Rob Knight

Post-election Facebook posts

January 06, 2017

Here are screen shots of the 51 posts I've made about politics on Facebook since election day 2016.

I collected these Facebook posts for anyone to look over and make their own determination about my mental health and my level of anger about Trump's election. It isn't up to me to tell anyone how to feel about these posts. Everyone will interpret them through the lens of their own beliefs and experiences. If they cause you to feel concerned about my mental health, you can reach out to me privately with your concerns and I will address them, or send you a video of me dancing to a song of your choosing.

I am under no illusion that I'm changing minds with anything I do on Facebook. I am sharing my feelings; sometimes with legitimate questions, sometimes with a healthy amount of snark, and sometimes with outright derision. Sharp-tongued political commentary is something I have done online since 2004.

I try to separate my political beliefs from my identity, but I'm under no illusion that I'm immune to political tribalism. However, no one is defined solely by their party affiliation or who they voted for. I have seen numerous racist and sexist posts and comments online about Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton (including from the president-elect, who spent 5 years insinuating that President Obama was not a U.S. citizen). While the comments made me angry, not once did I think they were personal attacks aimed at me.

Lastly, I would say that if you are uncomfortable with what I are say about the president-elect, his public statements, and the people he intends to surround himself with, I invite you to come to California and stay with me. Come to Santa Cruz and meet my friends and co-workers. Come visit me and I will introduce you to some amazing and thoughtful UC Santa Cruz students. Whether you approve of the way I express my passion or not seems like a secondary point compared to the real fears of the people I know personally and spend my days with.

"If I'm in charge of giving this briefing to Trump, what confidence can I possibly have that he won't share what he learns (directly or through Manafort, Page, or Flynn) with Putin? And does that put lives at risk? And would Trump even care?"

"The repeal bill will be printed using the blood of a kitten and Trump will sign it with urine because that's basically how Republican lawmakers treat people they don't identify with."

"As someone who has worked with internet infrastructure (huh, "cyber") for more than a decade, let me state the obvious: Donald Trump doesn't know what he is talking about and his continued misdirection on the DNC/Podesta hacking is dangerous for many reasons I'd be happy to discuss over a beer. Professional denial like this is usually reserved for low-level surrogates on Fox News and Brietbart. It is terrible for the president-elect to prattle on like this when he is out of his depth and has no concern for the consequences of his behavior."

"Hopefully there are enough patriotic Americans in the House to shut down this shameful attempt to reduce oversight."

It's interesting that he actually addressed the press in person to announce that he had brought jobs back when in fact he hadn't. You're going to be president, buddy. You can't hide behind the facade of marketing anymore. #amateurhour "The Wall Street Journal reported on a $100 billion tech investment deal in October, before Trump even became president-elect. ABC News has confirmed that the 5.000 Sprint jobs are part of a 50,000 job deal that SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son had planned weeks ago."

"I think it is just as important to identify good journalism as it is to call out fake or questionable news. This is what good journalism looks like."

"Megalomaniacs are a threat to free nations because their view of the world is so distorted and self-centered that they are incapable of making prudent decisions about anything."

"Good people. I will miss them dearly."

"I fixed these tweets for you, Donald."

"Loss of jobs in the U.S. manufacturing sector due to trade agreements versus jobs lost to industrial automation is something worth spending some time on."

"Suddenly feeling a strong urge to educate myself about causes of WWI and WWII."

"Your daily reminder that the White House is amygdala-only for the next 4 years."

"All over the world there are people in repressive settings who find ways to live as free human beings, act in solidarity with their neighbors, and fashion strategies to resist state power. We're going to need to get good at practicing that kind of politics."

"It will be interesting to see how America responds to these petty, cranky old man tweets after his administration yanks healthcare away from 20 million people."

"The United States of Russia, led by Vladamir Putin's hand-picked puppet."

Cartoon of Donald Trump as a baby with a poopie diaper

"The Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Social Security are all on the GOP hit list for 2017. Congratulations Trump voters, here comes the train--and we're all tied to the track."

"Newt Gingrich sounds like a a guy who is planning a terrorist attack."

"This is exceptional reporting, but hard to see. Philippine president Roderigo Duterte has instituted a lawless execution system for drug dealers and drug users. Much of it is happening outside the law. There is no burden of proof, and he has encouraged vigilante groups to take the law into their own hands. As you read this, think about how easy it is to accuse someone of something. Now imagine someone could be killed by a band of masked vigilantes because of false accusations. I could put your life in jeopardy for any reason I wanted. And you could do the same to me. What kind of society would that create? Would you feel safe? How could anyone feel safe? Duterte says Donald Trump told him he was dealing with his country's drug problem, "the right way." Donald Trump invited him to the White House in 2017. In 6 months, Duterte has created a total blood bath by unleashing unjustified violence throughout his country. Donald Trump thinks it is the 'right way' to deal with a drug problem."

