A view from the other side...

[PJMcK]

There's a man that I've stayed in touch with since junior high school which, for me, means nearly 50 years. We were in the orchestras and choruses together as well as numerous classes and we remained friendly all through high school graduation.

There was an occasion where he intervened to save me from tremendous embarrassment and humiliation and as a result, I've always given him the benefit of the doubt.

He was one of the first in our grade to smoke pot (ca. 1970) and have sex at an early age (13-14?). In those days, he identified as a hippie, as the term was understood at the time.

However, my friend has gone way over to the dark side and I read his Facebook posts with a bizarre combination of amusement, fear, incomprehension and utter bewilderment.

Here's his latest post:

Biden is a rapist, money launderer, and corrupt as can be but Trump has been painted as a “bad man.” I will die wondering to myself how people can be so stupid. I am utterly disgusted with people. It’s now confirmed. People are idiots.

The projection, ignorance and utter lack of self-awareness is mind blowing! I don't engage in his discussion threads but it's informative, nonetheless.

[Karadeniz]

1. O. M. G. ...very sad.

[dhol82]

2. Sounds like he's jumped on the Q bandwagon.

[Midnight Writer]

3. I'm experiencing the same. My old hippie friends are now full blown conservative wing nuts.

The cool kids have turned into cranky old haters.

[PJMcK]

5. Weird, isn't it?

The folks I knew back in those days have morphed into their 1960s parents or worse.

Time to roll a doobie!

[rickyhall]

4. Alternate reality.

[AZ8theist]

6. Your friends latest post is the very definition of "Opposite Day"...

[PJMcK]

7. Of course!

President-Elect Biden is a rapist?!

President-Elect Biden is a money-launderer?!

The projection is unbelievable.

[Arne]

8. One of my brothers that I used to look up to

Athlete degree beautiful family, they were influenced by a religious cult and are fully now on the dark side.

[JustAnotherGen]

9. I totally don't care

What those people think.

[Warpy]

10. Limbag got through to a lot of surprising people in my life, also

Reagan ending the Fairness Doctrine is what did it, giving rancid propagandists a clear field to go after people, tapping into a deep anger in this country most people didn't even know they had---an anger caused in large part by GOP policies. Limbag was especially good at tapping into that anger and being the big bully who'd look out for them on the playground.

Your former friend's post is utterly laughable. It's also incredibly sad, as millions of people believe this total horse shit.

[RANDYWILDMAN]

11. Yep, it's eerie how the posts of the cultists mirror each other...

They are told what to think and they post their thoughts in a very similar format, it's like the propaganda works just perfectly on them.

[JohnnyRingo]

12. That's nothing.

If I can remain friendly to one old buddy who played in a local band when I was young, you can too. He sounds disturbed, but at he didn't find Jesus in Trump.

My friend was a draft dodging hippy like the rest of us until a few years ago (Obama).

He posts stuff like this:

SAT #2/
It's the corrupt establishment going for broke.
None of their little scams worked against T r u m p.
Evidence abounds of all the criminal activity by the l e f t.
Lots of things that most "l i b e r a l s" don't want to hear about, stuff the main stream m e d i a keeps hidden.
But that accomplishes little if people refuse to believe.

There is more and more evidence that this was another landslide victory for T r u m p and the G o d and country people who really understand and support this free nation.

They are getting the evidence together now, trying to protect people from the leftist hoods who threaten death.
The whole thing could be revealed, if it gets heard in court the right way. Are there enough honest judges left ?
Why do I doubt it ?
What makes the l e f t leaders so confident that their deception will prevail ?
I predict more virus announcements.

Some of us have risen above needless fear of the unknown, being deceived by the status quo main stream m e d i a feed.

You can bet, if we don't put the citizens in league with international criminals in jail, they will be trying to put the G o d and country people there, and we can kiss our good old freedom in A m e r i c a goodbye. It may take a while for the effects to get to you, but they will.

[IsItJustMe]

13. I have a brother-in-law like that.

I talked to him in July and he seemed to be stable. I actually talked to him for about 15 minutes and he never brought me into his conversation of politics, which I was very surprised and grateful for. Any other time I have talked with him, he always brought it up.

Then in August he called again. Thinking that I could have a normal conversation with him, I talked with him. About 5 minutes into our conversation, out of the blue, he told me that China had created the virus and had let it out onto the world in order to defeat dump.

I told him, "Sounds like a whole lot of craziness to me". and then quickly handed the phone to my wife. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

I just don't have the disposition to listen to crazy shit anymore. That boat has long ago sailed.