I Feel Like Un-Friending Facebook

Published by Rick on Tagged Uncategorized

I finally had to do a bit of a purge yesterday, and un-friend every Facebook friend whose political views clashed too much with mine. With one, it was no big deal, he’s a comic I used to know and work with, he posts right wing blather, but he gets enough of a dressing down from the many liberal comics out there who are more armed with whatever counter-statistics are needed to put him in his place. While I would usually disagree with everything this guy, or Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter or Sarah Palin or anyone else on Fox News would have to say, I’m not quite so adept at arguing without getting frustrated and feeling foolish, so I tend to back off from political wrangling. I know what’s right in my own mind, but I have trouble expressing it sometimes.

Now what do you do when the would-be Ted Nugents are people you have known over half your life, and/or have become close friends? I had to face that decision Thursday, after a simple comment I made regarding Sarah Palin’s proclamation that she had predicted the trouble between Ukraine and Russia, and how Obama and the rest of the Democrats ignored her. I was using the “You can see Russia from my house” quote to ask if this was how she got her information. Well, one of my right-wing buddies went right on the offensive, pointing out it was Hollywood’s darling Tina Fey that said that line when she parodied Palin. He used that little mis-quote as an excuse to say how closed-minded and mis-informed ALL liberals are.

I thought I cooled things enough by just saying “OK, maybe you’re right about who said what, but the fact remains that there’d have been no Tina Fey parody if Palin hadn’t said anything closely related.” Someone else put in both quotes, so I was at least proven right in my conviction even if the source was wrongly identified.

But this Fuckhead would not lighten up, especially when another joined the fray, a Religious Right fanatic who posts all this pro-life, anti-choice bullshit that would always ruin my day whenever I saw it. This woman and Mr. Just To The Left Of Attila The Hun were both high school classmates, though I only knew him back in the day. She decided to chime in with words of praise for how he put me in my place, and how she hates Tina Fey, and how Hollywood has proclaimed Sainthood on her just cause she’s an avowed liberal. Then it became a diatribe on how stupid entertainers are. This dialogue all took place while I was off-line.

When I got back on, and read the comments, my first reaction was, “Excuse me, I believe I’M an entertainer. What is it you’re saying?” She didn’t respond, but Mr. World Wise Who’s Never Lived Anywhere But The Suburban Town He Was Born In said, “Maybe she’s saying you’re not that bright? Or maybe you’re just at war with women?” Since he was daring me to un-friend him, which I had vowed to do a couple times before if he ever called me a Libtard (a compound word invented by Conservative assholes that makes no sense), this time I complied.

I un-friended under the pretext that when I was having similar political disputes on FB, one of which resulted in the un-friending and blocking of posts from my own cousin, Eileen had suggested a year and a half ago to get rid of these people. I explained to Mr. Worships At The Altar of Bill O’Reilly that I was finally taking Eileen’s suggestion, in that the first anniversary of her passing is just over a week away. He had no further arguments/insults, posted an emoticon, and wished me good luck in my pursuit of whatever happiness I’m looking for.

It wasn’t quite over, though, for I also decided to get rid of Ms. Bible-Thumper. Too late, she’d already done so! I sent her the message, “I planned to un-friend, but you beat me to it.” She messaged back, saying she stopped being friends months ago, because she’d gotten deeper into her faith, and in doing so, happened to be reading one of my blogs, and “I couldn’t finish it. All that F this and F that.” Yes, I have been known to drop an F-bomb or two, but not the way she described it. What’s really odd about it all is we became pretty good friends a few years ago through FB after my last marriage failed, and we talked on the phone from time to time, even actually met up when she came to one of my shows in La Jolla. During our conversations, I felt at ease enough to say the C-word and she appeared to have no problem with it. In her parting shot, she said “I’m not a religious person,” and I don’t know whom she thought she was fooling with that statement, as her closing words were a prayer for me to find salvation, and redemption of my soul and yada yada.

Maybe I’m missing something by divesting myself of those reminders that not everyone feels the same way I do, but if I’m told I’m stupid or ignorant for holding on to the perspective I developed when I was in my teens, what’s the point in listening to that? I didn’t get more conservative as I got older, which admittedly does happen to a lot of us. I couldn’t imagine having some epiphany like former comedian Dennis Miller had, and discover I’ve been a Right-Winger all this time and had just been deceiving myself. But because I don’t look for and memorize statistics to back up what I feel in my heart, that doesn’t make me ignorant, close-minded, or whatever other spin you twats want to put on it. Have a nice fucking day!

March 8th, 2014



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