I destroy this Facebook copy pasta (Trigger and Language Warning)

This is garbage. This is irrational, exaggerated, hate promoting, and illegitimate garbage. I wasn’t going to write against it, but I just can’t help myself because I’m so sick of misinformation like this shaping minds and hurting people. A friend of mine called this gish galloping and he is absolutely right. I posted on Facebook that I could debunk every single point and how it is either totally false or just doesn’t work. And I’m going to and you know what? I’m going to be awful fucking blunt about it. You have been warned. I will put my responses in parenthesis so you can tell what I have to say to each section. Now let’s get started with the first paragraph:

I'm not starting a fight, but it is something to think about. This may open up a ton of outraged comments by some. Many who will argue how "wrong" this post is. My suggestion, save your time and effort! You're not changing the reality of what we are living by trying to somehow justify this insanity. Nevertheless, I couldn't resist because we are becoming the Twilight Zone. We have become a nation that has lost its collective mind!

(Where to start with this. So many issues. I guess my biggest take is on the suggestion that if you don’t agree wit this you are automatically trying to justify on the terms of the writer.  A kind of “Aha! You can’t rebut this now!” which is bullshit. The one point I do agree with is saving time and effort because anyone who really thinks this way is beyond reproach and doesn’t want to be told they are wrong at any level. Hell, they can’t accept that they are wrong at any level. So why am I writing at all? General audience and someone has to stand up to this line of thinking and try to correct it. And hell, some people will even get a laugh at both writer’s expense and that’s just fine too.)

• If a dude pretends to be a woman, you are required to pretend with him.

(Says who? Not one trans person that I know or gay person or any LGBTQ+ has ever asked me to pretend one fucking thing about them. To make it clear, you don’t have to do one damned thing. You can walk away from anyone you want and leave them the fuck alone. If you can’t accept someone for who and what they are (especially when they do no harm to anyone else) then you will do yourself and them a huge favor by walking right the fuck on by. I can claim I identify as a wombat and I personally do not give two shits if you pretend I’m a wombat or not! “Oh but what about the people and their picket signs and demonstrations?” you ask. My answer… so fucking what? Did something in your life stop working because someone held up a fucking sign? No? Then get over it. Their issues are officially none of your fucking business. Go somewhere else or change the damn channel.)

• Somehow it’s un-American for the census to count how many Americans are in America.

(Not only is this an exaggeration, but it’s patently false because the census is meant to count everyone living in American whether they are an “American citizen” or not. And that is where the debate comes in. Oh no, a debate! That’s un-American! Right? What the real problem is here is that whoever wrote this cannot stand the idea that every single immigrant in the country doesn’t get a massive flood light shined up their ass by way of the census. Oh, does that sound like another exaggeration? How does it feel? Let me put this another way… if all you want is our government’s nose up every immigrants ass to see what they had for lunch (IE are they legal or not), you are going about it the wrong way. YOU do not have an inherent right to demand who is legal and who isn’t. Collective society? Sure. The law? Sure. Just you and handful of racist assholes? No. )

• Russians influencing our elections are bad, but illegals voting in our elections are good.

(False. Literally no one thinks this. Fucking NO ONE. This is 100% contrived bullshit and just immigrant hatred spewed by people who have no fucking idea who is voting and who is not. And don’t even throw Fox news at me or any underground media because you’ll call any I post “fake news” like you’re any kind of judge. You have no evidence to support this blistering ridiculous claim.)

• It was cool for Joe Biden to "blackmail" the President of Ukraine, but it’s an impeachable offense if Donald Trump inquires about it.

( You have problems with Biden’s past? Well guess what, if you defended “grab em by the pussy” you have no fucking room to talk. You have no ground what so ever to stand on. You have burned yourself right out of the discussion. For every bullshit thing Trump has done that you cheer for (while condemning Obama for doing even less) you haven’t got a gawdamn thing to say. NOTHING. Not one fucking thing.)

• Twenty is too young to drink a beer, but eighteen is old enough to vote.

