complaints, condescending twatbags, modern problems, sexism

I really enjoy bitching about things…

This morning, I find myself with a touch of writer’s block. When that happens, I often go to my original Google version of this blog to find inspiration. I did write a few posts on the old blog that are chestnuts… or evergreen… or whatever. At the very least, I can find book reviews that I can repost, although I’m slowly running out of those.

I am working on reading a book right now, but as usual, I keep falling asleep before I can make too much progress. I probably should invest in a chair for reading, rather than reading in bed. Nowadays, I drop off at the drop of a hat if I’m lying down and comfortable. I have really excellent Comphy sheets on my bed, too, which makes for prime sleeping conditions. I don’t work for the company or get any kickbacks. I just really like the sheets, which I discovered on a visit to a B&B in Goshen, Virginia.

ETA: Many apologies, since I have already bitched about this particular complaint on the new blog… the original re-run repost is not exactly the same as this one, but it does include the same screenshots and basic story. Oh well. Maybe I’ll think of something totally fresh later.

Anyway, I came across a rant I wrote back in the summer of 2017. Looking back, that summer was pretty traumatic for a number of reasons. It wasn’t as bad as the summer of 2014, but it was a pretty tough time. One day, I got irritated because some guy, long gone from my friends list, had shared a fake meme. I wrote a post bitching about it. Note– the post was not specifically about the guy, it was about the practice of sharing falsely attributed memes. A lot of people don’t care that the deep thoughts they share on social media are bullshit. Some have rationalized that it’s the thought that counts, not the person who came up with the thought. Personally, I vehemently disagree. Especially when people falsely attribute things to the late George Carlin, who is one of my idols and whose wisdom has gotten me through some shit.

No… George never said this. And you shouldn’t imply that he did.

The guy who had inspired my rant shared the above meme, with the comment “Carlin pulled no punches.” I kept seeing this meme on my timeline and it annoyed me. So I decided to write about it. Former friend read the vent and got pissed off at me. He left a nasty comment on my OH Facebook page and blocked me. Then, he posted the article on his page and I soon had a bunch of right wing mental giants from the Deep South hitting my blog, racking up ad revenue. A mutual friend sent me a private message letting me know that he was riling up all his Trump supporting friends over this vent. From my original post:

Both times I’ve seen this meme featuring George Carlin, I’ve hidden it.  Why?  Because I am very certain that George Carlin never said this.  It pisses me off when people put words in George’s mouth, especially since he’s dead.  I loved and respected his work and I’m absolutely sure he never would have said anything like this.  Carlin’s comedy celebrated obstruction and fighting the establishment.  He was a champion of resistance and bucking authority.  It’s wrong to attribute these words to him or to insinuate that he said them by using his picture with someone else’s words.

Even if I agreed wholeheartedly with this meme’s sentiment, which I don’t, I would not agree that it’s okay to claim that these are George Carlin’s words, especially when there is ample evidence that they aren’t.

I went looking to see if Carlin had, indeed, said this. I found evidence that, apparently, GMTA. Morgan Freeman supposedly said it, too.

Hmmm… naw, I don’t think Morgan said it, either.

I went on to explain why this practice irritates me so much. From my old blog:

I’m sure many people think I’m being anal retentive about this issue.  They wonder what the harm is, especially since so many folks seem to think this is a good thought.  Well, I’ll tell you what the harm is.  The harm is that George Carlin and Morgan Freeman are legends, but they are (or were) also people.  A person has the right to free expression and freedom from being used to promote someone else’s agenda without their permission.  My guess is that people make these memes because they think Carlin or Freeman have the right persona to drive home this particular sentiment.  But what right does one person have to use another person like that, even if the person being used is (or was) famous?  And even if the person posting the fake meme is simply being a provocateur? 

Mr. Carlin is no longer alive to defend himself when someone falsely uses his likeness to express their ideas.  And while many people think this quote is excellent, the person who actually came up with it should be the one who gets attributed, not a random famous person who may or may not have even agreed with it.  

