While I agree with the late Tom Anderson, who said with a distinct Southern drawl, “Debating a liberal is as futile as putting talcum powder on a hog,” I occasionally do so. Not that I think that my reason and logic will change the mind of a liberal, but for others who may be reading or listening.
I recently had such a debate on a Facebook friend’s page:
John’s original post:
If Maine is not the worst state in the United States, it is damn close to it!
Stephen (The “Liberal”)
You want cheaper taxes? You old fart? Go live in a republican state! You will have a couple extra dollars in your pocket! But don’t ask for healthcare, education! Free rides to and from medical appointments! or meals on wheels! You will have to call trump for that kind of emotional support!!
Hal Shurtleff
Stephen:
Free people don’t need “free rides” supplied by the government or inferior government healthcare or government schools that have become nothing more than far-left indoctrination centers.
Stephen
Hal Shurtleff: the irony is!! it appears to me? that you’re the one that has been indoctrinated by the right!!!! and I hope you have plenty of money because when you hit 70 something years old, you can barely walk. Maybe you’re using a cane or a walker your kids are grown. Don’t call you!! because you’re right Wingnut job. You’re really going to appreciate things like Meals on Wheels! Because that’ll be the only contact you have with people!! if you have no money and nobody that cares about you.
Hal Shurtleff
Stephen Thank you for your profound reply. Name calling always helps your case. You leftists are so brilliant.
Stephen
Hal Shurtleff: if your idea of indoctrination is schools teaching things like? racial diversity, inclusion protect the environment! those kinds of things? Those issues seem pretty important to me and we should start young with our children so that their world is a better place to live when they’re older.
Hal Shurtleff
Stephen: Racial Diversity: Hate whitey. Inclusion: All but conservative people of faith. Environment: We are all going to burn up unless we give total power to the government.
Stephen
Hal Shurtleff do people who have no vehicle? need rides?
Hal Shurtleff
Stephen: Do you expect me to pay for your rides?
Stephen:
Hal Shurtleff: if you make enough money? Yes!!
Hal Shurtleff
Stephen:
It works like this: Unscrupulous people promise to provide you free rides to the liquor store if you vote for them. They get elected and pass laws to buy an electric vehicle to take you and people like you to the liquor store. But in order to pay for the electric vehicle, maintain it, and hire people that will drive you and people like you, they need money. So, they pass laws forcing me and people like me whom you not only hate, but have been encouraging others to hate, to pay for all of this. The law is proposed and people who sell, build, and drive eclectic vehicles as well as those in the liquor industry lobby to pass the bill.
The bill has a clause that reads “failure to pay the tax that takes Stephen and others like him to the liquor store is not only a felony but a hate crime.” When the elected officials discover that I refuse to pay the tax, they send out people with guns to arrest me or shoot me. You and people like you, get your free rides, and the unscrupulous people you voted for not only get reelected but pass other onerous laws. In a free market, a ride to the liquor store could have been provided to you for a small amount of money but now costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. You call it social justice. I call it communism.
Hal Shurtleff
Stephen: Why is it right for people you hate to be forced to pay for your rides to the liquor store? And who determines if I make enough money? And how to you take this money from me?
Stephen:
Hal Shurtleff: who said the liquor store? I said doctors appointments. I never said liquor stores! And I never brought up Electric cars? You ok Hal? Little dementia kicking in?
Hal Shurtleff
Stephen: Lefties have no sense of humor unless it is put down humor.
Hal Shurtleff
Stephen: Good for you. More insults. That will show me. You can always ask Bernie Sanders for a ride. He is a multimillionaire. Or you can ask some local Maine socialists elected officials for a free ride. They know that they will be reelected. So, they don’t care about you, but you will still vote for them. They will be happy to voice solidarity with you, denounce the greedy doctors who must be MAGA, and Uber drivers and happily pass more restrictive laws to make practicing medicine and driving people more expensive. Or maybe you can ask some folks at the local church that have a ministry that takes people in need to their appointments. But don’t go to the churches with the Rainbow, Transgender and Black Lives Matter flags flying in front of them. Their members are far too busy lobbying governments to raise taxes, restrict free speech and do what their churches used to do before they went “woke.”
Another option is taking the free market approach. There is a need, and the free market can meet that need. Your doctor could reach out to other physicians and maybe start a service to get patients who don’t drive to their appointments. Or maybe organize a volunteer group to do it. But because you are a socialist at heart and hate people who don’t agree with your worldview, you choose to make nasty posts on Facebook.
Note: I did not make any corrections to Stephen’s typos.
Editor: Originally published with the incorrect byline. This has been corrected.
We’d like to thank Hal Shurtleff for this Op-Ed. As a reminder, authors’ opinions are their own and may not represent those of Grok Media, LLC, GraniteGrok.com, its sponsors, readers, authors, or advertisers. Submit Op-Eds to steve@granitegrok.com
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