The Way It Is

It’s fascinating how the human mind works; how we’re able to block out memories that are too painful. I submit that this ability is a defense against insanity, with which some are more blessed than others.

I think also that some are too “blessed” with this ability. Often, this defense mechanism is so strong, that not only are some able to block out harm inflicted upon them, but harm that they have inflicted upon others.

Sometimes this neat trick of blocking unpleasant facts/occurances is so strong, that some can’t even remember events that conflict with their view of how the world works. If they think all blacks are inferior, they won’t recall meeting the black physicist; if they think all rich people steal from the poor, they won’t remember reading about any self-made millionaires that had a “dream:” a product or a service for which millions of people shelled out money through their own free will.

Amazing, this ability.

A friend who thinks that any occurrance that might work in a given Republican’s favor is some sort of conspiracy, postulated that the recent ricin special delivery to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s (R-TN) office was a plot hatched by the RNC. When I pointed out that the previous senate majority leader, Tom Daschle (D-SD) had also been the recipient of a similar terrorist—yes, terrorist—attack (anthrax) in the immediate wake of 9/11, she, somehow, didn’t remember that.

This good and warm-hearted lady didn’t even remember that three people died as a result of the anthrax attack. Is she a monster? Definitely not. Does she care about terrorists attacking fellow citizens of our country? Most definitely yes. Did she simply forget about it? No. Does she have a poor memory? No.

There was was no "oh, yeah, that's right" moment. The Daschle-postal worker anthrax attack simply no longer existed in her memory. No Democrat senate majority leader had been attacked exactly like the Republican one. The memory was blocked because it conflicted with the Big Concept: the Evil Republicans have their hand in everything.

Observing this phenomenon (yet again) reinforced a lesson I've tried (and sometimes failed) to keep at the forefront of my own mind when dealing with otherwise fine and intelligent human beings that irrationally—as opposed to rationally—disagree with an opinion of mine.

No matter how valid the reasoning nor how provable the item stated as fact, some people simply will not believe what’s right in front of their eyes if it conflicts with their cherished belief(s). Some will hold onto the block for dear life and attack you as if you’ve struck one of their children; for all intents and purposes, you have.

I’ll keep ‘talking’ about my own opinions, but if another’s reason isn’t more valid than mine, I’m not going to beat my head against a brick wall about it; not anymore. If the reasoning is more valid than mine, however, rest assured: I’ll re-think my position.

Comments

[Prince C.]

Glad to see you're open to other beliefs.
Here's my problems with your party of choice:

You have to believe that a woman cannot be trusted with decisions about her own body, but that large multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind with no regulation whatsoever.

You have to believe that government should stay out of people's lives but it needs to punish anyone caught having private sex with the "wrong" gender.

You have to believe that government medicine is wrong and that HMO's and insurance companies only have your best interests at heart.

You have to believe that providing health care to all Iraqis is sound government policy but providing health care to all Americans is socialism personified.

I could list more but that's enough for now. It seems so obvious to me that you republicans are hypocrites. I'm not say we democrats are perfect but at least we put people in front of corporations...

[P6]

If the reasoning is more valid than mine, however, rest assured: I’ll re-think my position.

Hot damn! I'll get you enrolled in the Panthers yet.

[og]

Heya, Prince, seriously, loosen up the tinfoil a bit, it's cutting off the circulation to your brain.

[hindmost]

I have come to call people like her (and Prince, from above) "Hate-Lemmings." They are so consumed with hatred that rational thought is *impossible.*

[j Swift]

Of course the Republicans are not an evil cabal, but they should just understand their place. They should let the Democrats run this country while the Republicans relegate themselves to acting as a anchor against the extremes of progressivism. ;)

[Arnold]

Prince C.:
You aren't a programmer by profession are you? I only ask because you seem to think in terms of 0's and 1's, all or nothing.

large multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind with no regulation whatsoever
No, we just have a difference of opionion on the nature and extent of that regulation.

