Stupid is as stupid does, they say.

I’ve never really been sure just what that folksy bit of southern wisdom from Forrest Gump’s mama meant, but I am sure it applies to some of the people who comment on political issues online. Now don’t get me wrong; from what I’ve experienced here at the Daily, writers and reporters absolutely love and appreciate comments on their columns and articles, even the critical ones.

But check out an online forum sometime. You just gotta wonder about some people, ya know?

I suspect, like a lot of public people and institutions, media services and political forums have what you might call “groupies.” Most of them seem to be fine people who just like to stay connected, which is awesome. Though there’s always a few rotten apples in every bunch.

These rotten apples are the ones who have a comment for everything, and it’s virtually always negative. They’re the ones making accusations about the author of the article or other commenters, typically pertaining to personal characteristics they couldn’t possibly know, like one’s sexuality, political affiliation, personal hygiene or intelligence. Their comments are chock full of straw man arguments and ad hominem.

To hear it told by some, for example, those of us who write for the Daily are all “commie pinko fags.”

For any online media source, however, any attention is good attention, right? Well, yes and no. The arguments and traffic these people generate on their respective website is fantastic, I’m sure, but they’re the archetypical ideological buttheads that are so completely screwing up American politics. They’re the rubber stamp party platform parrots, ditto-heads of the highest order, without an original thought in their head.

Content only repeating what some other ideologue says, usually some nonsense from their chosen party, they rag on column authors and other people commenting, in some sort of political holy war. And you know, you can’t listen to a damn thing a “commie pinko fag” says, right? So I reckon that leaves us at an impasse; you just can’t talk to someone like that.

You all know what I’m describing is just a microcosm of American political life these days. You’ve got one political party on the left wanting you to think alike and supporting a particular checklist of issues. Then you’ve got another party on the right wanting you all to think alike as well, likewise supporting a pre-determined checklist of issues. This establishes “good guys” and “bad guys,” and if you’re not on the good team, you must be on the bad team.

Know what they call it when everyone thinks and does the same thing? Totalitarianism, that’s what. Sieg Heil, y’all.

Recently a student at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts was tracked down and beaten up for an opinion she wrote about gay marriage in the school paper. Is this what we’re resorting to now? Has our political discourse become so dysfunctional that our recourse is rumbling in the parking lot? “Hey you, if you don’t believe what I believe, I’m gonna beat your ass!”

That’s just great.

Arguing with people, calling them names, telling them they’re stupid and essentially cyber-stalking them by perpetually commenting on each and everything they say is just a few shades shy of the strange seen out at Bridgewater State. By not engaging others in rational discourse, all a person is doing is making a lame attempt at tyranny.

I think the appropriate response to tyranny is “F-U.”

But I have a plan: For those of you out there doing this sort of thing, try turning Fox News or MSNBC off. Click the “X” in the upper right hand corner of the Drudge Report or the Democratic Underground. Then take a shower, put some clean clothes on, and go outside. Believe it or not, there’s a world out there, and wouldn’t ya know it? Political parties and their self-serving ideologies just don’t mean squat in the daily workings of life.

I’m a conservative (sorry, not actually a “commie pinko fag” despite the rumors to the contrary!), and most of my best friends are liberals. Our political leanings have virtually nothing to do with our interactions with each other. Yeah, we have some really fun arguments, but our shared Americanism and respect for one another govern and moderate our interactions, just as they ought to for every American everywhere.

When it comes to political interaction, everyone from both sides is afraid of compromise because no one wants to give up anything. The sad thing is, though the way of thinking neglects one of the most sublime beauties of genuine politics, the interaction between two or more people can generate new possibilities that didn’t exist before. In that case, nobody loses and everybody wins.

We can’t get there unless people grow up and engage each other like Americans should.