"Friendship should be more than biting time can sever." (T.S. Eliot)

….It seems that whenever I get “political” in my blog, those who are not of my Democratic persuasion get all bent out of shape.  I've been accused of  being “condescending” which according to the dictionary means  “displaying a patronizingly superior attitude.”  When I ask where in my blog  I am condescending, I never get a response.  And here is one comment that I published in spite of the fact that it denigrates me: “Try to be fair even if you are a liberal, which gives you the right to be condescending to those who have not reached your spiritual and intellectual level.”

…..So, let’s examine those personal accusations.  The writer implies that, as a Liberal, I’m not “fair” and that as a political group Liberals are not fair—whatever that means.  Then it goes on, sarcastically claiming that I think I have the right, (as liberals do, he says),  to place myself above those who have not reached my “spiritual and intellectual level.”  If that is not sarcasm, then I don’t know what is.  And I do not appreciate the fact that the writer gets personal.  The author, himself, fails to realize that he is not fair when, in another comment, calls the incumbents, “…that Obama gang.”  .....The truth is that I am not condescending, I do not place myself above anybody, and I have never referred to the writer as any other than my friend.  When I require of him to point out where I get as personal as he does, I get no response.  This does not ring true from a friend, which he claims to be.

…..He, and other “friends” present themselves as “ Independents”—then they speak like Republicans.  But I really don’t give a rat’s ass about their political denominations.  We all have our own ideas as to whom can best represent this country, but beyond our party loyalties we should not lose sight of the fact that we are all Americans.  I have a blog where anyone can leave a comment regardless of their political persuasions. That seems more than “fair” to me.  After all, it is MY Blog, and I can write whatever I damn please about Mitt Romney and his “gang”.  The first Amendment gives me that right and I embrace it.  But, If I consider someone my friend, I do not get personal with them on my blog; I do not call them names, I do not employ sarcasm against them,  I do not get angry about their views, as they appear to do about mine when they threaten never to read my blog, and I do not, in any way, attempt to embarrass them or insult them.  Show me the proof that I do any of these things, friend, or stop pinning me to the wall like a bug. 

…..Perhaps I have had different life experiences that have taught me to look beyond the things that tend to be the cause of rifts in friendship. Once you're my friend, that's it. One of the most overriding of experiences  was WWII.  I spent four years with ten “shipmates” in pressure situations every single day—pressures I never expected to endure when I was 17.  We used to fly 13 hour combat missions with the expectation we were going to die at any moment.  Many was the day when there were “differences” among us, but when morning game, we were all brothers, and grudges were forgotten.  I was the only Jew in this crew, and I suffered many an anti-Semitic remark from other crew members in the Squadron, but my “friends” had my back.  If you are my friend then you respect what you know about me through the years, and you do not reject my friendship when you become “frustrated” to the point where you call me “smug” or state that I am condescending, or that you will never read my blog again. This is not friendship if it causes you to lose me—to your detriment.  This is not friendship at all.