Uncomfortable

un•com•fort•a•ble
ənˈkəmfərdəb(ə)l,ˌənˈkəmftərbəl/
adjective
causing or feeling slight pain or physical discomfort.
Or
causing or feeling unease or awkwardness.

REDNECK. HILLBILLY. MORON. FANATIC. OBSTRUCTIONIST. FRINGE WING NUT. MISOGYNIST. RACIST. ZEALOT. EXTREMIST. IDEOLOGUE.

LIBTARD. HIPPIE. LIBERAL. ELITIST. CRONY. BLOWHARD. LOON. CUCK. SNOWFLAKE. BETA. CRYBABY. SJW (SHORT FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE WARRIOR).

First, we have the Oxford Dictionary’s list of the most commonly used “slurs” used by left-leaning internet users, when confronting right-leaning internet users. Followed by the list used by right leaning toward left leaning. It is interesting to me that while the majority of the Left’s insults are recognized as universal language (Oxford’s study found that the words most used by the left are also used by the right, just in fewer instances), more than half of the Right’s insults are rooted in the Alt-Right movement. Please be sure you understand this: The “Alt-Right” is just the newest incarnation of WHITE SUPREMACY, i.e. NEONAZISM and WHITE NATIONALISM.

Now, I am not here to debate whether calling people names on the internet is productive, I am here to make you UNCOMFORTABLE. I want you to know that the WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST is proud to say he gave the ALT-RIGHT a platform, BREITBART. Our POTUS is listening to a paranoid racist, every day, and giving his viewpoints credibility.

   

The “base”, as they are now referred to, those 35% of US voters that will not seem to come around to admitting their mistake this past November, are being fed by hate and paranoia. Take for instance the “fake news” revelations that came out shortly after our election. One of the few comforts liberals had in the aftermath of the election was the anecdotal reporting that fake-news purveyors found it easier to get conservatives to believe their baloney.

As one such fake-news entrepreneur, responsible for articles with headlines like, “FBI Agent Suspected in Hillary Email Leaks Found Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide,” told NPR: "We’ve tried to do [fake news with] liberals. It just has never worked, it never takes off. You'll get debunked within the first two comments and then the whole thing just kind of fizzles out."

In addition, other studies have found that conservatives are more likely than liberals to believe conspiracy theories that align with their beliefs, as in the case of a August 2016 poll done by Gallup, that showed that about half of conservative, Republican-identifying Americans supported banning immigration from “terror-prone” regions of the world, even though non-Muslim terrorists have killed nearly twice as many Americans since 2001 than Islamic extremists have. As has now played out during this administration, doing such a thing is patently unconstitutional and illegal.

Many experts, pundits, newscasters, and political analysts have attempted to figure out the phenomenon of a Trump win. With all of the lies, the racism, the misogyny, the bragging of sexual assault, many just cannot understand how he was elected. Many more are grappling with the future of the midterms and 2020, how can we bring “the base” to the progressive side and start voting in their best interests?

Trae Crowder, The Liberal Redneck, says it best:

  

Does that make you UNCOMFORTABLE? It should. We live in a country where the idea of lying to the voters actually makes sense and is supported by research.

There aren’t any real good points I’m trying to make here. It all sucks. I am UNCOMFORTABLE every day, but I am also sad, terrified, disappointed, ashamed, shocked, disgusted, and disheartened by my fellow Americans. I believe it is the responsibility of those that are UNCOMFORTABLE to shed light on what is going wrong every day, and we must resist and fight to achieve a flip in Congress in 2018.

#staywoke

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...