Political Harassment

Political Harassment

Hey there hi there ho there. Welcome back.

My sister came by for the final leg of my three week long birthday celebration. We sat in my kitchen, ate up some of my famous hybrid pancakes, caught each other up on our lives.

Our talk turned to harassment - political harassment, specifically. She and my mother work together at a major real estate agency. And of late, there is has been a lot of hate leveled towards Obama, who the two of them support. That's to be expected this close to a hotly contested election where one side has declared total war against the other.

But what do you do when you can't get away from the hate? When the constant barrage of political jabs becomes a distraction from your job?

Full disclosure: As pissed off as I am at the NDAA I'm supporting Obama in the upcoming election as well.

My sister says that she and my mother are the subject of a steady barrage of Tea Party style anti-Democrat jokes and comments. They receive unsolicited mass emails, are subject to jokes (most of which are terribly tasteless, all of which are way off base), are the subject of derision for their political beliefs.

Is that okay?

I say no, not in the work place.

Its uncool anywhere - who wants to be badgered about their convictions? Would you feel okay if every day I tried to convince you that your religion was wrong, and that you should join mine? - but I feel that its inexcusable in the workplace.Work should be about work - you don't go to your job to have all-day confrontations  about your personable beliefs. You are there to do a job, and unpleasant behavior that makes it harder to do your job should be eliminated. Obviously there are grey areas that need to be worked out.

You can forgive the heat that people have about their political opinions. Many modern media organizations run on the fear and hatred of their viewers. If you were a visitor from another planet who tuned into the news for a few nights you might leave earth with the conviction that whoever wins the upcoming Presidential election, the loosing side will all be executed and buried in some massive sacrificial ziggurat. The inflammatory rhetoric comes at you twenty-four seven and after a while you get swept up. That's how brain washing works - you just keep yelling something at someone, and eventually they start believing whatever you say.

The Traveling Now Saves The Workplace, Part 1 

You should be able to talk politics with your co-workers. You should be able to work free of harassment. How do we reconcile these two axioms, so often at loggerheads? 

Why, you do it by following the Traveling Now's simple rules for Politics in the workplace.

Be Respectful: Really, all workplace harassment issues come down to a lack of respect. Simple flirtation or the pursuit of a relationship becomes sexual harassment when the object of your affection says no and you do not respect that no. Likewise, its possible to have a conversation about politics, but if you are just trying to score points, show your disdain, or out yell someone you have crossed that line. No one is obliged to let you cross-examine their beliefs on any sort of casual basis. If someone isn't into hearing about politics (or fishing, or sports, or whatever!), then you should respect that.

Respect also means you use a respectful mode of discourse. That hilarious cartoon you found of Obama dressed like Hitler might say exactly what you want to say, but emailing it to someone who you know is an Obama supporter is an attack. Period. Political cartoons are what they are, no one expects them to be Fair and Balanced, but loading your co-workers inbox with the ugliest stuff you can find on the internet is not cool.

One last thing - respect rarely, if ever, has to raise its voice.

Don't Monologue: Dialog!: That means you listen as well as speak. If you  want to talk politics, don't just spit out everything you heard from Rush Limbaugh or Terry Grosse in the car that morning. Try to engage, rather than harangue, and you are on the path of the Cool Office Friend. Disagreement is healthy and necessary and if engage the people you disagree with rather than just trumpeting your beliefs you might find your way to that most rare of discussions, the Productive Discussion. Hooray!

By the way, monologue is the only way to change anyone's opinion. Right or wrong, people hang on to their beliefs with an iron grip when those beliefs are assaulted. Want to change someone's mind? Keep asking questions, and pay attention to the answers. You can not change anyone's mind - they have to change their own minds. If they put their beliefs, or their defense of their beliefs, into words they will eventually hear what they are saying and might just find themselves at odds with their own beliefs. That's soil that change can grow in.

Okay, that's enough about etiquette today. Best of luck to all of you in all your endeavors.

Currently Digging: The Waterboys, The Diamond Age, Juan of the Dead

"9/11 Wasn't About You."

Excuses Are Like Metaphors . . . 

Everybody has one, and they all wither in the light of careful scrutiny. Sorry its been so long since my last post.

"9/11 wasn't about  you."

" 9/11 wasn't about you. Nobody cares where you were." - Facebook post from Sept 11, 2012

And here I was thinking it was the day that my country was attacked by terrorists.

The anniversary of the day that our economy went into a tailspin that it never recovered from, which made my last decade a spiral of lay-offs and financial stress.

The kick off of a war that sent two of my good friends to the Middle East, both of whom returned but were never the same.

I was thinking it was the day that we decided as a nation to sacrifice privacy and civil liberties for the illusion of safety at any cost.

The day that a ride on an airplane went from being something to look forward to to an exercise in humiliation to be avoided whenever possible.

The event that fueled the rise of the most radical right wing  policies and politicians I have ever seen in my lifetime.

My bad.

Been a long time, been a long time, been a long . . .

lonely, lonely, lonely time . . .

But Not Really

Hey all. Thank you for checking in with the old Traveling Now. Remember - no matter where you are, what you are doing, and when you are doing it - the time is Now, the place is Here, and we are all of us Traveling.

And if you have had a lonely, lonely, lonely time waiting on a new post from Yours Truly may I apologize? What can I say? Time takes Time.

So . . What Shall We Call This New Country?

New America? The Former United States? Voting non enabled I'm afraid.

From the ACLU website:

December 31, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: media@dcaclu.org

WASHINGTON – President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law today. The statute contains a sweeping worldwide indefinite detention provision.  While President Obama issued a signing statement saying he had “serious reservations” about the provisions, the statement only applies to how his administration would use the authorities granted by the NDAA, and would not affect how the law is interpreted by subsequent administrations.  The White House had threatened to veto an earlier version of the NDAA, but reversed course shortly before Congress voted on the final bill.

 Just let that sink in for a minute. Indefinite detention without charges.

I am going to do my best to accurately paraphrase a friend of mine, speaking from his front porch over iced tea a few weeks back.

"Choose your nightmare scenario," he said. "A hardline conservative gets in office and he decides to detain everyone who participated in Occupy Wall Street for a few years to teach them that activism does not pay. A radical Christian becomes President and just rounds up all the Muslims and holds them on suspicion of terrorism - forever. An ultra liberal administration comes to power and they decide that everyone who voted to invade Iraq is a war criminal, and sends them to Guantanamo Bay."

And he's right. And just because its not likely to happen that way doesn't meant that we shouldn't fight against it. Fight against NDAA because America with indefinite detention without charges is no longer America. 

The Fantasy Theory That Lets Me Sleep At Night

Our current President conceding to the Right on NDAA is a crafty strategy. He knows that once challenged the Supreme Court NDAA will be found unconstitutional and put to bed, and whatever political capitol the Right spent on making it happen is flushed down the toilet. In my fantasy President Obama is like a chess master, thinking three moves ahead of his opponents.

But the probable truth is that it was just the easiest way for him to get what he needed to get to help him get re-elected in 2012.

How Do We Fight This

Raise awareness, sign the petition, and never stop fighting for justice. And just to sweeten the pot . . . see down below that wacky old comment section? Chime in and let me know that you signed up and you will be the recipient of a Traveling Now WHOOOOOOOOO! prize, complete with a phone and personalized WHOOOOOOOOO!

Do it. Help America!

Back To The Mephitic Workday

Okay, that has to be it for this afternoon. Work might not be a delightful romp into political particulars but it has to get done. You be well.

Last one out from under oppression hit the lights!

Currently Digging

Alabama Shakes, pasta with broccoli, Breaking Bad, getting back into shape