I thought I might respond to her latest comment on my blog. Contrary to what some might think about me, I do have a life outside of refractory epilepsy and all the doom and gloom that goes with that (and hope and despair and acceptance and anger and joy and grief), so today after attending my leadership seminar and reading Alethia's comment, I felt like writing a post that's completely different. Those of you more decorous than I, those of you who prefer to avoid conflict and those of you who just don't want to see the perhaps coarser side of me, might want to stop reading now. Otherwise, after spending more than five hours learning about children with cerebral palsy and how we might help them to receive proper healthcare, I'm in need of diversion so I'm going to give Alethia's comment its 15 minutes of fame on my little old blog.
Let's go (Alethia's words are italicized. Mine are written in PURPLE). You can also read Alethia's comment HERE.
Hi again -- sorry I was too busy working for a Republican majority in the house to visit your lovely site.
Alethia, even my own Republican and very conservative dear and much-loved mother never gloats and taught me never to do so as well.
So your answer to the hard facts in the movie is to suggest that our diverse nation be more like Finland?
Alethia, I was referring to the argument presented by Diane Ravitch in the article/review of the film that really shook up my initial perception of the film. In the article, Ravitch calls Guggenheim, the film-maker, on his referring to Finland as a bastion of education success without also recognizing that Finland is a socialist country with a strong teachers' union. Did you read the article? Have you seen the film? For that matter, did you even read my post? Because neither the article, the film nor I advocate that we "become like Finland."
OK - we first need to get rid of about $295,000,000 people, impose a state religion, and make sure the group is ethnically homogeneous and wallah a perfect system. Such intellectual absurdity. At least your heart is in the right place.
Alethia, there have been at least three occasions now on which you've called into question my intellectual rigor or lack thereof. With all due respect, I believe I'm about as smart as the average person and perhaps a tad smarter, due to a great education, the hard work, love and support of my parents and a fairly flexible mind given to me by grace. As for my heart -- well -- does it make you feel better to throw in a personal compliment with your personal insults? And by the way, the word wallah that you have used is not a word generally used. I believe you meant voila -- the French word for see there. According to online dictionaries, your "wallah" is, among other definitions, an Arabic expression used to make a promise or express great credibility on an expression. It is considered a sin among Muslim to use this phrase and follow it up with a lie.
Irony
Intellectual Absurdity
VOILA!!!
Thanks for the post prompt, Alethia.
well said!
ReplyDeleteThe sadness of these people resides in their built in ignorance, their need to hide behind their anonymous faked understanding and the impossibility of knowing that their little minds are occupied by other's thoughts and not a single one of their own.
ReplyDeleteAnd...too much time on their hands to peruse upon the web to see what kind of discordance they can create to remove them at least for a while from their small, as in tiny and painfully empty little world. Voilà!
Allegra -- How do I put the "accent aigu" on my French words like you did?
ReplyDeleteCivil presentation of differing views is something I hope will come to be practiced more in our political discourse. Wallah. Are PC keyboards the same as Macs? If so, use the option key.
ReplyDeleteI hate conflict, and therefore pretty much hate all political discussion.
ReplyDeleteWhat I can say about any debate, though, is sticking to the facts instead of insulting each other is the honorable way to go regardless of agreement.
You handle yourself well.
You not GLOAT? Bad manners?? Mon Dieu, gimme a break! Double standards abound!!! Democrats can dish it out, but they sure as hell can't take it. Is that some kind of joke? I've read insults and innuendos & sweeping generalities about the Tea Party & the Republicans here more times than I can count. I've also read more about "those people" many, many times. Kudos to Alethia for speaking her mind...something we should all be able to do.
ReplyDeleteSheesh.
Marion - Ouch! I acknowledge a lot of dissing on this blog toward Republicans and Tea Partiers, but I try not to direct it toward anyone personally. I've found that those who disagree with my "generalizations" often make their case anonymously and also make a lot of personal attacks while protecting their own identity -- Althea being one of them. I've received very hateful emails -- again, with personal attacks -- about my husband who is Swiss and even my children. At no time have they (or you, for that matter) offered any kind of real alternative argument that makes me sit up and listen. I like to think that I "call the kettle black" but know my faults all too well and am quick to apologize and temper my outbursts if they've hurt someone personally.
ReplyDeleteMarion - Oh, as for "gloating." I would NEVER go on someone's website who I know is very conservative and gloat about something as grotesque as a political election. Really.
