I would like to set the record straight here. This is my blog and my beliefs are relevant to who I am. I am not asking you to agree but I am asking you to have respect and not leave vile comments under the guise of an anonymous blogger or otherwise. Here is the thing, if you have read my blog for any length of time you have a good read about who I am and what I stand for. I will not stop speaking my mind on things that are important to me. You do not have to agree with me, I respect that but I will not allow vile comments on my blog. You are a guest here, just as I am on your blog. There is such a thing as manners, some of you have forgotten them.
While you may not like my political beliefs you do know who I am. That I try to help others as much as I can. That is what I was taught to do. Help and give, contribute to the greater good and those in need, and to think of everyone as equal. I have spent years working with children who did not have insurance, years of my own time week after week to help them become as independent as possible. I contribute diapers to the homeless shelter, money to food banks, and clothes and toys to many of the kids I work with who have nothing. This is what I was taught to do by my parents and what I have taught my children to do.
I will stand up for hate, for decency and respect for everyone. That is never going to change. The end of this election will not stop my desire for equality for all, or my willingness to speak out when I see that it isn't happening.
As for respect for military families, I have the utmost respect for the honor they give our country in all forms. For those who have lost their lives, had their lives changed dramatically by wounds seen and unseen. To imply otherwise is just rude. As you recall Mr. Trump had a month long feud with a Gold Star Family that lost their son in Iraq, not me.
And one last note about prayer. I am an avidly spiritual person. My spirituality is mine and not for sharing on this space with this exception. I believe in the power of prayer and believe me I will be praying that things work out for this country no matter who is in charge. I will pray for equal rights and equal treatment for all, that includes the two Muslim women that were attacked the night after the election while their attackers screamed Trump's name. I will pray that those who need medical insurance get what they need and that Little Buddy continues to get what he needs. His services are something I have to fight for due to the government in my state, the government that thinks he does not need therapy, MRI's to check his shunt or equipment to help him walk. What I do not believe in is that God, in whatever form you believe, answers 59,937,338 peoples wishes and not the other 60,274,974. I don't believe that if the Packers win he has answered my prayer but not all of the millions of Chicago Bears fans out there. Or that God loves the Cubs more than any other team. My God does not work that way.
And let me add a man endorsed by the KKK is not the man I will ever believe in.
My Mother, a very wise woman used to say, like many mothers out there, be careful what you wish for. I hope this works out but at this point I am not sure it will.
You do not have to visit this space I have here in blogland. No one is making you. I hope we are clear on that.
42 comments:
I too am feeling the wrath of those who don't agree with my disagreement. I had a crazy Twitter war with complete strangers today. For some reason the trolls thought I was black and I got a barrage of racist insults. Insane. I also now have almost no friends on Facebook because everyone feels free to come out of the bigotry closet. The level of hate in this country is terrifying and it's been fueled by the man who is going to live in the same house as Abraham Lincoln. Insane.
I am just old enough to have witnessed all of this before in our country as a child and I am horrified that it has raised it's ugly head again! I have no patience for anyone who voted for this monster and they should all be ashamed of what they have done.
Once again Meredith you are absolutely right and I admire your courage for speaking out.
One of the first things I understood very fast when I moved to the States from France was that talking about politics and religion is like opening Pandora's box. Rarely can people agree to disagree on these two matters. You have managed to tackle both with dignity and respect so why couldn't people who disagree with your point of you just respect you and move on? Aren't they being extremely un-American by disrespecting your right to free speech? Argh... it's just so discouraging!
Please know that some "strangers" like me both feel your pain and admire the strong woman you are!
Don't ever change and bigots, go to hell!
Hugs~
So very well said. I am so sorry someone would leave hateful things on your blog. I'm with you, if they don't like what you say, don't visit! How much more simple can it be? I've turned off the news. I don't want to hear it right now. I will continue to visit your blog. I enjoy your space.
I read that comment, Meredith, and I am sickened by the sheer lack of any grace or class or respect shown by that woman. She is a guest in your home on the web. If she pulled this in your home or my home, she would be tossed out. I can only surmise that she has never learned any manners. More's the pity. Here's a tip for her: If you don't agree with something, either find a way to say it that is NOT offensive, or shut up. Move on. Don't read the blog anymore. You don't have the right to be rude. Period.
Sorry you had to experience this, Mere. I've experienced it as well in the course of blogging. It always boggles my mind. What gives anyone the right to use those words on your blog? Common courtesy, respect and humility go a long way.
Good riddance to her. No big loss.
