"Stop being so negative"

That is the catchphrase now for people who do not want you messing with their delusions. When a crazy woman verbally attacked me in a parking lot a few years ago because I dared to not approve of the Boy Scouts, the Salvation Army and the Red Cross (just because I cannot abide bigotry, dishonesty, incompetence, and murder) her argument was that I was so negative. In today's New Orleans Times-Picayune, there is a letter from a woman who is just so undone because a columnist (and everyone else in town) criticized a local school administration for senselessly ruining prom night for some students. The columnist, she says, is just so negative.

There are some people I know very well who like to barrage our household with "Bush is wonderful"/"gays are bad"/"the ACLU is evil" trash that is all based on lies and misconstrued evidence. When we point out that actual fact debunks what they are saying, their reply is: "Stop being so negative."

Negativity can be a harmful thing. Each of us knows at least one person who sees the worst part of every person and situation, often with a big dose of unfounded suspicion. These are people who do not bother to try to solve their problems because they believe their problems are unsolvable. That kind of negativity irritates me no end. But there is a difference between having a negative mindset toward everything and pointing out rampant dishonesty, incompetence and fascist tendencies.

Ignorance and denial are sick lovers who walk hand in hand throughout life, causing great harm to the rest of us. The least they can do is shut the hell up.