And it doesn't matter where. Or who's posting. It's everywhere, and practically everyone. Even, sometimes, me.
What was the trigger, or at least what got me thinking about this tonight?
I saw a post about the closure of an asbestos clinic in Libby, Montana.
I didn't really know why the clinic had closed. And, clearly, not many of the posters on the thread knew either. Many assumed it was Trump/DOGE cuts. And, initially, that's what I thought.
Then a poster got on and in a rather unhinged fashion pointed out the clinic had closed because it lost a court case in which it was accused of approving benefits for people who weren't sick -- clearly committing fraud.
The poster who brought this up was unhinged in her response, and equally unhinged as she responded to a fellow who challenged her response. I don't know if he knew the reason for the closure, but it didn't appear to be.
Both of them went on to shout past each other, not acknolwedging the truths being spoken by the other -- industry had certainly hurt this town and those who were sick because of it deserved compensation; but it appeared at least $3 million of that compensation was awarded fraudulently.
Neither one seemed willing to see the others' point.
I was going to jump in, but decided to check facts first. And yes, the court case is true. But neither the person who brought it up or the person who was questioning the closure could see the facts and come to any kind of agreement. That the poster who brought the court case up was shouting conservative dogwhistles all the while didn't help her case, and it appeared those commenting couldn't see past the dogwhistles long enough to consider the truth.
It all makes me want to engage less on social media. Or at least make sure I know what the hell I'm talking about before I post a single word.
More often than not, what Marge says to Kent Brockman on Smartline is pretty apt:
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