There’s a word for grinding your teeth apparently: OH tried to use it in an online scrabble game but it was disallowed. I can’t remember what it was – something like ‘buchakra’ – no doubt OH will enlighten us in the comments later. Another thing OH frequently does is get into a frenzy of typing when ‘someone is wrong on the internet.’ This is a common phrase in our household: ‘somebody wrong on the internet again?’ I’ll say, but answer comes there none because correcting someone who’s wrong on the internet is an all-consuming activity.
That being said, it will not have escaped your notice that someone frequently is wrong on the internet. With all due respect to my latest follower Donald Trump is wrong on the internet. People are wrong about the virus on the internet. The internet is in fact the best place to find people who are wrong about all sorts of things, and I can say with confidence that they are wrong because we know the facts. It is not a matter of opinion to say that the earth is round or that climate change is real or that Joe Biden won the election: the facts are there and clear for all to see. Judge after judge has thrown out challenges to the result, citing no evidence, but still people prefer to believe every word that proceeds from the twitter-feed of 45.
But enough of that. My point was going to be that it is very hard not to wade in and argue with people. You know they’re wrong and the temptation is to get in there and tell them so. You marshal your facts, you link to your evidence, you cite your sources. Does it have any effect? No, because if people don’t believe the evidence why would they believe you? It’s all a conspiracy, they’re all in it together and you’re a sheep for going along with it. And so on. What to do?
The best tactic is just to ignore these views and carry on. But they are nevertheless damaging: Covid denial has led to mass mask refusal, mainly in the US but also here, which in turn leads to more infections. Trump’s refusal to concede threatens to fundamentally weaken the authority of the Biden presidency and by extension the democratic process. State after state has declared that he has no evidence to overturn the result; he has been allowed to present his cases and all – bar one or two tiny ones – have fallen. In the end he is a sad man who cannot accept losing. That’s his problem, but everyone else’s problem is that he’s groomed millions of people to accept his narrative.
So with no disrespect to any of my followers who may disbelieve in Covid or believe in Trump’s delusional narrative, but I believe you are mistaken.
And let’s end it there. I respect your right to have an opinion but facts are facts.
Kirk out
Sarada Gray 
Bruxism is the medical term for grinding one’s teeth, so I hoped that “bruxise” was a word, i.e. “to grind one’s teeth”, but apparently it isn’t. Then again, neither is “vril” according to that scrabble dictionary and I’m pretty sure that would be in most larger ones.
One thing to note about Trump’s behaviour is that he has all the characteristics of a cult leader. He has his own version of truth which he asserts in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, which if believed is the definition of a delusion. He tolerates no dissent in his ranks. His followers are intolerant, violent and aggressive. They are also committed to the personality of the leader as opposed to his office, in that they don’t allow criticism of him. He humiliates those who doubt. He punishes jokes against him. His followers see themselves as more patriotic than the opposition. He just is a cult leader. This doesn’t mean he’s wrong, but it does mean he’s dangerous.
Politics shouldn’t be about the personalities of those perceived to be in power because social forces are faceless and impersonal. This applied, for example, to Corbyn. Although I’m sure he was an exemplary character, my opinion of the policies and principles he stands for is high regardless. In fact, his personality may have been a liability to achieving a rationally-based and functional society, but the principles he espoused are entirely sound. This is why the suggestion that support for Corbyn was a cult is so different from support for Trump.
The only I thing I ever correct online [Facebook being the only medium I use: I would not be so churlish as to do it with my blogging friends], entirely gratuitously, is spelling and/or grammar, and even then I am very selective, restricting it to family & friends: it’s very rare that I get a comeback, thank goodness. Otherwise, I see no benefit in getting involved in discussions [aka slanging matches] over opinions; I’m quite happy for people to believe whatever they want to believe, for the most part: if they believe something to which I am strenuously opposed, it’s highly unlikely that my opposition will change their mind, so I prefer to avoid the stress which would undoubtedly ensue. Cheers, Jon.
I wonder if there’s a medical term for biting ones tongue!
Apparently there is, see OH’s comment above. I think that’s the medical term anyway