A few days ago, I posted this AP story on my facebook with the caption “The media finally does some fact-checking.” The reporter did some research on some of the statements Sarah Palin made about herself and Barack Obama and found several, well, lies.  A person I grew up with commented on the post.  If it’s too small to see in this picture, I’ve reproduced it below.

You are a spiteful, arrogant little liberal.  Tell me, why do you hate life and those who want to preserve our culture?  Did your mom and pop not love you enough in Caswell?  Go eat some wheat grass and shut the hell up.  Your quasi science, your media, and cultural bias shows through as much as the fact you’d be a full blown lesbian when you were 15.

These kinds of responses remind me why I left the south.  While I do miss many things about my first home, the racism, homophobia, sexism, and anti-intellectualism don’t make it a place I could ever live again.  When faced with evidence that something they believe is false, many spew hatred and seek to silence other voices.  I went to school with this person and know that he isn’t an idiot.  However, he doesn’t counter anything in the article with evidence or rational argument.  He just tries to insult me and “shut me the hell up.”