angry. Expressing a positive opinion of something does not constitute “bootlicking” or “licking the boot.”

Expressing a positive opinion of Mattel is not “bootlicking.” It is expressing a positive opinion of Mattel.

Expressing support for Russia is not “licking the boot” any more than expressing support for Ukraine is. (Plus, the politician in question didn’t even express support for Russia; he merely questioned sending even more money to Ukraine, making the allegation of “licking the boot” even more preposterous.)

People are allowed to criticize Mattel for its layoffs, and people are allowed to feel that Mattel didn’t do anything wrong. People are allowed to support Ukraine, people are allowed to be neutral on the whole Russia / Ukraine conflict, and people are allowed to support Russia.

Usage of terms like “bootlicking” and “licking the boot” is predicated on the assumption that defending something, or expressing a positive opinion about something, is inherently bad. These terms imply that the very act of expressing a dissenting view is somehow pitiful or cowardly or ridiculous. Using such language is a way of presuming the truth of what you are trying to prove. It is both mean-spirited and intellectually dishonest.

People are allowed to have opinions that differ from yours. This shouldn’t exactly be a revolutionary concept. I’m sick and tired of people using pejorative and insulting language towards those who express dissenting opinions.

bookmark_borderLydia O’Connor, a despicable bully and bigot

There are no words that can adequately express the cruelty, nastiness, and immorality demonstrated by the despicable lump of flesh and bone that calls itself Lydia O’Connor:

“Trump Signs Order To Restore Inclusive and Diverse Monuments, Remove ‘Anti-America’ Ideology.”

Or perhaps:

“Trump Signs Order To Restore Monuments Signifying That People Who Are Different Actually Have a Right To Exist, Remove ‘Anti-America’ Ideology.”

There, Lydia. I fixed it for you. 

Needless to say, I did not read the entire article, because my mind and nervous system don’t have the resilience needed to handle such a traumatizing experience. Thanks to merely glimpsing the headline, my body is shaking with rage, my stomach is sick, and my chest feels like it’s being crushed in a vice.

This headline, and the accompanying article, are enormously harmful to me as an autistic person who has grown up being excluded, bullied, and different from the norm. The monuments that O’Connor sickeningly characterizes as “racist” are the monuments to people like me. They are monuments to people who are different. They are monuments to the entire concept of being different from the majority, resisting authority, rebelling against social norms, not fitting in, thinking for oneself. They are the monuments that enable a person like me to actually be accepted and included in society. They are the monuments that signify that I have a right to exist. 

But yeah, this is clearly racist.

Obviously, allowing people who are different from the norm to exist, is racist. 

It’s racist to honor a diverse range of viewpoints, stories, and perspectives, rather than only honoring those that conform to the dominant ideology.

It’s racist to accept and include people who are different.

Not.

This headline and article are completely unacceptable. And this is an understatement. In fact, anything negative that could possibly be said about this headline, article, and author would be an understatement, because no language has words adequate for the task of accurately describing such complete moral bankruptcy.

Racist monuments. 

Yup. Because for me to actually have a life worth living is “racist.”

Because allowing me to exist as an autistic person is “racist.”

No.

Wrong, Lydia.

Allowing people who are different form the norm to exist, is not racist.

This is obvious. It should not even need to be stated. It is, in fact, bizarre that it needs to be stated. It is bizarre that over the past five years, I have had to state this again and again, because despite how obvious it objectively is, it is clearly not obvious to a large percentage of the population. Even after five years of living through this hell, it is still both shocking and sickening beyond belief that an ideology has taken over this country which believes that allowing a person like me to exist, allowing a person like me to be accepted and included in society, is racist. 

I have a right to exist. My existing is not racist. Period. Full stop. End of story.

Thanks, Lydia, for completely destroying my morning. Just another attack on my very existence, one of hundreds, if not thousands, of such attacks that I’ve been subjected to for nearly five years now. I am so incredibly sick and tired of people thinking this way, speaking this way, writing this way. I am sick and tired of having to justify my existence again and again, of having to defend my very existence against claims that it is “racist.”

Lydia O’Connor is the epitome of a bigot and a bully with no mind, no soul, no capacity for independent thought, no empathy, and no tolerance for any perspectives other than her own. She and the Huffington Post have inflicted severe harm on me by writing and publishing this article and should be sued for the harm that they have caused. 

I have a right to exist. Statues like these have a right to exist. We are not racist. Period. Full stop. End of story.

bookmark_border“Darkness” – a poem by me

Another bully
Whose words cut me like knives
Through my laptop screen
Another bigot,
His perspective the only one that matters
Typing words
Whose sole purpose is to hurt,
To punish me
For the crime of being different.

The waves of darkness,
Which I’ve worked so hard to keep at bay,
Crash against the shore
Filling every crevice of my mind
Obliterating joy
Murdering hope
Until consciousness is nothing but pain
And existence nothing but darkness.

The same tightness in my chest
The lump in my throat,
The tears in my eyes
And heaviness in my limbs
That I’ve felt a thousand times
But each time, I remind myself,
The darkness recedes.
I’ve weathered the storm before
And I’ll weather it again.

3/25/25

bookmark_borderThe best thing to do is point and laugh…

Generally, I’m not a big advocate of pointing at people and laughing. Generally, I consider this a pretty mean thing to do. But honestly, I 100% agree with the below posts from Twitchy and the Firearms Policy Coalition:

I am so utterly sick and tired of Democrats and their hurtful and intolerant words and policies. I am so tired of being insulted, attacked, shamed and ridiculed. I am so tired of the vicious, nasty, and pompous condemnations of people who have done nothing wrong. I am tired of innocent people being hurt, and then when they express their hurt, treated as if they are the problem. I am tired of people violating the rights of others, and then acting as if they’ve done something positive, something that gives them a claim to the moral high ground. I am tired of the self-righteous intolerance, tired of the bigotry mischaracterized as virtue. I am tired of the hypocrisy, the inconsistency, the double standards, the lack of logic, and more than anything else, the lack of empathy.

They hurt us, and then criticize us for being hurt.

They anger us – by taunting, insulting, ridiculing, and attacking us – and then criticize us for being angry.

They violate our rights, and then criticize us for protesting (after they themselves have spent months and months engaging in the most violent and vicious protests imaginable).

They are cruel to us, and then accuse us of being cruel.

They exclude us for being different, and then accuse us of exclusion.

They engage in a campaign of systematic obliteration of all diversity from our world, and then pontificate about the importance of diversity.

They insult us because of our skin color, and then accuse us of being racist.

They condemn us for being “insurrectionists” and “traitors” – as if resisting authority is self-evidently pejorative – and then characterize themselves as “fighting back” and “the resistance.”

They have demonstrated, again and again, the most abject and appalling lack of empathy imaginable, and then accuse us of lacking empathy.

For so long, Democrats have pointed and laughed – and far worse – at people who have done nothing whatsoever to deserve such treatment. For so long, Democrats have piled on – inflicting additional pain and harm on people who are already hurting – and then acted as if this somehow constitutes moral virtue. It’s past time that they get a taste of their own medicine. Maybe then they will actually understand the magnitude, the severity, the sheer enormity, of harm that they have caused and the pain that they have inflicted.