Double Edged Swords

Yesterday I was going into the grocery store and passed a car plastered with offensive left-wing bumper stickers. Now, ordinarily I would have kept walking and ignored this jackass, but a thought passed through my mind and I stopped and glared at the driver (who had just gotten into the car). What made me stop was the thought that I very rarely see anything comparable by conservatives. Oh, they put Bush/Cheney stickers on their cars, and I`ve seen a few Impeach Clinton stickers, but I`ve never encountered the in-your-face vitriol with which the Left assaults casual bystanders. ``Bush Lied and People Died`` is often the gentlest phrase appearing on one of these stickers, with accusations ranging from war crimes to 911 was an inside job to Bush wants to rape your daughters and then hand them over to Mary Cheney.

Quite frankly, these constitute ``fighting words`` in my view, and the Left is poking their fingers in our collective eyeballs. They do this because they know that, unlike themselves, conservatives WONT attack them, or even challenge them. This stupid fellow with the offensive bumper stickers rests secure in the knowledge that the inherent decency of traditional Americans, the sense of law and order, the willingness to tolerate will protect their freedom of speech, allow them to be as offensive as they wish. They can have their ``Baby Killer`` bumper stickers which defame our troops because those troops are fighting and dying to allow these clowns to be jackasses, and the police likewise are forced to defend these jerks. But good conservatives, myself included, rarely confront people like this.

THEY are the ones who chose to pick a fight; why shouldn`t we say something, make them uncomfortable? If your goal is to offend, you should not be surprised when you succeed. But liberals believe in freedom of speech for their views while work diligently to suppress the views of those with whom they disagree.

Here is a case in point; Chicago schools are observing a moment of silence in ``unity with oppressed gay people`` and students are encouraged to wear pro-homosexual t-shirts. One student, whom the Suntimes slandered as ``anti-gay``, wore a shirt saying ``be happy, not gay`` and this has caused an uproar with this girl being suspended from school.

So, liberals are free to offend traditional Americans by promoting homosexuality on their shirts, but someone who disagrees with them must be silenced, despite the mildness of her disagreement. It`s good to see that, at least in this instance, the student is fighting back.

But too often we don`t fight back-we walk on by as these creepy people insult and abuse our beliefs. I`m as guilty of this as anybody. I know the arguments; we shouldn`t stoop to their level, we should be the bigger people, we should show the world we are above this. It has been my observation that aggression grows when it is not responded to, and that a bully will beat someone who doesn`t resist far worse than one who does. Why should we tolerate this sort of thing? It`s time we fight back!

That is why I stopped, glared, and shook my head at that driver in the grocery store lot; he should be challenged. He wants to pick a fight, so let him come out of his car and pick one! He should be shamed wherever he goes, because that is what he deserves. That was the traditional enforcement mechanism for rude behavior in bygone eras, and we need a return to it.

Americans, in the interest of politically correct non-judgementalism, have disposed of this traditional way of enforcing courtesy and restraint, and the coarsening of behavior has resulted. America needs a return to shaming, and these idiots driving around with the intent to offend deserve what is coming to them.

Of course, the Left has never given up on this technique, but merely has applied it to those who disagree with them. It`s time to teach them the meaning of double-edged sword!