Credit for being an asshole.

Let's talk about being an asshole.

For whatever reason there is a large part of our population that takes pride in being an asshole, they feel like their stupidity and bigotry are aspects of their personality that makes them better than others. My friend Karl said it really well earlier today and I am just gonna quote him here:

We don't want to just HAVE shitty opinions, we want to get CREDIT for having shitty opinions. We don't want to just BE assholes, we wanna stand up in front of a crowd, in front of a microphone, and shout bad words until someone hands us a trophy for being so brave and honest about our feelings. 

 You know I am gonna talk about the election with this, because that was basically the entire thrust of The Toddlers campaign. He ran on a platform of saying the worst things he could think of and the idea that America needs them to be said. He told every racist, sexist, and bigot that their ideas were noble and worthy and that they should be lauded for having the courage to say them in public.

And we gave him perhaps the ultimate trophy for being "so brave and honest about his feelings", we elected him president. And yes, he lost the popular vote by what is becoming a pretty legendary amount, but that doesn't change the fact that some 48% of voters wanted the freedom to say horrible things about their fellow humans, hell not just the freedom to say those things, they wanted to be told they were right. 

For sixteen months this was the "dialogue" of the campaign, and for sixteen months the only party telling The Toddler he was wrong was the Clinton campaign, so we had a situation where one side is saying "I am the best because I want to torture civilians!" The other side saying "God no, that is horrible", and everyone else, IE the media going "hmm, yes, perhaps the truth is in the middle, also emails", when they deigned to comment at all that is.

The Toddlers supporters were emboldened by this, they were getting what they wanted from him, and no one else was telling them otherwise, it is possible that even if they were it wouldn't have mattered, by this point their own movement was reinforcing their shitty opinions on a national level without outside interference. But that is something we will never know for sure.

Then they won, is there any wonder hate crimes spiked after the election? They wanted credit for their shitty opinions, they got it, the avatar of shitty opinions will be the most powerful man in the world because of them.

But of course that isn't enough for them, it won't be until no one says anything in their opposition, as long as any dissenting voices are heard, they can cry "free speech!" and claim to be under attack from the liberal fascists even as they move to limit freedom of expression in ways that they feel are needed. It is a curious combination of superiority and fear that will bring us to ruin unchecked.

But you don't need to have the big, noble reason to call these people out at every turn, they are assholes and it is still legal to call them such, it doesn't have to be about saving the country, all it has to be about is telling one person after another that they are horrible people with horrible opinions and they deserve only shame, they are in fact worse for sharing their beliefs with the world and expecting to be lauded and we would all be happier if they would shut the fuck up.