Are we winning yet?

[The Backlash Cometh]

I mean, I really need to know because my level of paranoia grows each day. Anyone who lives in a red State or in a red county or in a red city must know what it's like living in the enemy camp. And when you know your neighbors have jobs which give them the opportunity to rub elbows with the ruthless people we talk about each day here on DU, you just have to wonder to what extent they share favors and information.

So, are we winning yet? Do we have them on the defensive so that they'll at least stop to think before they pull private, personal information sheets on troublesome neighbors? Or before they'll pick up a phone to ask a favor from someone who can interfere with someone's livelihood? Has anyone heard of such retaliation taking place?

[Cabcere]

1. Here's my take on it.

I am from a very rural small town, one of the reddest parts of a red state. Today was the funeral of one of my friends from high school, a local boy who joined the Marines after graduation and was killed in action in Iraq on Valentine's Day. He was nineteen years old, and he only had six weeks left in Iraq before he could come home. The church was packed for his funeral - we got there about thirty minutes early and it was already standing room only, so we were lucky to even get to stand at the back of the balcony. The local news station ran a story on the funeral tonight, getting reactions from people who knew him, etc., and one of the questions they asked was "Do you support the war?" - not the troops; the war. And the vast majority of these people, people who had known my friend and were close to him, said yes, they did, and they thought it was a good thing that we were over there. :cry: It blows my mind how people can continue to stand behind a lying murderer like GWB, who is at the very least indirectly responsible for my friend's death.

I believe it's not so much malice as it is ignorance - at least, where I live that seems to be the case. I don't think people around here are going to be reporting their neighbors to Big Brother the NSA quite yet, but it's the complacency that bothers me, the unwillingness to open their eyes and actually pay attention to what is going on. I don't know of any specific retaliatory acts that have taken place around here, but then again, I've tried to be careful. I'm pretty sure that if I had put a Kerry bumper sticker on my car back in 2004, I probably would've had my tires slashed or my paint scratched. The climate is, I think, gradually beginning to change, ever so slowly. People still support Bush and the war and all the other crimes this administration has committed, but I think they're beginning to at least understand how somebody could not feel the same way. I don't know if that helps at all - I feel like I didn't do a very good job of answering your question (sorry about that!), but I hope my experience is at least a little informative. :hi: Peace.

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. Wonderful post. Thank you.

I think this is what lit a light bulb for me: "it's the complacency that bothers me, the unwillingness to open their eyes and actually pay attention to what is going on."

I am terrified of sticking my neck out, because I don't think these people want to be told they were wrong. And what they will do to try to protect their bubble...I just don't have any confidence that they will know where to stop, once they decide to target someone or their family. They will justify it, somehow, in that convoluted way they do.

Perhaps, if I felt that we were winning, and that we had a presence in the community, I think I would feel better of coming "out of the closet."

[walldude]

2. Yes, as a matter of fact I am a victim of such retaliation

and of my own stupidity. I'll try to keep the story brief. In 2005 I was stuck working at the Christian Retailers Association trade show. One of the show days I had to take the morning off to attend my brother-in-laws funeral. He was living with us at the time he died, so it was a little traumatic around here. Anyway I obviously had had a bad day and after work, in my pissed off state I posted a rant on DU about the CRA show I was working on. I mentioned in the rant that I wanted to do something to get these peoples attention. I talked about inserting a subliminal message to impeach Bush in the presentation I was working on, and I talked about making fliers and leaving them in all the trade show booths. My stupidity was not only mixing business with politics but in posting too much information about the show and where it was. It didn't take a freeper from that "other" underground board (Hiya Freeper!) long to figure out where I was and how to get me. He called the Convention Center where I was working and claimed I had made threats to blow the place up. The next day in the middle of the show I was pulled out by my boss and security and told to leave. They told me they would call the cops if I didn't leave that very instant. Here was the kicker, they told me someone had called and claimed I had made threats, and they were holding a copy of my post in their hands I asked them to show where in the post I had made a threat and they pointed to ]one of the replies that said I should just blow the place up. Apparently that was just semantics to them. I got fired from a company I had been working for for 16 years. Of course, as usual, the whole thing backfired on the freeper who spent days posting how stupid I was and how easy I had made myself a target. I went into business for myself and in less than a year I was making more than triple what I had been making after 16 years with this company. This genius freeper, who was so proud of what he did, had managed to change my and my families lives for the better forever. Karma baby, Karma. So if you are reading this Mr you know who you are, I owe you one ;)

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. I wish I had enough of a resume to know that I could pick and chose

my customers.

That was one heck of a story, by the way. You landed on your feet. I may have the same thing happen to me, and I will think of your story for inspiration.