A week in Facebook jail is an unpleasant surprise

"Isn't it ironic that our classy black president was followed by a (rich) white trash one?

Imagine my surprise when I called up Facebook on my computer screen and learned that for the next seven days, I cannot post, comment or use Messenger because of what is considered a hateful comment.

I have had Facebook delete comments of mine before, most memorably when I was commenting on Rudyard Kipling's 1899 poem "The White Man's Burden."


I wasn't agreeing with Kipling, but that didn't seem to make any difference to the FB police.

By the way, has anyone other than Kipling ever had the name "Rudyard?"

I'm pretty sure it wasn't the first half of the comment that offended someone, so apparently it was the combination of "white" and "trash" as a description of Donald Trump that made someone cry.

I hope they called the whaambulance.

White people, particularly white conservative Christians, believe they are in such danger that women, gay people and particularly those pesky Mexicans and black people are about two steps from breaking into their homes, killing their women, raping their men and smashing their Legends of NASCAR commemorative plates.

"Help us Trumpy-wan Kenobi. You're our only hope."

Poor snowflakes. It's tough to belong to the largest religious and ethnic group and still think no one likes you or respects you.

Some of them have to know that Trump is far from being the real deal, that he is using them to advance his own nasty agenda. Good men who are being persecuted don't get sued 3,500 times. And I've never heard someone who believes in God saying he has never asked God for forgiveness because he never did anything wrong.

Actually, calling him white trash is pulling my punch. I could have said far worse things about him that would have been equally true.

I'm not going to complain about my temporary ban from Facebook. Freedom of speech is not an issue here. I can be self-righteous at times, and this may have been one of those times.

I will miss being able to comment on tonight's NCAA championship basketball game, and I'm amazed at how many of my friends -- and family members -- I stay in touch with only through Messenger and not email.

So I will be off Facebook until next Monday.

Just call me Rudyard.