The space is expanding and its expansion rate is accelerating. Dark energy is not pushing objects apart, it is causing the acceleration of expansion of space.
What you said isn't even pop science, it is blatantly wrong.
What I said was an attempt to explain how the basic model cosmologists use works in layman's terms. It wasn't intended to be "pop science" or even "real science"; that would be building the model, not trying to explain how it works.
The references you give are not "real science" either. Try looking in a cosmology textbook or a peer-reviewed paper. Or, even better, work out the science for yourself instead of arguing from authority.
What I said was an attempt to explain how the basic model cosmologists use works in layman's terms. It wasn't intended to be "pop science" or even "real science"; that would be building the model, not trying to explain how it works.
The references you give are not "real science" either. Try looking in a cosmology textbook or a peer-reviewed paper. Or, even better, work out the science for yourself instead of arguing from authority.