All readers know that the election didn't turn out the way I would have liked. I've thus far put up a couple of posts referencing the results; once I've caught my breath from the campaign season, I intend to put up a longer post with my thoughts about the outcome and what it means for the country. (As many of you are aware, my day job involves political polling and microtargeting on behalf of GOP candidates.)
Though I have strong partisan and ideological convictions, I am not a confrontational person by nature. As such, in addition to work for Republican candidates, I've been able to develop a strong "secondary" client base among left-leaning nonprofit organizations and foundations; they appreciate my insights, and the balance I bring to their research. In return, I have enjoyed the relationships I have built with them, and the opportunity to work on some important causes (not all of which I have agreed with).
Two months ago, I put up a post describing my first excursion into the fever swamps of the Far Left "net roots." Not a few readers of this blog are themselves left-of-center, and I appreciate the respectful tone they have always used in their comments and/or personal correspondence. But somehow or another, someone seems to have crawled out of those fever swamps and has taken it upon him/her self to tell me (and you) what they really think about this author. He/she seems to have gravitated toward my first post-election post, in which I jokingly speculated as to whether the liberals who had moved to Canada after the 2000 and 2004 elections might begin returning soon. I also joked about the rest of us trying to find Galt's Gulch before January 20th --- a literary allusion which seems to have gone over this person's head (as Galt's Gulch is decidedly not in Canada, but rather somewhere in the Rocky Mountains).
As this person did not leave an email or web address, it's impossible to verify his/her identity. But I will preserve his/her comment for the rest of you to get a good look at what crawls out of the fever swamps from time to time.
If you wish to criticize me or my ideas, please do so. I ask only that you be respectful of me and of those who take the time to comment on my posts. And leave my wife out of it. It may infuriate some of you that Mrs. Yeoman Farmer is a black conservative and did not vote for our current President-elect. You may disagree with her and my belief that these election results are good for neither blacks nor the country as a whole. Despite the highly personal investment in and commitment to racial equality that Mrs. Yeoman Farmer and our children have, I understand that others may have a different point of view. I ask only that you be as considerate and thoughtful in your commentary as I have been --- and always will be --- in writing these posts.
8 comments:
As one of the liberal readers of your blog (which I almost always enjoy, although I certainly sometimes disagree with your positions), I appreciate that you do not automatically consider that moron to be representative of my end of the political spectrum. We certainly have plenty of nuts, but I have yet to encounter a group of human beings (the Church included) that doesn't. Anyway, I'm sorry you were attacked that way. Please don't let it discourage you from continuing to write thoughtful posts.
but everything you stand for is hate, & you deserve to have your children taken away from you, creep
your :blog:" is amusing at best to liberals & an example to liberal christians as to how people go off the deep end, glad you're going to hell!
it's amusing, everything you stand for is hate, so how can you call anyone a hater?
Mrs. Yeoman farmer needs antipsychotics & so do those poor, poor children that live on the Stephen King farm...so sad
I understand your desire to leave Mrs. Yeoman Farmer out of it, but I for one would be fascinated to hear her perspective on Barack Obama's race. He is not, after all, descended from slaves like most African Americans; he is the child of a visiting African student and a white woman, and was raised by his middle-class white grandparents. It seems to me that portraying him as an "African American" has been a terrible fraud perpetrated on the American public.
Anonymous - thanks very much for your support. It is appreciated, and I'm glad you've enjoyed the blog.
Libertarian farmer - Interesting point about the "slave blood" issue, and Obama himself addressed it early in the campaign with something along the lines of "I certainly look black enough when I'm trying to catch a cab," etc. But this begs the question as to why blacks from Africa and the West Indies have been generally so much more successful than American blacks descended from slaves. As Thomas Sowell (who is himself a West Indian black) points out, American black culture is probably more to blame than discrimination for dispirate White-black outcomes today. And as you point out, Obama did not grow up in that culture.
But at this point, I am beginning to skate on thin ice. Mrs Yeoman Farmer, who has plenty of slave blood, is never shy about giving her opinion. I've been wanting to have her publish a post of her own on this issue, and on the election results generally. Your request is just the catalyst I needed.
So...stay tuned!
As a fellow progressive Catholic, I say a little prayer to the namesakes of Mary and John for a little more liberality of mind and heart.
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