I just read a diary, thankfully not on the rec list, in which the diarist brags about bringing a megaphone to a health care meeting and using it "point blank" to shout down the opposition.
This is thuggish, dangerous and violent. It displays less intelligence than those who are trying to shut down our civil discourse.
My comment, to which I have yet to see a reply:
Using a megaphone "point blank" causes hearing damage. That's just science.
If you don't believe that, you probably don't believe in man-made climate change either.
I have tinnitus, hearing damage that creates a whining sound in my hearing from which I can never escape. It was my own personal stupidity which caused it, but a megaphone at point blank range could easily do the same. If you had done that to me, it may have been enough to drive up my tinnitus to a level beyond my ability to cope. And there's only one way to escape it - the permanent way.
You would have been kinder to the people you did this to by punching them in the face; at least they would most likely heal from their injuries. But either that or what you did is physical violence, plain and simple, and I cannot condone that under any conditions.
And to brag about your violence in a diary?
You should be ashamed. And you should be sorry.
Please people, let's not resort to inflicting hearing damage to make a point. This reckless endangerment makes someone look like their judgement shouldn't be trusted, you know, like the astroturf teabaggers we are trying to rise above.
There are so many great diaries here describing reasoned, intelligent ways to hold back the tide of the unruly. We must stay in line with a non-violent approach, because that is what we sincerely believe should, and will prevail.
"Non-violence is not inaction. It is not discussion. It is not for the timid or weak... Non-violence is hard work. It is the willingness to sacrifice. It is the patience to win."