Communist, Socialist, Muslim...

So it's come to this.  

I admit that I spend too much time on Facebook as a way of keeping up with people in my past and present life, since I'm just not able to get around that well these days.  A few of my "friends" on FB are family.  A few more are amateur radio buds.  Most are former students.  It's all good.  HOWEVER, sometimes--and this is why I say my time spent is probably "too much"--stuff is posted by others that gets to me.  The point of this blog post is to complain about one that got to me, and how frustrated I am that I let it do that!

One of my dear, dear radio friends--my mentor in the hobby, in fact--has become a right-wing political officianado.  That's okay.  It's his right.  Unfortunately, he frequently posts things just to keep the pot stirred up, then sits back to see what occurs.  I happen to be a liberal thinker (translate: independent voter...NOT Democrat), so I frequently challenge the stuff he posts because he is taking his rhetoric directly from Tea Party or NRA websites.  (This isn't a guess on my part.  His posts are re-posts from those sites, and say so.)  That's okay, too, but I really rankle at political things that are posted as if they are truth when they have not been validated.  (I've written about this before.)  And many of them consist of "yellow journalism" that is the trademark of things on the Internet.

All my life, I've been able to see and/or understand both sides of any story before I made my own judgment about which felt right for me.  All I ever really wanted of my students was to investigate things before they formed opinions, and then think for themselves.  If whatever side of the line they came down on was part of a researched and well-considered opinion, it's fine.  I am just offended by folks who spout off about issues without knowing all the facts.  That's just the way I am.  

A few days ago, my "mentor" posted something on his FB page that I didn't respond to, but another of our radio friends did, and drew me into it.  Below are those posts.  The first bulleted one is from my mentor; the second is from a fringe radio friend; and the third is my response to the fringe dude:    

     * it is way past time to defund the UN. we are paying for most of it. it is even less effective than the "league of nations" was and a needless drain on us. shut it down.

     * You want to talk about anarchy! Just wait until the confiscations and internments begin! Communists/socialists/Muslims are the ONLY ones needing to disarm the US citizenry. Plain and simple. It goes against their plans for world domination under the guise of peace and stability. Yeah, totalitarianism is pretty stabile. Sorry, Peggy, if this includes you in one of these three groups

     *So now, Mr. ****, you and the rest of the FB world should be able to comprehend why I am not your "friend" on Facebook. I consider this a flagrant insult, that you should even imply that I am Communist, socialist, or Muslim. But I bow to your superior intellect and political thinking. Name-calling and labels do seem to be a hallmark of the right-wingers, so I will accept it as your only defense against those who don't always agree with your point of view. World domination. Yes! We are out to rule the world! HAHAHAHAHA! I trust you are indoctrinating your children with the same narrow-mindedness and paranoia that you seem to have. Good job! I still maintain that we need a one-party system of government--all Republican. Who will you insult then?

Interestingly, no one responded to what I said.  

I don't usually have that kind of a meltdown, publicly, but being--in essence--called a Communist, socialist, or Muslim because I don't always agree with the right-wing rhetoric incensed me.  I've been called a "lib-tard".  That kind of rhetoric never, ever promotes change.  If these guys actually wanted to change my mind about which way to vote next election, they picked the wrong method!  

Two things bug me:

1.  The guy that implied I was a Communist because I am a liberal thinker, has a teacher for a wife who, at one point, was supporting the whole family (three kids plus parents) on her income alone because he changed jobs. (American Public Education is a subject that is near and dear to me, for reasons that should be obvious.)    The Republican Party, starting with George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind edicts, then on to Republican governors in Indiana--Mitch Daniels and now, Mike Pence--have continued to dismantle American Public Education in Indiana.  It has been insidious, and (in some cases that I have already written about) unethical.  How can he support the party that is killing his wife's profession??

2.  Why do I let these things get to me?  I hate hypocrisy.  I hate dishonesty and lies.  I want to hold people's feet to the fire when they are spouting opinions that are only partially true or totally false. My daughter often advises me just to ignore/turn off/shut down rather than respond, and she is wise.  Still, it's hard for me to let the nonsense slide.  I'm working on it.

I don't want anyone speaking for me whose "truths" aren't mine.  That is why I won't declare for a political party.  The instant I do, some ignorant politician will say something so totally out of whack that I will be ashamed to be part of what he/she stands for.  Whomever I vote for is no one's business, but I do vote, even in primaries.  (Unlike the guys quoted in the previous posts.)  My blood runs red, white, and blue...so if my "lib-tard" mentality makes me a Communist, socialist, or Muslim, I guess that's just how it will have to be.  Funny, though.  Last time I looked, I was a "WASP" Christian American citizen.  Huh!  How could that be??