Can you hear me?
John Scherer: (Erik,) I'm sure you have better things to do than troll my posts!? If you do, offer up some factual debate for your Party's waste of taxpayer money.
Erik Dolson: Yes, John, I do. I don't know why your posts ended up on my feed, I assume Facebook thought it was important. But the whack jobs at "SonsofLibertyMedia.com" (that you reference) took my breath away, and made me realize that the difference in our view points was far wider than I had assumed.
To begin with, the anger is palpable. This was something I'd noticed before, not with you but with many of your political pursuasion. I thought I understood it and could agree with much of it, especially given the loss of jobs and security of the middle class, although I thought it should be directed at Republicans who sent those jobs overseas and not Dems who were trying to provide healthcare.
I realized that the loss of community culture to immigration could add to the felt insecurity, even though on balance immigrants make our country more wealthy, not less.
And I certainly understood the anger of those who felt their paychecks were being taken and given to people who wanted to sit back and do nothing but smoke crack and make babies.
I think you and I could come to an agreement on how to work on, even if we can't solve these problems, as Americans. But you and those like you are so spun up in anger that we can't communicate. I believe that much of this comes from profit centers at Fox News, which has learned to monetize outrage, but certainly the psychotic who sits in the White House spewing bile across our golden waves of grain is responsible as well.
So is the arrogance of liberals who ignored the plight of the working man for too many decades while fighting stupid battles over who can bake a cake, when they should have been out there demanding equal opportunity for the heartland, not just the cities.
But then it gets weird. I can't understand the weaving of odd little factoids into grand conspiracies of outrage like those offered by "SonsofLibertyMedia.com" except to believe they have found a niche in which they can make a few bucks by peddling nonsense. But this is America, and if people want to buy pet rocks or shit in a bag, they can do so and somebody will find a way to sell to them.
Bottom line? I won't defend Liberal waste of taxpayer money, because I can't, and I won't ask you to defend the way the oligopolist drug companies and oil companies and banks and their lackey politicians continue to make life miserable for millions of Americans as they hollow out our country and destroy opportunity.
We have more in common with each other than either one of us does with those we are asked to defend. But you can't hear me even when I'm agreeing with you. They have succeeded in making you believe that I am the enemy, and I don't know how to respond to that.
Have a good day.