Idaho Falls

[Update below] [Update II below]

This summer I was going down the stairs at work, and a wingnut acquaintance held the door open for me. He made some comment about conservatives being considerate people. My response to him was, “You can’t fool me. You’re a big fan of Ann Coulter, and you support her view that liberals should be killed. You’re acting polite, but it’s just a show – underneath, you’re full of hate.” We had that kind of relationship: open and direct on my part, deceiptful and ignorant on his. I don’t remember his response exactly, but it was a mild denial.

Today, out of the blue, I got the following email from him:

Dan,

I know that you don't want to spend the time responding to this e-mail…[snip*]…but what I say below, I really mean.

The Iranian ambassador to the UN appeared on TV being critical of Fox News, and by implication, endorsing American liberals. You liberals sure are scum. I can only hope that the next time these muslim terrorists attack the US, you are one of the victims. Hey, while you may not want that, it sure beats one of our currently uniformed military patriots being one of the victims. They are good for America and deserve to live. You are scum and America would be better off if you were dead. Please die soon. And don't leave any surviving family that can't be reformed to American patriots. Perhaps you could send them out of the country. I suggest Iran.

I was pretty unnerved all day. I waited for him to stop by my office and tell me he was just kidding, but it never happened. So I reported it to the appropriate manager, who I think will handle it well. (The fact is, we work together, and have reason to interact professionally on occasion – he’s a smart guy. At this point, I don’t really want to see him fired, which might be the result if I pushed for it.)

I’m posting it here because I want people to be aware of what is at the heart of the conservative mindset. They truly believe in authoritarian cultism. And people who don’t revere conservative leaders are considered to be scum who deserve painful deaths. I don’t think all conservatives realize that about their philosophy – most of them fall into the conservative tribe by birth, social circumstances, or lack of a highly functioning brain. They really don’t recognize the damage that it does to their souls. (By the way, here is an excellent discussion of conservatism and what it means.)

But we liberals need to understand that it is there. And if we push a wingnut far enough, that hateful side will come out.

Be careful out there.

UPDATE: By the way, this is the same individual I mention at the end of this post.

Over a month ago, before the election, I told this person not to email me any more - that I thought our email exchanges were a waste of time. We haven't had very much interaction since then, only one or two very mild face-to-face discussions. This hateful email truly came without any provocation.

UPDATE II I originally posted this on December 11th. On the 12th, I found out that the issue was being taken very seriously by my company's management. I took the post down, because I didn't want to inflame the situation. Today (December 19th), the issue was resolved, although in an unfortunate way. I'm not very happy about it, but at least I can put the post back up.

The quiz is funny, and all the cool kids are doing it.