"Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; . . The worst are full of passionate intensity."
“Let’s go, Brandon,” was the cleaned up version.
It is hard to know whether we are seeing genuine anger. Maybe it is simply strategy. People want attention, so they use shocking, in-your-face language will gain it. They are fighting words intended to show their disrespect. We win, you lose. There isn't a lot of it, but it is around--especially in rural areas and on pickup trucks.
I received the commentary below from an Ashland, Oregon resident who has not yet been hardened into the new reality of political language. "Don't use my name," he said. He had an up-close experience. He wanted to describe his feelings, but he doesn't want to fight about it.
Guest Post by Anonymous
A few days ago, I drove into Medford to visit a friend. As I turned onto Crater Lake Highway from the I-5 off-ramp, I noticed this bumper sticker plastered across the rear window of the Acura SUV in front of me. In big bold letters it read:
FUCK YOUR VACCINES
FUCK YOUR FEELINGS
The driver was a middle-aged woman with tattoos on her arms. Living in Ashland, I don’t get to see this type of thing very often. I know I live in a bubble. I jokingly refer to my town as “The People’s Republic of Cosmic Healing.”
The bumper sticker had what I suspect was its intended effect – I was shocked. It reminded me of how insular my world has become. I had worked in a conservative industry before retiring – financial services. Most of the people I dealt with were Republicans, as you might expect in that field. Most were good people, folks you would want as your neighbors – responsible, polite, intelligent. Most, I suspect, voted Republican for economic reasons – low taxes and minimal regulation. Some were strongly anti-abortion. But we were all in business together and needed to get along and respect one another.
I had a very good client, Dave, who was very well read. He idolized Ronald Reagan. He would periodically send me links to conservative thinkers. It never occurred to me to similarly send him the works of progressive writers. The desire to proselytize was a one-way street. In 2008 things began to change. He started sending me more vitriolic emails, aimed at his new target, Barack Obama. The vitriol got more and more wicked. It never crossed into overtly racist, but I found it very off-putting. I didn’t respond to them – I deleted them.
Once. Dave and I got together for dinner with our wives. As he steered the conversation to politics, my wife said: “Dave, we know that if your family had an emergency, we would be there for you (in fact, we had been), and we know that you would be there for us. Let’s agree to disagree about politics and nurture our friendship.” But Dave could not let it go and the political emails continued.
So, in 2016 when Trump was elected, I thought – Well, what’s good for the goose. . . . – and sent him a political cartoon lampooning Trump. His reaction was over the top angry and defensive. The psychological term is “over-determined response.” I realized that I had hit a nerve – not just about politics. Since then, I get annual birthday emails, no doubt generated by his sales software, but for all intents and purposes, our friendship is over. He was my last conservative friend.
Our society is becoming more and more fragmented into two tribes – Conservative and Progressive: Republican and Democrat. My personal experience verifies this for me. I know that unless we can find common ground and talk to one another respectfully the bifurcation will not heal.
But I am at a loss. And although I know that I “should” feel empathy for people who are so angry, or perhaps, so threatened by our changing society that they feel the need to plaster their cars or front yards with “FUCK BIDEN” or “FUCK KATE BROWN” or the like, I’m finding it difficult to generate that empathy. The anger on the other side is palpable and threatening.
The best I can do most days is to feel sadness, but to paraphrase the bumper sticker, which put it so concisely,
FUCK MY FEELINGS
I think for the most part these people are more tribal than anything. They have always been there. Don't forget when you and I were teens and young men, liberals and particularly "hippies" were very much in the minority. As the pop culture of the 60s became more popular the conservatives started dressing, acting, and pretending to be part of it to be accepted.. After all "free love" the clothes, the girls, the weed, and rock and roll what's not to like. Being a working musician, I got to watch all of this transition from the stage. All of a sudden everyone had long hair, fringe, and Prairie dresses and were ready for protesting just about anything because it was a cool thing to do. As the seventies wound down and EST and the Human Potential Movement took hold all of the faux hippies returned to their conservative roots and were screaming "show me the money" tanning, bronzing, and becoming real estate moguls. Everyone became entitled whether they deserved it or not. There were others who didn't fit into the liberal world or the mogul world and were mostly quiet until Reagan brought nationalism to the forefront and there was a waiting audience that was ready, willing, and did become the target. The GOP found these disenfranchised people and played on their limited education and social awareness and desire to belong. Gave them some touchstones in abortion, religion, race, and guns..They told them they were patriots and that their way of life (being white) was being threatened. They were told that if they believed in any of the touchstones they had the to defend them all. Weakness is a sin. When Obama was elected their worst nightmare became true. Black people could be president, women were smarter than men (Hillary) and LGBT were coming for their children to make them gay.
Conservatives are scared, terrified, but they now have a team. And they are armed. Their team is based in fear and particularly in hate. But the “deplorables” have been named and are emboldened by the moniker and the anonymity of the internet. Slogans like “Lets Go Brandon” is comical, but for them, it means owning the libs. They mark their trucks and post “fuck the Libs”on Marketplace, hats and social media pages, which is great. It’s like a bell around the cat's neck… we get to hear and see them coming..
I’m an older father, 69, my children are 16 and 23 brilliant kids with full-ride scholarships and bright futures. They are particularly social media, politically, historically, savvy, and concerned about the future and the people of the world. I get to see them through “boomer” eyes. They see the future and they have a better idea. We may not see it in our lifetimes, but it’s coming. Until then all we can do is laugh at them and hope they don’t shoot our children.
There are plenty of F*ck Trump bumper stickers, tweets, and Facebook posts as well. Unfortunately, there are so many classless people on both sides of the political spectrum. I am left leaning, but was horrified at the foul language an vitriol directed at Medford City Councilman Kevin Stine when he voted to keep the greenway clear from camping during the summer for the fire season.
He and other councilors had to have a police escort when they left the council meeting to keep them safe from the hate of the far left protestors. Fortunately, most of us run in circles where people, like the work place of this guest blogger, are polite and respectful to each other.