Has anyone noticed Huffington Post's bizarre handling of readers' comments? This morning I posted, or tried to post, a comment to an article about a Fox News commentator's comments that the teen-aged rape victim in Missouri was responsible for her own rape. My comment was this: "No one deserves to be raped, whether a naughty teen-ager, Sarah Palin, or a prison inmate. Our culture's rape fantasies must stop." HuffPo refused to post it.
Was it wrong to use the word "naughty"? True, the girl in question had snuck out after hours and consumed alcohol, but my point was even if that was true, no one "deserves" to be raped. I included Sarah Palin because during the 2008 campaign, an entertainer stated that she wished a group of black men would rape Ms. Palin. Although I find Ms. Palin, her statements, and her policies reprehensible and stupid, I don't think she deserves to be raped. The same for prison inmates. What is so wrong with this comment on a site where you can find hundreds of comments using such terms as "lib-tard" and the f-word and where President Obama is referred to by all manner of racially charged epithets?
The next rejected comment was to an article about a magazine cover depicting Ted Cruz as the Mad-Hatter. My comment was: "I like tea. I like tea parties. Hell, I even have 36 recipes for cucumber sandwiches. I am tired of these conservative d-bags appropriating the name of something joyous and innocent to push their insane policies. I think their name should be changed to the enema party."
I thought the use of "d-bags" was a rather amusing play on "tea bags" and "the enema party" pointed to a more accurate result of the party than tea did. I think by Saturday Night Live standards that it's pretty innocent. Heck, some congressman even referred to the attempt to repeal Obamacare as the "Republican wet dream" right on the House floor (the statement, not the wet dream).
I apologize if any of this offends, but it's getting very hard to figure our what is appropriate anymore and I would like to hear folks' opinions. I'm going to shut myself in this weekend with Garry Wills, Sibelius, a new packet of Margaret's Hope darjeeling, and a diet high in fiber, because if I can't be normal, at least I can be regular.