I continued searching for more evidence of who actually came up with these words. And I found these memes…

Jeez! Everybody was saying this in 2017!

And I continued with this idea, which I felt was neither unreasonable nor particularly offensive:

There is nothing wrong with sharing ideas or quotes on Facebook or other social media.  I just think that if you’re going to use a meme with a quote, especially when you use a famous person’s image, you should make sure the person pictured is the person who should be attributed.  You can still spread an idea by posting something like this…

What’s wrong with sharing something like this? Are people really swayed by a picture of a famous person like Carlin supposedly saying the same thing?

Maybe your plain meme won’t get as many “likes” or comments, but it will at least be honest and it won’t be stealing someone else’s famous image to promote an idea or agenda.  As someone who is camera shy and writes, I know I wouldn’t want my image used with someone else’s words, no matter how profound they are.  I’m sure most normal, non-famous people wouldn’t.  

I’ll never understand why some people assume that a famous person won’t mind when a stranger thoughtlessly spreads a Facebook meme using their image with someone else’s words.  Especially when it’s common for people with financial means to sue when someone uses their likeness without permission.  And especially since many famous people make their living by being paid promoters.  No one likes to be ripped off, right?

Maybe the above point annoyed the guy. Most famous people aren’t going to bother suing some random Facebook user over sharing a fake meme. Unless they’re like Richard Marx, or something. I understand he’s pretty uptight. Anyway, this post really upset my former friend, who felt like I had insulted him deeply for writing about this phenomenon. I never named him, nor did I specifically invite him to read this post. But he sure got upset about it. The next morning, I found the below photo and an angry comment from him.

Wow… BUTTHURT!

So I wrote another post, but that time, I DID call him out, not by his name, but by his behavior, which I thought was really childish:

So… yesterday I wrote a rant about “dishonest memes”.  It was inspired by a meme I’ve seen floating around featuring the late, great George Carlin.  I mentioned in that rant that I’ve seen that meme at least a couple of times and, when I see it, I hide it.  When I saw the meme posted yet again, I felt the need to write about it here on my blog.  I figured that would be better than getting into a Facebook argument with the person who posted it.  Those can get long and contentious.  Not as many people read my blog as they do Facebook. 

I will admit that had the person posted the meme featuring Morgan Freeman using the same words, I probably wouldn’t have been as bothered and likely never would have thought to write my rant.  George Carlin is kind of sacred to me.  He’s helped me get through some rough times. 

Anyway, this morning, I awoke to find the person who inspired yesterday’s post had unfriended me.  He left me a comment on the link to the rant on my Overeducated Housewife page.  It was yet another picture.  I like pictures!

Truthfully, this person was not someone I interacted with much anyway.  I’ve never met him in person.  I suspect we have different political leanings, so we didn’t do much communicating on Facebook.  If this person happens to read this follow up, please allow me to apologize for apparently offending you by indirectly calling you out.  It’s (almost) never my intention to be hurtful, although I know sometimes I am.  But I will not apologize for expressing my thoughts on my blog.  

I don’t think I’m necessarily wrong to write about the things that bug me.  That’s what blogs are for.  Moreover, misusing George Carlin’s memory is annoying and offensive to me.  It occurs to me that if we were real friends, you’d know that and actually care.      

I get my ideas from all sorts of sources, including friends, family, and anything I see on social media.  Most of the time, I try not to name people directly, unless they are famous people, people named in the media, and/or certain relatives.  I did not name this person, but he obviously read the rant.  I can only assume, based on the above picture comment he left me, that he was annoyed by it…  just as I get offended by people who carelessly take liberties with George Carlin’s memory.  

It’s okay.  We all get butthurt over different things.  If someone had vented specifically about me or something I did, I’d probably be annoyed and offended, too.  If they were an actual friend, I might care enough to talk to them about it.  Or maybe not.  It’s clear this person wasn’t an actual friend, though, so it’s probably for the best that he dropped me out of his universe.  Moreover, that post was not actually about him, but about the practice of sharing fake memes.     

