The litmus test for political propaganda swirling tidal waves of raw bull across the internet is as whacked as some of the stories: Is there a photo? OMG, there is a photo… this must be true!
Case in point: some joker out in California claims that he is a postal worker in Ohio in a tweet about shredding absentee ballots. My own sister buys it… argues, “but there is a photo!” She pulls it up on her phone to show me. “Don’t mail that,” she warns. “It will get shredded in Columbus.”
I picked up my absentee ballot application off the table to show her that the envelope is addressed to the local Board of Elections right here in Youngstown, Ohio. Our mail does not go through Columbus. It might get processed in Cleveland, but it is not going all the way to Columbus.
I should wait, just go vote at the polls. No… I mapped the location of my new polling place when I got the postcard confirming my change of address and it is too far off a WRTA bus route for a disabled non-driver like me to walk. Plus, I would have to cross Midlothian Blvd in a high traffic area. I would have to take a cab or find a ride, so I opted to vote via absentee.
If they are shredding in Columbus, they might be shredding everywhere… but, oh? What’s this? They’re only shredding absentee ballots from Trump supporters? How can they tell, with ballots in sealed envelopes? They must be opening them.
Am I dealing with a moron?
No… this is my sister, an otherwise intelligent woman who holds down a full time job, runs a successful business on the side, does volunteer work in her community, serves on committees, does all sorts of things… but when it comes to nonsense on the internet, she believes everything she reads.
Hillary wants to kill off the black population, abort all their babies, that’s why abortion clinics are located in predominately black neighborhoods. Putin will launch nuclear bombs on us if Hillary wins the election. Hillary kills everyone who gets in her way… she killed an airline pilot, she murders women who sleep with her husband, no veterans will vote for her. (Uh, try the vet in the next room… he’s voting for Hillary; I’m the one who has been undecided, considering 3rd parties and Hillary because my candidate of choice – Joe Biden – opted not to run and there is no way in hell that I would vote for Trump, thought he was a pompous ass long before all that “locker room” banter.) And it’s not just her… I hear other people yak nonsense off the internet.
And ye gads… the rationalizations some people use to support Trump absolutely blow my mind. I’ve heard things like, “we are not really voting for a person… we are voting for a political party, choose the party that most aligns with your views as the president has no power, he doesn’t really do anything.” Oh… so if we are not voting for a person, then why have a person run? Why not elect an inanimate object, a stuffed animal or a vase or something? Maybe a logo? Yeah, some symbol to represent the party? We could vote for plants… at least they are alive. It might be easier to spot the weeds.
It’s all nonsense. This whole election is kind of whacked. It reminds me of old sayings… take what you hear with a grain of salt… or better yet, it’s like eating fish, spit out the bones.
The last political debate is tonight… viewers might need buckets for the bones.
Thanks for reading!
Barnbees 