A Journey Into the Abyss.....

I did something I told myself I would never do…..I got involved in a Facebook message string where I was not appreciated. 

There is someone here in my town who is a community leader tied in to the pretty large community of veterans and veteran’s causes.  I am a ‘friend’ since we have done work together over the years.  For the past several years she and her other facebook friends have been burning up a lot of bandwidth by posting really vitriolic and nasty comments with a decidedly Trumpian slant against liberals and Democrats. 

I vowed to not participate because I would clearly be a ‘stranger in a strange land’.  Last night, I just couldn’t resist trying to insert a little fact based reality into what was clearly a fantasized version of what is happening now regarding the government shutdown, it’s causes and effects.

I stepped in ‘doody’!

I started by posting this item in the middle of their rants about how the shutdown is all Pelosi and Schumer’s fault:

“A president that
holds a nation hostage
to get what he wants
is a dictator.”

This is what I got back from about three people simultaneously.  It was like they were all sitting by their computers lying in wait for someone like me…..

"A Congress who does the same this is what then?"

"A congress who ignores its sworn duty- to protect its citizenry- is a Banana Republic - seriously taking off for 7 days after HI- after Puerto - now off to Egypt & Afghanistan. People who try to undue a duly elected President SINCE BEFORE he was sworn in are traitors."

"Oh yes - Nasty Nancy was soooooo concerned about the president’s safety she called NONE of the security details, who later refuted Nasty’s claim to which she replied “so what”. No Trump is shining a light on this despicable place call the Swamp, shadow government , deep state - wake up Larry Lancit. You may hate trump but I’d think you hate the lying MSM(Main Stream Media) more"

"I presume you held the same opinion of Obama then? After all, he did the same thing, with the excepted detail that the voters strongly *opposed* what he forced upon us."

Well, actually (I think he was referring to the DACA executive action by Obama) no, the voters actually approved of what he did, it was the Republicans that were jumping up and down. 

Then I said this:

--actually the House has sent 6 bills to the Senate for approval to send to the President to open the government. Senator McConnell, a Republican who is colluding with the White House on this issue has refused to bring the bills to the floor for a vote. Trump does not want to negotiate. It seems it is his way or the highway. He is holding 800000 + people who only want to go to work hostage by not agreeing to negotiate the immigration issue and open the government. Trump and McConnell are the bad actors here.

This is what emerged immediately:

"The house has sent six bills they have been told for months would not be signed, Actually, he has said for two years this day was coming, no one believed him. Instead, they continue to kick the problem down the road, same as they have done for how many decades now? Time to stop the insanity, and the only way to do it is hold Congress accountable for not getting it done for man many years. BOTH sides are accountable here, yet amazingly one side just keeps throwing out bills they know won't pass (looks good in the press and makes great sound bites) instead of sitting down and negotiating. President Donald J. Trump has stated he would sit down and negotiate IF they come to him in good faith, but apparently Hawaii and Puerto Rico trips are more important than actually doing there jobs... Congress has been saying open the government and we will discuss it for decades. How well has that worked? Heck, when the last time Congress passed a complete budget….."

"Trump is asking for $5.7 Billion out of an annual budget of $4.407 Trillion...In other works, Trump is asking for $57 dollars out of an annual budget of $44, 070...Think about that.  I magine your other half saying 'we're not going back to work, the kids aren't getting their allowances, and no bills are getting paid until you give up the idea of spending $57 dollares to fence in our yard"...This is what Pelosi and Schumer have halted our government for."

 Whew!  Then I tried to ask why McConnell was hiding and not doing his job as defined by the Constitution.  Here is what emerged:

 " Mitch was where he always is working Cortez was too busy posting her video. It $5 B- you follow the news. You know all the Dems were for it before they were against it- so now ????? No you write to Nancy & Chuckles & tell them to stop this nonsense. Please where’s Mitch?

Fake outrage by AOC, they knew where Mitch was, they walked right by his office. But where was her outrage with the dems and 100 lobbyists in PR, or Nancy and Schiff skipping town so they dont have to face THEIR shutdown"

I suggested a bit of respect for Pelosi and Schumer and this is what I got back:

 "…there was no funding for the border wall/fence, so why even send a pork filled bill to the Senate? Trump told them last time he would not sign a bill without funding. He wasn't hiding, he was in HIS office, unlike most of the dems. RESPECT??!! Are you serious?! Coming from the party that calls Melania a hooker, pick on Barron, and call the president a MF'r on the house floor?! Get outta here"

Well….I realized I was not going to make any headway with these people.  Their minds were wrapped around so many false convoluted facts that there was no point in continuing.

This segment of our population was never going to accept anything other than what Fox News was going to tell them.  So I finished with:

Do you REALLY believe that the Democratic party as a party has called Melania a hooker, and picked on Baron? Please tell me that you understand that there will always be individual legislators with no character and rude personalities. ie: Stephen King, et al. Most of the country does not want to spend this amount of money on a Wall. Let's talk about all the possible solutions to rational immigration policy. It is time to start anew with all of us stopping yelling and start discussing. It starts with stopping this insane stalemate Trump has initiated. This is all I want to say to all of you. it is clear that you are for the most part locked into your beliefs and apparently only back your President’s demand. I say, "onward then, over the cliff!"

This is what came back in a flood:

"yes she has been called a hooker by the MSM & Barron has been the subject of cruel jokes"

"nobody wanted to spend all that money on Obamacare, but the dems shut down the government till they got their way, without even reading it. And the dems were all for the wall when Obama asked for funding. And ALL of the border agents want a wall, as well as most of the local police. Even Obama head of border security says it works and is needed. So I guess you are good with thousands of people just walking across our borders and getting benefits? But I guess as long as they vote Democrat your good with it. And yes, just about ALL of the dems in Congress have made derogatory remarks about Trump and his family."

"Remember when a Republican called Obama a liar, which he was lying at the time. You would have thought it was the end of the world, and the sensored him. But now it seems it's ok to call the president a MFer or other derogatory names in congress."

Oh well…..

It just makes me sad that there are so many people, who I thought were intelligent and reasonable, who can be so blind to what is really going on and so angered by hate for Obama et al.

Good Lord, these people are still spinning out of control about Hillary, emails and Benghazi!  What legal actions arose out of any of that and how much money did Congress spend to get to there?  They are still at it!  Compare that to all the successful legal efforts of Mueller and people who plead guilty and are indicted.

Until we all can wipe all the past vitriol aside and agree to start anew with trying to solve the immigration problem, instead of pointing fingers and resurrecting mythical history, we are going to be spinning our wheels and not dealing with this and other pressing issues.

I vowed never to get mired in the muck with these Fox-ies again!