Sound Politics Public Blog: Tolerant and Open Minded

August 22, 2007

Tolerant and Open Minded

Okay, so this is going to be a total rant because I am seriously annoyed. Now I was just riding home on the bus, innocently minding my own business when this woman starts talking to her group of friends behind me, loudly I might add. No big deal, right? Wrong. Well first she starts in about how Seattle is awesome, then she somehow starts talking about liberals and how happy she is to be one. She goes on and on about that for a while then starts in on how liberals are so much better than conservatives because liberals are so "tolerant" and "open minded". She then goes on to say how she hates all conservatives and won't associate with them because they're "lower" than she is. She states that in fact hates conservatives SO much that she thinks they need to be "rounded up and executed" or, better yet, "put into concentration camps like the Jews were" especially those "dirty Christian ones". Need I even say WTF?! How the fuck does that even work? For those who don't know here are some definitions for you care of dictionary.com...

tol·er·ant (t--l'?r-?nt) Pronunciation Key
adj.
1. Inclined to tolerate the beliefs, practices, or traits of others; forbearing.

o·pen-mind·ed /--o?p?n--ma?nd?d/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[oh-puhn-mahyn-did] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
-adjective
1. having or showing a mind receptive to new ideas or arguments.
2. unprejudiced; unbigoted; impartial.

So how does it work that she is SO liberal and therefore SO tolerant and SO open minded when she proclaims to hate all conservatives and Christians so badly that she wants them executed (aren't liberals proudly against executions/death penalty?) or put into concentration camps? In case you were curious it is not "tolerant" or "open minded" to only be willing to accept people who believe exactly what you do (see above definitions). Lady I hope you don't read the sign that says "Do Not Cross In Front of The Bus" and get run over on your way home.

This does however bring up a bigger annoyance for me, now I know this lady was probably somewhat special in her proclamation but I am not sure how special. I have to say that it has been my experience that liberals are the least "tolerant" and "open minded" people that I meet. They tend to prescribe to the idea that their belief is the tolerant and open minded one and anyone who believes otherwise is clearly intolerant and closed minded so therefore they are right and anyone who believes differently is wrong. So basically if you believe exactly what they believe you're all good, in the clear... however if you disagree and believe something else you're somehow evil... doesn't that go against the whole "tolerant" and "open minded" thing? (See above definitions) So what? As long as we all believe the exact same thing THEN we're tolerant and open minded? Yeah, thanks John Lennon but I don't want a cookie cutter society I think Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion are pretty damn good things. There are a lot of people out there who believe things that I don't agree with, but I do agree that they have the right to believe it and to express that belief in their own way (as long as it doesn't hurt someone) whether it's how they dress, how they worship, or how they vote and I believe that I have that exact same right. That is tolerance and open mindedness, not all agreeing but all being able to express themselves in a good way. I get so sick of hearing the words "tolerance" and "open minded" because honestly I think most people who use them don't even know what they really mean.

Posted by GirlofNight at August 22, 2007 07:17 PM | Email This

Comments

1. imagine...if John Lennon hadn't beaten his first wife, Cynthia.

Posted by: cryptometaphor on August 22, 2007 09:42 PM

2. GirlofNight: the only thing exceptional about your story is that you seem to be shocked by any of this. :-) Seriously, I run into "open-minded" people like that all the time. It's pathetic. I am far more tolerant than the overwhelming majority of liberals that I know. I am not bragging here, it's just a fact. I do not despise people (or even look down on them in any way) for being liberal, or socialist, or atheist; many of them despise me for being conservative, or capitalist, or religious.

Posted by: pudge on August 23, 2007 07:51 AM

3. There's a lot more going on inside that "tolerant" liberal woman than even SHE realizes.

Posted by: Michele on August 23, 2007 12:52 PM

4. There's a lot more going on inside that "tolerant" liberal woman than even SHE realizes

Or, a lot LESS as shown by the evidence!

Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on August 23, 2007 02:59 PM

5. I worked for nearly 5 years in the Central District at a fitness facility. Virtually the entire clientele and staff were liberals,(what a shock). Outside of a couple staff members no one knew I was a conservative. When you work around these people the worst thing you can do is express contrary political opinions. Liberals are not nice people when you don't go along with their nonsense,(try expressing your opinion on Horesesass.org if you don't believe me). I experienced the kind of talk you described many, many times. When Bush won re-election in '04 you should have seen the temper tantrums. I think some of them actually went into therapy. I remember people saying that they would not go to Eastern Washington because there were too many conservatives there, (come to think of it, that's just one of the really nice things about Eastern Washington). These people are really something else. The ones that came in for yoga classes were the worst. You can't imagine a more self-centered, whiney, childish group of people. So much for "enlightenment".

In my personal life I was recently egged into a political discussion on line with an old friend after he called Bush a "troglydite", etc, etc,. When I shared my political opinion that unlike him I didn't believe Bush, Cheney, and Rove were about to impose a dictatorship his head exploded. My favorite comment was that he was "offended" that I had "labeled" him as a liberal. Go figure. It is literally impossible to have an honest difference of opinion with these people. I just sent him an e-mail and told him I'd take a pass on any further political discussion. Haven't heard from him since. I've probably been shunned. There is this huge group think on the left which makes their behavior very predictable. When I realized some years ago that I wasn't a liberal any more it was probably the most liberating moment of my life,(no pun intended).

