When I first started writing more in the public eye (i.e. The Huffington Post) and less in my own journals and notebooks, I had a close friend tell me that now, criticism and judgment and nasty comments would just be part of the ball game. Even before he mentioned it, I knew that, but I never internalized it and perhaps always thought I’d find a way to deal with it then, when the time arose.
Retrospectively, I probably should have instituted a battle plan (like: DON’T READ COMMENTS!) long before then.
Yesterday, my fifth piece was published on the Huffington Post, entitled “I’m Worried About The Future Of Our Country.” While I was waiting for it to be accepted, I was both nervous and excited. I was nervous because I knew it would ruffle some feathers, specifically, some Republican feathers. I was excited because to be published on the HuffPost Politics section during an election year in the middle of the DNC would be great for my public exposure. I was right, on both counts. 
I’ve gotten crazy comments on pieces before, but one particularly struck me here. Someone, presumably a Republican and staunch Romney/Ryan supporter, wrote: “You are a bold faced LIAR !!! when you wrote: “Republicans would begin by taking away the rights of women to reproductive choice and finalizing the inability of same-sex couples to marry, ” No way will the Repubs do this. you will always have a choice because of Roe vs Wade. Stop the lies so we can have a real conversation about our differences.”
What intrigued me so much about this is that it seemed to be the exactly type of Republican, vitriolic, fact-less comment I had been discussing in the piece. For example, Romney has said explicitly that he, in fact, believes Roe v. Wade should be over turned!
It perplexes me so much that people who feel so passionately about these political issues, as this commenter clearly does, wouldn’t bother to check facts or do a bit of research before ceaselessly spewing hatred. Ironically, the comment ended with “stop the lies so we can have a real conversation about our differences.” I would ask the same of you, strange commenter. My whole point in writing the piece was that if we elect these Republican hopefuls into office, we’re heading down a slippery slope where we could one day live in a world where everything has reverted back to, or become more like, the 1984 dystopia where non-agreement with the party line is a serious problem, because that’s how they operate. You can’t have 1984 without the drones, the ones that simply buzz around the leaders of the party, ready to utterly agree with anything they say.
So I’d encourage you, strange commenter, to do a bit of work on your own. Stop energetically defending everything your party says or does without any mindful thinking of your own. I even acknowledged in my piece that no party or politician or agenda is free from mistake or error or perhaps even complete lapse in judgment, but I do know this: I’d rather pick the one that encourages me to think for myself, especially when the other is filled with hatred and idiocy.
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