Facebook: MisInformation Highway Election Results

Last Tuesday I voted for Hillary Clinton. I took a voting selfie. (I hate selfies.) Maybe that should have been my warning for impending doom.

My section of Washington Heights is primarily white and liberal. On Tuesday, everyone was walking around smiling. They weren’t hopeful, they were sure they had won. They paraded around joyful, jubilant and smiling with their I voted stickers prominently displayed on their clothing. Joyful is an odd emotion for New Yorkers, so imagine my confusion.

There is no mystery that I am black. Black people are taught early, to never count on a sure thing. Suspicion should always be the first reaction, because the other shoe can and will drop. We can’t escape the world around us. We don’t have the luxury of being concerned one moment and then dropping it when we get too tired of fighting. Our lives and safety are directly effected. Most minorities understand this. With that said, as I was running my errands, it became eerily apparent, that I live in a white liberal bubble.

When I went to the post office, everyone was gleefully talking about voting for Hillary. A woman standing next to me in line told a postal worker that she had to get home to set up her victory party. I giggled. It was a nervous giggle. She paused and shot me a nasty look. Her look said, she was sure of her victory and how dare I penetrate her bubble.

Then Hillary lost. Everyone was stunned. I wasn’t stunned, I was sad. I ate Spaghetti Carbonara for two days and stayed off Facebook until Saturday. When I finally got back on Facebook, it had devolved into a misinformation highway. Misinformation coming from all sides. Indignant people spewing nonsense and yelling at each other.

It reminds me of my preparation skills in high school. I was often unprepared. Mrs Sweeney, my high school advisor, called me a “Big Dummy” at least once a week. She wasn’t being nasty. She wanted me to wake up and realize what I was doing to myself. I was wasting my potential by refusing to prepare, buckle down and learn. I am fairly confident, she would call all of us “Big Dummies” right now.  We need Mrs Sweeney more than ever, but unfortunately she passed away.

So in her honor, I have decided to offer a service on this blog. I am going to address some of the misinformation I see being bandied about on Facebook. I am going to burst bubbles and it might make people uncomfortable, but I am only dealing in facts.

I will start with myself. I was one of the dummies who posted the bison at the Dakota pipeline. The story was they magically appeared. Like Indigenous people have some special communication with Bison. The real story is the bison were released on purpose. Still cool that the bison were part of the resistance, but not completely truthful. I got lazy that day.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bison-buffalo-dakota-pipeline_us_5814d37de4b0390e69d0987c

Other dummies are posting that President Obama never won the popular vote. In fact he won it both times.

In 2008 Obama beat McCain by 9,550,153 votes

http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2008/federalelections2008.pdf

In 2012 Obama beat Romney by 4,982,291 votes. Not as much as in 2008, but still decisive.

 http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2012/federalelections2012.pdf

The 2000 election between Gore and Bush was the last time someone  won the popular vote and failed to secure the electoral college. Gore won the popular vote by 543,895.

http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2000/prespop.htm

Bonus: I have heard some of my fellow dummies in New York proclaim that they are safe from all this division. 

Woman gets punched in the face by Trump supporter in Brooklyn restaurant for disagreeing with his views.

http://gothamist.com/2016/11/14/bar_tabac_trump_supporter_attack.php

Welp, your bubble is has just been compromised. Time to mobilize.