Category: Facebook

Why Clinton Lost, and Why the Left is Bewildered

A few weeks before the election, one of my childhood friends on Facebook posted a rant saying that if you support Trump, you are no longer her friend. She doesn’t want to know you.

I tried to engage her. I wrote that her statement was strong, and could we talk about the issues before she turned her back on people she had loved and admired all her life.

Her response was to basically spit in my face. And she wasn’t alone in her attacks.

So at the polls, Trump supporters spit back.

The left looks at Trump and wonders how the hell this happened. How anyone could support him. The irony is, I think a lot of people who voted for him don’t support him. They are simply tired of all the self-righteous people on the left spitting in their faces.

The left touts itself as the party of inclusion. Of open-mindedness. Of equality. But it has morphed into that which it despises.

Take racism. Racism is treating someone differently based on race. Once, the left wanted a color-blind society. Now, I am supposed to be ashamed of being white. I am supposed to apologize for my accident of birth and call out my white privilege.

White women are supposed to be ashamed for betraying “their people” and voting for Trump. Huh? Since when do my interests and beliefs align with all other white women in the country? Why do we even keep track of who votes for who based on race? Isn’t that racist?

Voting should have nothing to do with race. We should be voting based on economics, our values, how we view foreign policy. Race should be like hair color – a genetic legacy, separate from character and behavior. Should blonds vote in blocks?  Should the tall rule over the short? It’s a ridiculous concept.

But it’s an ingenious strategy – instead of focusing on the issues, just cry, “Racism!” whenever someone disagrees with you. That shuts them up real fast.

That’s why all the polling was wrong. Trump supporters were shut up. But that’s the great thing about the polling booth – you can vote for whoever you want, and no one is shouting you down.

I also find it incredible that so many people were able to overlook Hillary’s flaws (read: crimes) just because she was a woman. That wanted to break that glass ceiling. But that in itself is sexist – voting for a candidate just because of her gender! I don’t give a shit what gender my leaders are – I just want them to be capable, honest, upstanding. Hillary is none of those things, and if she were a man, she still wouldn’t have gotten my vote.

But I’ve been told that I hate women if I didn’t vote for her. Huh? Couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m a woman, and I love myself. I just didn’t want someone so corrupt and beholden to the elite representing me.

So the left is racist, and the left is sexist. They’ve also become bullies.

Shame on you. You reap that which you sow. I hope you can take a good look in the mirror and change the way you interact with the other side, because there are worthy values on the left. Unfortunately, they’ve become twisted.

But I’ll extend the offer to anyone on the left that I made to my former friend on Facebook: engage. Let’s talk about the issues. Let’s refrain from bullying. That’s the only way we can come together and move forward.

 

 

I Got in An Argument on Facebook, And It Makes Me Sad

We all have those connections on Facebook – people we knew once upon a time, maybe in childhood, but who we don’t really know anymore except on social media. I like to see these people’s posts, watch their children grow and their careers soar, and most of the time, the interaction is supportive: “You look great!” “Congratulations!” “Hope your day gets better!”

But I had one of these connections, a friend from elementary school, post something rather extreme.

POST2

So I commented. Three days of posts, two separate threads. I was told throughout to “grow a brain and fuck myself” for asking how the above comment helps and that we should talk about it; that Trump wants to exterminate Mexicans, this is the pre-cursor to another Holocaust, and that they don’t need to waste their time proving this – I should go out and find the info myself; if it has to be explained to me, I’m hopeless and they don’t feel its their job to educate a 40+-year-old woman of means; that the OP should just “rule out the white people”; that California is “occupied territory”; that the “motherfuckers” who were Columbus’s crew were undocumented, there’s no European legitimacy for being on this soil, and I am an interloper. It all comes down to the fact that my very existence is offensive because I don’t believe in open borders.

First, there’s a lot I could say about the politics and actual issues of the discussion (which was mostly by me – these people who piled on generally did not add to the discussion substantively, although a few did, and I tried to acknowledge those as the thread grew), but frankly, that’s not what bothered me. We all have different opinions. I’m open to hearing about those and exploring ideas. That’s why I engaged.

What bothers me is how the discussion was handled. The OP had a perfect opportunity – she was obviously upset, emotional, and frustrated, and I was willing to listen. Why not take that opportunity and try to change my mind? After all, she claimed that Trump wants to EXTERMINATE her and all people from Mexico! If she really felt that way, wouldn’t she want my vote and support?

Sadly, no. She didn’t care to change my mind. She just wanted to tell me how ignorant I was and that she didn’t want to be friends with anyone who didn’t think exactly the way she does.

And then her friends chimed in. Some added arguments, one linked to a video of Rachel Maddow (drink the Kool-Aid much?), they said how I put my foot in my mouth and can’t stand the heat and blah, blah, blah.

I think the fact that I stuck it out so long is proof that I can stand the heat. I remained respectful. I continued to try to address the issues. This former friend of mine…she did not.

I took screen shots of both entire threads, and my first thought was that I would post them here. Maybe someday I will, but right now, I’m too disheartened. In one of her posts, the OP alluded to the fact that 20 people had messaged her asking her to back off me. I appreciate that, and while I didn’t feel I needed help, per se, even having one person stand up and say, “This is not how we have a civil dialog and advance our cause,” would have been golden. We have many mutual friends on Facebook, and not one of them actually engaged, but some of them had to read the discussion. And nobody spoke out.

To sum it up, I don’t feel offended at any of the exchange. I just feel sad. If this is the way the OP treats a friend, I would hate to be her enemy.