November 7 Q & A - Um, No

Writing prompt for today:

Talk about the last compliment you received.

Oh, jeez, that would be very self-indulgent. Although, come to think of it, this whole blog is self-indulgent, right? And I guess what I am about to write about is self-indulgent as well, but whatever.

Like an idiot, I was listening to a radio show this morning with a couple of hosts that are clearly republicans. There are some segments of their show that I really enjoy, so I continue to listen. Also, I don't choose who I associate with based on their political preferences, and I can handle opposing viewpoints, so there's that too. One thing that has always bothered me about them, though, is that they espouse their personal ideas and opinions as if they are fact. Many of their listeners seem to have a difficult time making that distinction.

So people are calling today saying how upset they are that Obama was reelected, and I kid you not, many asked the talk show hosts what they should do. Should they leave the country? I'm not kidding. People wanted to know if they should move to a different country because they were so distraught that their candidate did not win.

Now, I get it. I literally told my husband yesterday, "Nick, I don't know what I'll do if Romney wins." To which he said something like, "life goes on" because my husband is not nearly as dramatic as I am. We all have our reasons for feeling the way we feel. For me, my heart would be sick knowing there was a man, a heartbeat away from the presidency, who refers to rape as a method of conception. Of course, there are other reasons, but I want to limit my obnoxiousness to the next paragraph and beyond.

One caller specifically called to ask the third host, a democrat, a question. Here is the question he posed to her: Since you're a liberal, when you have kids are you going to teach them to have responsibilities, do chores and earn their keep or are you going to give them handouts and give them whatever they want? He was serious. Because no liberals work, we all feel entitled to everything, and take handouts wherever we can get them, obviously. And these people are the same people who have the nerve to say that liberals are creating class warfare. It doesn't make sense to me. Callers, like the conservative hosts, were saying how liberals hate success; liberals resent successful people. Liberals will just continue not working and taking advantage of the successful people now that Obama has been reelected.

Let me tell you this - if you believe that the workforce is made up solely of republicans, you're an idiot. I'm sorry, but you are. I would like to be passive aggressive and suggest that maybe you're just misinformed, but I don't think that's the truth. If you truly think that all democrats sit on their asses taking handouts, feeling entitled, then you're a flipping ignoramous.

If you think that just because you've never needed a helping hand that no one else could ever possibly need one and be deserving of one, then I feel sorry for you. That way of thinking is very, very sad. It's important to keep in mind that one day, you'll be old. You'll probably be drawing on social security. Maybe you'll need medicare! Or, heaven forbid, something might happen to you in your 20s, 30s or 40s and you'll need to draw on state disability insurance. Or you might lose your job and have to collect unemployment insurance, temporarily, to help feed your family. Or you might experience age discrimination when you're older and won't be able to find a job lickety split. I could really go on and on, but my point is, dear radio hosts and callers, I think we should try putting ourselves in other people's shoes before making these broad generalizations.