A Personal Tale of Left-Wing Intolerance

The other day I was sitting in Court minding my own business while awaiting opposing counsel. With other attorneys in the courtroom, but not the Judge, one attorney asks me if I'm going to have lunch with my buddy Putin soon. This attorney had recently run into me at a restaurant while I was having lunch with another conservative, Jewish attorney. I only recall saying then that I believe we have the worst two choices for President in my lifetime. He replied that one of them was the worst, anyway. So, he likes Hillary.

Back to the courtroom. As my knee is bothering me, and it was getting stuffy in the courtroom, I asked that attorney, who was standing by the door, if he would prop it open. He replied that he would not do it for me. Another attorney stood up and said she would do it. But when the first attorney told her not to do it because I'm a Republican, she sat back down.

Just because Trump made some ridiculous comment about Putin does not mean if I vote for Trump that I like Putin. I wonder what this attorney thought of Obama's dumb comment to Medvedev before the 2012 election: "Tell Vladimir (Putin) I'll have more flexibility after the election." Putin then took Obama for the weak leader that he is, and took over the Crimea and eastern Ukraine.

Back to the courtroom again. The attorney stood up again, and in an angry, hostile tone said: "I've had it up to here," putting his hand at the level of his neck. He continued: "I lived through Nixon, I lived through Bush, and I've had it up to here." He then asked to speak with me in the hallway. I thought that was better than continuing in the courtroom, so I stepped into the hallway with him. He said he had two questions for me.

The first question: "If you needed open heart surgery, would you go to someone with 30 years experience who had done thousands of such surgeries, or would you go to your local plumber." As the question was ridiculous I replied: "Can I have some time to think about it?" He got the point and moved on to his second question: "What was wrong with Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court? Who do you want filling that seat on the Supreme Court." I replied that I would like to see someone like Scalia appointed, and that only Trump would appoint such an individual.

His anger continued to rise. It was clear he was far too angry to have a conversation. I asked if he would like to read my blog for my viewpoints, pointing out that others on his side of the fence do read it. He said he knew about it and did not want to read it. I then inquired about what he did read - just the LA Times or NY Times? He replied that he read nothing. After suffering through his harassment and hostility, and admittedly not my finest moment, these words then left my mouth: "So, you're stupid then." At that, he stormed off.

If I run into this attorney again, I would apologize. I always prefer to keep things professional. However, it gets rather annoying that people think they can harass me or mock me because of my beliefs. I will never back down, however. People like this attorney need to read the July 17th post on "Classical Liberalism." The problem is, they probably still would not get it.

I have discussed this problem on a number of occasions - the left no longer believes in the fundamental American values. That is why they see no problem in saying they want to ban or shut down Chick-fil-A, because the owner said he believed in the traditional definition of marriage. It's always the "issue" at hand (gay marriage, or any other issue) taking precedence over the "fundamental value" - in this case, free speech and the First Amendment. And the fundamental value that people are allowed to hold opposing views without feeling a need to hurt them or threaten them physically or economically. But it explains why this attorney had no problem being openly hostile towards me because I disagree with him.

One friend told me that the gay Republican commentator, Milo Yiannopoulos, said it is easier for him to admit being gay than it is to admit being a conservative/Republican. I would not be surprised. That is certainly the case in Hollywood. And it may be the case in leftist areas of the country like California, New York City and other places. I will never back down. But the larger issue remains - can the Democratic left ever again return to being a party of tolerance, with a belief in Classical Liberalism and the fundamental American values?