I was recently unfriended on Facebook for calling out the bullshit on someone’s political rant about John Kerry’s recent nomination for Secretary of State. It started with a photo of John Kerry and Jane Fonda that resurfaced. I made a quick comment that the photo was a fake and that she should do a better job of vetting the information that she reposts. The reply was that it made no difference that the photo was fake and developed into a tirade about how the US is going to hell in a hand basket and that I should wake up and pay attention. There was a long string of points that I believe she cut and pasted from a few right-wing sources on the Net. I wish I would have taken a screenshot of the conversation.
Here was my final comment on that conversation before I got unfriended (what’s bolded are her points I’m responding to):
: Where do I begin? Let me start by saying that our ideologies are fundamentally different. That does influence our positions on many topics. However, an ideology has nothing to do with facts. Opinions need to be based on facts. If they’re based on inaccuracies, then they hold little weight.
“VIETNAM, ANTI-WAR TRAITOR”
So anti-war defines a traitor? Do you know why he left Vietnam? Do you know what the VVAW is about? Did you read Kerry’s 1971 VVAW Statement to the Senate?Kerry’s appointment is being held. Not because the GOP doesn’t support him, but because they want to hear what Hillary has to say about Benghazi. Her diplomatic illness is a little suspect, but the GOP isn’t crying foul. And Kerry’s nomination has little to do with Hillary. You know he’s the second choice since Ms. Rice withdrew, right?
“…HE WAS BORN IN KENYA”
Why won’t that conspiracy theory die?
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthers/kenyacert.asp
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthers/birthcertificate.asp“…HE IS A MUSLIM”
Why won’t that die, either?“HE CANCELED THE NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER”
No he didn’t. Check your history. National days of prayer were unofficial until Truman signed a bill in 1952 and even then, an exact day wasn’t established. That was left up to the POTUS. Reagan made the first Thursday of May the NDP back in 1988. However, it was just a day and there was no official ceremony written into the bill for its observance. The latest Bush was the only POTUS to celebrate it at the White House every year. Reagan only did it once, the elder Bush only did it once, and Clinton didn’t do it at all. In fact, it wasn’t Obama, but a religious freedom foundation that got a federal judge to rule the NDP unconstitutional in 2010. Obama appealed the ruling in 2011 and got it overturned. So you should thank Obama on this issue.“HE HELD A MUSLIM PRAYER EVENT…”
No he didn’t. It wasn’t at the White House, it was on the public grounds of the Capitol. It was independently organized and Obama didn’t promote, sponsor or attend it.I can write pages more on each of these points and all the others you mention. However, I find it tedious to discuss issues based on inaccuracies. Those inaccuracies need to be addressed before any fruitful exchange of ideas can take place.
In fact, I have friends with whom I’ve had discussions for hours on end on both political and theistic subjects. Luckily, in our discussion group, the facts are there for use on both sides. Our latest is on the subject of Israel and Egypt. Such an awesome discussion because it has such an overlap of political and theistic influence. Because of that, there are layers of complexity that isn’t simply about the US giving them aid. You mention in one brief sentence of the billions being sent to the Muslim Brotherhood. Not true. It’s sent to the nation of Egypt as it’s been done for the past 30+ years. That money is already in the budget and has been well before Egypt’s recent revolution to become a democracy. I say there’s a bit more complexity in why we don’t just cut that aid since we don’t like the candidate their democratic process turned out.
And honestly, for you to presume that I don’t pay attention is truly an incorrect assumption. In whatever I observe, I have a tendency to research. I just want everyone else to do the same.
These are my last words on this subject. I broke my own rule about commenting on other people’s pages on anything religious or political.
I didn’t even get the chance to respond to her belief that Obama is the second coming of Hitler based on historical parallels.