Much love,
Claudia
I couldn't agree more. All the best!
A friend of mine posted a picture on facebook yesterday showing the statue of liberty crying. My friends thought is that the statue is crying now. But in my opinion she has been crying for a long time. Now it's time to get into action all over the world. What the American elections have shown can be seen in Switzerland, too. There is a severe gap between "la classe politique" and the people.
Regula
I am so sorry that you have had to put up with this sort of bigotry. Blogs are a place for mutual respect. In my opinion if you haven't anything nice to say don't say anything. Stay strong and take care.
Meredith, you know I am with you all the way. I have been rather depressed since the election results and seriously do not understand how we got to this point. Someone whose claim to fame is building big buildings and uttering the words "You're Fired" on tv is now the President of the United States. No experience, not a clue. My Colorado boy said that everyone at his college was walking around in dismay and disbelief after the results. My kids think the whole election is laughable. And yet this is where we are at. The greatest nation in the world. Ha! And seriously, if someone has been following you and now unfollows because of your thoughts and views, then they have just proven how very small minded and petty they are and I say good riddance to them.
Meredith, I'm so sorry you've had nasty and unpleasant comments. You are such a lovely decent person and I can't understand why people would be vile. Sending you a big cyber hug. CJ xx
Please know that there are also many people here in the UK - having to deal with similar attitudes post-Brexit, to our total horror - who have deep respect for your expressed views. I hope that Buddy can access all the care that he should automatically have aright to (despite the many virtues of the NHS, we also sometimes have to fight for help) and that you get the support be yours automatically too. I am sorry that you should have to put up with expressions of hate.
Love and best wishes from the UK
I am so sorry Meredith that you have to put up with hateful comments. I read the comment in question and I am appalled. Never stop speaking up! The world needs courageous women like you, and your sister. Sending you hugs xx
I am so heartened that there are people like you and Claudia speaking up on behalf of all the good people in America. Here in England we have a similar situation although on a much smaller scale. I can't imagine how I would have felt if Farage had been voted in as Prime Minister in our country - very much like you're feeling right now I suspect. I have had a disability due to polio since childhood and am so thankful for a lifetime of care through our NHS, but even that is under threat now from privatisation in certain areas. Please know that there are many people here in England that are just as appalled as you that a person of very questionable character is going to be in the White House. Thank you for your lovely blog. I feel I know you even though we've never met. Stay strong. Your family and country need people like you and Claudia more than ever now.
I have noticed that out of all the blogs I read, only two bloggers have rejoiced over the election result. All the rest have the same horrified feelings as you and Claudia. I am with you all the way.
Meredith--I understand your outrage. But...why dignify them with any response?
How awful that someone would feel they have to leave a vile comment, they obviously have no sense of who you are and it surely says far more about them that they would do that. Much love and support xx
PREACH!
Stick to your beliefs and your principles. Never apolgize for them. Never let the haters or the cowards get you.
Patriotism is not only one set of ideas. You can have differing beliefs and still support the troops and their families. I daresay even all of them feel differently about things, whether or not they feel comfortable expressing it publicly.
How dare people insult you on your own blog. Go high, Meredith. It's hard but it's worth it.
I stand with you and agree with you all the way against the "haters." I do not have blog thus the anonymous tag. My name is kaye and I live in Park City, UT
I am so sorry someone felt like they could say such things to you on your blog. It's a crazy and often times violent world without any compassion. I too have a 'special needs' child who is suffering with all the hate towards the LGBTQ community. I'm am so scared for her and many others. I just keep praying that I'm wrong and our country will correct it's course. Big Hugs to you.
I am so sorry that you have had hateful, spiteful comments. I have such admiration for the strong, good hearted woman you are, who expresses herself so articulately. There is no excuse for bad manners or lack of respect for others. Take care and keep strong. Sending love and support from the U.K. xx
Well said Meredith, we're all entitled to respect and our blogs are our place to say what is important to us. Please don't waste our time by leaving comments that we'll delete. My love to you and little Buddy.
Meredith
FIreman and I both follow your blog as we care for you and Lil Buddy and your amazing family. Whomsoever left you horrible comments, I am so sorry for the pain. Keep doing your wonderful work and I hold us all in prayer.
Meredith, I am both a virtual and internet friend of Claudia's. I've never missed a day of her blog or yours. You are both the havens I go to for grace, kindness, decency and solace. The places I check in with when I question if all goodness has vanished. When I need to rid the foul taste of hatred that permeates our country. You and Claudia are my heroes. Don't let the evil get you down. I know you both are the strongest, and gentlest, of human beings, and as such will survive and thrive. Good will vanquish evil; love conquer hate.
