I didn't understand HOW BAD it's become.

[no_hypocrisy]

My SO was driving home through eastern Pennsylvania Saturday night. He stopped at a Cracker Barrel for a cup of coffee as he was tired and there was nothing else open where he was.

He was walking around "the gift area". A woman in her seventies tried to peddle some "Support Our Troops" T-shirts while he was there. The price was all right ($5.99). He made the mistake of making small talk with this woman. An otherwise throw-away statement made her defensive and challenged him, "What's the matter? You DON'T support the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq?" He answered that he did support them, that they were victims and deserved our utmost respect and he hoped they'd return very soon. That infuriated her, and then more people started to gather around them as she was shouting and screaming, getting hysterical. She had a fit with the obligatory "This country is being run by a socialist, Nazi, illegal alien and I don't want all that socialism!" Not knowing when to cut his losses, my SO tried to give her some reputable facts. She was then screaming about my SO not being patriotic and by this time, a bunch of men started to circle him. Nothing materialized as he's over 6'3" but it was getting ugly. Kinda like Charlie Daniels' "Uneasy Rider".

He finally got the Emotional IQ and figured he should depart soon, sans the T-shirt. He's still shocked by the whole episode. I knew things were bad, but after his stories, it kind of reminds me of fledgling Nazi Germany where you had pockets of this ultranationalism and some individuals eager to beat up someone to prove how much they "love" "their" country.

[uponit7771]

1. He should of asked her if she would give back all of her social security...that usually shuts the...

...screamers up and puts them REALLY on the defensive.

[closeupready]

15. That, and the mortgage interest deduction.

n/t

[Llewlladdwr]

21. Why should she give back her Social Security?

She's already paid into the system, this is money the Government owes her. Why should she give up a benefit she's already paid for? Serious question here, I've heard this argument a lot and it doesn't make sense to me.

[nichomachus]

22. When the government collects money

and then distributes it to the people, that'a called socialism. Like the government in Spain collects taxes and provides free health care for everyone. This is the system the right-wingers hate. Social security is no different that single-payer universal health care in every other civilized country. Right wingers hate the idea of the government collecting taxes and giving the people something in return. They prefer collecting taxes and giving the money to corporations, while letting the people fend for themselves.

[glitch]

23. It's the most Socialist program (or to put it RW talk, an "entitlement", said scornfully) we have.

According to the RW, Social Security (and Medicare) are Socialist programs initiated by that Socialist FDR and therefore should be eliminated and all that taxpayer money should be returned to its rightful owners, Wall Street. So telling someone freaking out over Socialism to give back their Social Security or Medicare is turning their own illogic back on them, in a way that speaks to them personally, hopefully to break through their wall of ignorance.
It rarely works but we do keep trying.

The fact that taxpayers pay into it is irrelevent, taxpayers pay for everything else and that won't keep it from being stolen too.

[SOS]

50. Why didn't the "anti-socialist" file IRS Form 4029 years ago?

Form 4029
Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service
Application for Exemption From Social Security and Medicare Taxes and Waiver of Benefits

She could have filed 4029 years ago and invested her money in dot com stocks and mortgage securities.
She would have nothing today, but could be smug in her anti-socialist stance.
Of course these phony right-wing hypocrites never actually take the action necessary to opt out.

When the check is arriving in their account and their triple bypass is paid for, they seem to like "socialism" just fine.

[donco6]

2. Cracker Barrel. There's your first mistake.

:)

But seriously, yeah, it was probably a military mom and they take that stuff personally.

[HughBeaumont]

36. Never has a restaurant's name so adequately described the people that eat there.

:evilgrin:

[WillyT]

41. ROFLMAO !!! - That's Perfect !!!

:applause:

:rofl:

:evilgrin:

:hi:

[donco6]

45. LOL! No shit. n/t

[Kievan Rus]

47. +1

[roscoeroscoe]

3. sorry to hear about the experience

they're pretty out of control on a personal level. i mean, they seem to really believe what they're so angry about... no perspective, no restraint, no question in their mind.
may the scales fall from their eyes...

