Where we are

November 09, 2022 By: Nick Carraway Category: Uncategorized

“We all know that Democrats are evil.” — Anonymous Facebook poster

The poster above wasn’t really anonymous, but I didn’t want to besmirch her good name by posting this for everyone to see. We often post on friends walls and simply assume everyone that reads it thinks like we do. Beyond the more global implications that we will get to in a minute, I had to grapple with the fact that someone was calling me evil.

Language is a precise thing. I’ve been trying to teach my daughter that ever since she was little. We correct her grammar. We correct her spelling. More than anything, we correct the syntax that she uses when making statements and asking questions. Words matter. One can’t help but have a tiny bit of introspection when something like this happens. Am I writing off thousands of people as evil myself?

The midterm election results are still flowing in. We probably won’t know the exact breakdown for a few days, but it seems that we have more or less maintained the status quo. There might be an isolated senator here or a representative there, but the numbers should roughly shake out about the same. Of course, how anyone interprets that is clearly up to them.

In fact, the battle in Georgia is prominently on my mind. It pits Raphael Warnock against Hershel Walker. One of those is a minister that most people say is a good man even if they disagree with his stances on the issues. He is thoughtful, intelligent, and caring. His opponent is none of those things. Maybe Mr. Walker was intelligent at one time. Maybe his brain was irreparably damaged from years of concussions on the football field.

Even the most hardened of Democrats, liberals, or leftists have to feel sorry for Walker. He was clearly used for his fame and name recognition in spite of the fact that no one could claim he has any business being near the Senate. That race is almost even as I write this. I’m not sure which way it will go and that thought is absolutely frightening. It means that nearly 50 percent of the voting public either think substantially like the woman above or don’t think at all.

Either way, we have to acknowledge eventually that we are electing people. Our democratic system isn’t built to elect ideologies. It was built to elect people. Maybe in some places you could pull the lever for red or blue and simply trust the party to appoint the right people accordingly. We don’t live in one of those places.

Perhaps, we have been far too eager to defeat an ideology and have allowed ourselves to vote for bad people because we see the other side as the enemy. I also know this is an gross simplification of the problem and steers us into “both sides” territory. Perhaps that is part of the problem altogether. Perhaps one side is doing this far more often than the other. At this point, I have to admit that I am biased and therefore not completely capable of arbitrating this point.

These are all fair criticisms and all points of view are welcome. The point is that someone like Hershel Walker shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near Washington. He never should have gotten this far in the first place. An election is a decision between two or more people. As citizens we need to elect the best among us. If we want the best possible government then we can do nothing less.

Trump gets Two Years Ban from Facebook. Why that is not Enough

June 04, 2021 By: El Jefe Category: Insurrection, Trump

Facebook announced today that Trump was banned from Facebook for two years from the January 6th insurrection to overturn the results of the election in his favor.  He will be considered for reinstatement at that time if the danger for violence has subsided.  That’s bullshit.  Everyday since January 6 Trump has publicly made statements perpetuating The Big Lie, amplifying the lies from his surrogates and the entire Republican Party.  The appropriate decision would have been to ban him for life from the platform because he’ll never change.  Alternatively, I would be OK with the two years AFTER he repudiates his lie and stops telling it as well as all of his sycophants stop repeating the lie.  Two years from THAT action would be appropriate.

I’m not holding my breath, though.

We’re Safe. For Now.

May 05, 2021 By: El Jefe Category: Insurrection, Trump

Facebook’s oversight board just announced it is upholding Facebook’s ban of Trump from the platform, but there is a Big But. The Big But is that it is giving Facebook 6 months to determine Trump’s actual punishment; that is, the board said that they can’t just indefinitely ban him, that Facebook must treat him like other users with definite punishment communicated to him.  That seems pretty easy, since he egregiously violated numerous policies; incite to violence by itself is reason to permanently ban him. Zuckerberg now just need to grow a spine and do it.

Trump back on Facebook? Just No.

May 03, 2021 By: El Jefe Category: Insurrection, Treason (Yes, We're Going There)

Facebook’s oversight board has apparently decided on the fate of Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts and is going to announce the decision on Wednesday.  The thought of the Orange Menace ranting again on social media sends cold chills, but based on Zuckerberg and Company’s terrible decisions in the past, it won’t surprise me a bit if they let him back on just to drive internet clicks.  Of course, Facebook was right (like Twitter) to finally ban his ass way too late, especially since he violated almost every rule in the book, especially in inciting violence against the US government, Democrats, and everyone not white, obese, gun-toting, or bible thumping.  I guess they finally decided to take steps after his followers attacked the US Capitol resulting in millions of dollars in damage, 200 injuries, and 5 deaths.  At least Twitter’s ban is permanent.

Trump has no business with a public voice ever again, and Facebook should permanently ban him along with his entire fucking family from the platform.  I won’t hold my breath, though.

 

#SuspendTrump From Twitter and Facebook

May 19, 2019 By: El Jefe Category: Trump

 

OK, kids, here’s something you can actively do to help get our country back – silence Trump’s continuous stream of bile and hate on social media.  The Women’s March has started a campaign to get 200,000 signatures on a petition that they can present to Twitter during their annual meeting tomorrow, demanding that the platform suspend Trump’s account for his repeated violation of it’s terms of service by inciting hate and violence against all those he doesn’t like.

Think about it – if Twitter and Facebook would just cut off his accounts, Trump would be forced to communicate like all other president’s in US history, by talking to the press and speaking from the WH in official form, not Tweeting from the toilet during one of his rampages.  Think of how much more peaceful life would be for millions of Americans if we could just silence the son of a bitch on social media.

So, please join in to the effort to #suspendtrump.  Pass it on.

Okay, Stop With the Hitler

April 13, 2017 By: Juanita Jean Herownself Category: Uncategorized

Learning absolutely diddle squat from the Hitler Festivities hosted by Sean Spicer, North Carolina Republican state representative Larry Pittman just compared Abraham Lincoln to Hitler.

No damn freekin’ kidding, y’all.

As a sophomore letterman on the Facebook Debating Society, Pittman dropped this jewel when a commenter reminded Pittman that gay marriage is now the law and that Pittman should “get over it,” instead of wasting time repeatedly trying to re-introduce it to ban it.

Pittman’s response: “And if Hitler had won, should the world just get over it? Lincoln was the same sort (of) tyrant, and personally responsible for the deaths of over 800,000 Americans in a war that was unnecessary and unconstitutional.”

By the way, Pittman is the pastor of Ridgecrest Presbyterian Church in Stanly County.

Hitler: everybody you disagree with is just like him.