We accept idiots all the time and often

Can you really accept your friend the way they are, or can you accept their views and not be affected?  I was thinking about this the other night. Some friends are comfortable saying whatever comes to mind, no matter if it is racist, sexist or of hatred.  After all we are friends and they are safe to say anything, isn't that right? This seems to be the way it is. If we are friends with someone, we accept how they are. Same with family members, we have to accept them. I was thinking about this a lot lately.

I am not a fan of ex-comedian Dennis Miller, the guy is a hack!  He is on par with Right Wing Extremist, Ann Coulter.  My dislike goes beyond their conservative political views. Miller and Coulter come to mind because their views piss me off. My dislike is based more on their framing of arguments. They typically use hate. Hate as the foundation of their views. Dennis Miller had been on the comedy circuit for years. Being one of the cast members for the television show Saturday Night Live.  Dennis Miller came out of the closet as a Right Wing Extremist Nut Job after the attack of 911.  One could understand his anger for the attacks. But it seems that his way of thinking and hatred had been hidden from sight for many years. Many of his colleagues are not openly right wing, rather many are openly left wing followers. You could not say that Jon Stewart is right wing and may even say he is left wing, i.e. Liberal (you know that bad word). Senator Al Franken  once a comedian as well, is a Democrat. He is on the political left, a liberal. I understand the two (Miller & Franken) are or were friends.  I wonder can Al Franken or Dennis Miller accept each other as friends? They are on opposite ends of a wire. Can they accept the wide difference of opinion and views? I think they can, we do it all the time.

But maybe over the long haul, I don't know if that really can be done. At some point, the opposite views, feelings about something, someone are just too much to carry. You have a friend that you know to be racist or homophobic. How long can you carry what he/she feels? I know its not you. You may have different views altogether, or your views may not be as extreme as those of your friend. So why not just ignore the views? Why not just accept them as they are? After all its not you and it should not affect you, right?

I have friends that are conservative in thinking. What I mean is that they believe in the Bible and its use should be part of the rule of law. They even wear shoes that would make Preston Manning proud.  (You know those black shiny loafers with the soft spongy soles. The kind, that old men with their pants heft up to their breasts wear.) Not something I agree with, but that's okay. I have friends that are racist homophobic and just plain negative thinking in every way imaginable, and I have grown accustom to their views.I know I know, you should speak up against the negativity in the world. I agree, I agree. However, sometimes you just lower your head and let the water drain off your back. Get me?  We accept idiots all the time. I know people accept me for all my quirks, stupidity, shallowness, narrow-mindedness and smell. So there is reciprocity. They accept me for being an idiot and I do likewise. We save our barbs and wars against the other guys. The strangers. Not the people we know. We accept idiots all the time.

Not only do we accept idiots that are close to us, we accept idiots that we don't even know. Steven Fletcher  is a Member of Parliament of Canada. He is the guy that as a sitting MP said that the "Japs were Bastards". He later apologized as saying he was using language historical to the time period. The word Jap is  commonly accepted as an ethnic slur. When Steven made his angry comments about the Japanese, he had a colleague in Parliament that is of Japanese descent. Bev Oda of course accepted his comments. We accept idiots all the time.  I am ashamed to say that I can't stand Steven Fletcher. Steven Fletcher is a quadripaligic. He was a very active man prior to (and still after) his car accident.  It's not his situation that I dislike, it is him, his demeanor, his attitude. his smugness and his hatred to the poor. I think he uses his situation as a stick to hit people with. I guess I would be angry to, but from all accounts he was a dink prior to his accident and is still a dink. We accept idiots all the time.

Even the rich have their share of idiots. The Baldwins;  Alec and Stephen seem to accept each other.  I don't know who is the bigger idiot. Alec for his telephone rant on his child or Stephen for being a right wing nut bar?  We accept idiots all the time.

 Some of the biggest idiots accept all the time are in our own backyards. My Reserve is like that.