[A wise Man]

4. The most serious of your reply is...

they don't know what they are angry about....oops!!! A black man is the PRESIDENT....NUFF SAID

[Odin2005]

5. I obviously have a low emotional IQ because I would have kept on ripping that woman's head off.

Rhetorically, of course, not literally.

Maybe it's my Asperger's, but I really don't understand how people can be that fucking ignorant and stupid, i just can't. I have a bad habit of assuming that anyone who disagrees with me has a defective brain... :yoiks:

[MUAD_DIB]

7. Do you get into disgreements on DU?

Do you consider those whom you disagree with to be defective?

I usually just see them as misinformed/lazy or making a statement not backed up with any research.



Usually I make an observation in a thread and then the screamers start their DU routine.

[Odin2005]

8. I was meaning more my initial "WHAT AN IDIOT!!" gut reation.

A large part of it is the lingering negative effects of the "dismiss the jock bullies as stupid" coping mechanism I had in high school.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. If you get a chance, read David Niewert's book "The Eliminationalists".

The premise is that there is no longer civil discourse or debate or discussion. Their modus operandi is to destroy "the Other". Think of it as "Lord of the Rings" but older people.

[csziggy]

24. I think you meant "Lord of the Flies" but older people!

:shrug:

[no_hypocrisy]

27. Yep. You're absolutely correct. I did mean "Lord of the Flies".

Thank you.

[sinkingfeeling]

9. Was the woman working in the store? If so, complain to the corporation.

[TommyO]

11. Even if she wasn't employed by the store, she had permission to be there

You can't just go to a Cracker Barrel and start selling t-shirts.

[TommyO]

10. The one near Allentown, or the one near Cabelas in Hamburg?

[no_hypocrisy]

13. Cabelas.

[TommyO]

14. I used to live in Bethlehem, so I know the area well. That doesn't surprise me.

[dgibby]

12. It's everywhere.

I went to see a pain specialist yesterday for a "meet and greet" first appt. I knew as soon as I walked into the waiting room that he and I were at opposite ends of the political spectrum. How? Well, because the big expensive flat screen TV taking up most of the wall in his waiting room was spewing Faux Snooze propaganda, and most of the patients sitting there looked like they'd just come from a Tea Party. They talked like it, too.

When I finally got through the preliminary meetings with his nurse and PA, who were both very professional, I got to meet the man himself.

First words out of his mouth: I see you have Tricare. You know your going to lose a lot of benefits and most Drs won't accept Tricare when Obama's HCR goes into effect in 2014.

Second sentence was trying to enlist my support for a local republican running for Henry Brown's House seat.

Final sentence was, Bring a driver to your next appointment so I can give you sedation for your spinal nerve block.

I kept my cool, but it wasn't easy. I did tell him he was wrong about TRICARE (according to the Navy and VA), and that I wasn't a republican, and had voted for Obama. I also told him I was a single payer advocate. I'm thinking his head may have exploded right after I walked out of the exam room.

I am having serious reservations about letting this guy touch my back,but not because he's a repuke. He's prepared to do this without seeing the results of my MRI first. That, and he, personally, never asked me ANY questions about my symptoms, history,etc, and did no exam.

I know things have changed since I retired from nursing in '98, but this is ridiculous! I'm going to run a background check on him before I make another appointment. Jeeze!

[snagglepuss]

16. Just my two cents but I think you got a lot of red flags. A doctor that isn't

asking you any questions, taking a history or looking at your results is no better than a quack. A boss once quipped that "not every doctor got an A in medical school", a percentage of medical students in fact do just scrap by. IMO anyone who listens to Faux is intellectually deficient and doesn't have a clue what it means to be a caring human being so listening to Faux would be enough for me to doubt a doctor's competence.



Don't settle for a jerk, there are caring competent doctors. I hope you find one. Good luck.