You have to believe that providing health care to all Iraqis is sound government policy but providing health care to all Americans is socialism personified.
There is a big difference between:
(a) providing emergency care for people following a war while their country is being rebuilt, and
(b) scrapping a system that already works for 85% of the country instead of providing a safety net for those that aren't covered. (If you check the voting record of most Republicans, I don't see them voting to abolish Medicare/Medicaide/Social Security, etc.,)

I could come up with more examples, but I need to call the dentist to schedule an appointment for my daughter which will be paid for by the Evil Insurance Company(tm), the premiums of which are paid for by the evil multi-national corporation that was paradoxically founded in China not the US, and which oppresses me in this air-conditioned sweat-shop while plotting ways to out-source my job to India so I'll have to work as a shoe-shine boy polising the jack-boots of the nazi executives so they will be nice and shiny as they grind my face into the ground and my God this is the longest run-on sentence I've ever composed and I'm not sure but I think the satire stopped working somewhere up in the middle part.

Okay, I need a cigarette now.

[Mr. Lion]

All boils down to facts vs. feelings. Conservatives are grounded in fact. Socialism doesn't work, for example. This is a fact supported by hundreds of years of evidence. Liberals, however, choose to ignore the facts, because something like government-provided socialist health care is a "nice" thing to do, even though it ends up increasing taxes on those of us who work for a living and can afford our own health care, and in effect forces us to pay the way of those who won't.

Ah well, next time just tell her you'd love to talk, but you have to get to "the meeting". Walk quickly and look over your shoulder a few times for effect. ;)

[Ray Garraud]

A wonderful combination of being absolutely realistic about the vagaries or human nature while making your point cogently and with lucid logic.

[og]

Now, I specifically liked this:

"You have to believe that a woman cannot be trusted with decisions about her own body, but that large multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind with no regulation whatsoever."

Wait, do you mean the fetus in her womb? Maybe your brainwashers, er, meme distributors, er, NOW has convinced you that the fetus is a part of the mother. It is not. It is a unique individual which relies on nourishment from the mother until it is viable on it's own, but it is not a virus, not a tumor, not a parasite; none of those things grow up to be a human; a fetus does. A lot of people would like to spread the concept that a fetus is simply some growth of un-differentiated tissue in the womb. Looking at it like that, it's much easier to consider disposing of it.
So, in effect, nobody is telling you what to do with your body, you can do with it what you please; but when you talk about the child in your womb, it is NOT your body, it's someone else's.

Your child's, as a matter of fact.

Here's the naked lunch: Don't want a baby? don't have sex. Simple, yet extremely effective. No, I'm not telling you what to do with your body, I'm explaining causality.

As for the multi-national corporations, well, I'd rather have them in control than Lemmocrats. At least you know exactly where the Multinationals stand. And if you can make it profitable to the multinationals to act in the public interest, they'll be all over it, but the Lemmocrats don't even want to know what the public interest IS, they want the public interest to be what THEY say it is.
Sorry. Try again.

[Serenity]

Now see, Juliette, this is why I like you. IF presented with enough evidence, FACTS, you are willing to listen..unlike many who hear something that sounds good to them and forever close off any information that may prove them wrong.

You could not have put it better when you said:

"Some will hold onto the block for dear life and attack you as if you’ve struck one of their children; for all intents and purposes, you have."

And as one commenter pointed out, it IS the difference between facts and feelings.

There is a saying, (pardon me as I forgot who said it), goes like this:

"Do not dismiss a good idea simply because you don't like the source."

Words to live by.

[Joan of Argghh!]

My history professor, a maddening (to us younger pups) elderly gentleman would always spout,
" A man convinced against his will
is of the same opinion still."
We would groan and roll our eyes every time he said it. I still hear it everytime someone says the words "imminent threat" while repeating the bald-faced lie that the AP was coyly reciting yesterday. You can't reason with folks who are convinced. The AP, the Dims, et al, are convinced that Bush said something he clearly, beyond a doubt, never said. He never said Iraq was an imminent threat, he said we wouldn't wait for it to become one. Pretty clear stuff. How do Democrats miss that?