ReplyDeleteI just can't help but wonder why Alethia and Marion are engaging in these discussions here. There are so many proactive ways to talk about our political and moral beliefs and sarcasm and snide comments are not something that further the conversation, they are simply ways to assert that we think ourselves better in some way than our adversaries. I would delete the offensive comments from here on out and stick to your own moral compass, Elizabeth. You clearly have a lot of people who think the same way you do.
ReplyDeleteHoney- let's face it. Alethia was not raised right. She is rude.
ReplyDeleteAlso, may I point out the obvious- she is not very bright.
Wallah, indeed!
Why are these people trying to torment you? I do not get it. It is so undeserved.
Hey i worked with a cook once named Dellawallah...never mind.
ReplyDeleteI hate politics but I am of the persuasion that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and there is no point in being rude when expressing it. Elizabeth you are a better woman than I am. I would have simply deleted that comment and never looked back.
Wallah! OMG...I haven't laughed this hard in a long time!
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why people read blogs they don't like. If she has such opposing viewpoints, why doesn't she go elsewhere for her afternoon reading? Wallah indeed!
ReplyDeleteLike others, I really don't understand why Alethia and others are spending time here. Your response was wonderful, as always. And I love that you wrote the post tentatively retracting your initial review of the movie. Not because I agree (haven't seen the movie nor read the article YET) but because of course we need to be to bring in new information, process, and reform our thoughts.
ReplyDeleteAhh, Alethia must have been bored or not in her right blog manners? I don't know her, but to blog visit and leave nasty/rude/unkind comments is not right.
ReplyDeleteA few months back someone left a blog comment for me asking why I wasn't more political on my blog. Uggggg. Just not my cup of tea, the rest of my vast family, however, more than make up for it. I prefer to give all politics a wide (very wide) berth. I have dear friends of all backgrounds, and love them all.
Be well!
xoxo,
Terresa
mon Dieu (no accent aigu, I picked my french well:), what's going on here?!
ReplyDeleteMaybe she meant wokka wokka like fozzy bear would say
ReplyDeleteAlethia est un mal élevés lâche! And, No, that does not say she is a short Cow, though that may be true, but that she has been badly brought up (a great French phrase "mal élevés, non?!) and is a coward.
ReplyDeleteThe girl, or guy, who knows, should get a life instead of making anonymous snarky posts on blogs s/he clearly doesn't like or understand.
Just had to find out what kind of shit storm you had goin' on over here =o).
Poursuivre, Madame!
x0 N2
I think sometimes, Elizabeth, engagement just acts as a form of encouragement.
ReplyDeleteIf you use accents a lot, use the International Keyboard in Windows, it will save you time (but you'll have to acclimate to typing a space after you type certain marks to get that mark (apostrophe followed by e yields é, but apostrophe followed by a space yields '). On a Mac, you use the option key to get certain accents: option-e yields the grave accent.
@N2: je crois que Alethia soit une femme. Elle serait donc une mal élevée lâche.
Unfortunately, for the Republicans, it's all about "winning" and never about governing. They always talk big when they're in the minority, as they are now (even though they have the House, they have no effective means of governing). When they achieve the ability to govern, they just shut down and do virtually nothing.
ReplyDeleteWhat drives these people is the urge to punish--and for what you may ask? Who knows. That life was not fair to them.
Well, Elizabeth, life has not been fair to us, but we're not out there trying to punish other helpless people. This is the worst sort of cowardice. And they're just picking on you because they think you're vulnerable because you have a disabled kid. Your apparent helplessness gives the bully in them the satisfaction of hurting--they think you can't hurt them back.
Delete their comments and don't look back. There's no reason for them to be reading, as they have nothing productive to add to the conversation. This is your blog, a type of private property. Sure, we have free speech in America, but that doesn't extend to private property. While the government and rest of the public sphere has to tolerate this nonsense, YOU don't. You are free to ignore it and delete it.
As they say in New Hampshire: Don't tread on me. And that's a Republican state.
Ugggg - among other things, thank you for pointing out the "walla" thing. I have been seeing it frequently in posts, and even hearing it on TV commercials and it is like nails on a chalkboard. I don't know how you handle these trolls. I think I picked one up from your blog and she left me a mean-spirited message about my photos of my beloved dog. I was devastated. Really, I couldn't believe how much it hurt. It sounds silly. But I just don't understand cruelty - especially directed at someone like you who is an advocate for disabled children. Or at photos of dogs and cats playing in the sun on a beautiful fall day. It disturbs me that people are that broken. But then, I guess that is the flip side of people like you -- people who inspire. Keep going.
ReplyDelete