We pride ourselves on being tolerant, inclusive, and generally kind to others.

Usually, when I’m on social media and I see some MAGA spewing conspiracy theories, or anti-vax BS, or the merits of ivermectin for….whatever they think it works for lately….I just move on and ignore.

But sometimes….sometimes….I just gotta stop and argue for a while.

Today, while engaging in yet another fruitless war of words with an individual who is convinced that ivermectin will save the world, I started to wonder…..

Have we been TOO tolerant?

I mean, I know Democrats in general have been too nice, too passive. I’m talking more along the lines of everyday citizens who have been brainwashed by MAGA, MAHA and the fascist regime. The conventional approach is to keep scrolling. But, that doesn’t seem to be helping.

It’s now cool to be an ignorant, uneducated, malicious bigot. Racist tendencies that had been suppressed by the fact that it was previously socially unacceptable to behave or speak that way…..are now prevalent and in some cases, celebrated.

Disinformation is more rampant than ever. Education is devalued. MAGA and MAHA have perfected the ability to spin their completely unfounded opinions into their versions of “fact,” and that has become insanely dangerous. Years of research and scientific advances have been thrown in the trash by this administration, and despite the brainwashed crowd’s best efforts, the consequences just aren’t hitting them fast enough. We were too good for too long.

It won’t last, of course. Eventually, it will catch up with them. But how long do the rest of us have to put up with this before that happens? And how much more damage will be done in the meantime? How many of us - who DO believe in truth - will be hurt because of their actions? We are already at the point that most of us doubt the damage done thus far can be corrected in our lifetimes.

So, as political candidates and/or elected officials….should we be hitting back harder? Should we be engaging in these arguments online after all? Should we be shining a light on these people and inviting attention, and making it clear that despite recent events, it’s still not acceptable to behave that way? Are we so worried about losing votes or pissing people off that we just allow the disinformation and bigotry to go unchecked?