So a few days back, there was a pirated copy of Dinesh D’Souza’s film, 2016, floating around the interwebs.  Many folks didn’t realize it was pirated, and thought it was legitimately posted with D’Souza’s permission, and so links to the video were being shared far and wide.  On Sunday, D’Souza tweeted that any copies on line were unauthorized, so I posted a screengrab of that tweet on our Facebook wall, and asked our readers to stop linking to it on our page, and to do the right thing and see the film at the theater, or pay for the DVD coming out in October.

Most of our readers happily supported that message, agreed that it was worth the cost of admission to see, and denounced whoever it was that put the movie online illegally.

But then there was this faction of our readers who really surprised me, disappointed me even, who indignantly said, in various terms, that somehow they were entitled to see the movie for free, because of how important it is for this election.

Um, WHIZZAH WHUZZAH? Since when did the conservative readers of our page turn into selfish, greedy, entitled liberal jerks?

Let me give you some examples.  These are Actual Quotes from some of our conservative readers. I’m so embarrassed FOR them, frankly, that I’m leaving their names off, in the hopes that perhaps they’ll take a good look in the mirror and realize what hypocrites they are:

 “Thought we finally had enough sense to say, ‘screw the $, get the message out.’

 “Isn’t Dinesh trying to spread a message, or is he trying to make money?  Michael Moore didn’t mind people pirating his movie.”

 “It didn’t come to every market…isn’t it more important that the masses see it, and quickly?  The bigger issue is spreading the word about Obama…”

 “A lot of people cannot afford the movies or dvd these days…I think he should share it for the masses we are the ones who need to see it!”

 “Right now, the people producing these movies should be concerned with spreading the conservative message.  We’ve only 44 days to vote Obama out of office.  People need to do whatever is necessary so that everyone receives the message.”

 “People like me who are out of work can’t afford the movies or dvd.  I am barely hanging on to my internet and don’t have TV anymore.  You want the word out once you made some money SHARE it with the world if that was really the intent.”

“If the producers were truly concerned with the future of this country, they would not necessarily be concerned about profits first.  It has grossed $30 million thus far.  Hey Dinesh, put your money where your mouth is!  Otherwise you are simply profiteering.”

“Come on ppl, ok, so it was pirated, honestly I thought the producer did it on purpose to help our cause, boy am I stupid, he’s made millions already, it’s the second highest grossing documentary of all time, he’s just another greedy a$$hole who will probably send his earnings back home to his country.  Geez I’m just too trusting in people.  He couldn’t care less if Obama wins or not I’ll bet, just a smart guy with an even smarter idea.”

At the risk of losing “likes” on our Facebook page, if you are reading this right now and you were one of the people who said these things?  You’re not the kind of conservative I WANT on our page.  In fact, you’re pretty much a disgrace to conservatives, and you can feel free to "unlike" our page and disassociate yourself from us altogether.  And if you can't figure out why I'm reacting this strongly yet, let’s see what happens if I replace the movie with Obamacare in some of these quotes, shall we?

 “Thought we finally had enough sense to say, ‘screw the $, let’s get everyone health insurance.’

 “A lot of people cannot afford healthcare  these days…I think it should be shared with the masses we are the ones who need it!”

 “Right now, the people in healthcare should be concerned with everyone getting proper care.  People need to do whatever is necessary so that everyone is covered.”

 “People like me who are out of work can’t afford health coverage.  I am barely hanging on to my internet and don’t have TV anymore.  If Doctors want to help people once they’ve made some money they should SHARE their skills with the world if that was really the intent.”

 “If doctors were truly concerned with helping people, they would not necessarily be concerned about profits first.  They’ve made tons of money so far.  Hey Doctors, put your money where your mouth is!  Otherwise you are simply profiteering.”

 “Come on ppl, ok, so the prescription drugs were stolen, honestly I thought the doctor did it on purpose to help our cause, boy am I stupid, he’s made $$ already,  he’s just another greedy a$$hole.  Geez I’m just too trusting in people.  He couldn’t care less if people live healthy lives or not, just a smart guy with an even smarter idea.”

Yeah.  It’s the same principle, folks.  You don’t get to benefit from someone else’s hard work and skill just because you WANT to benefit from it.  There’s a price to be paid.  You can’t scream at Obama for saying “At some point you’ve made enough money” and then shriek that D’Souza is a “greedy a$$hole” for capitalizing on his movie.  D’Souza doesn’t owe you ANYTHING. He made a brilliant documentary, and regardless of how timely or beneficial it might be or how much you believe it could make or break this election, he doesn't OWE it to America.  He did the legwork, he put the time in, he did the research, he spent money to get this film made - he deserves to reap the rewards. It doesn't make him greedy, it makes him a free market, capitalist, smart entrepreneur who saw an opportunity, and pounced.  It makes him precisely the kind of person that conservatives are supposed to support and admire.

I’m just absolutely disgusted at some of those comments, and I’m just shaking my head in disbelief that they came from CONSERVATIVES.

Ugh.