[wes jackson]

Lemmocrats don't just want to define public interest. They KNOW that they are smarter; after all, they are the possesors of the TRUTH! Everyone else is a member of the great unwashed and uneducated Mass!
So they implement law from the bench, (voters and/or Congress are too stupid to be trusted,) and they don't mind lying at all. There is just too much at stake! Any and all means to gain the advantage,(George Bush Is Hitler,).
I think the FBI should start looking over at MoveOn.org for the sick sender of the risin powder to Sen. Frist and the RNC.

[Prince C.]

Liberals, however, choose to ignore the facts, because something like government-provided socialist health care is a "nice" thing to do, even though it ends up increasing taxes on those of us who work for a living and can afford our own health care, and in effect forces us to pay the way of those who won't.

Few things infuriate me more than people who act as if others don't 'Pay their own way'. Last time I checked, even the poorest pay taxes on the things they buy. Those poor people 'who don't pay their own way' have paid for the roads you drive on, the public schools, the military you love and a bunch of other sh**. And since those taxes are a larger percentage of their income that means they have sacrificed more for this country than folks like you. So chipping in for Health care for that poor family screwed by your multinational jihad is o.k. by me.

[hindmost]

Wow, Prince... how *kind* of you to decide how I will "chip in" my own earnings. Sure saves me the effort of making those decisions for myself. I've got news for you: you do NOT have the "right" to the fruits of someone else's labor, nor can you give them to a third party without the laborers' consent.

[og]

"And since those taxes are a larger percentage of their income that means they have sacrificed more for this country than folks like you. "

WRONG! Try again. Patently false. You lose, do not collect 200, do not pass go. Do a little research before you come thrashing that tired old meme around.

[Mac Diva]

Hello. This is my first visit to your blog, though I've seen it mentioned from time to time by my blog friend Cobb. I did find some common ground in regard to your Janet Jackson entry. My takes on the controversy are somewhat similar:

*Earlier is here.

*Later is here.

But, the politics seems way too far to the Right. I can't fathom why you say some of the things you do or why you are in bed with some of the people you are. Many Right Wingers' attitudes have never really moved out of the 1950s. They see conservative blacks as fodder for them to use to achieve their reactionary goals. A black man they can get to echo them is just a modern day slave to them. I think an account of how you came to associate yourself with the far Right would make a great blog entry.

I was surprised to be insulted by someone I've never even heard of on an initial visit to a weblog's comments. A person identifying himself as from The Bejus Pundit accused me of being a couple of someone elses. In addition, according to him my blog is a failure despite the fact it dwarfs his in roll, links and readership. (I'm referring to my big blog, though my little blog is more successful than his less than stellar effort, too. ) If this person is a friend of yours, feel free to pass on this advice. He can:

(1) Apologize for abusing someone he doesn't know from a hole in the ground, or

(2) Kiss my ass.

[baldilocks]

MacDiva: Welcome. I have had you blogrolled for some time. (You obviously don't recall me emailing you about it.) While I obviously don't agree with much of what you say, I think you say it well.

I have explained my reasoning in three parts: "Why I am a Republican." You can use the search engine to find them.

As for what *some* right-wingers may or may not think or believe, so what? I don't believe or exist for them or anyone else. (Conversely one can be sure that *some* left-wingers use left wing blacks for their own purposes. Again, so what?)

I vaguely recall Donnie mentioning something about a Mac Diva. (Keep in mind that you may not be the only one to use that handle.) If it was you and you have some problem with him, take it up with him directly. I don't pass notes. If it was some other Mac Diva, shine it on and drive on.

All the best.

[Mac Diva]

I'll read it. Promise.