The funny thing is, one thing I do know about this person is that he likes to write.  I “met” him on Epinions, which was a place that was full of opinionated people writing product reviews.  I didn’t like his Epinions nickname because of my phobia of mushrooms (his name was a play on fungus), but I did like his reviews.  In fact, I think he was even on my Web of Trust for a long time.  One thing I miss about Epinions is that it was a place where one could make money for being articulate and opinionated.

Anyway…  to anyone reading this, if you ever happen to find yourself the subject of this blog, I hope you realize that on some level that you have served as an inspiration to someone.  Sometimes people inspire others in a positive way.  Sometimes the inspiration is borne out of something negative.  Either way, inspiration usually leads to creativity and sometimes creativity leads to genius.  I’m certainly not saying anything on this blog falls into the genius category, but writing it does help keep me sane.  

As usual, this incident ended up fathering a bunch of posts, including one I wrote on “uppity women”. Not knowing the former Facebook friend that well, I still came up with the idea that perhaps he saw me as “uppity” for daring to bitch about his practice of sharing fake memes and falsely attributed quotes. I did point out that he’s one of many people who do this, and I know that my blog isn’t going to make a significant dent in the problem. And, in fact, in 2021, this is not really a problem worth writing about. We definitely have much bigger issues these days.

But in the third post that was partially inspired by that incident, I wrote this:

A former Facebook friend took issue when I wrote about my dislike of “dishonest memes”.  He happened to be the catalyst of that post, although I was not writing specifically about him, per se.  That post was about anyone who shares memes or essays wrongly attributed to people.  I have written about that phenomenon before; the person who inspired the first post is a female friend who, fortunately, wasn’t upset or threatened by my decision to express myself.  We’re still friends today.    

I have noticed that in the wake of that post, many people from the Deep South are now stalking my blog.  They repeatedly hit the post about Dishonest Memes and the one I wrote yesterday.  I’m intrigued by their interest in those two specific posts, which are really not that earth shattering.  It appears the posts are being shared among friends and family and these folks are looking for some kind of action on them.   

The funny thing is, the person who inspired my post about dishonest memes had originally expressed admiration for George Carlin’s policy of not “pulling any punches”.  Many people loved Carlin for telling it like it is and expressing himself.  Of course, a lot of people did not like Carlin.  My dad was one such person.  He found Carlin disrespectful and vulgar, especially when Carlin would denigrate the government, the Republican party, or the military.  He would get very offended by Carlin’s use of profanity.  Perhaps he thought George Carlin was “uppity”, too.  What right did Carlin have to criticize the government?  How dare he express his ideas in such vulgar and outspoken terms?  

It now occurs to me that by publicly shaming and condemning me for bitching about him and his practice of sharing fake memes, former friend made me bitch even more. I wonder if that was intentional on his part, especially since he sent his friends and family to follow my blog. Their hits probably contributed a few pennies to my Google AdSense account. I continued:

My dad had the same disdain for me whenever he thought I was getting too big for my britches and needed to be taken down a peg.  He would tell me that nobody cared about my opinions and that I had no right to say things that he deemed offensive or rude.  In short, I needed to be reminded of my station as a lowly female, and not a very attractive one at that… How dare I express myself?  In his opinion, I needed to keep my mouth shut and my legs crossed.

I’m baffled as to why it’s okay and even admirable for George Carlin to “pull no punches”, but it’s not okay for me to do it on a little read blog?  Is it because I’m not famous?  Is it because I don’t have a penis?  Is it because my comments are somehow “out of line” or wrong?    

