Trump haters: read on for an amusing and true anecdote.
A mover who I call when I need something heavy moved had a new helper along when delivering a new bed. The helper had disheveled hair, a growth of beard, and somewhat dirty old clothes. He obviously didn't care about his appearance. He muttered to himself frequently. While they were removing the old bedroom set (to be donated to charity), I turned on the TV and tuned to CNN. As is all too often the case nowadays, there was something on about the most unavoidable man on the planet: Trump. As they were hauling out the mattress, the man glanced at the 55" set. His eyes narrowed, and he began muttering to himself. Among other things, I heard "Liberal Media," "Socialists," and "Sheeple." As the helper went out of sight, the owner made a face at me and shook his head before continuing in.
When the men had finished, I paid the owner and tipped him two $10 bills. "Just in time for lunch," he told me, handing one to the helper. "Do you know a good place to eat around here?" I recommended the local buffet, realized that it might be a bit pricier than the helper wanted to spend, and offered to buy them lunch. After refusing once, and my insistence, the owner accepted the invitation. He instructed the helper to head on down to the truck.
After the man had gone, he told me: "Tom, whatever you do, don't mention politics at lunch. Bill is a good worker on the few days that I use him --- and believe me, it's as few as possible --- but he will rant for hours about some of the wildest conspiracy theories available."
At lunch, Bill brought in a cheap tablet, of the kind that you can get at Walmart for about $60. All through lunch, he was pounding away on the tablet, muttering to himself. I can read things just fine upside down, and I saw what two sites he was on: Facebook and Twitter (briefly), and Yahoo. I made note of his Facebook and Twitter accounts, which were the same and roughly along the line of "TheAmericanTruth) and some numbers. I also made note of his Yahoo username, about the same as the others (without numbers) and the fact that it had 45,000 comments. At least four times he said: "Just wait 'til I get home."
Two days later, I found Bill on Yahoo. He was a busy beaver, making about 100 comments per day. One person had dressed him down; he stalked that person (through GMA, Finance, or Sports (Yahoo doesn't link up usernames on its main news page anymore), replying to at least 30 of the user's posts with spewed hatred and name calling.
I remembered Bill's Twitter and Facebook names. The Twitter acccount was more of the same. On Facebook, I found a link to another user's video, which had Bill in it. The two looked a lot a like (meaning unkempt and rough). They were in some kind of boarding house or sleeping room. The walls looked dirty, and paint was chipped. The whole room could have been furnished for less than $200. The two spent 5 minutes ranting and raving about how the whole world was in a conspiracy to surpress "the truth" and how everybody who didn't believe "the truth" was a Socialist, a Libtard Sheeple, a drinker of Kool-Aid, etc. They praised Trump to no end and cackled with glee about how their hero had won, "The Libtards" had lost and were crying about it, and how Trump would make life great for them again. The video ended abruptly; apparently the free version of the software they were using to record their video (the watermark showed the entire time) had a five minute limit. There were links to more videos, but I'd seen enough.
Now when I read the rants of the Alt-Right, I see Bill and thank my Liberal (I'm actually a moderate, but to the Alt-Right, everybody who doesn't speak Fox is a "Libtard") self that I didn't end up the same way, sitting at a cheap desk in a rundown rooming house, devoting all of my free waking time to forcing distorted views about an alternate reality that doesn't exist down everybody's throat, and stalking and bullying people who didn't agree.
I believe that most of the ranters and ravers on here are, sadly, in just about the same boat Bill is in. Some may be a bit more literate, but rooming houses are full of college-educated literate people. I know that because I lived in one for a year back in the late 1970s, before I decided that I was going to do better and make a life for myself. I managed to stay ahead, through several presidents and several economic swings. Those of us who have done well generally did so because we went out and got things done, instead of wasting our time complaining about how bad things were.
