Attracting Attention

 I AM, or so I hope, a modest, humble person. Self confidence and humility are a healthy mix, I believe. In that spirit, I present my little essays for the world to peruse or ignore, as each individual prefers. Either way, in the end, I am content. My conversations I prefer in person, rather than on a computer. Most of the time, when I try to so engage one of my fellow Americans, the fellow America seems distracted, uninterested in what I have to say, as if they can't wait for me to stop talking about my views on issues of public concern such as climate change and poverty, so they can get right to the important matter of talking about themselves. They can barely wait for me to complete my current sentence, so they can talk over me, interrupt, or talk around me, and change the subject. We Americans, truth be told, are a self absorbed lot who can not resist the temptation to prattle on about ourselves. However, neither Americans nor people around the world completely ignore my little essays. They attract a certain, limited amount of attention. Even more amazingly, American conservatives do not always ignore them, and you would expect ignorance from them. Indeed, not only do our right wing brethren and sistern take sneak peaks at my little essays, they actually respond to them, if only behind my back. Locally, regionally, nationally, the howling wolves of the far right can be heard, crying out their injured discontent. It seems that many conservatives prefer, rather than to simply ignore my little essays, to read them and then express great discomfort and feigned outrage. From all across the fruited plain, from Bangor to Butte and all points in between, in the land of supposed free speech, the howling hordes are heard, often doing more than disapproving, often trying to find ways to attack and silence their tormentor. All it takes is a few inconvenient facts for the outrage to erupt. Facts like; one half of all Republicans have no intention of getting vaccinated, and this is a sad commentary on Republicans. Most conservatives pretend that climate change does not exist, which proves that most conservatives are delusional. Most conservatives still believe that Trump's assault on the American government at the U.S. Capitol building January 6th was a good idea, which proves that most conservatives are traitors. It is almost as if American conservatives are allergic to facts, and experience pain at their mere mention. It is both flattering and amusing. Flattering to not be ignored by normally ignorant people, amusing that the willfully ignorant would take such umbrage to an attempt to dispel their ignorance, and to replace ignorance with facts. One might hope that even conservatives would appreciate education rather than reject it, but one's hopes would be sadly dashed.