A friend alerts me in email that Alan Bromley gets No Holiday From Hate.

“Screw you!” someone shouted from across the porch. My daughter’s head swerved to the yelling miscreant, then back to me, somewhat fearful of my reaction.

I said: “And to you sir, may I ask, don’t you see the irony of the Democrats using ‘restore trust’ as their slogan. Did you not see their lineup of speakers?

“Let’s count: we had Ted Kennedy, who lied about trying to save Mary Jo Kopechne. We had Hillary Clinton, who lied about her billing records, about her commodities trading prowess, about kissing Arafat’s wife right after Arafat accused the Israelis of poisoning Palestinian children. We had Al Sharpton, of Tawana Brawley fame, who later incited an anti-Semitic riot in Harlem with fatal consequences–funny how you blindly embrace these leaders of liberty, isn’t it?

“And then we had your sweetheart, President Clinton, who never saw a big hairdo or a little lie he couldn’t resist. We had John Edwards, who made his fortune convincing juries of the evils of doctors, and finally, Kerry himself, who is living the biggest lie of all–marrying rich, then richer, and feigning empathy for the downtrodden as he jets from home to home to home. Are those the men and women in who’s hands and hearts you want to place, if not restore, trust?”

…

“Let me ask you something,” I said to those with grimaces. “Are you happy the employment figures were dismal? Are you happy that we are having more troubles than anticipated in Iraq?”

“Speaking for myself,” the Philly wife declared, “any news that helps defeat Bush makes me happy.” Hubby nodded, as did a couple of others swinging on the veranda.

“So let me get this straight: Without offering a remedy for perceived economic woes, or a plan to win the war in Iraq, it’s OK with you if a couple hundred thousand additional Americans are unemployed, let’s say for a year or so. Your liberal ‘scales of justice, of humanity’ say that’s a beneficial scenario–presumably because it’s their sacrifice, not yours. And if we continue to move slowly in Iraq, costing additional American lives, not to mention the lives and freedom of Iraqi’s, you will be satisfied as long as President Bush isn’t re-elected?”

“You’re a fascist! We’re leaving!” the husband shouted.

“Your freedom of speech, to preach hatred of President Bush and to hope for American setbacks, even if it costs Americans their lives and livelihoods, is fine,” I said to their backs, “but my questioning of your shallowness is offensive, right? Enjoy your trip back to the City of Brotherly Love. I’m sure your neighbors will be happy to see you return.”

It’s a bit of a coincidence, but a quote from an email I wrote just this morning applies here. It was written to a hang-gliding discussion list about a long-time acquaintance of mine who publishes a hang-gliding-related daily e-zine, the Oz Report and gets blamed for just about every bad thing that happens in hang gliding, the world over.

One possible conclusion is that you get blamed for everything negative that happens in the market (the demise of the Millennium; the lackluster market performance of other CBRWs; etc.), but get zero credit for any good things that happen in the market, such as the tail on the ATOS and other developments. How about the continually improving software in some of the comp varios you’ve tested and reported on? Also, haven’t heard of any spins on RWs in a long time. I wonder if your reporting drove home the notion that you can’t just throw the bar anywhere you like on a rigid as you can on most flex wings.

Such is the politicized, tribalized world in which we live now. Everyone has a side, a team, an agenda. And when you’re not of the correct tribe, everything you do is suspect, and you can certainly do no good. No lie, no deception, no out-of-context manipulation is beyond use against you, for you are the embodiment of evil.