(Two things that have absolutely nothing to do with each other; age to drink and age to vote. I find it funny how some people think an 18 year old criminal should be tried as an adult and 18 years olds should pay their way as an adult, but have not one single legal fucking right as an adult. Well, what do you want here? Younger drunk drivers or older voters? Admit it, what you really want is to control who other people vote for.)

• People who have never owned slaves should pay slavery reparations to people who have never been slaves.

(Another thing no one is asking for. But it’s hard to explain to people who just don’t fucking care. And since your face is probably contorting in rage over the mere suggestion that you’re wrong, you actually prove me right. This is what you choose to believe and refuse to listen to the people talking and then you wonder why their behavior gets worse. The riot is the behavior of the unheard according to the words of Martin Luther King Jr. And you know what some families should get reparations for? If anyone in their family was hung from a fucking tree until dead by a white mob that was allowed to bypass all laws and courts. Stop pretending that slavery was the only problem and learn something or go the fuck away)

• Inflammatory rhetoric is outrageous, but harassing people in restaurants is virtuous.

(Once again… according to who? What youtube videos are you watching? You want to talk about harassing people in restaurants? How about screaming at employees over mask policies? How about that? How about shouting at someone trying to eat in peace to go back where they came from? Do you really believe this is a one sided issue? Well you seem to think the rest are and only you are somehow affected.)

• People who have never been to college should pay the debts of college students who took out huge loans for their degrees.

(Yet another thing no one is asking for. But then it will be hard to get any headway on the issue since you’re okay with cutting student meals, closing down the federal branch of the Department of Education who would be the ones to enforce anything you wanted done. On the flip side, no one who is going to be working manual labor with their degree should have to be in debt for the rest of their fucking lives over it. Not only that, but what about colleges that do more predatory recruiting for their own bottom line than following on their own promises? What people want here is reform and they are willing to pay a bump in taxes for it, not just pay off everyone’s way. If you don’t agree, what have you done to suggest a better way? Anything? No? Then shut up.)

• Immigrants with tuberculosis and polio are welcome, but you’d better be able to prove your dog is vaccinated.

(Here we have another comparison that doesn’t work and is literally something no one as said at all. No one has said, “hey, you got tuberculosis, well shit boy, get on in here!” Nope. But I forget, your idea of vetting immigrants is stripping them of their children and doing cavity searches and blood tests, never mind what you would do if any country wanted to do that to YOU. Uh oh, did I just post another exaggeration that you don’t like? Well no shit. And comparing to your dogs vaccines is fucking stupid. Have you ever seen anyone die from rabies? No? I wonder why? Maybe it’s because we developed a fucking vaccine decades ago to stop people dying from rabies. But fuck, you think covid is a fairy tale, so you probably don’t think rabies ever existed either.)

• Irish doctors and German engineers who want to immigrate must go through a rigorous vetting process, but any illiterate gang-bangers who jump the southern fence are welcome.

(This has become a trend in this list of things no one wants or asked for or claimed. Not one fucking person has ever said, “boy, I hope we get more illiterate gang bangers in our country this year”. How about this reversal: We need to worry about Mexican gangsters coming into our country, but the thousands of white and black gangs committing the same fucking crimes are A gawdamn OK with us! That’s how you fucking sound.)

• $5 billion for border security is too expensive, but $1.5 trillion for “free” health care is not.

(See, here goes the trend again. Because you think building a fucking wall will stop illegal immigration in its tracks. It won’t. The majority of illegal immigration to the tune of around 95% come in via vehicles, not fence climbing. They come in with visas and stay after the visa expires. So yes, your useless eyesore of a fucking wall that can’t even be built legally or physically across the entire border is a complete waste of money. At least healthcare assistance at any level could save lives. And let’s get realistic, thanks to insurance companies being rooted in our political system with every other corporation, “free” will never happen. So just stop.)

• If you cheat to get into college you go to prison, but if you cheat to get into the country you go to college for free.

(Bullshit once again. Most people who cheat to get into college just get thrown out (most) and more immigrant hatred because immigrants are destroying our way of life. Bullshit. Name one thing you can’t do anymore because of an immigrant and then tell me how they physically stopped you from doing it. You just hate the sight of them and the best part is that you don’t even know who is legal and who isn’t. So long as you can’t support that, you have nothing to say.)

