Steven E. Wedel

Dark, soulful tales that haunt long after the last page.

Republican babies on coat hangers


Despite my strong political leanings to the right, I’m a pretty easy-going guy. Take this blog, for instance. I’ve been “friending” anyone who did the same for me and I actually read their blogs, or at least scan them. I have no problem reading some of the far-left wacko stuff. I like being exposed to ideas different than my own.

So the decision to dump a “friend” for something he wrote the other day wasn’t something I relished. Mind you, this is somebody I don’t actually know. I won’t give his name or his username here. He regularly would post pretty hateful messages about the Republican party in general, President Bush in particular, etc. etc. But in a pro-abortion tirade late last week he said he hoped the children of all Republicans died on the end of coat hangers during illegal abortions.

Well, that’s just too fucking much. As a Republican with children, I took that personally and dumped him. Maybe he hasn’t dumped me yet. Maybe he’ll see this and realize he went too far. Maybe he’ll actually care that he went too far. Maybe not.

I know this guy doesn’t represent the mainstream Democrats. He’s the left-wing equivalent of Jerry Falwell. I know that. But I still find it incredibly ironic that somebody who defends everything the Democrats do and who thinks the Republicans are sponsoring murder in Iraq is calling for my children to die on coat hangers. Fuck you, buddy.

I actually had other stuff to say here, but now I’m too pissed off again.

Steven E. Wedel

16 responses to “Republican babies on coat hangers”

  1. cheryl7 Avatar
    cheryl7

    Whoever this person is, he has to be one pretty sick individual to make such a disgusting, twisted, comment.

    Reply
  2. jlassen Avatar
    jlassen

    Going too far.
    People are dying every day. Republican, and Democrats alike. And I am filled with a helpless, hopeless rage that no matter what I do or say, nothing will change that people are dying, and being killed in my name.
    Further, the rhetoric I use in my blog is mild, compared to what the likes of right wing pundits use on national television on a regular basis. If the tenor and tone of my rhetoric is troubling, look to those who have drug it down to the gutter.
    Finally, I am glad that you were offended, because me goal was to get you (and everybody) to think about the woman/children who will be hurt and many who will probably die, when the radical right wing agenda is pushed through. You children. My children. Our families.
    No… I don’t want to see anyone die. Yes, I want EVERYONE to wake up and realize the reality behind the rhetoric(be it the abortion debate, or the Iraq war, or whatever). When I am forced to confront the utter banality, and small minded evilness that permeates the body politic today (like the proposed bill that I mentioned in the entry that offended you), I use my blog as a release. If this release is not something you care to read on a regular basis, that’s fine.
    But understand where my venom is coming from — a very human compassion that is being crushed beneath the wheels of a radical, hateful political/theological movement. I love my country and I’m fighting for it, and everything I was taught to value.
    Over the last 4 years, I have been spit at, called unpatriotic, and told to leave my country – that there is no place for me here. My sisters life has been threatened by these same people. And I have turned the other cheek each time. Why have these things been done to me? For having compassion for my fellow human beings. For daring to say the emperor has no clothes.
    I’m angry and I’m desperate, and each day I struggle to not give into the hate and despair and fear that seems to grip my fellow citizens.
    Peace.

    Reply
    1. jlassen Avatar
      jlassen

      Re: Going too far.
      PS
      I hardly “defend everything the Democrats do”. That is a horrible mischaracterization that *I* find offensive. I down-right DESPISE most things that the democrats do.