Posted by: Bill Cruchon on August 23, 2007 04:12 PM

6. And don't get me started on the liberals definition of "diversity".

The P-I was drooling all over itself yesterday over the prospect that we might have a new City Council member that was either of hispanic decent, or asian/african-american. That, the P-I said would lend "diversity" to the Council.

Yup, there's nothing more diverse than a bunch of liberals.

Posted by: Bill Cruchon on August 23, 2007 05:34 PM

7. I had a somewhat similar experience before the last presidential election on an express bus to the northend. One person (who happens to work for the King County Finance division) got on the bus and started ranting about how Bush was a totalitarian dictator and that all our rights had been taken away.

Now, when I was a young child I was visiting family members in Spain during Franco's reign. I vividly remember my aunts talking in hushed voices about the government, but they did not dare to speak openly about their concerns.

So this guy thinks he lives in a totalitarian dictatorship and is yet spouting his disgust for the government openly on a bus full of people. Of course, since we were on the freeway he had to raise his voice. Did he honestly believe the crap he was spewing forth?

Anyways.....I don't ride the bus anymore because of idiots like this.....

Posted by: Michael H on August 26, 2007 11:19 AM

8. This thinking has infected the unwashed masses, the people who couldn't name their Congressperson to save their lives, more than anyone.
I've learned to be very careful in discussing my political beliefs with someone I just met. One too many times, I've said "I'm Republican" and gotten this body language: the head moves back an inch or so, the eyebrows raise imperceptibly, and blood seems to drain from the face." It's as if I just said that I was KKK, or I married my step-daughter (well, scratch that, I don't think Woody Allen is as reviled as Republicans).

Posted by: russell garrard on August 26, 2007 12:26 PM

9. Michael, it does always amaze me to hear lefties whine about how Bush has taken away their rights. I have yet to get any of them to be specific about just what rights have been taken away. These leftist kooks just spew this garbage that they hear from other leftists they know, and from the junk they read on Horesesass, Daily Kos, and the Huffington Post. If you try to actually get them to discuss facts, they will come unglued. What makes me crazy is that so many people buy into this garbage. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the liberal indoctrination factories that pass themselves off as our public schools.

Posted by: Bill Cruchon on August 26, 2007 12:36 PM

10. Bill you are dead right about Horsesass.com. I went on there once. They were talking about tainted toothpaste from China. One poster said something to the effect of "this is what you get under Bush and his deregulation." I responded that if Bush was the devil incarnate and running the govt, how can we trust govt to regulate our food & drugs. All hell broke loose. I got vile, obscentity-laced responses. Like W, I was alternately an utter moron and an E-Ville child-killer. One poster commanded me to stop posting on HA, so I did. Lee, a HA contributor did a write-up based on the exchange called 'Faith-based capitalism.' They couldn't figure out why they weren't getting any feed back from 'wing-nuts.'
I only go on now under a pseudonym, with hit-and-run posts only. No more back-and-forth until they have gotten a little older and mellower.

Posted by: russell garrard on August 26, 2007 12:58 PM

11. Oh yeah Russell. I have engaged those loonies at Horesesass on occasion. If you don't agree with them they call you names and throw the f-word at you constantly. A really mature and balanced group of people. My favorite response was from one of their resident nutcases who asked me if I "realized that this is a left wing website".

They won't get mellower with age. See my post above about my own interaction with an old friend. We are both in our 50's. You'd think he would have more sense by now, but I think lefties get loopier as they get older. It is such a constant thread with lefties. You either agree with them or they scream and yell at you. These people creep me out.

Posted by: Bill Cruchon on August 26, 2007 01:55 PM

12. Bill, I'm afraid if they don't get mellow with age, they're all going to give themselves strokes. 'Creep out' is apt. After my go-round at HA, I was in retrospect relieved when one of the posters ordered me off the site, since it gave me an excuse to end a discussion that hadn't quite fully run its course.
The funny thing is, I am pretty much 'social liberal,' and would sometimes be inclined to vote D, but there is no way I can cast a vote that would remotely support these loons.

Posted by: russell garrard on August 26, 2007 05:06 PM

13. " Bill, I'm afraid if they don't get mellow with age, they're all going to give themselves strokes. 'Creep out' is apt"

Are you talking about Sharansky's hysterical threats and trashing of a waitress? It sure fits.

Posted by: jojo on August 26, 2007 05:24 PM

14. jojo: ah, the all-important waitress/tip matter. I'm waiting until the studies are in on this. It is my understanding that Vincent Bugliosi is in talks to do a book about it.

Posted by: russell garrardr on August 26, 2007 07:09 PM

15. jojo, taking cheap shots with no facts to support what you say is what I expect from the left. You guys ain't got no class.

Posted by: Bill Cruchon on August 27, 2007 08:31 AM