"Science is such a badass."

"It's totally understandable for an incoming administration to change policy toward foreign governments. BUT PLEASE DON'T INSULT US BY LYING ABOUT A PHONE CALL."

"Pay attention to the intent."

"Propane Jane on Twitter: People need to be more curious about why Trump refuses to behave or listen, and I assure you none of the reasons make him POTUS material."

"This is a warning: if you move jobs our of the U.S. (because the state of Indiana gave you taxpayer dollars to do so) we'll use taxpayer dollars to bribe you to (move other jobs overseas instead so it looks like you) bring them back."

"So, Trump supporters, did you realize he plans to gut Medicare too?"

"DISTRACTION: This is the president-elect of the United States of America. There is NO EVIDENCE for this claim."

"If we let our commander in chief be our editor in chief at the same time, we're toast."

Charles Finch on Twitter: "Man outside of a mosque in Texas this morning"

"Everyone hates flying, but brown people have it especially rough. Aasif Mandi shows brown people how to blend in with the white folks"

Rob Knight shared Calmero's video.

"If you squint, ISIS and the alt-right are one in the same. Radicalized myopic male anger."

"Incorporated businesses in Saudi Arabia during the campaign. Encouraged foreign ambassadors to have their leaders stay in his D.C. hotel. Met with Indian entrepreneurs about Trump real estate deals in India. Asked British politicians to campaign against wind farms that would affect the view from his golf course. Can someone inform the president-elect that he works for the American people now?"

"Sessions and Flynn are not the cabinet picks of someone who wants to unite Americans: 'Trump has been elected, he will be our president and he has the right to choose conservatives. But instead of turning to the many principled Republicans available, he seems drawn to hotheads and bigots, embarrassing himself and our nation.'"

"$25 million settlement in the Trump University lawsuit for the guy who said he never settles and claimed he did nothing wrong. No wonder he started a Twitter tantrum about Hamilton."

"Now we have a fake news AND a fake president-elect achievements problem."

"President-electEverything-l-Disagree-with-is-Not-True"

"Not a single person speaking on the record. No actual first-person account. Even this story is just quoting another story on another website that contains no real sources. This kind of nonsense reporting passes as 'news.' If I started a website, made it look fancy, and published a story that said, 'sources in Trump Tower tell us The Donald falls off the toilet every morning while wiping himself,' would you believe that? Should you believe that?"

"I've been told to give Trump a chance. I can't do that for Steve Bannon in the White House. That is unacceptable. Bannon runs a media company that spreads hatred and promotes foul treatment of women, Jews, and minorities. American values dictate that we respect and look out our peers, not vilify them. Bannon is not someone I can accept as a right-hand of the POTUS. Dump Bannon and pick someone else, Mr. Trump."

"To the tens of thousands of people who have taken to the streets to make a statement and express their discontent with the results of the election and the caustic campaign rhetoric of the president-elect, I understand your feelings and I support you. The United States Constitution provides you the right to do what you are doing. To the tens of people who are fucking things up and breaking things and hiding within the larger protests to evade law enforcement, go home, you're wrecking an important moment."

"An interesting side note of this election: universal healthcare was on the ballot in Colorado, a blue state. The proposal would have taxed workers 3.3% and employers 6.7% to provide healthcare to everyone in the state without deductibles. The proposal was very similar to the "Medicare for All" plan Bernie Sanders proposed during the primaries. It was defeated by almost 60 percentage points."

"Don't tell us we're overreacting."

"There is a lot of speculation here, but this is a truly devastating scenario if it comes to pass. I saw a considerable amount of misinformation throughout the campaign. The kind of stuff that was easily disproved with 30 seconds of Googling. To have the same factories of misinformation so closely tied to the 45th president is alarming."

"I went back and looked at my Facebook posts from November 2012. The only words I posted about the outcome of the election were, "Pleased as pudding." I had a couple of commentary posts about Nate Silver and Karl Rove, but that was it."

"When you like something on Facebook, it shows up in everyone's activity feed. So all of ya'll out there liking racist pro-Trump stuff today? Yeah, we see that."

"All I ask is that my white friends and family try to understand the magnitude of this from a different perspective. This is why 'have hope' is not necessarily a good message for white folk to spread today."

"Chilled by the fact that the candidate supported by unprecedented, illegal Russian intervention won. That means we can expect it to continue in future elections."

"I wrote this in November 2004, right after John Kerry lost the presidential election to George Bush. I go back and re-read it during each election cycle as a reminder to work hard and stay focused. Four years later, we elected Barack Obama. So I am re-reading this today, and feeling the same depth of pain, and the same tiny glimmer of hope I had in 2004."

"Trump campaign wants to make names of poll workers public. This judge explains why that is awful."

"Friends, it is time to accept what is coming."

We're all fired.

Resist the temptation to blame a single element of this story for the outcome. There are many reasons this happened. It will take time to fully understand all of them.