If it’s on Facebook it must be true

I have mentioned several times before that I am not on The Facebook. At times I feel like one of just three people who aren’t.

I remember when The Facebook was a “thing” for just kids. Today my kids, as young adults, spend little to no time on The Facebook. My oldest described it best one day when she said that The Facebook had lost its “playfulness”. What a great word, a very telling word that would describe The Facebook in the good old days as fun, pleasant, and humorous. It appears those days have long since passed as by. 

My wife has a Facebook account because, well honestly, I am not sure why she has a Facebook account. I think, she thinks, it is a social obligation for her to know that the couple that live down the street were at the lake this past weekend getting drunk again. Honestly, I didn’t need The Facebook to know that, they are always at the lake getting drunk based on the extra pounds they are both sporting. But I digress, last night she showed me a very mean-spirited video about Hillary Clinton one of her “friends” had posted on her Facebook page from a very reliable Facebook “news source”.

The video had all the hyperbole of a National Enquirer article, sensational headline, unflattering pictures and no checkable facts, none, zero, zip. Is it the truth? Well based on the 5,535 likes, 4,007 shares and 234 comments it must be or at the least the truth to the people who want to believe it is the truth.

I have always wondered how a magazine like the National Enquirer has stayed in business all these years. I have seen them in the check-out aisle of the grocery store for as long as I can remember but I have never actually seen anyone buy one. Someone is and obviously they believe the trash they are printing. Hell, even Donald Trump has used the National Enquirer as a source when he said Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the assassination of JFK.

I have an uncle that according to wife, remember I am not on The Facebook, appears to be spending every waking moment of his day posting pro-Trump propaganda and anti-Hillary material on his Facebook page. In his little friend universe this is being countered by his brother, my Dad, with pro-Hillary propaganda and anti-Trump material. I have been told, again, not on The Facebook, that this little battle royale has gotten uglier as the election draws near. I will very interested to see if these two almost eighty year old brothers can mend the fences they have built around their opinions after the election.

This feud between brothers, if you will, maybe a little microcosm for the rest of our country to watch. One of them is going to wake-up on November the 9th (they are almost eighty and go to bed at 8:30 pm) as the winner, while the other will be the loser. That sounds very personal, but this election has become not only very personal but also very emotional. For the guy that yelled “F*ck Hillary and “F*ck You!” at me yesterday this election is obviously very personal and emotional. What rational, sane person does that to a total stranger otherwise?

So on November the 9th 325,000,000 American citizens will have a new President. Roughly half the country will be happy with the outcome and the other half will not and in my family, one brother will be celebrating and one won’t. The question is, will this division heal or fester like an open wound for years to come for the brothers and for our country?