What really offends me about this bullshit is their referring to this thing as "the original 13th Amendment". That makes no sense, unless they want to imply that the existing 13th is something inferior, something they feel is at least irrelevant, if not actually undesirable. And the 13th is one of the biggies, actually. One of the Amendments that shaped the country. One of the brightest moments in a history too often marred by compromise, when we stood up and said, "This thing is evil and we will not tolerate its continuation".

I am reminded of the time that a local activist, who happened to be a member of the CPUSA, sued to be allowed to speak at a public meeting or something like that, and the newspaper referred to this as a "Communist suit", leading to much hilarity at our house, with speculation on what makes for a communist suit (is it something FBI undercover agents wear? A way for all the comrades to keep warm in winter?), and more importantly what exactly made it a "communist" suit rather than a Bill of Rights suit. Perhaps some people feel that a communist gets out of his communist bed in the morning, brushes his communist teeth, and puts on a communist suit....

Russell, your final question is answered by your final exclamation. If you go around saying that people should try being nice to one another for a change, you run the risk of being thought something supernatural and/or someone who ought to be killed.