My BINGO card gave me some amusement last night as I watched the debate. I was surprised that it took 20 minutes for me to check off even one box. But then the candidates swerved away from a substantive policy debate into the acrimony that's characterized this debate. *Sigh. At least I felt like a winner when "Mike Pence" was uttered, allowing me to claim a diagonal win.
Though I profess to not engage in politics on Facebook I do violate that pledge once in a while. In the spring I announced my change of party affiliation by posting a picture of my new voter ID card. Last night, I posted this BINGO card, which I thought to be irreverent and politically ambivalent though it probably reflected my leanings anyway. Heck, that I made it in a sense of irreverence says something about me politically. Perhaps it says I don't take the election seriously. Perhaps it says that I'm more comfortable than I was three weeks ago that the candidate I support this year looks likely to win. I thought it harmless, but at least one person found it harmful.
Perhaps deep down inside I knew it was not as benign as I pretended it to be when posting.
So to revisit the trappings of the political posts on Facebook. It's something that's unwise for me to do because . . .
- the format of the medium encourages people to get in the ever-elusive last word (there rarely is a last word)
- tone, especially sarcasm, is hard to convey in words and it's increasingly likely online
- wit is rewarded more than wisdom
- I like and love a lot of people who will disagree with me on many, many political issues
And if those people whom I like wander to me on Facebook, expecting to see photos of my kids, my house, myself, my cross-eyed cat, but instead get met with political commentary that is more biting, condescending, or irreverent than they intended to find, then the blame is on me. So I should keep my politics over here, where it's expected.
But I'll probably err again.
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| Witty, eh? |
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