Me and FB

On Friday, I got in a fight on FB, again. Same person; different verse. One of my old friends from Red River seems to be very liberal. I guess that is not so odd in NM.  She is a journalist writing for a small paper in Norther NM. My real wonder is why she posts such political stuff on FB and then seems surprised that she gets arguments from her old friends. When I read the post on Friday, I hesitated to comment. But then I decided that if she posted political crap, she wanted feedback. Since her post had to do with Dennis Johnson, Oklahoma House Majority Leader, from Duncan, OK, I thought I should respond to the post. Actually, I should point out that her husband posted a link to the article on Dennis Johnson and his politically incorrect mistake. I should also point out that the post on FB was titled "Asshat."

Here are some of the other comments before mine:
His "apology" is just as bad! 
What an idiot. I thought the apology was worse than his original remark. 
And his colleagues laughed? To quote Chris Rock "cracker ass crackers."

That is when I posted this: 
Come see me in Duncan sometime. I'll introduce you to Mr. Johnson. He is a very nice older man who made a mistake using terminology that used to be acceptable. It was wrong, but it does not make him a hater - spreading this piece of news does make me wonder who the haters are.

 Here are some of the comments after my comment:

I was about to make a disparaging remark about the regressive nature of the political discourse in Oklahoma, but then I remembered....I live in Texas.  
You know what, Lou? You are right. I would no more "hate" Mr. Johnson than I would my own grandfather or great uncle who had deed restrictions against the sale of land to Jews or people of color (I can't remember what terminology they used).
Unfortunately, Mr. Johnson holds public office and I do have a higher expectation for them. I want them to educate themselves and understand the roots of the "political correctness" so many like disparage for becoming too excessive. I have heard too many apologies like this: "Oh, I'm sorry. I forget that you women don't like to be called that." And too few that come from a genuine remorse from having hurt someone -- unintentionally or not.
  If Mr. Johnson's advanced age has dulled his mental faculties to the point he is rendered incapable of recognizing an antisemitic slur when he utters one, then it would seem obvious the man is no longer fit to sit in the House, much less serve as house majority leader. To use a religion as a pejorative is something only ignorant people do. By defending his actions and suggesting those who express offense are haters frankly would make it appear the ignorance is widespread in the great state of Oklahoma, a perception rather strongly reinforced by the reaction of Mr. Johnson's colleagues.
  Lou, with all due respect, neither his age nor his degree of niceness excuse this level of ignorance from an elected State official. If he is as nice as you say he is, then he would have apologized with sincerity minus the snickers and light-hearted laughter about the mistake. I see no haters here. Just an offender and those who have been offended.  

I chose not to respond to any of the comments on FB, especially the one who said all of OK was ignorant. It seems you can call a person "asshat, idiot, ignorant, ass cracker" and those terms are politically correct. And that stuff about holding our government officials to a higher standard - Well once you have  a  President who has sexual relations with a young intern, lies about it to a grand jury and the nation, and nothing is really done, well, your standards have sunk pretty low.  I could go on and on about the "standards" of our politicians that make Dennis Johnson seem pretty darn good. He did apologize - that should be enough.   

Maybe I should  stop FB all together.  Although I love seeing pictures of friends and their families, FB is getting full of stupid or sentimental posters - quaint sayings and such. I have friends who post lots of dog pictures or animal rescue messages. I don't mind those, but not when there are more than a few at a time. Then, there are the few who post political stuff on gun control or other controversial issues. Personally, if they want to rant and voice their opinion, they should get a blog where people who want to read their crap can do so.  Like me:)

Then my liberal friend posted this on Sunday: What kind of logic makes some insist that government should get off the back s of business -- often to the detriment of public health & safety -- then also insist that government must legislate morality, even when the behavior in questions hurts no one?

I didn't comment on this one - Aiee!  I let my friend Ralph have the honors, and I just Liked what he said.