The Big Recap
And then, as if by magic, I returned.
Big goin’s on since my last blog appearance. Charlie Kirk happened. Or ceased to happen, really. I commented on this and got my ass dragged by all kinds of Kirk apologists across social media, some of whom turned out to be friends, acquaintances, family members – all of whom wasting no time scolding me as if I was an errant child before an elder and a better, instructing me to find it within myself to “be a better person” and maybe exercise a little empathy for a man who eschewed it, for his wife who’s used her husband’s murder as a tool to garner the ever-broadening, glittering, pyrotechnic-framed attention of her and Charlie’s supporters, accompanied by “Tammy Faye Bakker” false tears and hug after hug after hug and more hugs. “It’s for the children,” they tell us. “It’s for the children.” We grift for the children.
Not being one to enjoy being scolded, I nodded, said, “You’re absolutely right,” and immediately unfriended or outright blocked the apologists invading spaces like my Facebook page. A couple of ‘em beat me to it. If you listen closely, you can still hear me shrugging in response. I’m minus one crazy MAGA dude on the hell-bend to harass friends and followers in the comments section and one angry niece who most-likely never knew what Kirk was about, and- Why is it incumbent on me to offer my “thoughts and prayers” and bend knee for those I neither support nor feel sorry for them that they’d died by the same sword they wielded? That’s on them – not me. “But – the children!” And I went on to explain that my prayers are between God and me. Why is it so important for some to see that certain phrase, there in the comments section, the ol’ “thoughts and prayers”? Know why some get so messed-up over seeing and hearing those words? Because they’re empty offerings made for optics. They look good, they look pithy or are supposed to… But, once said, those saying them as well as those hearing them often meander off as if all’s been handled and it’s not. By all means, though, if you’d like to offer your public condolences to whomever under whatever circumstance, knock yourself out. That’s your business. Mine is with the Lord.
“But, you’ve offered your condolences for so-and-so in the past… What about that?”
I guess that’s just something you’ll have to wrack your brain on.
“So, why can’t you just-”
Again, how do you know I haven’t? Why do I have to make some kind of public declaration for your benefit?
“Because of the children!”
Yeah. I don’t think they’re reading this.
“One day, they might!”
I would wager that, on that day, they’d likely be old-enough to understand anyone’s disagreement with their parents’ ideology. Or to start down the difficult path toward that end.
An estranged sibling also chastised me for failing to drop at the altar of Kirk. Which was an odd flex, coming from someone who publicly swings to the left, even posting photos of blue baseball caps embroidered with the wording, “Make America Gavin America,” and memes indicating that no person is an illegal person.
“Be a better person,” she admonished. I don’t believe that, at the time, she even knew who Charlie Kirk was – certainly not what he was about. If I’m wrong about either, she’s- A bit of a hypocrite and I can’t abide that – any more than I can abide bigots, misogynists, or xenophobes. I truly loathe self-professed “Christians” who embrace white nationalist Christianity, something that isn’t Christianity at all. Turning Point USA – the Kirks’ organization – is, I assure you, not a Christian organization but a hate group. Anyone supporting it supports the Kirks’ ideology, thus must have a similar ideology, which I sure as fuck cannot abide. I dunno if the poor lady was just confused or what, but she certainly joined in on lighting me up, that week, publicly on the Internet – and quite condescendingly – so next came me, opening the trapdoor beneath her feet and waving “buh-bye” as she disappeared into the ether.
Look; I don’t mind anyone disputing me. I just can’t handle condescension and ignorance. There are many in my social media “friends” lists across the various platforms who don’t agree with me on everything or precious little and I the other way around. Thing is, they didn’t groove into my living room and take a shit on my coffee table before exiting with a door slam. My hope that, one day, something I post might just enlighten them and bring them to the light. Consequently, it’s their hope that something they post might do the same for me, insofar as convincing me as to their points of view. I dunno. If I had the answers, I’d be Grand Poobah of the gaddamned Universe by now, instead of writing blog posts in my underwear.
