Elisberg Industries
Decent Quality Since 1847
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like

The Dittohead Journals

11/4/2014

2 Comments

 
I have a far-right ditto head friend I've mentioned here on occasion.  After years of him sending me emails filled with lunatic articles that other people have written, a while back I finally felt pounded enough and told him not to send me of those articles any more.  It wasn't that I didn't want to hear from him anymore -- quite the contrary -- in fact I said that was the point.  I wanted to hear from him.  Not other people's opinions.  I wanted to hear what he thought and why.  But when he sends me other people's opinions, I said, I not only don't know his thoughts, but I can't argue with these other third-person people.  They're just words on a page.  Whenever he had something to tell me about what he thought, I looked forward to hearing it.

He's done pretty good about not sending me articles since then, though the other day -- I guess with the election nearing -- he sent me a cartoon that had "no doubt the greatest caption ever."  I don't know if it was the greatest caption ever, or if there was some doubt, since I didn't read it.  But I did read his own note (which refers in part to his brother and a friend, who are both liberal) and responded to it.

What he wrote was --
Couldn’t resist sending you this.  It’s not an article so I thought it was ok!  Too bad the Democrats are going to take a terrible beating this Tues because people get that this is the worst president ever. (even my brother and Mark now agree!  Too bad there were some otherwise decent Dem. candidates who will be dragged down in a storm of voter anger over electing this very competent community organizer to a job way above his ability.   


Hope you're well.
And this is what I responded --

Well, if even your brother and Mark agree, then it must be so…

I do get it that you hate Barack Obama, but please, just please, let’s at least be serious and start from a position of fairness and reality.  I read a breadth of news, and this includes reading what actual historians write who actually have an objective sense of what they study professionally as their careers.  And here’s a link to a survey reported in U.S. News and World Report from Siena College covering 238 Presidential scholars.  The title is – “Survey Ranks Obama 15th Best President, Bush Among Worst.”

But if you hate Barack Obama, so be it.  Your choice.  Much as it’s convenient, though, to forget George W. Bush, and forget that he ignored warnings that lead to the U.S. being attacked and 3,000 people dying, and that he used lies to start a 10-year war that resulted in 4,500 Americans dying and 150,000 civilian casualties, and overseeing the economic crash of the U.S. economy, reality shows that Barack Obama has (in actual fact) lowered the unemployment rate from 7.8%  when he took office down to 5.9%, and the budget deficit has actually shrunk every year since he took office – as reported here by the conservative Wall Street Journal, and their chart below.   (It begins, “The U.S. government’s budget deficit narrowed in its 2014 fiscal year to its lowest level in six years, as an improving economy boosted tax revenues,”  dropping below the “pre-recession levels” he faced after being handed the massive deficit from George Bush crashing the economy.)
Picture
That’s reality.  Those are actual, objective facts.  The deficit has LOWERED every year.  There’s a lot more, but I’ll leave it at that.
 
Honest, I really do get it that you hate Barack Obama.  Really.  But your hatred does not make facts.  For instance, Republicans hated Obama so much they kept insisting it would destroy the country, but reality shows from this Commonwealth Fund health-care poll that 75% of Republicans today say they are satisfied with the coverage they’re getting.  (In fact, 44% of Republicans say they are “very satisfied”!)   Hatred simply does not make something so.   Feel free to pass this along to your brother and Jim Abrahams.  As for what happens this Tuesday, the party in office ALWAYS loses seats.  But let’s wait to see the results before we re-define “terrible beating.”

Anyway, things are fine, and I hope the same with you.  



I won't go into the exchange that followed.  It would likely make your heads explode, and not only would I not want to do that to such fine folks, but I fear the result would risk creating a Black Hole.  Suffice it to say, that his second reply to this began -- and I swear this is true --

"PART OF MY ANGER (EMOTION) IS THAT I FEEL THAT THE LEFT IS DESPICABLE"

And yes, it was all in caps.

I'm not quite sure how he expected me to react, but if it was anything other than believing that such a statement is somewhat divisive to the concept of communication, he'd have been mistaken...

