Cleaning house on FB.

This is an interesting topic and a timely one for me. A few days ago I posted a meme on FB that was (of course) critical of our "Dear Leader". It essentially called him a psychopath for creating a problem and then wanting praise for having solved (the immigrant children separation) issue. An old colleague of mine from way back, not a friend per se, but who follows me on FB, answered back with the very typical reply, naming Barack Hussein Obama as just such a person. Another person followed on, a first cousin whom I've not heard from in years, but who follows me on FB. She blamed Obama and Clinton for the mess, essentially equating them with Trump.

My reply back to her was short and to the point, basically telling her to spare me the "yeah buts" and letting her know exactly how I feel about the current president. She didn't like that. Told me to consider myself "blocked" and that I couldn't speak to her that way. My last reply was "Consider myself "not caring" (a tribute to Melania's inspired clothing choice in recent days) and to have a nice life.

Both people are now off my FB feed by my choice, along with others whom I know I would not agree with politically.

But, now my 80 something year old mom has joined the fray, telling me I was rude to my cousin and reminding me that she supports Trump. My reply back was to express my disappointment at her choice and to say I could not understand it, but I certainly wasn't about to apologize for my admittedly aggressive reply to someone I've not heard from (let alone seen) in decades.

There was an interesting thread on Twitter last night. The very funny Kristen Schaal commented on the power of Fox news and how stunned she was by comments coming from visiting family members. The response from many on the thread was sad, in that person after person talked about how their parents in many cases, and other relatives have been essentially brainwashed by Fox news. I know this to be the case in my own mother's house, where Fox is on all the time. There is no reasoning with these folks and I refuse to discuss politics with my family members who support Trump, because I know feelings would be hurt.

This incident has left me feeling very sad and angry and hopeless.

Here's the link in case some of you might want to read the thread. Believe you have to have a Twitter account to follow it, but I'm not sure.  

I enjoyed reading Kristen Schaal's Twitter feed also. I don't belong to any of the social media outlets either.
Life is better that way.

I think that's an apt description, though in my case I don't discuss politics with my family members. Still, just knowing that she (and other family members) can support Trump just breaks my heart. I want to cry out, "Are you BLIND???", but I bite my tongue. How can they not see what is happening to this country with this idiot at the helm. My father sent me an essay by the late Charles Krauthammer, who wrote of Trump as a "pragmatist" and that his plain speaking style, while offensive to many, was a clear way of communicating, which he praised. God help us.

Most of my FB postings these days have to do with a private group I started last year for owners and future owners where we built a house. It's been very successful and a great way to get to know our future neighbors. Since we were the 2nd family here, I offered to take pictures for the group and every few days I'll wander around and document the growth of our community. The folks who can't get here regularly love seeing photos of the progress on their houses. As for Twitter, it's a double-edged sword. Great for keeping abreast of breaking news, but a sure way to increase your stress level (thus my elevated BP).