[dgibby]

18. I was an RN for more than 35yrs,

and I can honestly say I never saw anything like this. I'm never at a loss for words, but I left there with my mouth hanging open. I also left there without making another appointment. I'm going to get back with my Primary Care Dr. and regroup. I think she needs to hear this before she decides to send anyone else to him.

I did get a work-up by his PA, but nothing at all from him. At the very least, I would have thought he'd have asked me if I had any questions or prehaps discuss several treatment modalities.

Color me::wow:

[Berry Cool]

19. Yeah, remember how Keith Olbermann always quotes that saying of George Carlin's:

"Somewhere, there is a doctor who graduated at the bottom of his class and is the Worst Doctor in the World...and somebody has an appointment to see him tomorrow!"

[backscatter712]

30. Old joke: What do you call a med student who graduated with a D average?

Doctor.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

26. Run. Like. Hell.

How much will such an idiot think YOUR well-being is worth compared to that of his other, teabagger clients?

Find a non-nutcase doctor.

[dgibby]

34. Ha!

If I could run like hell, I wouldn't have needed to be there in the first place!:evilgrin: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[HillbillyBob]

32. Im a long term hiv patient. I have left drs offices with fewer redflags

after getting some sorry care and an infection in a surgical wound that he said ' Would clear up on its own" in a portacathe.

I ended up with gangrene in my chest.. I nearly died from it but when I saw him and said it felt inflamed he would not listen to me telling me to take some aspirin and I was running a low grade fever..while he sent me back out to the waiting room with the jezuz paintings and fax nux blaring then sent me home.
I have to say there were extenuating things that happened that ended with with it taking months to get it removed,
Now If I walk into a new dr office and faux nuz is on or there is abunch of religious pamphlets I go to the counter and cancel the apt and see about getting a different dr.

I have also experienced the nonsense from the radical rightwing..even my own formerly dem mother has start spewing that glenn beck and bellow crap at me..

Try living in Nazibama ..I don't know, but did years ago so I have been watching this slide into nutzovision for about 30 yrs.
I have even said things like what happened to the OP would be happening, I have had some folks come up to me and start out of thin air. I have also had kkkreestians brag about how the are gonna have a revolution and kill all the F**s, K****, N*****, interracial couples, on and on. As well as what kind of arsenal they have at home..and for years have been told I M the Fuckin delusional one.

[dgibby]

35. Glad you survived!

I understand about the Bible Belt. I'm in SC. Hang in there!

[pinboy3niner]

37. I hope you're doing OK now, Bob

Just remember, these idiots' delusions are THEIR problem. Plus, on the positive side, they give you a good excuse to JUSTIFIABLY feel superior. :)

Hang in there, Bob.

Love & Peace, pinboy3niner

[donco6]

46. I'd find someone else, and not because of the Repuke shit.

My surgeon took plenty of time and asked if I had questions about 10 times. He had all the x-rays and scans in his file (I could see them). They ALWAYS ask about my history every time I go (smoking, other surgeries (will they run into scar tissue?, allergies, etc. etc. etc.

I'd question his competence.

[mnhtnbb]

48. RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN TO FIND ANOTHER MD!!

I'm serious. Guys like this are in medicine for one thing only and that's to make money.

Hubby is an MD and I'm a retired hospital administrator. There has been a sea change
in medicine over the last 30-40 years. The focus is business, not the art and science
of medicine.

You do not want a person taking care of you who has his priorities all screwed up.
Find somebody else. There are still caring MD's out there who went into practice (not business)
to take care of people and their first concern is the patient, not their wallet.

Good luck.

PS: You are right about the first red flag being FAUX News on in the waiting room.
I dumped a specialist I was referred to because the first red flag was the same thing.
The second? No sound proofing between exam rooms and I didn't appreciate hearing "how great
the Viagra was working, doc". I figured any discussion I had would also be heard. And the third?
Took 45 minutes for a non-emergent type specialist to see me past my appointment time. Told me
that he didn't give a damn about my time.

