My mother used to tell me that I was incapable of having an unexpressed thought, which was her adorable way of saying that I talked too much. But Lucy was right.
Rarely do I formulate an opinion that I do not end up sharing with at least a few other people, and in most cases, with the world on social media.
That has gotten me both praise and vitriol, friends and enemies, and in a few cases, death threats.
But overall, I think that it’s important to let people know where you stand on any given issue, so they can make their own decision to either bring you into the fold, or employ the ten-foot pole.
That’s what I did the other day, on Facebook. My 64th birthday was this week, and I took the occasion to summarize who I was and what I believed after six and a half decades.
It went a little bit like this:
“I am as anti-abortion as you can be. Life of the mother is my only exception.
Rape/incest is a red herring. Sorry, it is.
I do not believe all women. MeToo was a scam.
Black Lives Matter. So do White Lives. So do Brown, Yellow, Red, I can sing a rainbow, Captain Noah.
Gay marriage is legal. I fought it because I thought it was unconstitutional.
But I accept the Supreme Court decision making it the law of the land. Note to abortion lovers: Dobbs Is The Law of The Land, too.
Immigrants are human beings. No human being is illegal. No human being should be unlawfully arrested and denied bond. Deal with it.
Trans adults are entitled to their identity. Forcing it on minors, and children, is child abuse.
Trump has crushed due process. Biden was incompetent. Charlie Kirk was assassinated. Trump was wrongly prosecuted. I’m glad Bill Cosby is home.
I’m glad Jeffrey Epstein, who did commit suicide, is dead. Eagles suck (right now.)
20 years worth of columns, right here.
This is a summary of my beliefs.
And I’m at peace ”
And I posted a picture of me toasting everyone.
I expected a healthy response.
What I did not expect was that the post would go viral, and thousands of people would be exposed to my unorthodox views.
I was surprised at the comments that I received, many of which were in agreement but many more which were shocked, shocked I tell you, that a woman would be against abortion, that she would not “believe all women,” that she would actually think due process mattered with both Bill Cosby and illegal immigrants, and that she neither adored, nor hated, Trump.
I will admit that the vast majority of the vitriol came from left-wing posters who called me ugly, a misogynist, a rape apologist, ugly, a liar, uneducated, ugly and did I mention ugly?
But never fear, there was a sufficient amount of anger from the people who look at ICE raids and say, with absolutely no irony and a sort of sick pride, “I voted for this!”
Happily, there were a few folks who liked what I had to say, because they saw in me a reflection of themselves, with the difference being that I have a loud mouth and a somewhat significant platform.
I was thanked for being an independent thinker, someone who wasn’t afraid to shatter the myth of perfection, of a consistent philosophy on all things.
One of the comments was so wonderful, I immediately asked for the man’s social media friendship.
This is what Anthony wrote:
“This used to be a normal take in life, but then somewhere along the line, everyone decided that they had to make a hard choice, and they had to accept every belief or thought process that aligned with that political choice.
“Each party has become so radicalized that you can no longer have beliefs from both columns. You have to pick one or the other. It’s so (blanking) stupid. Ultimately, it would be nice if we could just go back to all debating our beliefs without hatred. It would be great to live in a world with opposing views, but coexistence.”
If Anthony weren’t young enough to be my son, and already with a happy family, I would have reached out to propose marriage.
That was exactly the point that I was trying to make in my little screed, and that was not digestible by far too many people who want to live in “teams.”
Personally, and I am writing this on my 64th birthday, I no longer care if people agree with me. I do care that they agree to let me speak, and are willing to engage in respectful and robust debate.
And if you are the kind of person who simply cannot stomach someone who travels too far off of your favorite reservation — and if that is not politically correct, Hiawatha, I’m thrilled — perhaps you need to go back and read the First Amendment, followed by a few servings of Miss Manners.
This column was originally published in the Delco Times.