My dad, who died in July 2014, put on a uniform every day for over twenty years, in part, to preserve my right to express myself.  However, he didn’t appreciate it when I said things he didn’t like.  He didn’t want to hear someone like George Carlin or Hillary Clinton be outspoken.  I think my dad loved the idea of “free speech and expression”, especially to certain privileged segments of the population, but he didn’t necessarily love the practice of it…  unless it was something he wanted to hear.  I don’t think that’s necessarily an uncommon position, by the way.  I often get angry comments from people who don’t like some of the things I write.  I, too, get annoyed when someone says something I don’t like.  I fully admit to being a hypocrite.  It’s just another one of those things I have to work on in my life.

One of the reasons I love most of George Carlin’s comedy is that he often made a lot of sense.  He enjoyed pointing out double standards and hypocrisy and got a huge kick out of pissing off people who take themselves and others a little too seriously.  I think we all do that from time to time– myself included.  

You folks who are stalking my blog should know that I appreciate the attention and the hits, but there’s really not much to see here.  I only expressed my opinion, which I feel very fortunate to be able to do, since I live in a free society.    

I don’t know if I come across as “uppity” to everyone… I know a lot of people, especially military and certain southern folks, think I do.  My own father thought I did.  But anyway, I really am just an “overeducated housewife” and I don’t have much more going on other than writing my blog, making music, doing housework, reading books and looking after my dogs.  

So I will keep on writing… though not on this subject.  I’m done writing about “dishonest memes” for now, so it may be time for you to move on to your next channel on the Internet.  Or stalk me if you must.  I profit from the attention.

Of course, now it occurs to me that I lied, since I obviously wasn’t done writing about “dishonest memes”. There I go with the hypocrisy again! I do enjoy bitching about things, though. I suppose I could have bitched about the latest mass shooting in the United States, and maybe I will do that, once I learn more about it. I haven’t gotten around to reading the details yet, though. Don’t want to spoil the whole day with more bad news… which includes the fact that Germany is now going to be locked down until April 18th, because according to Mrs. Merkel, we’re in a “new pandemic”. I’m beginning to think we should all just put ourselves out of my misery. I feel like this is never going to end. At least the TDY from hell is over, and I don’t have to bitch about that anymore.

But now I can bitch about the fact that I spent an hour writing this and I’ve already complained about this before on this blog… right down to the same anecdotes and screenshots. It’s not exactly the same, as the first rerun is shorter and includes some new content. But it’s pretty similar. I do wonder when Facebook was named the place where people feel the need to be inspirational or provide words to live by for other people.

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celebrities, obits, politics, racism

Rush Limbaugh is finally dead… shit makes the flowers grow.

A few months ago, my husband lost a “friend” over his “hatred” for Rush Limbaugh. I put quotes around the words “friend” and “hatred”, because I’m being facetious. Anyone who knows Bill knows that he doesn’t hate anyone. He doesn’t even hate his ex wife, who probably deserves his hatred more than anyone on the planet. The point is, my husband isn’t a hater. But he never liked Rush Limbaugh. Neither did I.

Last night, we found out that Rush finally kicked the bucket at age 70. He’d been suffering from lung cancer, having announced his illness in February 2020.

Back in October 2020, Bill was labeled a hater by a former friend because he had noticed that the very organ that had allowed Rush Limbaugh to spread hatred and bigotry toward large groups of marginalized people was also going to be the death of him. Bill had posted his thoughts about Rush’s illness on his Facebook timeline, and some of his friends went freakin’ nuts. One even accused him of being a “bad person” for stating this:

I know what I’m about to say is the result of unskilled thinking, but this appears to be an example of Karmic Justice. The organ used to spew years of hate, vitriol, and self-centeredness will be his undoing.

We weren’t rejoicing in Rush’s illness in October, and we’re not rejoicing in his death now. I don’t generally celebrate when people die, even people I think of as highly contemptible, and worthy of disdain or even outright hatred. I think Rush Limbaugh qualifies as someone who, in life, was highly contemptible. And while I’m not particularly happy that he’s dead, I am relieved that he won’t be spreading his toxic negativity, ignorance, and bigotry anymore. He won’t be saying or writing hurtful things to or about people who aren’t like him and don’t share his opinions.

