I am legit astounded that sharpiegate is still a thing. You should not need to have counter evidence presented more than once — your narrative should be self correcting for two important reasons:
1/ You should *want* the things you say to be honest and true. This is called integrity.
2/ You should *welcome* correct information so you can better support your point. This is called debate.
I know you found hope in Donald Trump and I truly truly sympathize with how hard it can be to feel those hopes slipping away. As a marginalized person in this nation the experience of watching my hopes slip away has been the defining narrative arc of my entire life.
So believe me, I get it. But take a lesson from being marginalized: you have to work twice as hard to be thought of half as good. You need to get better at debating and that includes saying things that are true.
Just like homophobia, classism, and ableism, calling something fake doesn’t make it go away. Continuing to insist that sharpies are illegal or invalidating won’t make it true.
Do better, because the kernels of truth that are valid in right wing thinking (anti taxation, open voluntary trade, smallest possible government) deserve a strong defense.
You don’t have time to change the world before you have to live in it, and if living in it has to mean changing it along the way (and I agree with you, it does) then you must rise to that challenge.
Live up to your best, don’t drown in your worst. You can do this.
