The Return

I am returning to blogging. No, you're right, an explanation isn't required but I'm going to give you one.

I tried, I really tried, but engaging in political dialogue on Facebook is pointless. When I reactivated my account I chose not to launch political statements from my homepage but I did try participating in other threads. In written dialogue, one person puts down their thoughts, the next person reads that person's thoughts, digests them and then responds directly on point, right? Not on Facebook. With only a few exceptions, I have found that what I write isn't being read, based upon the responses I often received which have nothing to do with what I said. My problem appears to be that I actually read what people write and respond to their words and that's not how it works. It's just random thoughts and in the case of active thread presenters, their main interest seems to be basking only in their own glory, which is fine but don't invite commenting and definitely don't complain about the volume of comments offered.

Facebook is also a giant pit of negativity on all sides of the political equation, that includes the rabid Trump supporters, many of whom are shills and trolls. They boast of the success and greatness of Donald Trump but like the man himself it is all a reinforcement of negativity and a revelation of deep ignorance and or complicit destructiveness. They mostly devolve into incoherent vulgarity in any alleged dialogue.

The progressive side is also guilty of this chronic negative barrage and intolerance among many you might think are on the same side. Nowhere is this more evident than in discussions about Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Clinton's new book, "What Happened", set off an avalanche of false invectives against Clinton by Sanders' supporters, as though the nomination fight were still going on. The Sanders' folks or most of them, want Clinton to shut up and go away. Those are the tame things that I've read. They seem genuinely pissed off that this woman dares to believe and defend the fact that she defeated Bernie Sanders by nearly four million votes. They seem angry that she dares to defend the fact that she defeated Trump in the popular vote by  three million votes and that in addition to blaming herself she correctly assesses blame on other factors, including James Comey and dares to point out that Sanders did not go the extra mile for her in the same way she went for Barack Obama in 2008. It genuinely irritates them when Clinton and others like myself point out that Bernie Sanders is not a member of the Democratic Party. He never was and he still isn't. He chose to use the apparatus of the Party in order to more efficiently run for President. This is a fact but it is dismissed by many of his supporters. They always counter with the argument that he has always caucused with the Democrats, which is true, would he have preferred the Republicans? All independent legislators must caucus with a Party if they actually want assignment to important committees or to have the opportunity to Chair a committee, it is out of enlightened self-interest that they do this.

Sanders' supporters routinely suggest that he was shafted or directly cheated by the Democratic Party and by extension Hillary Clinton, oh they stop just short of saying Clinton cheated, they parse their words, but they're saying she cheated. They are disingenuous and should just come out and say they hate Clinton and save us all some time. Sanders was not cheated and there is zero evidence to back up the claim, only innuendo ala Trump style. Did the Democratic Party have a preferred candidate? Yes and her name was Hillary Clinton. If you don't like the rules of a Party, join it and work to change them but do not toss around false accusations based on emotionalism.

Around twenty percent of Sanders' supporters voted for Trump or someone else in protest of their candidate losing. Clearly they were not paying attention. They were far more likely to achieve at least part of their agenda with Clinton in the Whitehouse, not Trump. To the notion that Sanders would have defeated Trump, which is the mantra of the "Berniecrats", I say poppycock! Like Trump Bernie Sanders was never put through the press grinder, he was viewed as an entertaining fringe show that was never going to win. Contrast that with Clinton, who has been under the national microscope for twenty-five years, every time she passed gas it was covered as a major international crisis. Trump would have chewed on Bernie everyday, calling him a commie or socialist dog that wants to take everybodies house and force them to live in Soviet style apartments and tax them so much they'll starve. All untrue, but we have already seen what Trump can accomplish with his trash talk.

Even suggesting a positive affirmation of Clinton on Facebook is met with scorn and countered with falsehoods and misrepresentation, you might say "alternative facts" and in that the left is mimicking Donald Trump.

I still have my Facebook account and will keep it for now. It's good for sharing fluff and occasionally reminding a few people of a humanitarian need. But let's not forget that Facebook has a lot to answer for. It was reported many months ago that they had sold ads to Russian controlled entities that engaged in trying to manipulate last year's Presidential election and were aware of fake news being spread on their platform and they denied it multiple times. We now know they were lying, not because they grew a conscious but because Special Counsel Mueller put them in his crosshairs. Now they're "co-operating", I guarantee you there's more to come.

So many people are accepting as fact, ridiculous memes that come across their screens or reading a headline that links to propaganda pieces that are so outlandish that they could be debunked with a click of the mouse but folks are more comfortable accepting whatever suits there preconceived notion and with a President who encourages the erosion of trust in our public institutions, it's not hard to understand why this is happening.

For now, chew on this, the average median income of a Trump voter was $72,000.00 per year. Kinda puts some holes in all those toothless white uneducated people we are led to believe are the only ones that voted for this man that masterfully exploits anger and tribalism.