• People who say there is no such thing as gender are demanding a female President.

(Who gives a shit? Does this affect your power to vote? Will you go hide under your bed because someone wants something you don’t? Stop letting irrelevant bullshit control your life. There are people out there who want to fuck bats in the asshole. Are you all bent out of shape over them? Better question is why do YOU have a problem with a female President no matter who wants to vote for her?)

• We see other countries going Socialist and collapsing, but it seems like a great plan to us.

(Another exaggeration over something that simply can’t happen. That is, if you are a consistent voter. But then there is another question that I’ve posed before. If you have all the answers, what have you done to show them and suggest a better way? Nothing. You just want to rage over it and you think “voting for President” is enough action for you. Wrong.)

• Some people are held responsible for things that happened before they were born, and other people are not held responsible for what they are doing right now.

(No shit. They’re called POLITICIANS and CORPORATIONS. But you’re talking about racism again and I already explained that point. Meanwhile, we the people pay for the politics.)

• Criminals are catch-and-released to hurt more people, but stopping them is bad because it's a violation of THEIR rights.

(By what actual facts? Who? Where? How many? No one thinks failing to stop criminals is bad. Another fucking stupid assumption. I don’t even know where this is being aimed but it fails horribly. Too many ways to kill this because it’s a stupid comment.)

• And pointing out all this hypocrisy somehow makes us "racists"?!

(Not quite. And most of this is not hypocrisy because the compared points have nothing to do with each other in any way. They are just smashed together in incoherent rambling like each one is some kind of major revelation. It makes you ignorant because you fail at critical thinking enough to make those ridiculous comparisons as if they do anything for you. They don’t. I could get into the real hypocrisy here but I’ve already made a couple of points to that effect. Pop quiz, can you find them?)

Nothing makes sense anymore, no values, no morals, no civility and people are dying of a Chinese virus in the media, but 99.8% will survive if infected.

(They aren’t dying in the media, you assholes, they are dying in hospitals. And dying isn’t even the only issue to be concerned with. Why are you listening to media that you don’t want anyone else to listen to? We get it, you don’t think Covid is an issue and you don’t see dead bodies lining your personal street, so you can’t be bothered. But try going to your local hospital and telling them about it. Oh wait, you can’t be bothered. That would mean fact checking yourself.)

We are living in an upside down world for sure.

(Here’s some fucking irony, it’s because of you)

Not my words but very accurate and disturbing!

(If you posted this because you blindly believe it all, then they are absolutely your words. You may as well fucking own them.)

Feel free to copy and paste. I did!

(Yeah, fuck this shit for the shit it is.)

Did you make it this far? Good for you! Now remember this, if you shared this copy pasta because you agreed with it, it was your opinion. If you believe you're entitled to your opinion but you don't think I'm entitled to mine, then the problem doth not lie with me.

I'm begging you not to vote for Trump

 I implore you, beg you, to consider what I have to say. If Trump becomes President, our country is screwed in so many ways, it may not come back for several generations. If you can look at what I'm pointing out here and just don't care, then I don't know what to say. But, at this point, know that ANY Republican is better than Trump and I'm not even voting Republican.

First, I want you to know that this information is genuine and you can fact check it for yourself HERE.  That's a link to Ontheissues.org and you can see ALL the politicians stances on all 24 of the listed issues. I'm going to hit the major highlights of Trumps points.

He wants to defund Planned Parenthood. While I realize that this is a major split issue. Destroying PP will do more harm than good. PP has been a crucial ally in sex education that too many parents refuse to do themselves. That sex education includes an important factor, namely protection from STD's and learning to use contraceptives. And contraceptives are NOT just about avoiding pregnancy. Some women need to them for other additional health problems attached to the reproductive system. Arbitrarily throwing away Planned Parenthood is a bad move and not the answer. But if this isn't enough for you, maybe...

