I was widowed 7.5 years ago. One of my main sources of support was online, basically from four excellent groups. My diary from the seven year milestone is here.
There are a variety of people on these sites - they are places where liberals, conservatives, moderates, socialists, and wingnuts alike can share their stories of grief - and provide mutual support. They're run by wonderful people, dedicated to helping all of us learn to live again.
Unfortunately, when politics come up, the knives frequently come out, even on those sites. I was hoping that things would be different when I shared my feelings of grief over the death of Senator Kennedy. I should have known better.
It didn't matter that yesterday was the day that Senator Kennedy died.
It didn't matter that Republican heroes were effusive in their praise all day.
It didn't matter that it was a support board, where people normally help each other through their grief.
Terms that were thrown around include "Chappaquidick", "Socialism", "Murder", "Hell", "Corruption", "Welfare", and that most dreaded term of all
"Liberal".
I won't name the site(s) in question, as I believe that the grief that we're seeing here could spill over into anger there, and that would be unhealthy, especially for the majority on those sites - who prefer that such sites remain (mostly) apolitical.
[Edited to add] The great majority of widowed on these boards are the most compassionate people. (Yes, a few fall into sheer bitterness.) I would take the friendship of even most widowed with wingnut views any day. [end edit]
I guess my point is that the wingnut hatred of Senator Kennedy goes so far, it even knocks the empathy out of some of us who are widowed - a group who has suffered grief and loss in the most personal terms.
I don't even blame the posters who made the offensive comments. Anger often comes with widowhood - as widowhood is "unfair" in a number of ways. It is unfortunate that those in grief lash out in hurtful ways, but those in grief often don't realize what they are doing.
And that reminds me that Senator Kennedy faced down the hatred of such people just about every day of his political career, with incredible grace and skill. That's one more reason why he'll always be a hero of mine.