A purple moment

There is a fairly ridiculous meme going around on Facebook which expresses outrage because some Republican politician is referring to Social Security and Medicare as "entitlements." The objection? That they aren't entitlements, because we paid for them, and therefore we're entitled to them.

Let that sink in for a moment.

That someone could post that meme without embarrassment is surprising enough. That it keeps popping up, again and again, is amazing. That people could defend it is something little less than astounding.

I agree that Social Security and Medicare are not places where we need to be cutting the budget. But it seems to me that we who believe that should be saying it, and not objecting to the completely proper and appropriate use of the word "entitlement" instead.

Now, there is also a lesson here for the Trump Republicans, whose entire program is based on ill-informed people mouthing ridiculous arguments that have been hand-fed to them and whose absurdity they either don't stop to consider or simply can't see. The Democrats have been playing that game a lot longer than you have, and no matter how good you are at it, they will always be better at it- and if possible, even more shameless.

If possible.

ADDENDUM: I am shocked and dismayed by how many people on Facebook don't care that the meme doesn't make any sense. As long as it attacks Republicans, that's apparently all that matters.

It seems that it doesn't matter which side of the political divide one is on. Those who are hand-fed talking points which they repeat verbatim often not only don't notice that they're inaccurate or illogical or just plain dumb. They don't even care. And they don't realize that inane memes make them look dumb and discredit whatever point they're trying to make.