Earlier this week a man from Michigan placed a simple post on Facebook: “My doctor wants Elizabeth Warren to be president of the United States.”
In response, his post generated hundreds of comments from Facebook users who expressed revulsion that the physician favored Warren, a liberal Democrat from Massachusetts.
Nearly all of the commentators advised that the man quickly find a new doctor, based on the physician’s political viewpoint, but many went much further. The doctor, they said, must be a Muslim or mentally ill or a “numb nut.” Others assumed the doctor was “stupid,” an incompetent “quack,” or “an educated idiot.”
A few made crude jokes about “Dr. Kevorkian” or the handling of prostate problems.
“A proctologist I’m guessing! They (liberals) have a thing for a–holes!” one man wrote.
The point is that the hyperpartisanship that’s taken hold across this country is now spreading to areas that approach an unhinged form of political thought. The tribalism that has reached a fever pitch creates strident acceptance of separations along party lines in all facets of life: who can teach our kids; who lives next door; and who checks our blood pressure and heart rate.
At its most insane, the newest form of expression is: Don’t like certain congressmen? Shoot to kill.
I have no doubt, by the way, that similar vitriol would be spewed by liberal Democrats in response to a Facebook post that referred to a doctor who supports President Trump.
Numerous anti-Warren comments on Facebook showed that dogmatic voters genuinely believe that a doctor’s political views reflect on his or her competence, skills and judgment on medical matters.
“A good doctor would not want any person remotely like Elizabeth Warren near the Oval Office,” commented one woman.
Another offered these disturbing words to live by in 2017: “Political ideologies are based on values and morals, as are medical decisions.”
Thats pretty horrifying- but apt. As a liberal I would I hope I wouldn’t do that, but the fact that I can’t say that I would not do the same with 100% certainty definitely speaks to our times. This gave me a lot to think about, thanks.