Mar 182014
 
blue juice
Image by Abdullah Sabill »BRB FINALS« via Flickr

vit·ri·ol

/ˈvɪttriəəl/  [vi-tree-uhl]  noun, verb, -oled, -ol·ing or ( especially British ) -olled, -ol·ling.
–noun
1. Chemistry . any of certain metallic sulfates of glassy appearance, as copper sulfate or blue vitriol, iron sulfate or green vitriol, zinc sulfate or white vitriol, etc.
2. oil of vitriol; sulfuric acid.
3. something highly caustic or severe in effect, as criticism.

Got Vitriol?

I’ve been seeing a lot about vitriol lately. I always liked the word. I think I first stumbled upon it in high school. In those days I was always seeking words that would make me appear sophisticated- not such a difficult feat in my hick town. Lately I’ve been hearing the word so often that I seem to be fixated on vitriol.

What’s the fuss?

If you look at the meaning :Vitriol – acidic, caustic, it doesn’t seem so bad. Why all the fuss? What is so bad about vitriol?  Here is this Coot’s take. I say that vitriol has gotten a bad rap.  Vitriol is something to value and encourage because vitriol is the mother’s milk of American politics.

It’s really about growing up!

There has been a lot of hot air dissing vitriol lately. And that’s all it is, just hot air!  It is all BS because vitriol is merely a highfalutin word for insults. Those vitriol-dissing pussies are moaning and whining about somebody calling them names. Where did these mama’s boys and girls grow up? In their mama’s apron pocket? Didn’t they ever go to school wearing that embarrassing shirt from Aunt Agnes? Did they somehow miss facing the peer review of their classmates? Didn’t they learn to deal with it and move on? Didn’t they grow up? Apparently not!

America raises wimps.

OK, I get it. The wimps that are complaining about vitriol grew up in the new America- the one where everybody has a God given right to feel good about themselves and bullying is illegal. Back in the frontier days when I grew up, you had to be tough. There weren’t any laws saying that you had to feel good about yourself or else somebody would pay. The nanny state was still a dream in those days. If you wanted to feel good about yourself, it was all up to you to make it happen. Even your mamma couldn’t do it for you. And if she was worth her salt, she wouldn’t think of it.

We used to take it- and give it back

In those old days there was a system. You gave back what you received. You learned that sobbing and whimpering didn’t get you much.

Sobbing and whimpering only convinced your tormentors that they were right – and all the bystanders as well.

If you wanted to survive in those primitive days, you honed your verbal skills, you toughened your fists and you turned everything right back on your tormentors.  And then you felt good about yourself!

Today, self reliance is considered mean.

These days, the only thing worse than being a bully is fighting back. Win or lose, the nanny state frowns on any uncivil discourse or worse physical abuse. Victim or bully are equally punished in our modern enlightened America.

It all started in the schools where education has long been abandoned in favor of self-esteem no matter how little you  actually deserve it. Now that the products of this coddling are entering adult life, they can’t believe that perfect little bubble of self worship doesn’t protect them now they they have left the education system. Since they never developed defensive skills either physical or verbal, they are reduced to blubbering inanities and demanding that the nanny state protect them in the real world just like it did in school. What can I say?  Those sniveling, whining cowards are dedicated to destroying what is left of the American way. All in the name of ending vitriol. Well, I say bullshit! @##& too.

So I say ‘Up with vitriol!’

I say a little vitriol is good for the soul; keeps a man on his toes both verbally and physically; and oils the skids of a diverse, dynamic, creative country- like we used to have here in the USA. Vitriol is the mothers milk of a vibrant democracy and democracy is no place for wimps. They belong somewhere else- maybe back in the USSR with John Lennon. Take a good look at anybody you see disparaging vitriol and you will see an enemy of democracy and free speech. It doesn’t matter whether they are red or blue, R or D. They are nothing but wimps and wimps are determined to destroy this country, its traditions and freedom just so that they can feel good about themselves.  Don’t let them get away with it!

Click the link below if you are still vitriol impaired

So let your fangs out and savor vitriol. Enjoy its caustic tang when you are the recipient and then spew it right back. Remember what your mother told you (This is an exception to Coots Lesson One). Names can never hurt you. The only thing that can hurt you is making it illegal to insult someone. Don’t laugh., We are almost there.

Ralph

Ralph is the inspiration for Cantankerous Old Coots and is our Grand Duke of Cantankerousness

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  10 Responses to “Up with Vitriol- the mothers milk of democracy”

  1. Pistols at dawn used to solved a lot of social discourse problems…

  2. But a good insult is even better!

  3. I’m growing up in that generation, it sucks. Mostly because you actually are raised to be terrible in those situations!

    Learning though =) I can be quite caustic when I have to.

  4. Heather,
    It is even worse than you think. We are being ruled by that generation!

  5. To quote a line from Monty Python and the Holy Grail: “I fart in your general direction.”

  6. Hansi,
    That’s a good start but you need to get down dirty and personal.

  7. Yep, makes you wonder what the world will be like when all the older generation retire to the hawaiian mixer party in the sky.

  8. I’m with Dave, I like pistols at dawn. Or we could tie people down and have them listen to that song over and over and over….I may use that for the podcast….

  9. Why wait for dawn? That gives the cowards time to back out and get away.

    I get to try my vitriol out tomorrow morning in court…when I tell a judge that the law enforcement officer who just testified is a liar…not mistaken, not misguided, but a liar, since that describes accurately one who intentionally tells a lie.

    I’m so tired of all the pantywaist feel good crap and wimps who have to “feel good” and are cowards…if today’s wimps had been running things in 1939 the whole world would be split between speaking German and Japanese…

  10. @Justin,
    Everybody needs a little bit of vitriol, especially in the morning.

    @Bob,
    Good Luck! You forget. The wimps were running things in 1939. Then Britain woke up.

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