Well, sometimes, a lot.
Being called names when you are a child can cause lifelong, emotional scars from which people never recover. Even adults can have their feelings hurt by someone’s harsh words. But, adults are expected to roll with the punches. Or, as my husband always says, “Consider the source.”
So, if you know someone dislikes red hair, don’t be surprised if he yells “carrot top” when he sees a redhead. Knowing the person calling names is just being nasty might not take away all the sting; but, it does let you know that it’s truly NOT you, it’s just that other person’s problematic attitude.
Unfortunately, some people can be mean, nasty, rude, and just plain hostile to others who don’t fit their personal preferences. That was evident when the man at a Trump rally talked about Muslims and President Obama in one breath. Rather than offering facts to support his comments, he threw out accusations and the PC police jumped on him? Nope. They jumped on Trump who was the guest speaker.
However, that man was NOT a representative of Trump. That man did NOT speak for Trump. Those comments came from a man in the crowd! But, of course, the Lieberals blamed Trump anyway.
It’s wrong to penalize one person for what another says. But, in this day and age of Political Correctness, the PC police are everywhere and always, always, want to hang someone, especially if that someone is a Conservative. That is what happened to Trump. Rather than complain about the man in the crowd who was making offensive comments, the PC police attacked Trump’s “non” response. Trump was innocent of any offensive comments — in that particular case — but his political opponents called him a racist because he didn’t correct the man in the crowd.
Of course, back when Hillary called Obama a Muslim, it was just hard politicking. The media always loves and supports Lieberals. But, Trump? He was an easy target for the media’s and pundits’ scorn. In the past, the media had no qualms about calling Trump a clown and now, a racist. None of that is true, of course, but after all, it’s “only” a name, right? Names only matter if it is deemed that a Conservative might be using them.
So, what’s in a name? Well, sometimes, as in this case, nothing. Sometimes, it’s all a political tempest in a teapot.