The story about the Pawlenty Newsweek interview came over the mojo wire late Monday night just as I was preparing to go to bed.I was so outraged by the story that I quickly wrote about it here, then went to bed. In my outrage, I called Pawlenty a "Nazi" in both the title and text of my blog.
Next morning, I awoke and started having writer's regrets about calling Pawlenty a "Nazi."
To justify my name calling, I added the "update" to the post, which summarized the persecution of LGBT folks under the Nazi regime.
I still had writer's regrets and midday yesterday, I struck the word "Nazi" from the blog's title and replaced it with "transphobic." (I also struck that word from the first line of the post and replaced it with nothing.)
"Transphobic" was such a better choice than "Nazi." If I had not been so hasty publishing the original post, I like to think I would have used "transphobic" in the first place (after I calmed down about the story).
Sorry if I offended anybody with my first choice. Pawlenty is no more a "Nazi" than Obama is a "socialist," "communist," "fascist," or any other name the tea-baggers like to use when referring to our President.
On the other hand, what Pawlenty suggested is certainly on the road to a place I do not want to see our country go and he should be called out on it.
Dear Staci,
ReplyDeleteI am a loyal reader of your blog, Trans and generally right of center politically.
I am glad you removed Nazi and replaced it with transphobic; I think the transgendered community does itself a disservice by demonizing the right, in effect they are alienating 50% of the population and many potential allies. I have found equal intolerance on the left.
Perhaps I am being naive but I think the opinion of Gov. Pawlenty is based more on ignorance than on hate. It is our job then to educate these people too.
Thank you for your blog.
April
Excellent post. Our rights will continue to be trampled as long as people do not speak up or take notice. Your posts are from the heart! No need to apologize.
ReplyDeleteQue este ano seja de muitas realizações encantos e 2010 lápis de cor para ajudar a colorir cada um dos 365 dias que se aproxima.
ReplyDelete2010 vem ai e teremos
2010 coisas para pensar
2010 atos para realizar.
Beijos de mel
ursinha
Gracefully done Staci-Lana. Even when the other side does not play fairly, its no reason to drop ones own standards.
ReplyDeleteIntegrity I think it is called. You have it in spades.
Happy New Year
Staci,
ReplyDeleteI find myself in agreement witn April. While I am not a big fan of Gov. Pawlenty, many of his views are libertarian in nature. He tends to oppose out of control government growth, spending and socialistic control. On gender issues the governor could use some education. Let us not make the perfect the enemy of the good.
We have become a country of too many laws. With a tax code that is over twenty feet thick, the Obama/Reid/Pelosi stimulus package of 9000+ earmarks, a quadrupuling of the national debt in less than a year, the government takeover of the banking and auto industries and potentially the health care industry, I wonder how to get the government out of my life, out of my pocket and out of my closet. It is my feeling that rollback legislation across the board could only help to bring us back to a country of individuals rather than a conglomeration of interest groups.
Staci, I truly enjoy your blog. I go to it daily and often agree with your approach to issues that impact us all.
I had to wait to cool off a bit after reading your attack on Pawlenty. You posted his picture, identified him as a Republican and then related the story of the Nazi persecution of gays as part of the holocaust. The reasonable inference, whether it was your intent or not, was to equate republicans or conservatives with Hitler's Nationalist Socialist regime. As a supporter of smaller government I was hurt that you would consider me the equivalent of a Nazi. Your adopting Rachel Maddow's perjorative use of the term "tea-bagger" would indicate a willingness on your part to resort to name calling rather than candid discussion.
While I support anti-discrimination laws I wonder if the sanctions that are built into much of the hate crime legislation is not over-baked. If criminal sanctions are too soft they should be toughened. Do judges have too much or too little discretion? If I am murdered while walking down the street should the punishment be different if I am presenting as a man or a woman?
Your approach of getting out in public is wonderful. More of us need to do it more often. We need the type of outreach that you and several others provide. Keep up the good work, study the political issues with an open mind and argue issues rather than engaging in name calling and smearing people as Nazi's at the slightest expression of an opinion with which you disagree.
I do appreciate your retraction of the direct reference to Pawlenty as a Nazi. I strongly believe in the study of history and think that the piece of Nazi persecution would have been a wonderful stand along lynchpin for discussion. I just have an issue with the linkage that you left in tact.
May I wish you and all your readers a Happy, Healthy Prosperous and 'Well Dressed' New Year.
Pat
Staci,
ReplyDeleteI don't fully agree.
Oppression comes in many forms, and must be spoken out against. I am very happy that you posted the history of the Nazis against LGBT persons. We need to remind ourselves that we must not take a slippery slope of tolerating such political views that may lead to outright
oppression, supression of rights, etc. The Religious Right is all wrong on these issues
Alienating 50% of the electorate by tolerating these views -- I don't think so.
The Recovery Act, the correcting of the ruining of our country and conomy by greed and free market insanity -- Obaa hasn't done enough!
Do feel bad about speaking out.
deborah
Correction: "Do not feel bad about speaking out!"
ReplyDeletedeborah
Pat --- The tea-baggers proudly chose the name that they go by, so how can you say that I am resorting to name-calling when I call them "tea-baggers"? If I called them "Nazis" and/or "racists," then I would be guilty of name-calling, but all I did was call them by their chosen name.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comments of April and Pat. It's a shame that name calling has become a national epidemic. Both sides of the political spectrum use nice neat 'named boxes' to categorize people. It seems like groups who don't like being placed in boxes have no problem placing other people in 'named boxes'. As a TG person, I hate to say it but I find GLBT groups and people as some of the worst to villify others, based only on a political agenda.
I have a high interest in the Nazi rise to power in Germany and the subsequent slaughter of millions and millions of people thru the end of WWII. I am constantly amazed at the absolute depths of human evil that the Nazis sunk to. To flipantly (sp??) tag anyone in our political structure (Dem, Rep or Ind) as a nazi is a hateful, hateful statement. Thanks, Staci, for removing that comparison