In support of the rage of man

[bennyboy]

But I'm trying to carry on an honest discussion about feelings

Oh well, there's your problem.

Honest discussion? 

Gae is a violent man and a bully. He's not at all ashamed of his criminal past. He likes to type vulgar insults. There's no doubt at all that he's done way more stupid things than you have, some of it while acting as a state sanctioned purveyor of violence in the military. 

People build up their rage and then are happy to find an outlet. By attempting honest discussion that diverges a tiny bit from the current norm, you give them that opportunity. If they really opposed bad things, they'd go fight white supremacists or Eliot Abrams or any of the infinite number of truly bad things. But you and Yonadev are more convenient. (It's just like prayer; they get to express their feelings and gain the illusion that they've accomplished something.)

The demographics of these forums are pretty tightly clumped for the most part.  I knew when I started the thread that things would go much like this.

But that's okay.  If it brings out some bad feelings in me, that's also okay.  If I don't like what I read, I can walk away for a while and figure out what I want to say next.

I don't pretend that rage is well-adapted to civilized society.  However, I think it's disingenuous to pretend that among males it isn't an extremely common emotion, and that talking through it isn't worthwhile.

As for Gae-- if there isn't a Gae-fist-sized hole in a door or wall somewhere in his house right now today, or hasn't been one in the 10 years since the incident I'm describing, I'll be sincerely surprised.

In fact, I'll be surprised if there's ANYONE in this thread who hasn't at some point smashed a dish in the kitchen, or turned over a table, or punched a door or wall when they hadn't intended to.  I really don't believe that all these people who will openly judge and mock my story don't have various gradations of a similar story of their own.

Maybe I'm wrong.  But I doubt it.