There's a guy who posts on the local political message board I frequent. I'm sure you know the type; every board has at least one. He self-identifies as Conservative yet supports President Bush 100%, even as this administration tramples Conservative values. He makes a lot of noise about how he's a Christian, yet acts about as much like Christ as the muffler on my car. He's smart enough to come up with clever insults, and lazy enough to depend on them instead of logical arguments supporting his views. His standards of right and wrong are entirely dependent on whether there's a (D) or (R) after the name. Yes, you know exactly who I'm talking about.
Well, something magical happened today.
This afternoon, he started yet another inflammatory thread bashing John Murtha. It was the usual stuff, noteworthy only for managing to cram the obligatory coward, liar, cut, run, traitor, disgrace and idiot into just two short sentences. An accomplishment, yes, but that's not the magic.
Moments later, a brand new poster, an ex-Marine, arrived and ripped our friend a new one. He - correctly - identified the tactic of attacking the messenger rather than the message, and his post ended with these words: "I'm proud of Congressman Murtha, proud of his service to his country and ashamed of someone like you who can stoop so low as to attack him."
Direct, plainly spoken, honest, and effective. Our friend, normally a four post-per-hour kind of guy, has been conspicuously absent since the former Marine posted his reply.
Now, this isn't Earth-shattering. I realize it's just a comment on a local message board. But it's also yet another sign that, to borrow a very tired phrase, we're turning a corner. Every day, more and more people are saying "enough!" to the bully tactics of those who put party before country.
When you see someone speaking out like this, please join me in welcoming and thanking them. They may have made a long, difficult journey to get to this point - challenging assumptions you've held for years or even decades isn't easy - and for them to do this is brave indeed.
Let's let them know they're welcome and appreciated. Let's let them know we're glad to see them. Let's let them know we're ready to get to work.