I'm so sorry you, who are one of the helpers, have become a target of the haters. After Tuesday, I was surprised at how unsafe I suddenly feel, and weepy. Ours in not the only country swinging right, but hopefully decency will prevail. Thank you for your honesty and goodness.
Here, Here Meredith!
Hi Meredith, I am so sorry that you were faced with people commenting back negatively to your last post. Many people are very upset by the election results and it is difficult it seems to be putting a divide between people and I am saddened that there has even been violence toward people as a result of the election results. In the end kindness, love, and understanding are the most important thing! people should not divide and fight against one another. I wish you and your family the best in this difficult time.
hugs
Lisa
Hi Meredith,
A word that comes to mind is -
vitriolic
adjective venomous, scathing, malicious, acid, bitter, destructive, withering, virulent, sardonic, caustic, bitchy (informal), acerbic, envenomed.
I spoke with my husband about this and it is so very sad. Know that the world is not meant to be like this, my thoughts are with you. I love to follow your blog and see the caring and giving that you have shared.
Christy
hooray for you and your sister!
Meredith, I was a teen when we elected Kennedy, had the civil rights movement, fought in Viet Nam when called on. I fought, bled, was considered "crippled" so long ago. I suffered to defend your right to state your beliefs openly. I was appalled by the person stating that you should be ashamed of your beliefs or leave OUR country. I, like you, was taught to care for others and be kind. I am truly afraid of the path we seem to be on..... my prayers and thoughts are with you and Little Buddy.
Dear Meredith,
I visited Claudia's blog this morning and told her that she gives me hope. You do too. I thought my candidate would win and we as a country could begin to heal. I have an "acquaintance" who declared on Wednesday "it's a new day" with a smile on her face and she was doing her happy dance as she said it. I only know that I read my familiar blogs and they make me feel less "weepy and unsafe" to copy "bittenbyknitten". We can't let hate win. PS - I'll be wearing a safety pin every day from now on.
Amen! I am so sorry that someone was nasty on your blog. Like you said, you don't have to agree, but there is no reason to be nasty. This election has gotten people totally out of control. What's done is done. And now we all need to work together in love and respect. Those of us who pray, now need to pray for our President and our country. God helps us all.
Bless you Meredith for speaking the Truth. Many are veiled from it and there is no making them see or hear. Their error is great.
No, there will be no joining them for hate and love are as oil and water. I choose not to lower myself, my dignity or my self respect. We live a moral life and it will remain that way.
I am one of the disabled he mocked so grotesquely and yes, my heart went to you and your lil sweet Buddy hoping that this vile man will not bring harm to all innocents by his cruel heart.
He will never be *my* President and I will never say his name, ever!
We must maintain our peace and not touch upon the other.
Thank you for all you say and stand for Meredith. You have such grace and great depth of beauty in your heart...
I have been away from the computer for the most part since last Friday and I'm still flat on my back in bed. After reading some blogs this morning I can't say that I'm sad to have been away from blog land. Not necessarily because of what the blogs have said, but because of comments from BOTH sides and the hatred and the horrible things that people on BOTh sides are saying about the other. It literally hurts my heart. We are better than this. I love you and your family Meredith. And I know you know that. My prayer is that God will bless this nation, ALL of this nation and bring the healing that we all need.
Blessings, Betsy
Dearest Meredith, I am so very sorry to hear about this unbelievable cruelty you experienced from a hatemonger. Have checked on your blog from time to time over the last few years to see if there was a new post. My admiration for you makes it impossible to believe anyone could be nasty to you. I remember one of the first weekends when you brought Buddy home for a few days and how that led to an adoption and giving him a permanent loving home. Watching you be his advocate when he certainly needed one was an inspiration.I read Claudia's blog and she keeps us up to date on what Buddy is doing. In my mind, it is unforgivable to verbally attack you. Again, I am so sorry you had this experience.....Sending along my respect and admiration..... Dianne
Hello my dear friend.. I was off driving my car in the Veteran's Day Parade and am commenting late.. but I've been having some very meaningful email conversations this afternoon with one of the coolest people I know.. but here I am to support you. Our blogs are ours to say what we want to and I can only hope our readers treat us with dignity and respect even if they don't agree with everything we say. This election has brought out the true colors of people, actually. I am proud to be on the losing side this time. :-) I only hope this country and the people that are in jeopardy only because of the color of their skin, who they worship or who they love will survive. I vow to watch out for those who might be bullied because of the way they look.. I vow to stand up for them and protect them from bad people. It's all I can do.. for now. I mean.. who knows.. our leader may decide to put old fat ladies in internment camps because we aren't 10s. Then I hope someone will stand up for me. :-) ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
My 32 year old granddaughter said her an her 7&9 years old boys sat and cried together wed.morning with the news from Tuesday election before they left for school that morning is Sad.
