Hating, As Usual

THE OLD REPROBATE is at it again, which, really, should surprise no one. Only progressive eighty six year old people, of whom there are far too few, especially hateful one are capable of learning and improving themselves. Conservatives, by nature, are wed to tradition, especially hateful ones, both personally and societally, and prefer the status quo to change and progress. It seems like only yesterday that the hateful old curmudgeon used the "N" word at the senior center, and, when confronted by the director, said he saw nothing wrong with it, and, hell, he even named his cat "Nigger". You feel sorry for the cat, and, strangely, for the human garbage. Everyone in the United States knows by now, has long known, that the "N" word is unacceptable. That's been known for decades, if not centuries. The fact that African-American men, when gathered together in insular groups, sometimes refer to each other in that manner does not justify right wing idiots from so doing. For one thing, bad behavior is not justified by merely pointing to someone else's bad behavior, and for another, groups of blacks use the term jokingly, and they understand each other. The word of the day is "queer", as in, "That queer dropped out of the Democratic primaries". It brought back memories. I remember fifty years ago, when the terms 'queer" and "fag' were used in a hateful, derogatory manner, among adults and children alike. It was as bad an insult as one could sling. In those days, it was actually illegal to be homosexual; gay folks ran the risk of being locked up, hence, all the more reason to remain "in the closet". Times changed, as times always do, with staunch right wing resistance, protests proliferated, people demanded equality and respect, and now, at long last, gay people can walk the streets in relative safety, and even marry, without constant fear of violence or incarceration. Conservative people were not responsible for the change and progress. They never are; hence, the term "conservative', as in, hang on to tradition at all costs, even hateful traditions. As Goethe said: "The world advances only because of those who oppose it". Only progressives, who used to be known as "liberals" until the far right, the same folks who gave us "nigger", "queer", "fag", and all words hateful, and the refusal to accept progress because it came to be called "political correctness", which to them is a bad thing, got hold of the word "liberal" and demonized it; only progressives stand between the right wing and their insistence upon perpetuating hatred as one of their cherished, traditional, core values. The silver lining is that slowly, inexorably, American society and culture, with staunch conservative resistance, is progressing, and that people such as the eighty six year old reprobate will, much to the improvement of society, not be with us forever.