Rob Tornoe.
PZ has a post up about yet another person who found it terribly necessary to do the rounds of the Trumpholes, to discover their “reasoning.” Why anyone does this is a mystery to me, unlike the so-called reasoning of those who support the Regime. I’ve heard it all, from those who have one pet issue, such as being rabidly anti-choice, and who sided with the Tiny Tyrant over that, in spite of possibly disliking other aspects, because it’s worth it, those who think anything is worth it to get back at those filthy liberals, those who actually think Trump is anti-establishment, those who quiver in fear over every shadow, and those who simply agree with all the racist, bigoted, sexist shit which makes up most of Donnie’s mind, and so on.
One of the most common plaints of the Trumphole is just how intolerant those awful lefty liberals are, calling racists racist, and so forth. As a lefty liberal, and worse, a dyed-in-the-wool hippie, I take issue with being called intolerant. I don’t like it, because it isn’t accurate. To tolerate something means you display forbearance, you put up with something, with either good or sour grace. You permit, or allow something, doesn’t mean you like it at all. I wouldn’t say I’m so much intolerant of Trumpholes and their never-ending whines of justification for horrible views, as I am non-accepting. Nonacceptance is much more accurate when it comes to describing my attitude and feelings. Acceptance involves favourability and approval. There’s a big difference between “Oh, I tolerate Jane” and “Oh, I accept Jane.”
I do not accept bigotry, sexism, or hate. I do not want any of those to have a place in my life, heart, or brain. I reject such ugliness outright, and I will reject it no matter how many justifications someone tries to wrap them in. There’s simply no excuse to hold onto such hate, and tying yourself into knots in an attempt to make it sound reasonable isn’t going to work. I simply will not accept it. If you’re busy trying to make bigotry sound somehow palatable, yes, I’ll point out that you are being a bigot, because that’s the truth. If you somehow think you have the key to making sexism right and proper, I’ll point out that no, you’re wrong, and you’re still being sexist. And so on.
Every single day, I read many many lots of articles, in order to be informed, and to be able to blog, and much of what I read is not to my taste, to say the least, but I tolerate it, in order to be informed. Every day, I manage to tolerate Trumpholes enough to be aware of their always full font of hateful froth. So, y’see, it’s not accurate to say I’m intolerant. It is accurate to say I’m non-accepting.
The trouble with asking Trump supporters what they think is that you can’t just assume they do think at all. Most of the “reasons” they give you are post hoc rationalizations for a decision they made based on gut feeling. Yes, there were factors that went into that gut feeling, but the Trumpholes aren’t always consciously aware of them.
Bigotry was just one of the factors that went into that process, but that’s like saying arsenic was just one of the ingredients in this cake.
Jessie, yes, that’s true. I’m aware of that, and while I often do take the time to be aware of what they say, my issue with this post is being labeled “intolerant”. It’s incorrect. If they are going to label me, they can take the time to do it accurately.
Asking a lot, I know.
Did you know it’s intolerant, when you step in dog shit, to scrape it from your shoe? It’s true! Tolerance is understanding why the dog shit is there, and what dog left it, and trying to understand that dog shit has a place in the universe, too. It’s intolerant to just wipe it off because doing so involves an implied value judgement!! Tolerant people take their shoe off and sniff at the shit sadly, to verify that it’s shit, then carefully and understandingly wipe it off.
Actually I’m incredibly tired of being called names by the Regressive party and have decided to start calling them names back.
And boy you have nailed it, their attitude is really strange. I was once having a conversation with a Regressive, and we were talking about racism. I explained that if anyone wanted to be a racist they could very well do it somewhere else far from me, and that people who spouted racist ideology were summarily booted from my house. I WILL NOT have that speech in my house. Her response was a very sarcastic, “Oh, that’s rich!” because apparently… she thought I was ***supposed to be tolerant of racism***. WTF??! The whole point of calling this behavior out is to shame the person doing it into better behavior.
And I guess that’s why their little fee-fees are being hurt: they are being called out on their shitty behavior and it is making them feel bad. Well guess what, Regressives? That’s the whole point. Being tolerant does NOT mean that you tolerate racism, for fuck sake! And if it makes you feel sad, QUIT BEING A RACIST. Ditto for all that other garbage the Regressive party has come to stand for.
This whole idea that we need to ‘understand’ Trump voters is the worst example of liberal spinelessness I’ve ever seen. It’s buying into the orangehole’s propaganda that he’s massively popular and beloved by the common man. It’s bullshit. We lost because of low turnout on the democrat side, not because of some massive surge on the republican side.
You wanna win? Rally our own base to show up at the polls. You wanna rally our base? Fight for actual progressive policies we support, stand firm against anything proposed by the administration we hate, and actually fucking listen to us instead of giving us the 800th lecture about how we need to reach out to those mythical Moderate Republicans.
“tolerance” would be a good collective noun for liberals.
Not sure what to do with “intolerance” then.
So let me get this straight.
Millions of people are tuning in to listen to Trump. They’re totally enthusiastic about him. What a guy.
Messages being heard loud and clear over a span of many months are:
-- Muslims are bad. Keep them out.
-- Mexicans are bad. Kick them out.
-- Black people are shit. Beat them up.
-- Women are nasty.
Liberals see this and call them racist. Hillary Clinton calls them deplorable.
Their response:
*Gasp!*
I can’t believe you called us racist! Now to get back at you for that we’re going to vote for the racist. If only you hadn’t called us racist for supporting a racist, we would have voted for Clinton instead. Our plan was to attend Trump rallies until November and then actually vote for Clinton. But you said “racist” so now we decided to attend the rallies and then vote for Trump.
“Tolerance” concerns things you may not like but choose to accept: I tolerate my neighbors’ barking dogs because they tolerate the barkage from this side of the fence.
I don’t “tolerate” my neighbors’ dark skin or lesbianism or whatev, because those things don’t cause me any problems.
Pierce:
Well, no. Tolerate means you permit or allow something, it does not mean you accept it in any way.
I don’t know.
Maybe there’s also a difference between action and reaction.
For example, I obviously don’t allow bigoted shit in my home. I don’t tolerate it. If somebody makes such a remark they get told to stop it. It-äs a reaction.
Non acceptance is more becoming active. I cannot accept bigotry therefore I actively work against it.
No, tolerance isn’t acceptance. It’s more a willingness to have one’s patience tried in a situation where you don’t have much choice about it. For example, I might tolerate someone’s racist remarks -- maybe we’re in a small closed space and this person is really angry and three times bigger than I am. I’m sure as hell not accepting their remarks, but I will tolerate them for my own safety.
Saad
Well if you hadn’t called them racist, they wouldn’t have to act all racist to uh prove you… dang.