The relationship of a political blogger with the content of others is a curious thing.
If only interested in partisan conflict you can easily ferret out only blogs that sate your bias and spur your belligerence. If only attracted to the musings of 'fellow travelers' who reinforce the "I'm okay: You're okay" mantra - you can find that too. Though rare, it is even possible to find blogs that promote civil discourse. Only interested in local, provincial, or national politics? No problem. Cast your net as narrow or wide as you wish. In short, you can fish (and catch) anything you wish in the political blogosphere: mimics, partisans, ideological sycophants and pompous pundits. They are all a dime a dozen.
After awhile we usually settle on a 'Blog List' that suits our tastes and, in effect, becomes our digital haunt. A set of blogs that, while they occasionally surprise, they also constitute a known quantity. The kind of blogs borne of expectations that are generally met and offer the warmth of familiarity. Over time, a pattern emerges. You fall into a predictable reading routine. A comfort zone is created and your "Blog List" becomes your neighbourhood.
To be sure, you go for digital walks and still read different blogs and consult the lists of others. But generally the exercise does little to alter your pattern. Invariably, you spend most of your time in 'your' neighbourhood. Now, while it is true that you may not always agree with the viewpoints of all the blog authors your list - generally speaking, you respect their views. Are they Left-wing, Right-wing, One-wing, No-wing? Well, that's not the point really - it's all about content and familiarity. But that same familiarity can breed a certain complacency and lack of appreciation for the surroundings. It can lead one to stray. to wander - outside the well established digital landscape they have spent so much time cultivating. And then something happens! Something fucking horrific that shakes you from your complacency.
You see the danger of the digital landscape is that, in the wee hours, it is all too easy to stray on the way home and find yourself meandering down a blog alley where, simply put, you do not belong. Two weeks ago, thanks to semi-routine visit to Freedom Manitoba I stumbled on his Blog List . Saw a reference to this guy, and, quite innocently, thought the title Freedom continues to suffer as separatist revisionists destroy our history merited a look. That was my first mistake.
Then I made my second. I dawdled and stayed in the alley. As if I had come upon a car wreck, I was unable to turn away - I just kept staring at his archived posts. Oh, the horror! Oh, the ignorance!
Now, God knows, I have been known to have a lot of time for other arseholes. And, while I cannot avow that every word this Boy-Man posted was complete absolute drivel - I can avow that the picture his blog paints of its human owner is not a pretty one. In fact, this blogger's textual orifice is so offensive, so doctrinaire, so ill informed, and so rife with bitter flatulence that I could not get its baneful imagery out of my head.
This kid is sick.
A self-professed "young... angry... loud... [death cheating] tough guy. "[O]nce a commie" now an "extremely fiscally conservative, ... Winnipeg prairie man... adamantly pro-Israel ... anti-Liberal... [who once] beat the crap out of a neo-Nazi in high school" - this Boy-Man is a real piece of work. Only 21, he has somehow already managed to distill all the wisdom that all the ideologies of the world have to offer: "Me, I've gone through every part of the political spectrum. From communism and fascism to libertarianism. From liberalism to conservatism. From socialism to capitalism. - I know every part of the political compass very intimately. I have played with each and every one in my mind and in my research, and even have been just about every single one at some point, even fascist, before I came to my conclusions on the best way to run a country."
On abortion:
- "Please... if you want to save lives,
you outlaw abortion, not make it safe." - "Since it will never be rare, it is better to make it illegal all together. 99.9% of all abortions are as a form of birth control."
On discourse:
When challenged by another
Tory for posting "[a]
nother petulant, ill-informed rant" that chided "get your terminology right. 'Congress' is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate." The Boy-Man responds: "Another petulant, ill informed moron posting on my blog. Why do you even call yourself a Tory?"
[Ouch!] On Surveillance and torture:
- "
Yes, abuses have happened. But so far, no one has been harmed..." - "
Free speech and national security are two different things." [Well that settles that!]On the US and Canadian stimulus package:
- "
People want money. Especially smart, hard working people."
[Guess they want it more than the poor?]
On humanism:
- "
Humanism is atheism with morality, something that I've yet to see in the world."
A humanitarian? : "The only way for Israel to live in peace is to wipe out Hamas."
On
rape - "The question is, do you blame a woman who claims she was raped, when it was consensual?"
[On principle, I think he deserved a textual punch in the head for this one!]On Atheism and Religion:
Boy-Man: "Religions is not the major cause of war in the world. Atheism and atheist values are."
At which point
Freedom Manitoba simply asked: "Atheism and atheist values are." - "What is an
atheist value?" - "Please answer :)" .... [drone] .... dead silence... no answer from Boy-Man.
On Liberalism:
"
Liberalism has more in common with a mental illness than a political opinion. - And now, it is a mental illness that is destroying the world economy, and on the way to leaving the West in ruins."
On
Darwinism and science:
- Boy-Man
avers: "I was a devout atheist and Darwinist originally. I came to believe in intelligent design as I learned more about all aspects." AND "As for the differences in the skeletal structures, look at the different kinds of humans. Our skeletal structures actually differ by skin colour!" AND "Interestingly, I did very well in science in school."
On Choice:
Making allowances for a man who wishes to exclude all Muslim's students from eligibility for two Ontario university scholarships, he says, that while he may not "agree with him ... that doesn't mean he shouldn't have a choice."
Yet, at the same time, he fundamentally denies that same 'choice' to any female contemplating having an abortion.
This pseudo-intellectual, this Boy-Man is a human pathogen. The type that just can't stop trying to infect. How, I wondered, does a youngster like this get caught up in a blog that is so verbose,
braggadocios, polarizing, and vile that its facile content does nothing but harm the interests of political advocates on both sides? And then I found it! His comment that
explained it all: "I ... get ... [my] details from Mr. Fletcher's office, which is where I get most of my information."
Ahh,.... now I see!
[postscript: Happy to report I'm back in my neighbourhood now. Funny how after straying I now seem to have a whole new appreciation for the place. Now, I normally hold no truck-or-trade with Tory's - But I do respect the passion some of them bring to their cause with a reasoned voice. This Hack is a good example. But I believe Boy-Man and other blind, vile, ignorant partisans like him (yes, even some 'Lefties') do a great disservice not only to their own causes, but more importantly to the overall quality of life on the web. All they do is litter it with garbage. So I am doing my part to clean up my neighbourhood. After a two week trial The Raging Tory is off my blog roll - I'm putting him where he belongs - out with the rest of the trash.]
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UPDATE: Seems the Boy-Man was really and truly 'sick after all. Sad really.
See: "Raging Tory" Thursday, March 12, 2009 -
"My Last Post - Unfortunately, I have some mental health issues. The chief one is severe ADHD. I have recently begun taking Concerta again, and one of the side effects of Methylphenidate to people with ADHD tends to be laying waste to one's creativity. Due to this, I have been unable to find myself able to blog anymore. I will be leaving this up, as I will leave it to post political analysis every once in a while, such as my analysis of the political compass and my post on the threat of a nuclear Iran, but daily posts have ended. I am also eliminating comments. My email is still available for anyone who has questions or would like an analysis made of certain issues. I'm sure the left wing blogs will be jumping for joy and making false and wild accusations as to why I quit, but the reason stated above is 100% true."
