It seems that my friends, my friends’ friends, and I are exclusively to blame for the Trump Presidency and the Republican takeover of government. I tried to stand up for you all, without tearing the person down.
This article was re-published by Naked Capitalism. Screenshots of the conversation are at the bottom.
First the post proper, which I made on Facebook, regarding a Republican town hall Citizens’ Media TV was to cover:
Me:
I am a journalist interested in debunking the Republican talking point of not wanting to participate in in person town halls, for fear of facing “outside agitators being bussed in only to harass them.”
If anyone out there is interested in livestreaming this event, and willing to go early and film the likely-non-existent buses bringing in people, and asking around, especially to those who are upset with the congressman/Republicans/Congress overall, to confirm their identity/That they live in the district, such as by looking privately at their licenses, or asking a question only locals would know how to answer (or any other creative ideas), please get in contact with me.
John Doe’s comment on the post:
I’m going and I live here.
My response:
Please friend and PM me if you are interested in assisting.
John Doe:
I visited your page, saw your posts and your friends’ comments, and with thanks for your vote for the Democratic nominee in the election, I will decline. I worked hard for her election and have no more tolerance for the kind of bull I saw on your posts. I’m sure some of those people are crying and marching now. With their support, this didn’t have to happen. [redacted] on your post was so sure of herself, and probably still is. Makes me ill.
Me:
I don’t understand what posts you object to. On what page? My personal page? I am unsure what you mean by “with their support this didn’t have to happen”? What didn’t have to happen? The Trump presidency and the Republican takeover of Congress? Who is [redacted]?
John Doe:
on a post on your wall. Someone among your friends named [redacted], full of conspiracy theories that you permit to be aired on your wall, saying that Clinton was going to be be president and nothing would stop her, she “stole” the nomination, blah blah blah. And yes, the Trump presidency didn’t have to happen. Your post is full of people saying they either wouldn’t vote, or vote for Stein for gods sake. You posted that a vote for Stein isn’t wasted. It is people who said such things that made his electoral college win possible. You all bought the right-wing Russian-financed propaganda. Now you cry and march.
Me:
Would appreciate a link to the post you’re referring to. It’s hard to discuss this without knowing what you’re talking about.
I disagree with lots of my friends, and disagree with even more people that are friends of my friends. The [redacted] you are talking about is likely a friend of a friend. Unless they are blatantly hateful, I choose not to delete comments just because I might disagree with them. Because many people that I disagree with still have something valid to say.
Thank you for acknowledging my vote for Hillary Clinton in the general. I will be honest and say that I did it almost exclusively as an anti-Trump vote.
You are correct. If every single Bernie Sanders supporter came out and voted for Hillary Clinton during the general, she likely would’ve won by a landslide. The Democrats would not have lost state houses across the country and control of all branches of our government. Instead of winning by a landslide, she lost by a razor thin margin, even winning the popular vote by almost 3 million votes.
I hope that we can agree that the American people are by and large reasonable people. So if that’s true, then what about Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party caused all of these people to not vote for her? That many people choose not to vote at all, some chose to vote third-party, and probably some chose to vote for Trump just to “blowed shit up real good.”
It seems that all of these people chose to risk a Trump presidency and a Republican domination of the entire country, than to come out and vote for Hillary Clinton.
I hope you’re not seriously suggesting that the only reason that Hillary Clinton lost is 100% caused by “right wing Russian-financed propaganda,” and 0% because of what Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party has done and not done for the past 40 years.
John Doe:
one word: misogyny. And I am not at all persuaded that the American people are by and large “reasonable.” Quite apparently not. https://www.facebook.com/jeffyepstein/posts/10207140649099932
Me:
Thank you for the link.
There were seventeen friends tagged in that post. Comments came from more than a hundred people [actually closer to forty], about half indirect friends of those people.
So a large percentage (most? all?) of Bernie Sanders tens of millions of supporters, that didn’t vote for Hillary Clinton, either hate women (including the women…) or are so gullible to be duped by Russian financed right wing propaganda. They have no valid issues at all.
The Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton have NO responsibility in their loss. Those votes were rightly hers.
That’s what you’re trying to tell me.
Me, four hours later:
Let me be more direct: *IS* that what you’re trying to tell me?
It is so easy to blame tens of millions of middle and lower income Americans for the spectacular losses suffered by Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party in November. From what you’ve told me so far, they are the ONLY ones to blame. Tens of millions of people. All virulent misogynists, dim-witted enough to be completely duped by “Russian financed right wing propaganda”, and “by and large”, “quite apparently” not reasonable human beings. They have no valid concerns at all. How easily you write them off with such hateful and simplistic accusations.
The powerful few though, with their billionaire donors and much of the media and rules tilted in their favor, they share absolutely none of the responsibility in their OWN losses.
It’s not Hillary Clinton’s job to earn the votes of those tens of millions of people. It is the job of those tens of millions of people to just vote for her. Because as bad as they may feel she and the Democratic Party are for their own good, Trump is so much worse…and they don’t know what the hell they’re talking about anyway.
You do realize how unreasonable that sounds, right?
Proud Bernie Sanders Democrat 
I was labeled a “Trump ass-kisser” and accused of supporting him by two different, otherwise intelligent gentlemen within days of each other. My sin? Suggesting that ranting and raging every time the corporate media throws another Trump bone into the dog pen to keep people from paying attention to the very real damage going on in Congress is less than useful.
Today, I remarked to someone blaming “the white working class” for having elected him that, first, the bulk of his support in fact came from affluent Republicans of all genders, races and sexual preferences; and, second, that as a lifelong member of the “white working class,” I found it offensive to be constantly blamed for something neither I nor a great many of my fellow classmates had any responsibility for. I also used the phrase “media-generated myth.” So far, there’s been no direct response.
It’s just like one of the Crusades. The popes of the DNC, with the help of their corporate-media clergy, are stirring up the faithful who embraced St. Hillary without question to do battle against anyone who dares refuse to accept conversion to The Faith.
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