Whipsaw

Well, I was dueling with one of the worse species of trolls out there earlier this week. Actually, I can't really call this individual a Troll, per sea. The Forum in which our little contest played out is commonly held as a place for more intelligent discussion of sociological issues and doesn't really identify as a F/A space. My fuzzy friend surely fashioned zieself as something of an intelligentsia and our discussion, if you can call it that, revolved around St. James Oliver and his current crusade. Unsurprisingly this particular 'discussion' ended as anyone familiar with discussions of the Obesity EpiPanic might expect. With a vehement but dignified, 'I'm right, damnit! *insert logical fallacy* Your stupid! And I'm leaving! So you STFU!!!' I could almost sense the ether, coalescing around zie's sublime maturity.

In any case, all the the usual tropes had already been covered. 'We're just concerned about your health', 'Don't you know how unhealthy Fat is?', 'Loosing weight is easy. / Cal in - Cal out'. By the time I thought to get out my Bingo Card, we had already drifted into the always entertaining realms of Personal Responsibility (We may want to expand the cards or add new ones). This particular bit of whiny, drip-spittle never fails to amuse me. See, because it always seems to be people who exhibit the least impulse control or display a near total lack of any kind of responsibility to others who are the first to bring it up. The Catholic Church (What else do I need to say?), Congressmen who's behaviors run the gamut of heckling on the House Floor like it was a WWE wrestling match, to Governors who disappear for days while on tryst with their mistresses. Or those who just can't seem to keep their hands off their own staff. Female OR Male. Which I thought was supposed to be Abby Normal but then I've always had trouble twisting my logic far enough around to understand Gay-Conservative Homophobia. . . . Right. Back to the point. 

Although I have an extreme dislike of Jamie the Wise for reasons I've already detailed (perhaps a bit overly strenuously). Suffice it to say that JO's past actions speak to me quite clearly, thank you. I have no interest in anything he has to say now, especially since others have said it all much better. And, in light of his refusal to acknowledge those actions, I feel no obligation to subject myself to any more of his drivel. 

As for the general tenor of the thread on which The Contestant and I had our 'discussion'? It was actually rational, if not entirely reasonable. A trend I've been noticing in other discussion spaces for quite a few weeks now. Perhaps I'm just pushing it but I don't think cautious optimism is unwarranted. Are people starting to actually listen to the Fat People invariably involved in all this rather than trying to talk over, around, past, and through us? Would be nice. I suppose we'll see if we are actually starting to head in a better direction. However, what concerns me now is the blow-back to come.

Even if this does turn out to be a new attitude where fat AND the people who happen to have more of it is concerned, there are those like my intellectual friend who will not so easily let go of their long-held beliefs. I mean, there aren't that many kinds of Others walking around that can be classified as inferior with little more than a glance. And, of course, the infallibility of medicine and incorruptible nature of science are incontrovertible, absolute. Dare I say it? Almost. . . Sacred. One does not question their providence nor does one doubt the oracle of Statistics. Without which life spans cannot be augured, afflictions cannot be foretold and the future cannot be clearly known. As with most things so fervently believed, any suggestion to the contrary cannot be just refuted. Every effort must be made to repudiate it out of existence. 

Which means that for fat people, attitudes may be getting better, but it's also likely that certain aspects will probably get uglier as well. Dragging knuckle, furry eye-ball, kinda ugly. 'Cause, yah know, Conventional Wisdom is such a jealous god.     

*****UPDATE****

Well, it seems that St. Jamie made a few errors in his machinations calculations. But what where you expecting? After all he's just a chef after all.  

Muzak Therapy:

Deep Purple / Perfect Strangers