Dear Everyone:

I am SICK UNTO DEATH of Social Media and its denizens telling me what to do, how to feel, and who to be like.

If I don't speak out - loudly - on social media about THIS outrage or THAT situation, well clearly I am just "passively accepting" of the situation. Never mind what I say or do about those things in my real life.

If I express outrage or disdain about THIS candidate or THAT candidate - on Social Media - well then clearly I am a hater or stupid or a libtard or fooled by the media or just too naive to be allowed to live. Never mind that I back up my outraged or disdainful opinion with ACTUAL FACTS, usually video and audio with the actual words coming out of the actual person's actual mouth.
But that's just spin and propaganda, of course! Never mind that they actually said it out loud on video in front of thousands of people.

If I complain about these things - on Social Media - well I'm just WRONG! Don't like it, don't read it! Unfollow! Block! Ignore!
Never mind that some of the people attacking me are friends, and their friends, and their friends, and so on and so on and so on just like that shampoo commercial. Friends I've known since college. Since high school. Since ... Social Media.

So let me just say this one time - *I* am not trying to change YOUR mind or YOUR opinions when I state my own. HOWEVER, my (fact based) opinions are just as valid as yours. I'm not asking you to agree with me, but if you open a discussion and I take part by voicing my opinion, then you need to recognize your own shitty behavior when you go on the attack and try to make me change *mine*. You need to recognize that it only hurts your cause, it doesn't help it or make your opinion any more palatable to me.

And if you disagree, that's okay too. Maybe you can't help being an asshole. So I'll just leave this here for you:

Is the election over yet?

I am apolitical. I loathe the whole political game.
I rarely talk about politics and even more rarely write anything about it.
Mostly because I don't get it, but in large part it's due to the fact that y'all (just the general "y'all") are rabid. Foaming-at-the-mouth howl-at-the-moon CRAZY.
And if I write about what I think, there's always someone in one camp or another who wants to argue and yell and get red in the face and convince me that I'm wrong and then list all the ten thousand and one reasons why I'm wrong.

You can't just let me be. You can't let me believe what I want, like my thoughts and beliefs are so much LESS important, less RIGHT, than yours.
You suck the life out of the air around me.
So I avoid it.

I hate the mudslinging and the digging of the "dirt" and the half-assed "facts" that are printed prior to being thoroughly researched.

I hate the people who get such a thrill every time some of that nastiness on the "opponent" is printed or aired on the news, and then they rush to spread the gossip just like that creepy old busybody down the street who's always all up in everyone's bidness. (sorry Mom)(you're not really creepy)

I'm here to tell you that you're all right, and you're all wrong.
Each side has its own balance of good and evil.

What seems to be overlooked most frequently is that the candidates for ANY political office or government position are...HUMAN BEINGS.

Humans. People.
And people are stupid. And they fuck up. And they make piss-poor decisions. And they trip and fall down.

If only those people who had never smoked weed, cheated on a spouse, never told an off-color joke, never had an abortion or premarital sex, never gotten drunk, never had a teenage pregnancy (or had a pregnant teenage daughter), never got old, never made an error in judgment, never grabbed an ass or showed their boobs or misspoke or screwed up were the ONLY ones allowed to pontificate, there would be silence across the land.

I mean yeah, once they're in the spotlight (or planning to seek it out) they should avoid the hookers and drugs and embezzlement.
And interns.
And cigars.
And penis pumps.
And whatever.

Sure, I want to know if the candidates have done jail time and if so, why. Or if they've spend time in rehab or a mental institution.

But not every 18 or 21 year old kid who just got caught taking a drunken piss in a public fountain or flashing their tits for some Mardi Gras beads knows right then that they're going to be running for office some day, do they? And yet we condemn them for it, years later. We judge them on the actions of their families, when we have no control over our OWN.

Someone said to me today that we SHOULD hold presidential candidates to much higher standards than we hold ourselves, because it's part of being a leader.
So... they're less human than I? More perfect? I should allow THAT sort of person, the kind running for president or VP or even Senate to be the example by which I lead my life?

Not only no, but aw HELL no.

I say I am a leader too, and have to set a good example for my children. I have to lead by example, practice what I preach, do unto others, and a whole bunch more cliches & sayings and stuff.
I mess it up sometimes. I fail sometimes.

Sure, I'm not in the spotlight so maybe my fuckups don't matter so much to you and the rest of the general public, they don't affect national security or have the power to start/end a war or balance the national budget...but they should matter a WHOLE LOT MORE TO ME.

Yes, it's a very narrow, simplistic view, but then, my world is somewhat narrow.

I think it's great you have your strong opinions and that you speak out against what you believe is right or wrong. You should be firm in your beliefs and stand up for them. You should do that, but maybe you should keep in mind that people can't always live up to your expectations.
I tend to take a more realistic approach.

So left or right, red or blue, D or R or I, here's what's wrong with YOUR candidate: he (and by "he", I mean "he/she") LIES, because he's human. He trips and he falls down and he speaks without thinking, because he's human. Sometimes he's WRONG, because he's human. He fucks up-sometimes really BIG- because he's human.
Being in the spotlight magnifies the fuckup to the nth power.

I don't see Jesus walking around out there running for any office. Or even John The Baptist.

Okay, maybe Judas, though.

So we sit around so smug and self-righteous, passing judgment and doling out criticisms and bad mouthing and pointing fingers and backpedaling and getting all rabid, just like we've never made a mistake in our lives and have the perfect right to act like that and be all judge-y.

All I'm saying is that maybe you should relax a little, stop screaming for five minutes, don't take it all so personally, and stop trying to cram your opinions down my throat before I vomit all over you.

What, you expect people to be perfect?
When was the last time YOU fucked up?