      Reply
    2. sewedel Avatar
      sewedel

      Re: Going too far.
      I won’t get into a debate about which party is better. Obviously we won’t agree on that. What I will point out is that I’ve never spat on anybody, never pushed my religion on anybody and never told anybody I have the authority to be sure they’re going to hell for their actions or beliefs. And yet I was included in your blanket statement wishing death to my children.
      Oklahoma typically is second only to Texas in the number of convicted criminals executed. And yet, we never seem to have the public acts of intolerance you describe.
      I have to come online to find that kind of hatred. And, as I’ve written here before, it almost always comes from people on the left. People who are part of the “creative class” of writers, artists, etc. People who are supposed to be open-minded and peace-loving. They seem to be the first I see calling for physical violence against those they disagree with. They’re the first to say those with differing views are stupid or “knuckle-dragging Bible-thumpers,” to quote a recent liberal editorial.
      If somebody spits on you or damns you, I don’t have any problem with you spewing venom about that person. But when you get too general and your blanket statements include me and especially my children, that’s too much.
      I’ve been spat on once, by a young black girl who thought my employer was keeping unchaperoned children out of the grocery store in an effort to keep just black kids out. But you don’t see me saying all blacks should be skinned alive. Nor all females or all children. (Looking back, I don’t even wish any ill on that specific girl.) That’s irrational. That’s the kind of rhetoric one might expect from one of those Columbine High School shooters.
      I can support people with differing opinions, but not people who make such hurtful and outlandish statements about a huge segment of the population that hasn’t done anything to him.

      Reply
      1. jlassen Avatar
        jlassen

        Re: Going too far.
        My frustration is that while you may be perfectly rational and well intentioned, your support of the Republican Party leads to very dangerous policies — policies that lead to unnecessary and preventable death and misery. My statement held YOU accountable for your vote, and your political party.
        My statement was to try and point out the cause and effect between “moderate” republicans who ally themselves with the likes of Jerry Falwell for political gain. The radicals would not be in power right now if moderate republicans actually stood up for moral/Christian values, instead of the values of hate and intolerance that the far right use. Please note, I know from personal experience that not all republicans are whackos, and that only a small percentage of Christians are of the hateful radical variety… but when you sleep with dogs, be ready to get sprayed with flea repellent.
        Was my statement effective? Was it a carefully chosen piece of rhetoric. No. it was one of anger… because while you may not spit on me, you support those who do. Worse (because this was never about me) you support those who’s radical agenda is destroying our country, and who’s policies will, and have lead to unnecessary deaths.
        You’ve said you’ve never heard bile and hatred come from the right? You must not watch or read the news: Anne Coulter has called for terrorists to blow up the New York times building. Have you stopped listening to, or watching cable/broadcast/newspaper news outlets that continue to spew her hateful propaganda, and other’s like it?
        Sorry. There’s a double standard here. Anyway, I don’t want to get in a fight. I’m just trying to get you have a little bit of empathy for the people who’s lives are going to be impacted by the polices of your political party. It could be one of our children getting that baseball bat…
        If you are indeed a moderate, please do what you can do stop the pervasive influence of hateful radical republicans like Tom Daschel, Rich Sorrantum, and the many other prominent leaders (who are far more radical then the Reverand Jerry Falwell, btw) that are used as red meat to turn out the far right of your party.
        Somewhere along the line, the tale began wagging the elephant. And until you recognize that, and take back your party, and make it a truly conservative, moral party, you will continue to be part of the problem.
        Peace

        Reply
        1. the_new_low Avatar
          the_new_low

          Re: Going too far.
          Well, and then there is this:
          If anyone was actively going to see to it that my, or Steven’s children, for that matter, (regardless of political sect) die on the end of coat hanger during a illegal abortion, I would fucking hunt them down and fucking kill them.
          Or die trying.
          It’s one thing for someone to choose to have an abortion. It’s another to wish such a thing on other’s loved ones who simply don’t deserve such brash and disgusting judgement.
          No matter how they fucking choose to vote.
          jlassen made a bold and daring statement and regardless of his ability to spin what is in his mind, a plausible debate, he’s become the epitome of what he hates and is blanket statement offended me, greatly as well.

          Reply
          1. jlassen Avatar
            jlassen

            Re: Going too far.
            “Anyone was actively going to see to it that [children] die on the end of a coat hanger… I would fucking hunt them down and fucking kill them”
            Who’s actively seeing to the death of children at the end of coathangers? Me, who wants to keep abortions safe and legal and easily attainable for those who choose to have the, or the Republican party(and those who support it, regardless of their views on Abortion), which is actively trying to make them difficult to get/illegal. Physician heal thyself… Go hunt some republican anti-abortion candidates…
            As for being the epitome of what I hate… I’ll play the “Modest Proposal” card, and leave it at that. Shout out to , for the reference, and for the comparison to Swift.

