Saturday, March 17, 2018

The Era of Contempt, Redux



     Never underestimate the key role that sexual panic plays in both American history and, alas, current events.  
     Whether it is a cause or an effect of our nation's endemic racism—probably both—I cannot say. But the reason races couldn't go to school together, or, even worse, share that swimming pool, was the unbearable prospect that your kids might fall in love with someone of a different race, do the nasty, causing ... oh, I don't know ... the universe to collapse upon itself, I suppose. And the reason those gays can't get married is, never forget, that their doing so just kicks the supports right out from under your own marriage. Bake a wedding cake for Brad and Steve one day, find yourself cruising the Halsted leather bars, entirely against your will, the next.
      So while I wouldn't directly credit recent advances in gay rights—particularly the unexpected, almost incredible advance of transgender Americans from shunned freaks to semi-accepted participants in the national story—with the staggering national embrace of the bolus of fraud, bullying and deceit that goes by the name Donald Trump, there must be a connection, as eloquently, if unintentionally conveyed by my new favorite reader, Alan P. Leonard of Tinley Park. 
     You might remember Mr. Leonard from last Saturday. His letter last week drew more than twice as many readers as anything else I've written over the past month. I share it now in the sincere hope that there are more to come. Frankly, I'd be a fool to offer up anything else, and if Mr. Leonard wants to continue to write to me, I will happily post his letters and split the profit I make from the blog on the days that he appears.
     This is even better than the Saturday Fun Activity, because I don't have to send out a prize to the lucky winner. Today, we all win. Enjoy.






18 comments:

  1. What frightens me is that there are so many people like Alan P. Leonard, who appear to exist in an alternate reality. We have got to rise up and vote the lunatics that Alan P. Leonard supports out of office this fall. Only then can this country begin to be healed and repaired from the immense damage that has been caused since November 8, 2016.

    ReplyDelete
  2. And that is such pretty and feminine stationery too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm beginning to wonder if you're being trolled.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It just seems too ridiculous to be real. Wishful thinking on my part, I suppose.

      Delete
  4. What strikes me about Mr. Leonard's letters is the colorful invective devoid of any rational basis. He criticizes national leaders not for their policies and principles, but for the way they look or the way he feels about them. I'm afraid we "haters" of Donald Trump & Co. fall into the same trap at times. Not to say that our host is one of those; his criticisms of the present administration are grounded in facts and history with just the right touch of invective to improve the taste. He hasn't hesitated to call President Obama and other Democratic leaders out when he thinks they're wrong and I'm sure he will be quick to praise President Trump if ever he does something right.

    john

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm just worried about how this guy will communicate if he ever runs out of his wife's flowery stationery.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think the girlish stationery must be a cry for help. Perhaps somebody would be so kind as to take Mr. Leonard to a leather bar and help him find his true self. But if he's just very old and demented, we probably shouldn't make fun of him.

    ReplyDelete
  7. That man is one sad, sad, nutter, made worse by the fact that he wrote all that silliness down, looked it over and figured, " Yep! That's just what Mr. Steinberg needs to see! Perfect!" The pretty stationary used by this supposed totally straight and narrow male is too precious as well. I agree, keep this gems coming, the giggle value is immense.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mr. Leonard, of course, diminishes himself with every word he writes. And the targets of his colorful insults are public figures, who have elected to live by the 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me' rule. One is tempted to regard him with pity, although on behalf of Lieutenant Colonel Duckworth, I would like to punch the son of a bitch in the mouth.

    Tom

    ReplyDelete
  9. This persistent and pathetic jamoke is the one who definitely needs "counciling"...especially about how to express himself. Heads-up, pal...when your rebuttals have been reduced to the level of "taking your meds" and "the meds aren't kicking in"...you've already lost the argument. As the old hippies liked to put it: "You're down to stems and seeds."

    Cheer up, NS...when you finally become a sixty-something in a couple more years, the ageist jibes will start to become more blatant. They'll be all about "changing your Depends" and "oiling your wheelchair" and "getting on your walker" (like bikers get on a Harley, I suppose)...and similar snarks. Perhaps you're already getting those, too, and just not letting on.

    These twisted sisters (and their benighted brothers) used to royally piss me off. Now the wingnuts tend to depress and sadden me. Perhaps we really have come a long way, baby, but it doesn't feel like it so much anymore...at least not since His Orangeness took control. We still have miles to go before we can sleep.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is typical of right-wing trolls who have no facts, only name-calling and Fox talking points they puke up like pablum. Sad.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Just a heads up, Neil. Most people like me prefer “transgender” as an adjective to “transgendered”. We didn’t transgender (as a verb) when we began presenting as our true selves—we transitioned.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I envy Alans legible printing and his....uh.....hmmm...no that's about it.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but the letters were too blurry for me to read, or perhaps my brain just outright rejected he poisonous stupidity.

    Alas, we would be far better off if the Mr. Leonard’s of the country were octagarian uneducated hicks, but I know far too many younger educated folks that should know better.

    ReplyDelete
  14. When I first read the sentence about listing a thousand seats, I misread elections as erections and thought, wow, this sent downhill fast.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are moderated, and posted at the discretion of the proprietor.