In the aftermath of Rush’s death, we’ve also seen yet another falsely attributed quote arise from the dead. If you’ve been on Facebook lately, you’ve probably seen people sharing this meme.

According to The Atlantic, Mark Twain NEVER SAID THIS.

I know a lot of people like to share these kinds of cute and clever memes, and many people don’t actually care who said it. I care, though, because I like to give credit where credit is due, and I don’t like false attributions. So where did this quote come from? According to the article from The Atlantic I linked above, no one important actually said or wrote it in that precise manner. Alex Eichler, the person who wrote the article for The Atlantic, writes:

Matt Blum at Wired has the fact-check: the quotation actually comes from Clarence Darrow, the lawyer of Scopes Trial fame. Here’s a fuller version of the quote, which appears in Darrow’s 1932 work The Story of My Life:

All men have an emotion to kill; when they strongly dislike some one they involuntarily wish he was dead. I have never killed any one, but I have read some obituary notices with great satisfaction.

Clarence Darrow

I know some people are glad Rush is gone. Some are actually jubilant about it. And I would never tell them they don’t have the right to feel whatever it is they feel. I’m not in a group that Rush openly mocked, unless you want to call me a liberal. I’m not actually that liberal, but I don’t like the way the Republican party has gone in recent years. I think their embrace of both evangelical Christians and Donald Trump is confusing and wrong. And Republicans often say regrettable, heartless things to people who are in trouble and need help.

Case in point. Yesterday, I read about former Colorado City, Texas mayor Tim Boyd, who basically went off on his constituents for begging the government for help. Texas, as you probably know, is in serious trouble right now, thanks to a terrible winter storm that has disrupted the power grid. People are suffering because of power outages. Some people are even dying! They’re either freezing to death, or poisoning themselves with carbon monoxide by doing things like running their cars in closed garages or using barbecue grills indoors to generate heat. But Mr. Boyd, proud Texan conservative he is, had this to say in a poorly written and now deleted Facebook post:

Typical Republican ASSHOLE!

And then he continued with this:

To be clear, I don’t agree with issuing death threats or even so-called “cancel culture”, but what the hell reaction does Tim Boyd expect? He was an elected official and it was his JOB to help his constituents and show some fucking compassion!

I’ll bet Tim Boyd is sad that Rush is dead. I’ll bet Boyd was a Limbaugh fan. I don’t know for certain that he was, but what he posted is the same kind of hateful, mean-spirited shit that Rush Limbaugh was spewing for YEARS on the airwaves. And ignorant, compassion challenged people who are deeply saddened that the raucous voice of their belief system has died don’t seem to understand that Rush hurt a lot of people with his snarky, hateful rhetoric.

This has been a very difficult year for so many people– from the deaths and illnesses caused by the pandemic, to the many natural disasters, to the massive job losses, and complete upending of of normal life for everyone. It’s really sucked on many levels. And so, when an elected official like Tim Boyd mocks and lectures people for their valid complaints, it stings a bit. Rush Limbaugh was of the same ilk, and people like Tim Boyd looked up to him. He had no compunction about saying awful things to and about anyone, especially people who have historically suffered and been marginalized by privileged people.

Seriously…

Let me remind Rush’s supporters of a few things. Rush Limbaugh mocked Michael J. Fox for having Parkinson’s Disease and accused him of exaggerating his symptoms. Rush Limbaugh called women “sluts”, and referred to Barack Obama as the “magic negro”. And he wouldn’t have thought much of me, either…

Bwahahaha… maybe he wouldn’t have thought of me as “overeducated”. But I don’t think that Rush was a very good judge of intelligence.

Anyway… I’m not glad Rush is dead. I don’t care enough about him to rejoice in his death. Besides, everybody has to die sometime. It was simply his time to go. I’m not going to celebrate his death. But I’m also not going to shame or blame anyone who is glad to see him gone. I figure they have their reasons, and many of those reasons, while perhaps hypocritical, are understandable. We all have our own karma to tend.