He wants to cut (as in close) the Department of Education and cut funding to education across the country, quote "way down".  I don't care how you try to spin it; you can't make our country "great again" by destroying education programs. Aren't our schools in enough trouble? Aren't they overcrowded enough? I don't know about you, but I don't want my granddaughter to have to struggle through Trump's idea of school. Cutting education is radical, irrational and irresponsible. Currently, the Unites States is 14th in Education and 2nd in Ignorance. With Trump's help, I'm sure we can be the most ignorant country in World History. Doesn't that sound great? Is that what making our country "great again" means to you? It clearly does to him.

He wants to close the Environmental Protection Agency. Well of course he does! He's a corporate businessman. They hate the EPA. Remember the big oil spill in the gulf that's still ruining people's lives? If it weren't for the EPA, there would be no clean up effort. So shutting them down sounds like a good plan right?

He wants to take on China, Mexico and North Korea all at the same time. It's all in the link above. Go look. Basically, he's just going to walk up to these three and tell them how the sun goes down. He'll "force" China to come to terms on job market and trade, "make" Mexico pay for a wall around their border, and "go after" North Korea on their nukes. There's a term for this; WORLD WAR THREE. He's already given the bird to the UN over the refugees he plans to kick out as his first order of business. So here's what will happen. NK will immediately attack SK and blame us for it. We'll be in a trade war with Mexico and China will back them BOTH. I wonder how much THAT will cost? He's already got all three riled up with his insults he hurls at them in every single rally he holds. Half the world is now on edge over Trump and he's not even in full running yet.

Don't believe that? Who else is he fighting with before he even gets to the final race? Well, all Muslims so far. He wants a database on all of them. Wants to kick out ever single illegal immigrant there is. Neither will be cheap and at least one is unconstitutional. He wants to establish illegal torture methods (waterboarding), and you don't see that as a red flag? For the first time in  US history, the very declaration of making someone President of the United States may be a DECLARATION OF WAR. Please ask yourself if that's what you really want. But there's more...

He supports the idea that vaccines cause autism.  For any of you who know me, you know how I feel about this. VACCINES DO NOT CAUSE AUTISM. There are now over a hundred studies that show zero correlation between vaccines and autism. Vaccine injury is NOT autism. The anti-vaccine movement has already caused enough damage without the help of a President behind them. Vaccines save lives from preventable potentially crippling and deadly diseases. Please think about it.

It's punchline time. For those of you who use your Bibles to influence your voting decisions, I'd like to give you a reminder. In your Bible you will find mention of one who comes with great promises of plenty, yet yields only war, poverty, and disease. Now reread his own claims and tell me who that sounds like to you.

My Father, the passing of a Legend

I remember a cold and frightening Christmas day. I think it was 1982. I was twelve and we were all having a find time opening presents. My little sister got a pair of plastic skates and felt quite a hurry needed to open them. My little brother wanted things open to, so my father felt a bit hurried and momentarily forgot the importance of knife safety. He slipped and plunged the nearly three inch blade into his right upper and inside thigh. I had gone into the kitchen to do the morning dishes when he came in and landed on the tile floor. He ordered me to find his belt in the master bedroom and bring it to him. Time was priceless and seconds meant life. He was bleeding out. My stepmother ran around the house in sheer panic and I stopped halfway down the hall. I realized that I was never very good and finding things when sent for them and discovered that I had a faster way. So I bolted back to the kitchen and took off my own belt. He instructed me on where to put it and to pull it tight with all my strength. I thought I was going to break it, but it held. A neighbor drove my father to the hospital at break neck speeds. I later learned that if I had gone to search for that other belt, he would not have lived. As it was he almost lost his leg, but live he did, leg and all. Nicking the femeral artery really isn't enough to take down my father anyway. As of April 2, 2009; it took the combo of two forms of cancer with complications from Agent Orange to take him from us. Yes, he is gone, but certainly never to be forgotten.

My father served his country in Vietnam, one of the cruelest wars in history. If you saw him, you might be surprised that they let him jump out of planes and helicopters. I'm 5'11 and stood a full head taller than he by my teens. They weren't going to let him jump either. They told him he was too small and too light to bring a parachute down effectively in combat. Well, he wouldn't hear of that and forced the issue. His lead drill instructor finally got tired of it all and issued him a challenge. Back in those days, military training got away with a lot more than now. He told my father, if he could beat his platoon's largest man in hand to hand combat, he would make him a paratrooper that day. The story goes on to add that the largest man in his platoon spent ten days in the infirmary.

