Berniebots Unfriending Hillarybots

I don’t have a problem unfriending people in Facebook. It doesn’t matter if I know them in real life or not. It doesn’t matter if they’re family, female or male. It doesn’t matter if we’ve been friends forever or have friends in common. If they’re churlish, condescending, childish or combative, they’re gone.

I’ve decided that at my age – I turned 54 two weeks ago – I shouldn’t have to suffer fools gladly or tolerate behavior from adults that I don’t allow my own children to display. And because this is a particularly divisive political season, with a seemingly gigantic chasm separating Clinton and Sanders supporters, I find myself rubbed the wrong way by some folks almost daily. Well, guess what? I’m done.

As the following video clip conveys – much more eloquently and precisely than I could – it’s not the fact that some folks are behind Clinton and not Sanders. It’s the condescension, the dripping sarcasm and belittling and better-than-thou posturing that are so infuriating. I’ve been in or around politics for over three decades now and I can’t remember the last time I felt this insulted, this patronized and disregarded by people on my supposed side of the aisle. I expect this kind of intolerant, unacceptable behavior by GOP clowns but the fact that vitriol and ridicule are being leveled by my supposed allies is surprising and downright depressing.

I concede that some in Sanders’ corner are shrill and strident. But downright rude and bulldozer-like? That’s coming from Clintonites. This Facebook status is a case in point:

You should care, folks. You should care that thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, are flocking behind Sanders and joining his “revolution.” You insult and ignore us at your peril. And listen to this: I started out respecting those in the Clinton camp even while I didn’t share their preference in candidates – see “Why I’m Not Voting for Hillary Clinton” – but I’ve been mistreated and had my feathers ruffled to such an extent that I can’t envision myself voting for her should she indeed be coronated by the Democratic establishment. I’ve gone from “If she becomes the nominee, I’ll hold my nose and vote for her” to “Screw her and let’s let the chips fall where they may.” You can thank yourselves, Clinton supporters, for turning dedicated Democrats into disgruntled observers who would sooner sit on their hands than turn out for the “lesser of two evils” on Election Day.

I do not want to see a President Trump or President Cruz. I’m not embracing the “Maybe what we need is catastrophe to shake things up” belief that actress Susan Sarandon and others have shared. But I’m tired of the “Either of these candidates would be better than a Republican so let’s keep our eye on the prize” and “Let’s not let the perfect be the enemy of the pragmatic” memes that pop up on my Facebook newsfeed.

I’m tired of hearing about how important potential Supreme Court appointments would be and how Sanders won’t be able to get anything done and how it’s time for a woman to occupy the Oval Office. At the risk of sounding like a middle-aged white guy, no, it’s not. It should be about voting record or policy positions, not penis or vagina. I would like to be able to vote for a female candidate, in fact, but not this one. Not this pro-establishment, pro-corporation, pro-status quo female. Not this two-faced, flip-flopping, disingenuous, unlikable, war-mongering individual who actually does women a disservice by running the kind of campaign that she’s run and allowing her surrogates and supporters to take swipes at her progressive opponents instead of defending her positions.

Think she’s not unlikable? Watch this:

It’s fitting that this piece is being posted on April Fool’s Day. Why? Because only fools would allow Facebook “friends” to malign and marginalize them for leaning toward a guy who’s been fighting the good fight for decades rather than someone who regularly changes positions and chastises those who point this out. Instead of warning me not to sit on my hands, Hillarybots, how about not making me want to?

If it’s wrong of me to act pissed off and petulant, so be it. At 54, I’d rather retain my self-respect than tell my kids that I didn’t do what I should have done because my Facebook friends didn’t want me to.