It’s time once again for The Future American’s FAIL OF THE WEEK! Every Saturday, I name a person or group who has spent the past seven days behaving in a particularly idiotic way. Since it’s my belief that idiocy knows no politics, nobody is safe.
This week’s fail was brought to you by a number of American readers, presumably fans of ex-Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), who didn’t like what I had to say about her in my city paper, where I’ve been freelancing editorials. I have no idea how they found it; I assume they scour the Internet daily searching for Palin detractors. They get the fail for their reason why I shouldn’t be bothered with (although they did bother).
I will give “may” some credit for pointing out my error in naming Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) as a representative from Ohio. Normally I get that right and I don’t know how I missed it this time, but I posted a retraction in the comments. A number of others had the following to say (I’m paraphrasing):
- I was born in Canada, and my country is irrelevant. (What, like I disagree? That’s why I write about them!)
- They will not vote based on what Canadians want. (Who ever said that? The point of the article was to assure other Canadians that Palin is incapable of being a national candidate.)
- I am a lefty because I hate Palin and didn’t acknowledge President Obama’s “incomptence.” (The article I published before, on war resistance, had people accusing me of being a Conservative operative. It was fun.)
I can’t say I’m hurt by any of this. I’ve dealt with it several times, and for every American who brands me persona non grata because of where I was born, there are five who engage me on the substance of my writing, and three of those five (including my friends Alyssa in Illinois, Sherry in Florida, and Charlotte in Nebraska) like me.
The negative comments really didn’t do that. They simply provided some variation on the theme of “What are you talking about? Palin rules.” Some other favorites were a guy who actually used the term “cotton-picking,” and another who said Canada would be “dead meat’” without American protection. To which a Canadian commenter replied that the only people who have ever attacked us have been Americans. Good point.
Most Americans are smart enough to see that a) globalized communications and b) close economic and military bonds are sufficient grounds for Canadians writing about U.S. issues. I’m sorry that a loud and obnoxious minority needs to spew such nonsense when they read something they disagree with. But at least I’m getting attention.
