Westboro Leftists (or: Not All Feminists)
So apparently even John Green (yes, that John Green) is being attacked as a terrible transphobic misogynistic racist, or whatever. One of the nicest people in the world, certainly the nicest since Mr. Rodgers, is getting threats and hate from the extremist left.
This is something I just would have written off as lunacy not long ago. Like the #CancelColbert surge, or Dan Savage's "hate crime". Then I learned about the harassment of one of the most sex-positive and amazing people on YouTube, Laci Green, which scared her off the internet for a while. And it started feeling like a thing that actually has some effect, rather than just two kooks ranting in a basement somewhere while everyone sane ignores them.
Honestly, I'm happy that these people are going after targets like Colbert and John Greene. Exactly because they are such good people that the extremists are made to look like ridiculous asshats.
Until a few years ago I was shocked (and dismayed!) to discover that anyone other than racist misogynistic trash was ANTI-feminism! It was like a literal smack. It took me a while to realize that what they were *actually* against was these sorts of extremist assholes who managed to tar the rest of us by claiming their blind hate was in the name of progressive ideals. I know someone who is better and kinder than just about anyone in any progressive movement who calls himself anti-feminist because of the rabid attacks by these left-wing Fred Phelpses.
When those asses go after obviously good people it reveals them for what they are - the left's equivalent of the Westboro Baptists. And I hope this will make it much easier for those of us who really want people to just be decent to each other to be able to say "Yeah, look at those dick-waffles over there. THEY are the crazy fucks, NOT us. We are not like that, so please don't think we are here to attack you. And feel free to join us if you ever want to, because everything you espouse is exactly what our ideal world is."
The thing is, we all have to be willing to point them out and denounce them, publicly. I really wish they'd organize into a group to make that easier, but for now I'm calling all such people Westboro Leftists. So let me throw in my hat with those saying "Most feminists and leftists are NOTHING LIKE THESE ASSHOLES, and we despise them."
(yes, I'm saying Not All Feminists Are Like That. Cuz I think it's a legitimate argument, and I've suspected the "Not All Men" meme, while it did have a point, was another aspect of a Superweapon)
added: It was pointed out by a commenter that Fred Phelps identified as a Democrat (the Left party in the US) and ran for office several times as a Democrat. That really surprised me, since religious opposition to gay rights is traditionally a Right position here. So my use of the term "Westboro Leftists" is a bit of a misnomer, as it implies that the Westboro dicks were Right-identified. I should've just said "Let's not be like the Westboro Baptists on any issue." My bad.