The Facebook Divide

Some subscribers use Facebook as a way to share feelings, emotions, personal events, and family communication. Others, like me, use it as a networking resource, a way to communicate opinion on current events, to post articles and news stories that are not being covered by mainstream media. Facebook accommodates both approaches and until recently, I've been able to navigate through the network without much fuss. Unfortunately, there has been much more acrimony towards any criticism of the administration from conservatives and a West Coast relative felt it necessary to unfriend me because Facebook is "supposed to be for fun." Really?

I was a columnist for the New York Sun for over six years and during that time my contacts were primarily through the newspaper. I had many contacts in the world of politics, media and celebrity who were on Facebook which I finally joined after the Sun quit its print version. It was actually easier to reach contacts on that site via private message than via emails which frequently went to spam folders.

Many politicians are on Facebook and at times use it to notify their constituents of important activities. It's actually less expensive then direct mailings. During the vicious Sandy storm that devastated Staten Island, Councilmen James Oddo and Vinny Ignizio kept us informed of where help could be obtained, which streets were blocked and many other services thanks to their daily posts on FB. I waited in vain for my own councilwoman Debi Rose to report on the situation in her North Shore district and she never did answer my requests for information. I'm assuming Facebook is not her thing which is unfortunate because it is a great tool of communication in time of crisis.

The media is also on board and many anchors post their latest news and several ask for input from the public to discuss on future broadcasts. Many columnists on the left and right post their articles to get feedback from subscribers and I do the same.

My last column mourned the situation that occurred last September 11th in Benghazi when former Seals Doherty and Woods died after waiting hours for help that could have come but was never ordered.

Sadly this time an East Coast relative whom I thought was apolitical and was new to Facebook felt compelled to repeat the timeworn talking points that stemmed from the Bush years. The comment read:

"I wonder where were the out cries when our youth were being killed in Iraq under false pretenses. And our youth who came home minus arms and legs and eyes. Where were hearing being held on accountability by our do nothing congress. Get real. No weapons of mass destruction ever found to this day."

When Bill Maher, David Letterman, Jon Stuart, and celebrities in Hollywood and the media draw erroneous conclusions and repeat them for years, it's no wonder so many Democrats believe them especially those who have antipathy for Republicans. It is true that no WMDs were found in Iraq but the number two man in Saddam's Air Force, George Sada, says Iraq moved weapons of mass destruction into Syria before the war by loading the weapons into civilian aircraft in which the passenger seats were removed. He documents this fact in a book he authored, "Saddam's Secrets" which was released in 2006. Naturally his testimony was deemed unreliable by the mainstream media and liberals until the Syrian conflict and voila, the issue of WMDs has resurfaced. So where did Syria get that arsenal of chemical weapons?

I realize that my relatives are Democrats and voted for Barack Obama but I can't understand this allegiance to a party that bears little resemblance to the one we grew up with. Perhaps my relatives are concerned about my outspoken criticism of this administration. Ironically one message sent to my brother threatening to unfriend him as well read:

"Big brother could be watching you also LOL so be very careful. You ... live in a fantasy world. Facebook is supposed to be a fun place but when people use it as a political ranting I need to delete, children read this stuff also."

And the message continued to regret his Republican rantings and expressed regret for his daughter being subjected to them. My brother is a former marine and the only Republican that I know of in my family and we discussed our unfriending and agreed that we were not the ones who voted in Big Brother. We are both for a smaller government and one that has the interests of Americans.

My relatives are highly intelligent and not on any government program save Social Security as I am which was funded from years of our hard work so it is difficult to explain their allegiance to a party that is the antithesis to their traditional core principles.

Polls show that the Democrats have the support of the minority vote and it is obvious that they have not read much about one of their icons who was outspoken in his final years against them:

"Anytime you throw your weight behind a political party that controls two-thirds of the government, and that Party can't keep the promise that it made to you during election time, and you're dumb enough to walk around continuing to identify yourself with that Party, you're not only a chump, but you're a traitor to your race." - Malcolm X

Even more devastating were these comments Malcolm X made in a 1963 speech: "The white liberal differs from the white conservative only in one way: the liberal is more deceitful than the conservative. The liberal is more hypocritical than the conservative. Both want power, but the white liberal is the one who has perfected the art of posing as the Negro's friend and benefactor; and by winning the friendship, allegiance, and support of the Negro, the white liberal is able to use the Negro as a pawn or tool in this political 'football game' that is constantly raging between the white liberals and white conservatives. Politically the American Negro is nothing but a football and the white liberals control this mentally dead ball through tricks of tokenism: false promises of integration and civil rights..."

Both he and Matthew Luther King were not killed by conservatives but by leftists and democrats.

It is hard to admit that one has made on error in judgment and I admire those who have publicly expressed buyer's remorse for voting for Obama. Many, however, will not and continue to believe his administration is being targeted because of his race. MSNBC never fail to advance this suspicion which is beyond ludicrous. Conservatives eagerly hoped that Condi Rice would run for president in 2008. Herman Cain was favored more than Romney until he was savaged by the media and dropped out. Race has never been a factor in conservative voting but the content of character and experience means the most to us.

I never voted for Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton because their records as governors were abysmal; Ronald Reagan's was superb. How could anyone vote for a man like Obama whose past records were sealed or found to be extremely dubious; what was not in doubt was his support of the right to kill babies who survived abortions. How could any Catholic support him but many did. The only regret I have for my votes was the one I made for Michael Bloomberg in 2001 who didn't show his true colors until 2002. I respect all points of view even those I find tiresome like requests to join games.

What, however, I am taking away from this Facebook unfriending is that my relatives have no interest or respect for my opinions so by all means unfriend away.

Alicia Colon resides in New York City and can be reached at aliciav.colon@gmail.com and at www.aliciacolon.com