Considering posting this on Facebook. Would like your input please.
EDIT TO CLARIFY: I am talking about my personal Facebook page. Nothing but business is ever posted on the store's page.
I value the wisdom of the many who post here at DU and would like your opinions and suggestions.
This morning a local minister, of all people, posted something I know is untruthful and offensive. I know him and like him, but do not have a close personal relationship. I am uncomfortable with taking him on directly. He posted this: "Did you ever wonder why President Obama had to be coached by his staff to wear a flag pin and cover his heart during the pledge to the flag. Watch the documovie 2016 and you will understand!!"
I am considering posting something like this, which I hope is vague enough that some will "get it" but others will not find it offensive.
A draft of my post:
"Sometimes it is very hard to keep my mouth shut. There is much misinformation and outright lies available on the internet. A lot of it is promoted by people with hidden agendas who have no interest in telling the truth. I find it helpful and informative to use the many fact checking sources available on the internet before I form firm opinions. I suggest those sources might be helpful to others, too."
Background info:
This is a very small strongly Republican town. I have a job with a locally owned retail business where I have decent benefits, an hourly income, and a small commission. I am the administrator of the store's Facebook page where I post updates on products and services 3 to 5 times daily to promote the business. I have over 800 "friends" on Facebook, some of whom are business associations. This is the only reason I am considering not posting at all, as my family and close friends are well aware of my politics. In the past I have only posted political items to prove someone was lying. I have been very restrained, but I am about at my breaking point. However, I cannot risk hurting the business where I work.
So, DU, give me your opinions and suggestions. I look forward to it.
= new reply since forum marked as read
rational discussion with most people and subtlety would go over their heads. Has the minister friended you, the company, or both on Face Book and if so, under which Face Book page did the comment show up. If it was the company Face Book page I would either hide the comment or ignore it. If it is on the company's Face Book page you need to be careful about what you put on it. If it was your personal Face Book page I would set it up to hide all of the guy's comments.
I personally do not friend Republicans, Tea Partiers or anyone belonging to any other fringe group. 
What's Tennessee's state flower? So it'd be Marigold + fan = marigold fan. Take the name of a street + a color = Mars Redd.
I just used Marigold as an example. Gonna have to Google your state flower.
Edit again: Ok it's an Iris. So - Iris Redding. Iris Fann. Iris Blooms. Blue Iris. Sweet Iris(es)
I think I'm in love with you! 
Kidding...somewhat... I just love that you align the teachings of a man I know as a historical figure on a par with MLK Jr. and Gandhi, Jesus, with love and compassion. I wish ALL Christians shared this view!
Admittedly, I am in almost constant turmoil (November 2nd can't get here soon enough!) about how to posture my positions with family, friends, neighbors, on FB, especially to the extent those individuals are not of my political persuasion. I am extremely fortunate in that my current employer is a progressive like me.
I guess I can only boil down any advice I might give to the following: go in with your eyes open - understanding there could be unforeseen or negative consequences for you, and be prepared to accept them. And most importantly (what I always remind myself): what you don't say today, you can always say tomorrow. Once you let the cat out of the bag so to speak, or the toothpaste out of the tube, it is darned near impossible to stuff it back in, and at the very least, extremely messy!
Good luck, TG. We've got your back here on DU!
I don't think I will let the toothpaste out of the tube right now. I will hold it in reserve, perhaps out of self-preservation due to the nature of this community. As you say, I can always say it tomorrow.
People around here who know me personally already know of my political leanings and they also know that if they say anything outrageous to me, I will come back at them with facts. Or sometimes it is best to just ask relevant questions for which they have no answers.
I will share something with you that did actually occur and I wrote about it. It is from 2003 and is a compilation of conversations I personally had with right wingers. It was published by a progressive web site.
Here it is:
Never Mind
Apparently right-wingers never let the facts get in the way of their illogic. This became appallingly clear to me recently as I listened to a group of ladies discussing politics intermittently over several days.
"Bill and Hillary Clinton are responsible for the disappearance or murder of numerous people."
Huh? Where did you get that? From Jerry Falwell?
"No, I read it somewhere."
Bill and Hillary Clinton were under the most intense scrutiny of any Americans perhaps in the history of this country. An overly zealous special prosecutor investigated them for years with unlimited federal funds. At least $60 million dollars of taxpayer funds was spent pursuing every little tidbit, every little nuance, of their word and deed by Kenneth Starr and his merry band of tyrants. They left no stone unturned in their all out pursuit of bringing down Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Logic should bring one to the conclusion that were there actions of such heinous magnitude as murder associated with the Clintons, surely Kenneth Starr would have uncovered them. He would have reveled in them. However, Starr himself concluded that the death of Vince Foster was by suicide. And the Starr report to the United States Congress included only two references to the Whitewater "scandal" and no references to Filegate or Travelgate.
Never mind.
"I am sick and tired of wasting so much money on deadbeat welfare recipients. Why don't they get off their lazy butts and go to work?"
Huh?
What percentage of the federal budget goes to paying for social welfare?
"I don't know, but whatever it is, it is too much. Most of them should get out and get a job."