            Reply
    3. shawn_scarber Avatar
      shawn_scarber

      I don’t understand how one girl stupid enough to have her boyfriend hit her with a baseball bat serves as an example of why we shouldn’t have parental consent laws. Quite the opposite in my opinion.
      I’m a civil libertarian. I understand what civil rights are and waht having them means. Our society has set eighteen as the magic age, whether that’s accurate or not, it’s the way we enforce our laws and recognize when a person has truly become and adult, or is a rational person.
      Rational people should have the right to make any decision they wish about their bodies and engage in voluntary actions with other rational individuals (we have far too many laws that interfere with this freedom), but it should be even clearer that a girl at the age of sixteen isn’t quite at the point of rational thinking. Especially if she thinks a baseball bat to the stomach is the best way to abort her child. And don’t try and give me the argument that it was the only option she had, because that’s bullshit – the problem is that the girl was just stupid. There are stupid people in the world and they normally do stupid things. It is one of the few constants in the universe.
      Most states provide places where people can drop off their newborns (within three days of birth) with no questions asked, yet they still throw them out the window. What law could be put in place to keep that from happening? Which political party do we need to blame for people who throw their newborn baby out the window? Are we to set every law in our nation based on what the lowest common denominator might do to hurt themselves? Should we just turn over all our rights and decision making to the pigs? Four legs good, two legs bah-ah-ah-ah-d.

      Reply
      1. jlassen Avatar
        jlassen

        So you’d fall into the the “no empathy” catagory then. Thanks for playing.

        Reply
        1. shawn_scarber Avatar
          shawn_scarber

          Thanks for playing. Anytime.

          Reply
  3. marieofroumania Avatar
    marieofroumania

    Only a man, and a terribly unenlightened one at that, would make that kind of statement.

    Reply
    1. jlassen Avatar
      jlassen

      My statement, or his? 🙂 sorry. I’m sure you mean mine, but I just wanted to make sure.

      Reply
      1. marieofroumania Avatar
        marieofroumania

        Damn it, I fucked up. I was meaning it tongue in cheek thinking that was your entry. Like, I was making a sweeping, all-encompassing statement and saying only unenlightened people would make across the board statements… ugh, I tried to make a joke and it fell really, really super flat. uhhhhhh
        Please, Jer, accept my apologies, and whomever you are whose journal I am clogging up with my bad jokes, accept my apologies too.

        Reply
        1. sewedel Avatar
          sewedel

          Please clog away! I don’t mind. It’s fun to stir things up sometimes just to see who’s reading.
          My name’s Steve, by the way. I’m an author and former newspaper journalist/columnist turned PR whore. I see you’re in the news biz. I loved it, but couldn’t support a family on a reporter’s salary. Enjoy it! There’s nothing like the rush of breaking a story.

          Reply
          1. marieofroumania Avatar
            marieofroumania

            Hi Steve! I’m Brooke, and I love writers.
            I tried to do PR and couldn’t hack it. So, kudos!
            And I agree. I’m married to my job because nothing compares to that rush.
            Talk soon!

            Reply
  4. lossrockhart Avatar
    lossrockhart

    Y’know, intelligent discourse tends to be a better move than taking your bat and ball and heading home with them. Give it a shot sometime.
    I took the original poster’s statement as an emotional comparison of extreme cases and nothing more. I’m sure there is no actual desire on the poster’s part to see your children impaled “on the end of coat hangers during illegal abortions.” It was a kneejerk reaction to bad legislation on one hand and an individual’s fear-based bad decision on the other. Call it Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” dumbed-down for the diatribe-ripe Internet.
    These days, there’s vitriol a-plenty flowing from both sides of the aisle. It’s hard not to jump to emotional extremes from time to time. In all seriousness, can you really blame otherwise peace-loving liberals for feeling like punching someone (or worse) in light of this administration’s activist and destructive agenda regarding reproductive rights, labor, and the environment?
    On the other hand, keep pushing, and you’ll eventually see tree-huggers detonating themselves in crowded Wal-Marts. Kaboom!

    Reply

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