Bye now.. enjoy the next life..

In other news, our heating went out last night. It’s not as bad here as it is in Texas, but I am a bit chilled. Hopefully, the landlord will have it fixed soon, so my hands, feet, and nose won’t be so cold. And Bill has to go away for three weeks next Saturday. Hopefully, he won’t bring any COVID-19 viruses back with him. Otherwise, people might be cheering about my death.

So long, Rush… You served a purpose and now your work is done. And, as Folk Uke reminds us, even shit has a purpose.

“You’re not good for nothin’…”
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fake news, politicians, politics, Trump

Uhhh… no, Trump isn’t a humanitarian.

I recently came across the photo below.

Yet another “gem” shared on Facebook about Trump’s alleged philanthropy…

I was curious about the photo. Clearly, in this picture, Trump is a much younger man. He’s standing next to two people who are now dead, Muhammad Ali and Rosa Parks. Both Muhammad Ali and Rosa Parks are well known for their work as black civil rights activists. Trump, puzzlingly enough, is NOT known for that kind of work, but the above photo implies that actually, he’s a real mensch. Somehow, thousands of people around the world have gotten it all wrong, and Trump is actually a humanitarian. What a shocker!

Well, I had to look up our man Trump, as see how it was that he got the Ellis Island Award back in 1986. Sure enough, he DID win this award. However, it was not because of his “work” with the black community. It was not for “patriotism, tolerance, brotherhood, and diversity.” And even if it was for those things, he’s clearly not demonstrating those qualities now.

So why did Trump win the Ellis Island Award? According to PolitiFact, a Web site that works to combat false information about politics by doing independent fact checking, Trump was awarded the prize in 1986, the first year it was given, because of his “professional contributions that benefited New York City as a developer, as well as for his German heritage.” PolitiFact staff members reached out to Otto Coca of the Ellis Island Honors Society, the group that administers the award. Mr. Coca explained that in the first year of the award’s history, “people were honored with the award for what they stood for more than what they did.” Mr. Trump was honored for his business accomplishments in New York City, rather than being an advocate for civil rights or promoting philanthropy.

Since 1986, the criteria for winning an Ellis Island Award has changed significantly. Recipients are now chosen for philanthropic efforts as well as other contributions. As for why Trump was photographed standing with Rosa Parks and Muhammad Ali? Well, it turns out that picture was taken during a ceremony that also included Joe DiMaggio, Victor Borge and Anita Bryant. The other recipients were cropped out of the photo used on Facebook, probably to promote the image that Trump was honored for the same reasons Rosa Parks and Muhammad Ali were and to give the impression that Trump is actually a humanitarian.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you probably already know how I feel about false information, fake quotes, and other bullshit. Just a little while ago, someone shared this picture of Mark Twain, along with a quote that is apparently one of his…

Did Mark Twain really say this? Computer says “no”…

The above quote sounds like something Mark Twain might say. But I’m usually skeptical when I see these “wise quotes” nowadays, because so often, they turn out to be something someone else much less famous said for which they aren’t getting proper credit. Sure enough, when I searched for proof that this was a Twain original, I came across this article indicating that it’s not one of Twain’s sayings after all. One person commented that it “doesn’t matter” if it’s not from Twain. Maybe it doesn’t matter to her. Personally, I like to give credit where it’s due. That’s why when I see something that doesn’t pass the smell test, I like to look for answers and get the straight story.

The same person who shared the photo about Trump and his Ellis Island Award is also crowing support for the police. And I see that the person is also of the opinion that the COVID-19 pandemic is a hoax. I was very sad when I saw posts basically accusing world leaders of faking the virus as a means of duping regular citizens. Oh, I’m sure these posts are about Americans, but they may not be aware enough of the world outside of the United States to know that people around the world have been sickened and have died from the coronavirus. It’s truly counterintuitive for world leaders to shut down countries simply to influence an election. Many people have lost their livelihoods; that is true. However, livelihoods and experiences can be replaced. Lives cannot. When a person dies, that’s the end.

