=== Everything else, including your undue pessimism about your fellow Americans, is a leap
I wish I could think that, Larry. I really do. I understand that folks say things on forums like this that they probably don't mean.
But to read day in and day out some of the comments -- from cavalier to truly hateful -- about nuking North Korea or laying waste to subhuman Muslims takes its toll.
A nation that rationalizes the use of Potential Non-People for human research, who steps-to at the mention of anti-Semitism against Jews while reveling in the Anti-Semitism against Muslims and which prefers always the Zot to the sort of engagement and respect which is the ONLY way to persuade another to your point of view is not poised to be turning out model citizens.
Granted, this story hits home bigtime. Not only because it's Dr. Albright or because I'm from Texas but because of that Shrug of the Shoulders by ME when I heard the news from my brother-in-law.
As with many on this forum, I have hardened my heart with Kill Ratios and assorted rationalizations such that I'm truly surprised I haven't joined those who take a resigned approach to abortion and simply hope to "reduce" them among those who "should" be having kids. (Like Ann Coulter. =)
You know well I could take 15 minutes and flood this thread with examples of what I'm talking about. You're just going to have to forgive me if -- in the process of acknowledging my own faults in this regard -- I find this story a tragic but crystal clear example of the direction we're headed.
Seriously ... I'm almost sorry I happened upon the Coulter story earlier. She's not my favorite person in the first place but her use of Merry Christmas as a purposefully aggressive action truly turned my stomach.
I too made a point to say "Merry Christmas" this year instead of the Happy Holidays to which I'd grown accustomed. But I did so as part of trying to convey the real joy and Hope that is inherent in that Glad Tiding. I loved seeing folks' faces light up a bit several times.
It's diabolical to twist it. There's been quite enough of the up-is-down, wrong-is-right, black-is-white bit ongoing already. And there's no doubt the constant drumbeat against predatory homosexuals of the Catholic Church (if not truly despicable political animals like Craig Spence who squired teenage tricks through the White House after midnight) has cause folks like Cali-Guy to presume the worst about this art-dealer, House&Garden retired radiologist.
A few years ago, the Usual Suspects tried to make out the Red-Staters as rubes compared to the Blue-Staters. They performed these "drop a pencil" tests on city streets to see which townfolk vs. Big City folk would offer to help or pick up the pencil.
As they had predicted ("science" being a rigged game to prove one's personal interpretations these days ...), far more of the Mayberry ilk were helpful whereas the Big Apple sorts walked on by.
But I think their conclusions were flawed. As one who's spent a great deal of time among the sharps who habit the streets of New Orleans, I am possibly more attuned to a Shell Game than someone from Mayberry. I think those who walk the streets of New York likewise are attuned.
That's the primary reason I think Ann Coulter's conclusions are flawed. I think folks in New York, of all places ... regardless how liberal they may be or how cognizant they are of the fact Jews and those of other faiths or no faith make up a far larger portion of the population ... sense her aggression and see her for what she is when she uses "Merry Christmas" as a "F... you."
That's why I react so strongly to her being a model of sorts for the kind of conservatives -- particularly here, where I've met and read and been educated by so many fine folks -- is troubling.
I seriously doubt this young man was a FReeper or even a FReeper sort of person. But it's possible that many of the threads posted herein could result in his being unduly suspicious of those he thinks are gay or those he thinks are seeking to offend or belittle him with a smile on their face and a mint tossed on the table like some Carnival throw.
Just to interject, I believe that you are misinterpreting Ms. Coulter's story of the Merry Christmas thing. I do not believe that she is intending it to be a "F**k You", she is implying that the Libs interpret it as such, since they would rather hear "Happy Hollidays" as to not be offended.
She intends it to be a "Merry Christmas"...
Response to post #17. Very thoughtful post. It is jarring to read posts that substitute aggression and/or intimations of sexual perversion for intelligent, reflective commentary.
I sometimes wonder if these posts are intended to sabotage the reputation of Free Republic.
It is disgusting that an apparently gentle soul, conforming to the custom of hospitality at that restaurant was repaid by such savagery. The brutish indifference of the attacker's companions is horrifying, but not, in my opinion, universal. b.