On March 6, 1967 he jumped out of a helicopter into Warzone D for Operation Silver City. He survived a 4 hour grueling battle that went all the way to over an hour of hand to hand combat. I don't know how many missions he went on, but I do know the tales they told of him long after he came home.

His platoon earned eight Presidential Citations before their tour was finished. They were heroes, all of them. Dad came home a decorated soldier with those citations, purple hearts, bronze and silver stars. He earned them each in blood and honor.

My father operated the platoon radio. Because of his size, he got elected for a few other jobs too. One in particular killed many a brave soldier as the most deadly job of all; the tunnel rat. Enemy soldiers liked to hide in narrow underground tunnels laced with booby traps, explosives, snakes, scorpions, spiders and rats. Reports suggest that the tunnels were too small for a rifle and uncontrolled pistol fire could discharge hidden explosives. That meant that the preferred weapon for the tunnel rat was a knife. So my father descended into these deadly narrow tunnels to dismantle explosives and traps and kill enemy soldiers while trying not to upset the native wildlife (or it would kill him). He did this over and over again, for his fellow soldiers and his country. My father looked Death in the eye socket, shook its bony hand and said: "You'll have to catch me later, I have work to do."

When his platoon got bored they mounted 50 calibur machine guns through the noses of helicopters so that the pilots could do some shooting with the rest of them. They took apart cases of Claymore mines and packed the c4 in the bottoms of three oil barrels. They filled those barrels in with concertina wire, scrap metal and bullets. Then they set them out and waited for an enemy platoon they were told was going to pass them. The blast erased the enemy platoon and enough foliage and trees to play some football.

My father cared alot about those he defended. On one day he avenged a small child from after a sniper's bullet took his little life. The boy had just been praising American soldiers for coming to his village in a time of need. It was the last thing that sniper ever did.

At the very worst of it all, enemy soldiers caught him and his companions on a patrol. They wanted the radio codes and killed all of his friends to try and force my father to hand them over. Not only did he refuse, but when one of his captors sat too close to his little bamboo cage, he killed them all and escaped with the remains of his fallen brothers. The story says that he wandered the jungle for two days before walking into an Australian encampment.

For duty, honor, and all of us, my father went where angels fear to tread.

When he got home, he took leadership of a motorcycle brotherhood for veterans called, The Screaming Eagles. Thats about when I came along (1970). These men were larger than life and did things you would only see on TV. Yes, they were crazy things, but amazing too.

My father always taught others and was generous with his advice. Not only that, but he was usually right. Everyone knew they could count on John Wilde for just about anything at all. He knew how to fix things and do things that most people never thought of. I guess that's why he became an aerospace engineer.

He was a man of teaching. He taught me the first steps of how to defend myself and started me in the martial arts. He taught me strategic thinking with a chessboard from around age 4. He's the reason I became a survivor instead of a suicide statistic.

He was a man of accomplishment. He saved the aerospace industry millions of dollars. When the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, he was one of the men who showed them how to fix it, so it wouldn't happen again.

He always tried his hardest when it came to his family. All he ever really wanted was for all of us to be happy.

I know I've told you how my stepmother abused me and I finally left home at age 14. That's all true, and my father lived with years of guilt as a result. I'm so glad I got the chance to tell him that I held nothing against him. I wanted him to know that I did not consider him at fault. For that matter I made it to the good places in my life because of what he taught me. I know it didn't look like it sank in, but it did. Not everyone gets that chance, so I am thankful for it.

Everything I put up with through those hard times, I did for my father. I hold him at fault for nothing.

It is my prayer that he be escorted to a reward in Heaven by Jesus Christ himself and that angels look after his needs. May he find himself at peace, finally.

Don't worry about me, Dad. I'm forging forward like you taught me. You go on now, I know you'll be a legend on the other side.