I am just as eager as anyone is for “normalcy”. I don’t think things have been “normal” since Donald Trump was “elected”. I don’t think they will get back to “normal” if he stays in power. And no misleading Facebook meme or impassioned post with a conservative bent is going to convince me that Donald Trump is actually a decent person and we’ve all gotten it wrong. Trump is an enemy to peace. It makes me sad that otherwise decent people have bought into Trump’s lies and are trying to convince other people that what is plainly obvious isn’t the truth.

In other news…

I’ve been practicing my guitar every day since early May. Yesterday, I discovered the capo. It really makes my guitar sound pretty. Bill is still working from home, so he’s heard my progress and pronounced it “good”. I still have a long way to go, but I’m definitely getting better at playing the guitar. If I come out of this COVID-19 ordeal having learned to play an instrument, that will be a win! Double points if I’m ever able to record a video of me playing and singing with my guitar. It could happen someday.

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complaints

Why do people share falsely attributed quotes?

Sorry about this, but I’m about to rerun another rant. Several years ago, on my original blog, I created a small drama because I called out a Facebook friend for sharing an essay called “Paradox of Our Time”. That essay, often attributed to George Carlin, who had read it before he died and thought it was a “sappy load of shit”, has been making the rounds for years. My friend, who was mature enough to remain friends after I called him out, had responded to me with something along the lines of “it doesn’t matter who said it; it’s the thought that counts”.

As a writer, I really beg to differ with that attitude. Every dollar I’ve made since I finished graduate school has been made from writing. It’s what I do. I would not appreciate it if I wrote something really amazing and saw it falsely attributed to someone else. At the same time, I would not appreciate being falsely credited with writing something I didn’t write, especially if I didn’t agree with it or it made me look like an asshole. I can look like an asshole by myself just fine, thank you! I don’t need help from people putting words in my mouth or my keyboard.

A few years after the first incident, a now former Facebook friend shared another meme falsely attributed to George Carlin. He wrote, “Carlin pulled no punches.” He wasn’t the first to share that meme during that particular week. Carlin happens to be one of my personal heroes, so I politely responded that Carlin never said those words that were attributed to him on his meme.

No… Carlin didn’t say this…

Then I vented on my blog, because I don’t understand why people would want the wrong person taking credit for words they supposedly find wise enough to share with everyone. George Carlin is dead, and no longer cares what people attribute to him. But many of his admirers are still living, and we don’t want to see people putting words in his mouth. I mean, Dr. Bob Morehead wrote “Paradox of our Time” in 1998. It’s obviously resonated with a lot of people, since it’s been shared for years among millions of people. Why wouldn’t people want Dr. Morehead to get the credit he is due? At the same time, why attribute something to Carlin, obviously in an admiring way, when Carlin himself wrote that he thought “Paradox of our Time” was a “sappy load of shit”? Wouldn’t you want to show more respect to both men?

Why not share something like this? That way, no one is falsely attributed and no one’s likeness is used to promote an agenda with which they may not agree, but you’ve still shared that awesome quote.

Anyway, the guy who shared the false Carlin meme read my blog and got super pissed off at me. He left me another meme and a nastygram on my Overeducated Housewife Facebook page. Then, he blocked me.

Sorry man… I didn’t mean to ruffle your feathers. But you ruffle mine when you share stupid shit.

I was later informed that he was ranting about me on his personal Facebook page, but clearly lacked the integrity and courage to allow me to see and respond to his comments. He also sent a band of his friends to my blog. They stalked me for several days and probably bumped up my Google Adsense by a few pennies.