Are you aware that only approximately 3.9% of the federal budget is expended on social welfare?
"Well, that is millions of dollars and most of it goes to people who don't deserve it."
Huh?
What is your source of information?
"I just know it."
How much of the average American's taxes are expended per year for social welfare?
"I don't know."
Well, the fact is that the average American taxpayer pays $400 per year for social welfare and this figure is from the late '90s. It would be lower than that now since the current administration is cutting as much as possible from social welfare while giving tax cuts to the wealthy.
How much of the average American's taxes are expended per year for corporate welfare?
"What is corporate welfare?"
Corporate welfare includes tax breaks given to large conglomerates on the pretense that they will invest in new equipment or job creation. However, these tax breaks are not tied to any requirement that the corporation uses this money for such purposes. They are free to use the money as they see fit and studies indicate that many corporations do not create jobs or invest in new equipment. Many corporations continue lay-offs while giving massive pay increases and/or bonuses to upper management.
"Well, I don't like that."
Then you should not like the fact that the same study quoted earlier showing that the average American taxpayer pays $400 per year for social welfare also shows that the average American taxpayer pays $1,400 per year for corporate welfare.
Never mind.
Okay, how much of the federal budget goes to interest payments on the national debt?
"That doesn't matter. This country will always be in debt."
Huh?
National debt does not matter. Well, approximately 19% of the federal budget is expended in paying interest on the national debt. It is the second largest expenditure of the government. What could we do with that money if the national debt were paid down? Our children, our grand children, and all future generations will be held responsible at some point for this growing problem. The national debt is growing by leaps and bounds under the Bush administration and this fact does not even include the expense of the proposed war actions in Iraq or the rebuilding of Iraq post-war, which is predicted to be at least $20 billion per year.
"Where do you get all these statistics and figures?"
I study and research.
"Well, your sources are probably biased."
The federal budget is biased?
"Well, maybe not the federal budget, but those other statistics are biased."
They come from the CBO.
"What is the CBO?"
The Congressional Budget Office.
"Well, I am sure that is a biased organization."
No, actually it is a non-partisan organization of Congress.
Never mind.
"I think Bush is right and we should be attacking Iraq."
Why?
"Because Saddam Hussein is a tyrant associated with Al Qaeda and terrorism."
Yes, Saddam Hussein is a tyrant, but what connections does he have to Al Qaeda? Did you know that the majority of the 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia?
"Well, Saddam Hussein hates America and he will do anything to hurt America."
That is probably true. But, in actuality, what has he done to hurt America in the previous twelve years?
"Well, he has been developing weapons of mass destruction."
He has? Did you know that in 1998 when the weapons inspectors left Iraq they estimated that about 95% of his weapons had been accounted for and destroyed?
"Well, that still leaves 5% and he can use those weapons to attack America."
Really? Wouldn't he have to have missiles or planes capable of getting those weapons to our shores?
"He probably can."
Where is the evidence that he can?
"I don't know."
Never mind.
"Colin Powell said that Saddam Hussein has been associating with Al Qaeda when he spoke to the UN."
Yes, he did, but some of the evidence he presented has been disproved or at least found to be highly questionable.
"Well, I trust the Bush administration to know what we should be doing."
Really? Have you ever heard of the PNAC?
"No, what is the PNAC?"
The Project for the New American Century.
"What is that?"
It is an organization with many of the current Bush administration among its membership, including Dick Cheney, Elliott Abrams, Donald Rumsfeld, and Paul Wolfowitz.
"So?"
So, they put out a document in September of 2000 detailing their determined goals of military buildup and global strategy. This means that the actions undertaken currently were planned prior to George W. Bush taking office. They were planning these military movements prior to the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
"So, what is wrong with that?"
Well, it brings into question their true motivations. Perhaps the terrorist attacks of 9/11 gave them the opportunity to do what they already had in mind and it is not only about fighting terrorism. Have you heard of the Carlyle Group?
"No."
The Carlyle Group is a large investment organization with interests in defense contractors, medical laboratories, and the telecommunications industry. George H. W. Bush, John Major, and James Baker, III all work for the Carlyle Group. Peter Eisner, managing director of the Center for Public Integrity recently said, "It should be a deep cause for concern that a closely held company like Carlyle can simultaneously have directors and advisors that are doing business and making money and also advising the President of the United States."
"Oh well, that is the nature of business."
Would you be saying the same thing if it were the Clinton administration with such connections and aims of global war?
"I don't know."
Never mind.
"I know that we have to maintain a strong national defense."
Yes, we do. But doesn't it bother you a little that some of those profiting from taxpayers money spent on national defense are so closely connected to the current administration? Doesn't it bother you that the largest expense of the federal budget is defense and that the United States spends more on defense than all other countries in the world combined?
Never mind.
Project for the New American Century: http://www.newamericancentury.org/
The Carlyle Group: http://www.hereinreality.com/carlyle.html
Or just dad-blame venters of the 1st order! 
My Republican voting Marine son in law agrees..
I challenge you to find a picture of Dubya doing a similar salute in a similar situation. (not directed at the OP)..
