The Last Word

In the last week I've seen two incidents where people needed to get the last word so badly that they lost all common sense.

In one, a man says he cares about a woman. He has extreme feelings about President Bush and the war in Iraq. He's protested it many times, he's protested the elections in 2000 and 2004 as being stolen, and he has an extensive email loop where he sends his political opinions and links to sites he agrees with to dozens of people. So, of course, he ends up dating a Republican whose son is currently serving in Iraq.

They fight about politics all the time even though she tells him she doesn't want to talk about it. He demands that she does, tells her she's ignorant for not allowing herself to be enlightened by him, and tells her that Cindy Sheehan is a good mother and she isn't because she doesn't hate 'Bushie and his lies'.

In the other incident a woman with terminal cancer makes the radical statement that she thinks there's wrong on both sides of the Gaza situation and hopes that all the horrible things that have happened this week will bring about peace, that some good can come out of it. For this she is accused of anti-semitism, hating Israel, and being offensive. The ringleader in these attacks is well aware of her medical condition. Instead of saying 'Man, I was out of line' or 'Maybe the person I've called a friend for years misspoke because of the morphine drip' she continues on.

When did it become acceptable to try to verbally destroy people over a political disagreement? Not policy makers, not people whose opinions ultimately have an impact, just ordinary people.