A mutual friend private messaged me to tell me what he was doing and let me know that she had parted ways with him over it, because she felt he was overreacting and being really immature. I agree that he overreacted. Everybody makes mistakes. Why not own up to them and gain some valuable experience? I don’t care that he vented about me, either, because we weren’t really friends. If we had been real friends, he would have known and cared that Carlin’s legacy is important to me. I also don’t like encouraging people to carelessly spread bullshit, and he obviously differs with me on that philosophy.

I do understand why he was upset with me. I’m sure he was embarrassed that I vented about that meme he shared. However, as I pointed out in the original post, he wasn’t the first or the only one to be guilty of that practice, nor will he be the last. I wasn’t even venting about him in particular. I was venting about the practice of sharing fake stuff, not the specific people who do it, and I did it on my blog instead of on Facebook itself. More people read my personal Facebook page than my blog or its Facebook page– especially now that I’ve moved it. He took things personally and went on a rampage. And boy, was it fun!

I can’t say I miss having him as a “friend”. We didn’t know each other very well, although we met on Epinions, a site where people wrote product reviews and were expected to maintain high standards of accuracy and writing quality. I never met him offline and almost never interacted with him on social media. I suspect we have very different political leanings, and he enjoys Trump enough that it would annoy me to see his stuff on my feed. So really, good riddance. Blocking me was a favor. I should be more selective about my “friends”, anyway… and people I choose to trust.

The funny thing is, this guy had originally posted under his fake meme that “Carlin pulled no punches,” although to my knowledge, Carlin never groused about “disrespectful kids” in his comedy routines. In fact, Carlin was himself originally a “disrespectful kid”, who famously got fired from a lot of jobs and had washed out of the Air Force by the time he was 20. He’d lasted just three years, having been court martialed three times!

My former Facebook friend seemed to admire that “pulling no punches” quality in the late comedian. But I guess he doesn’t admire it in uppity female bloggers like me. So why am I writing about him again, three years after that ugly incident passed? Because it’s happened again, this time from a different offender. Behold…

I was immediately suspicious that this was falsely attributed, and I was right…

No, Anthony Hopkins isn’t the originator of this quote. Nor are Keanu Reeves, Richard Gere, or Christopher Walken. Yeah, it sounds like good advice, and I guess someone originally decided to attribute these male celebrity worthies to the quote because maybe more people would take it seriously or be impressed by it. But really, all falsely attributing quotes does is irritate uptight people like me and make other people look ignorant. I know many people feel like this isn’t important, and maybe it isn’t in the grand scheme of things. I almost didn’t write about this again, given the shitstorm that erupted last time I ranted about it. I decided to go ahead and rant away when I read this comment from Nanea Hoffman of Sweatpants and Coffee, the woman who did write it:

She’s right. It’s not cool to “borrow” or “claim” other people’s words and pair them with a celebrity who never uttered them. It’s not fair to the celebrity. It’s not fair to the original author. It’s not fair to the masses who read this falsely attributed stuff and spread it to the masses, thus spreading more falsehoods.

Bill Cosby has also had a lot of stuff falsely attributed to him. I had originally included him in my first rants on this topic, but since he’s fallen from grace and now sits in a prison cell, I think I’ll just give him a brief “dishonorable mention”. There was a time when Cosby was still widely admired, and people were sharing and attributing to him an essay called “I’m 83 and I’m Tired” (and another version called “I’m 76 and I’m Tired”). Cosby, who at this writing is still not yet 83, wrote this in response:

DELETE is still good advice, even if it was given by a convicted felon. The actual author of the essay falsely attributed to Cosby is Robert A. Hall (the former Massachusetts state senator).

So, at the risk of annoying more people, yes, I’m ranting about this again. Frankly, I’d rather see people come up with their own wise quotes, anyway. I’m no more likely to accept “wise words” from George Carlin than I would Nanea Hoffman. If I think if it’s particularly profound and makes sense, maybe I’ll share it with other people. There’s a good chance I won’t, though, because I’m not big on quote sharing, anyway. I’d rather spread the shit manufactured by my own brain. So be a good sport and give credit where credit is due. People, like me, will thank you for it.

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