I actually did my best to write a polite response, though I have no doubt that someone who begins by writing the above probably would have a big hurdle seeing politeness in any political discourse.  The short version (of a long note, bending over backwards to not blow up a friendship) is that I said, basically -- What I most don't understand is why on earth you would keep relentlessly sending me political articles and saying things like this, when you know our opinions are SO massively different that you have no chance of convincing me of anything any more than I'd have of convincing you if I sent you political articles and said such things.  You're a friend, and I'd rather hear how you're doing and if you've seen any good movies lately.  But you make it seem like any different political view makes that person The Enemy.  And you're a better person than that.

I said many other things, too.  But bluntly.  Yet politely.

I suspect he'll hate it.

What I've come to accept -- which he alluded to in one of his replies, though I suspect he doesn't realize it -- is that he hates having a political discussion between friends because it forces him to express his own opinions, rather than rely simply on sending articles written by others.

And if anyone wonders where the "Dittohead" moniker came from, bingo, there you have it.

And today's BobTip ™ -- if you begin a note to someone whose political are anything but on the far right:  "PART OF MY ANGER (EMOTION) IS THAT I FEEL THAT THE LEFT IS DESPICABLE"...it's not the depiction of an open mind, nor an invitation to warm and receptive communication.




2 Comments
Douglass Abramson
11/4/2014 12:14:43 pm

You missed an entry in your comparisons between the G.W. Bush and Obama years. Bush was in charge when the economy crashed twice. There was a six to nine month recession (depending on who is defining the term and where you lived) after the 9/11 attacks. A recession that the GOP tried to blame on Clinton, even though he'd been out of office for more than half a year. When that didn't gain any traction, they blamed it on the attacks. The attacks made things infinitely worse, but the economic slowdown had started, in some sectors, before 9/11.

Now, regarding today's election, I don't understand why people are working themselves into a lather over the House and Senate. The 2012 election showed how well the GOP controlled states gerrymandered their districts so well, its unlikely that the Democrats can win in any of them anytime soon; all but ensuring that they will retain the House and control of the Senate doesn't matter from a practical standpoint. Whomever has the Senate majority won't have enough seats to kill the filibuster or to override a Presidential veto. Giving us gridlock in Washington for at least two more years. Hip, hip hooray.

Reply
Robert Elisberg
11/4/2014 02:59:41 pm

Actually, no -- that comparison was absolutely in an earlier email to him during the exchange. I just left out quoting from the earlier emails and focused only on the last one. As I think I said, I feared it would explode people's heads. Believe me, yes, I made those very points.

I think there *are* problematic issues from the election results for Democrats, but I agree that they aren't as great in specifics as they are in the perception. (Though perception does have importance in politics -- though it isn't "reality" like some contend. I have a piece about it for the morning, when I say some of this.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Elisberg Industries gets a commission if you click here before shopping on Amazon.
    Picture
    Follow @relisberg

    Author

    Robert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 

    Elisberg is a two-time recipient of the Lucille Ball Award for comedy screenwriting. He's written for film, TV, the stage, and two best-selling novels, is a regular columnist for the Writers Guild of America and was for
    the Huffington Post.  Among his other writing, he has a long-time column on technology (which he sometimes understands), and co-wrote a book on world travel.  As a lyricist, he is a member of ASCAP, and has contributed to numerous publications.



    Picture
           Feedspot Badge of Honor

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    Animals
    Audio
    Audio Land
    Books
    Business
    Chicago
    Consumer Product
    Education
    Email Interview
    Entertainment
    Environment
    Fine Art
    Food
    From The Management
    Health
    History
    Huffery
    Humor
    Internet
    Journalism
    Law
    Los Angeles
    Media
    Morning News Round Up
    Movies
    Music
    Musical
    Personal
    Photograph
    Piano Puzzler
    Politics
    Popular Culture
    Profiles
    Quote Of The Day
    Radio
    Religion
    Restaurants
    Science
    Sports
    Technology
    Tech Tip
    Theater
    The Writers Workbench
    Tidbits
    Travel
    Tv
    Twitter
    Video
    Videology
    Well Worth Reading
    Words-o-wisdom
    Writing

    RSS Feed

© Copyright Robert J. Elisberg 2021
Contact Us    About EI    Chicago Cubs