When a TV reporter loses his job for just being on a bus with this person and yet he can still be elected president of our country there something wrong .
I would like to know where all the votes came from because no one I have talked to can believe he was elected .
I'm just very sad to think our country has come to this point.
I'm horrified that people can be so rude on someone else's blogspace. They must not have any respect for themselves if they cannot respect anyone else.
Hugs to you Meredith for having to experience such rudeness. I suppose when a leader demonstrates rudeness, others figure they can be rude too. These bad elements just make the good elements rise higher and your integrity shines through even brighter now Meredith.
My thoughts to the world in the light of current events:
Where does hate come from? Fear. Most negative emotions, if you examine them hard enough, rise up from fear. What are the haters so frightened of? They seem to have received the election outcome they wanted - so what do they have to fear? I'm confused about that.
All of the individual expressions of love and kindness are so important. Keep them coming. Love can overcome fear and hate. Love is the weapon to fight hate. Frightened animals bite. When I think of hateful opponents in that way, it helps me to find some compassion.
We, as individuals, all have a circle of influence, be it large or small. I believe in the power of individual actions. We can make our own changes for the better. We can be the changes in our society that we want to see.
It could be as simple as giving a smile or saying hello to someone you see regularly but never speak to etc. It could mean reaching out to someone who is very different to you and genuinely taking an interest in them as human beings, finding out what makes them tick, why they think the things they do, what is important to them, etc. Go and visit their place of worship if it is different to yours and find out first hand what is going on in those places before succumbing to hearsay about the religious practices of others, etc.
When we respect each other as human beings and can begin to appreciate each other's points of view - we don't necessarily need to agree with them - then we can make a start at trying to solve problems together.
I believe in the power of the individual. It takes many individual drops of water to make a wave. The wave needs every drop of water to have the power to exist. Waves of change can be positive or negative. When waves run backwards they cause a rip. This is what I am observing:
Negative attitudes which start as ripples and become waves of misinformation, waves of fear, waves of disdain and intolerance, waves of cruelty ripping apart the fabric of civil society. I want to be one of the individual drops that pushes the wave back into the good, right direction.
We all have individual power. How will you use yours?
Well said Meredith x
I just wanted to add support, this is your space to process your thoughts and feelings. You live in a democracy and the freedom to express yourself is part of that. You do not express harm to others. Being on the losing side doesn't mean you have to take a vow of silence.
You go girl! Us Canadians are with you. Talking to my 91 year old Mom today, she said she's been so depressed since election night. She's very angry at the people who didn't exercise their right to vote. Neither of us have really followed US politics before but this was an extraordinary election. We both loved Barack and Michelle so much.
She is very worried about the effect Trump will have on Canada. I told her not to worry. We have a smart PM surrounded by good people who will make sure things work out here. My cousin from Rhode Island has already moved back to Canada. Take care and like I told Claudia, we have a big house. If you need a breather, we ha be a place to lay your head. xo J
Love you, Mere! You know how people send good vibes over this interweb--well good vibes to you and yours! Tons and tons and tons of good vibes.
Your right on all counts. Have you heard of the safety pin movement? I just did today. I'm old, not up on all the newest things, but this caught my eye
as a non invasive way to show your a "friend" to anyone.
NO judgments as our new soon to be resident of the White House (aka The People's House, not his)
Seems you wear a plain ole safety pin and that indicates you are not judging anyone. Just a friendly sign of support. Check it out.
Thank you for a great blog, I check in often, it's a grandma thing!!
Thank you for your service Dayle. My Dad served almost 30 years in the AF; retiring as a CMsgt. My father in law served 32 years; first in the Army Air Corps in WW 2 and then in the AF. They both went to Vietnam. They're both gone now but would whole heartedly agree with your words. They, and you, served so Meredith and her sister Claudia could speak their hearts without fear of recrimination or jail. Growing up in the military I was taught to respect everyone around me. I was also blessed to go to school with kids of all races and faiths at a time when most of the US was still segregated. I thought our country had moved forward years ago. I'm so saddened that we are now moving backward to the dark days of hate and fear.
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