This isn't the first diary I have written on Daily Kos about unfriending someone on Facebook who unbeknownst to you turned out to be a completely bigoted and racist asshat. Not only that, in each case, the "you're a racist for calling me a racist" rhetoric came fast and furious, like a monkey flinging feces.
Follow me below the Fleur de Kos where I will explain what caused me to unfriend a Ron Paul supporter after I called that person on their anti-semitism in a pro-Paul post.
My lead paragraph from that diary is still appropriate and I apologize for not writing something completely original, but the sentiment about Facebook and who your friends are still relevant:
There are friends and then there are Facebook friends. Real friends are people that you owe it to them to even tell them unpleasant but true things. People who aren't real friends but friends of convenience will only listen to what they want to hear. And then there are people who you really don't even know other than in cyberworld and most of them you only a "friends" with them because you are friends with other people.
I also need to give a bit of
background as to how I know this person, Greg Stump of Yellow Springs Ohio. Again, it is just easier to repeat these details:
I'm a huge fan of Warren Haynes and the band Gov't Mule. Warren also leads his own band, the Warren Haynes Band, and is a member of the Allman Brothers as well. He appeared at the White House in February for a blues concert that was featured on PBS. He also played with the post-Jerry Garcia "Dead" (confusing as the original band was the Grateful Dead but called the Dead by fans and the new band was called the Dead). Warren and the Dead played a Barack Obama fundraiser at Penn State University in 2008.
So I know this Greg Stump through Gov't Mule. Suffice to say, I have relaxed my standards of people I will friend on Facebook. If I went to high school and college with you and know you personally, I will friend you. But I have been less stringent w/ Mule fans (now twice to my detriment), usually granting friend requests if the person is friends with people I would actually consider my friends, although not everyone's choice of friends is perfect.
One of the more ironic things about encountering such racist and bigoted bile from someone who is a fan of Gov't Mule is that they are fiercely progressive. As I mentioned earlier, Warren Haynes played with the Dead in 2008 at the Obama fundraiser at PSU. This past year, during Black History month, Warren and other musicians played a command performance at the White House (that is available from PBS and also can be seen on Youtube). I guess my point is that I know for a fact that three of the four members of the band (the fourth is a Danish citizen and I don't know his political views) are staunch Democrats and would personally be offended to hear this kind of language from an alleged fan.
Today, I stumbled upon a Ron Paul as Jeebus post. I usually put my usual comments about Paul being a fauxbertarian and no self-respecting libertarian would be anti-choice. However, Greg Stump, started talking about being an economic slave and that all the banks are controlled by the Jews and so on.
I posted on that thread about I don't want to be friends w/ someone who believes something that I find so insulting and anti-semitic. I then unfriended him, and the rest follows:
Greg Stump: if u think i am racist... u are an idiot.
Dan Kurtz (that's me-Dirk is just a handle): You are an ignoramus. Judaism is not a racial classification. It's a religion. And most Jews are Caucasian. You should know the difference between been (sic) a bigot and being a racist.
Greg Stump: learn to define zionism and how that differs from REAL jewish people. you are showing your ignorance... not me
the nazis killed my people in the holocaust as well
zionism is NOT judaism
the fact that u would delete a friend over a difference of opinion shows YOUR bigotry ... not mineearn to define zionism and how that differs from REAL jewish people. you are showing your ignorance... not me
the nazis killed my people in the holocaust as well
zionism is NOT judaism
the fact that u would delete a friend over a difference of opinion shows YOUR bigotry ... not mine
Dan Kurtz:That's rich, yoy're (sic) asking a Jew to define Zionism. And the more you, talk about differentiating Real Jews and ZIonists and so on, the more of a bigoted douche you really are, thereby further justifying me Unfriending you. But here is a dictionary definition of Zionism:
Zionism |ˈzīəˌnizəm|
noun
a movement for (originally) the reestablishment and (now) the development and protection of a Jewish nation in what is now Israel. It was established as a political organization in 1897 under Theodor Herzl, and was later led by Chaim Weizmann.
Greg Stump: here are MANY many jewish people that are against the zionist movement... u need to wake up
Dan Kurtz: I love how haters like yourself immediately call someone who points out how bigoted and racist they are is a racist and not yourself. Go fuck yourself. Don't ever contact me again. I will consider it harassment. Nice knowing you...Not so much.
Greg Stump:what did i hate on?
the hate has all came from you dan.
Greg Stump:racist? for not supporting a murderous cabal? the racism is an invention of these people... divide and conquer... i respect alll peoples and their rights and u perceive that as racist? u arent being honest with yourself.
Like my previous diary, the person I no longer wished to be friends with went medieval (can they actually spell medieval correctly is another matter) AFTER I unfriended them. If they treat their supposed friends and acquaintances this way, they probably don't have too many meaningful relationships.
Look, I get Facebook is totally superficial and sometimes your "friends" are not your friends, but sometimes you get more empathy and compassion from some of these "friends" than you get from genuine friends, but these Ron Paulistas are really idiots. I hate to generalize, but they are some of the most ignorant, but yet most certain people I have ever encountered. These people will argue that the sky is yellow and the sun is blue...and so it goes...again.