[lunatica]

17. I'll make sure to avoid talking to strangers again

I had to shut up during the Bush Era after having a run in with a workmate who told me to leave the country if I didn't love it. This was right after 9/11 when I said I hoped the America response would not be to go to war because it would be a bad war. She categorically said she would gladly give up her rights to be safe.

Of course a few years after that she was hoping someone would assassinate Bush in order to stop him. She said no one could have foreseen the failure of the wars. I reminded her of our conversation and she had to admit I had been right. But other than me, no one else could have foreseen the failure....

[Berry Cool]

20. She wanted Bush assassinated? Sounds like a real nutjob.

Talk about going to extremes. She seems like one of those people who pingpongs from one political stance to another--always way, way over on whatever side of the spectrum she's on at the time.

[glitch]

25. The limit of only seeing extremes, see-sawing back and forth between black and white

is a mental disorder and it seems to be getting more common.

[raccoon]

42. That's the way children think, until they get older and reach a developmental stage where

they get beyond the black & white thinking.

Unfortunately, many people never get beyond it. Just how many don't, has become more and more obvious since Bush was selected in 2000.

[glitch]

43. As the world becomes more complex and scary they revert to it. It feels safer than facing

the fears and complexities and dealing with them. In a fearful state it's all about feeling safer and that fearful state has been deliberately created by people who then use it to their advantage.

[Martin Eden]

28. Sadly Ironic

People who believe Glenn Beck's propaganda about Obama being a nazi are the ones who are falling into the trap of being tools for the real creeping fascism in this country.

[pinboy3niner]

29. I had a nearly-physical confrontation with a Glenn Beck fan recently

A few dozen of us were working to prepare for a veterans event in a city park. I walked over to pass on some updated info to one of the volunteers, but he was being lectured nonstop by the Beck fan, who was telling him that we are at the point where the only way to take the country back and save the Constitution is to take up arms.

The guy had at least 8" and 80 pounds on me, but I couldn't help interrupting to ask, "Do you know that, according to the Constitution, it is TREASON to take up arms against the elected government of the United States?" I said that if a coup installed a dictator who suspended the Constitution, that would be different, but currently we have an ELECTED government.

The guy looked like his head was going to explode. The look on his face told me that, at that moment, I was more evil in his eyes than Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi combined. He looked like he wanted to take a swing at me, but just then all of us were called to assemble for some new announcements.

Later, the other volunteer came over to thank me. He's not into politics, but he'd been very uncomfortable with what the Beck fan was saying, and he didn't like being trapped as the guy's captive audience.

Now I'm tempted to carry copies of the Constitution around with me so the next time I hear some teabaggers spout off about it, I can hand it out and give them a chance to actually READ the thing and find out what it actually says.

[mnhtnbb]

49. They'll probably tell you you made up your own copy of The Constitution.

[upi402]

31. My county is supposed to be liberal, BUT is getting crazy Republican

I keep getting challenged out of thin air by these brainwashed nascent brown shirts.

---And I'm in the most liberal county of a "Democratic" state. The local news here is 100% cotton candy and rightwing talk is pervasive.

[mkultra]

33. Seems like you disparage you SO for standing his ground

emotional IQ? sometimes standing up for what you believe is just right and running is cowardly.

[lunatica]

38. And sometimes running is the most intelligent thing you can do

Standing your ground is OK if by doing so you can win. With these nuts there's no winning. Only stupid people think standing your ground against crazy is 'just right'. It's so easy to be brave on your keyboard isn't it?

[mkultra]

39. It is easy. just like its easy to be a coward IRL

heated political debate is not life threatening. Fear is exactly what they want you to feel. These are the very bullies that go away when you stand up to them.

[HughMoran]

40. I don't think like that

ever. Perhaps it's my upbringing in the inner city. I don't run.

[DefenseLawyer]

44. And I ain't even got a garage, you can call home and ask my wife!

Sad that Charlie Daniels went all crackpot in his old age.