A day in the life of Facebook
By Tom Quiner
Facebook is an invaluable source of information.
I get to catch up with friends and family. Nice!
People I respect post links to interesting and insightful articles that keep me abreast of a wide variety of subjects.
Facebook lets me keep my finger on the pulse of the culture, revealing both the good and the bad.
But it is also a forum to promote simplistic, ignorant memes that lead people down the wrong path. For the record, both sides of the political aisle are guilty. However, I will react to a couple of doozies posted last night on someone’s timeline.
I typically shy away from politics on Facebook. Occasionally, I feel sufficiently goaded to jump into the fray. Last night was one such night. Here is the first meme to rile me:
My response to this silliness:
“Actually, this type of legislation has been on the books for half a century. The Equal Pay Act was signed into law by President Kennedy in 1963 after the House overwhelmingly voted in favor of the bill, 362-9. For the record, all 9 dissenters were Democrats. Don’t fall for this type of deceitful politicking. It’s really bad for the country, and for women.”
Here’s the next one:
Here is my response:
“Actually, Bruce Braley does not stand for everyone. He doesn’t stand for the pre born. His party fights any regulation that protects the dignity of the pre born and the reproductive health of their moms. Joni Ernst is a voice for these voiceless little people. A vote for Joni is a much more compassionate vote in light of all of this.”
These dumbed-down diatribes don’t address complex issues. I get it. We live in attention-deficit times.
But when they are patently false, they manipulate low-information voters in deceitful ways.
How did the responses go for your clarifications?
She responded only to one: “Tom, I do not believe this is deceitful politicking. The fact remains that even though the bill has been on the rolls forever. It has never been fully met. I know I did not receive the same salary as my male counterparts.”
Incredible logic. We have a law that allegedly is not being followed, so the solution is to say the Republicans voted against another law that is the same as the older law. You have to have a lot of years in school to develop that kind of thought process.
“But it is also a forum to promote simplistic, ignorant memes that lead people down the wrong path.”
True, but I think you did a pretty good job of responding and explaining these complex issues in a way that was still succinct enough to have a chance of getting through to someone on Facebook.
“The fact remains that even though the bill has been on the rolls forever. It has never been fully met.”
This kind of thing drives me crazy. Democrats (the politicians, not your friend there) seem to think this is the issue that keeps on giving—no matter how many times they slay that dragon, they think they can always campaign against it one more time and reap the political benefits. As you say, equal pay has been the law for half a century; then there was the 2009 Lilly Ledbetter Act, which also passed; then, by 2012, Democrats were already campaigning to “make” equal pay the law again, with the “Paycheck Fairness Act”.
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/230753-obama-administration-strongly-supports-paycheck-fairness-act
http://enjoymentandcontemplation.wordpress.com/2014/09/05/no-women-are-not-paid-77%C2%A2-for-every-dollar-a-man-is-paid-for-the-same-work/
They can’t have it both ways. If Republicans are trying to keep women down, does that mean that Obama and congressional Democrats were also trying to keep women down when they passed the (apparently inadequate) Lilly Ledbetter Act in 2009?
Let us be kind. Dems’ assertions are disingenuous.