My Right-wing Nut Ny Friend. What To Do?

[Brother Jeff]

I have a situation I don't know how to handle. Not sure what to do.

 

I went on a really enjoyable vacation to New York state to see my friends Joe and Danielle back in July. We actually met here in Alaska back in 2007 when they were on vacation here! This was my chance to see them and be their guest in NY. I renewed my friendship with them and also met their parents and a few of their friends.

 

I greatly value my relationship with these people but Danielle's father Bob has become a problem. I really like him and got along great with him while I was in NY. He taught me how to fish, and we had a great time spending evenings there at the local fishing pond. But he is also a right-wing nut who just can't seem to get enough Obama and liberal bashing in. He's one these nutty folks who seriously believes that Obama was born in Kenya and is a Muslim. He was sending me more hate-filled political emails than I cared to receive and I politely asked him to remove me from his "political" mailing list. This was after I gently corrected the blatantly false assertions made in one of his emails. Doing so took me all of maybe 30 seconds courtesy of Google. One simple search, entire email refuted. Now why the fuck couldn't he have done that himself???

 

He temporarily took me off of his mailing list as I requested, but now I have been added back in. I got this thinly disguised smear piece tonight:

 

 

Father-daughter talk

 

This gently explains the difference in thinking between people with

opposite outlooks.

 

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so

many others her age, she considered herself to be very liberal, and

among other liberal ideals, was very much in favor of higher taxes to

support more government programs, in other words redistribution of

wealth.

 

She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch

conservative, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures

that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor,

she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire

to keep what he thought should be his.

 

One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes

on the rich and the need for more government programs.

 

The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be

the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by

asking how she was doing in school.

 

Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and

let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was

taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which

left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She

didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many

college friends because she spent all her time studying.

 

Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?"

 

She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy

classes, she never studies and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so

popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always invited to

all the parties and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes

because she's too hung over."

 

Her wise father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's

office and ask him to deduct 1.0

off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way

you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and

equal distribution of GPA."

 

The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired

back, "That's a crazy idea, how would that be fair! I've worked really

hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard

work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played

while I worked my tail off!"

 

The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, "Welcome to the

conservative side of the fence."

 

If you ever wondered what side of the fence you sit on, this is a great

test!

 

If a conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one.

If a liberal doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.

 

If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat.

If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for

everyone.

 

If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his

situation.

A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

 

If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.

Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.

 

If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.

A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and Jesus silenced.

 

 

 

 

If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping

for it, or may choose a job that provides it.

A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.

 

If a conservative reads this, he'll forward it so his friends can have a

good laugh.

A liberal will delete it because he's "offended."

 

Well, I forwarded it to you.

 

I am struggling with how to respond and not put a strain on our friendship from my end.

 

My political views tend to be liberal. To say that I despise the Republican party and everything they think, say, and do (when they actually DO something, which thankfully is rare) would be putting it very, very mildly. But I generally don't discuss politics with friends or post about it overly much on Facebook or anywhere else online.

 

I could write Bob and tell him my opinion of his views and ruin a friendship, but that's not what I want. I started to reply to him with something like this:

 

Grossly misrepresents liberals, their views and why they hold them, and why they believe as they do. I could say many things about conservatives, none of them nice but all 100% true. And it wouldn't require writing a thinly disguised smear piece. All I would have to do is cite facts and actions or the lack thereof from the Republican's deeply shameful and very sad last decade of history. But I won't. What would be the point? Name ONE THING the Republicans have done in recent history (or possibly ever) that has been positive and/or helpful. Hint: Standing on the sidelines and criticizing those who are actually DOING SOMETHING while at the same time blocking their efforts to DO MANY THINGS THAT BADLY NEED DOING ain't gonna cut it. Good luck!

 

That's what I want to say. What I should say after I get over being angry I have no idea. I don't know the best way to handle this. What pisses me off even more than his insane political beliefs is his lack of respect for the fact that I don't want to hear them. And I'm pissed because politics and religion are two HUGE emotional triggers for me. And Bob just triggered pretty intense anger in me when I was having a pretty good evening.

 

Most people spend their days working and then relaxing at home with the family or their special someone. I spend my days battling bipolar disorder. Every night I can chalk up another day that I SURVIVED the emotional roller coaster and didn't hurt myself or anyone else. I usually handle life and what this illness throws at me reasonably well, but I need all the help I can get, and Bob is not helping me!

 

The ranting and anger aside, how should I handle this?

 

Thanks and "Glory!"

 

Glory!

[Blue elephant]

Hi Jeff

 

I'm wondering if your friends aren't so fond of their fathers / father-in-laws political views either. If this is so, they may have developed strategies to deal with him ande they can share them with you?

 

The story about the college student is a fallacy in that the two college students seem to have equal resources and abilities, whereas the poor and the disadvantaged in society usually do not (at least if your social welfare system asks enoguh questions to weed out the rorters).

 

All the material from this man displays 'black and white' 'us and them' thinking. As far as I'm concerned, there is the rorting done by the poor and disadvantaged and then there is the other sort of rorting done by the rich when they fiddle their tax returns and financial affairs.

 

I reckon you just keep on deleting / defriending / setting up email rules to junk mail his transmissions. He'll get it in a while.

 

 

Cheers

Bronwyn

[Deva]

After that, I wouldn't read anymore of his e-mails, Jeff. Just put them in the spam filter or delete. You really don't need to be reading that kind of thing if it triggers you.

[RankStranger]

Some people are damn near religious about their political views. You aren't going to change his mind- at least not directly, not any time soon, and not to any great extent. So I guess you have to decide what you want out of the exchange. Do you just want the emails to stop? Or do you want him to respect other points of view? The former is probably achievable... the latter might not be.

 

He sounds a lot like my father-in-law. Back when I first met my wife's parents, I was a staunch conservative- so this wasn't an issue. But my (and my wife's) opinions have changed quite a bit over the years, and we're often at odds with Bob's talk-radio bullshit these days. So our approach has been to either ignore him or calmly explain why he's wrong (throwing in a few personal examples for good measure). I doubt it's really changed his mind about anything, but he doesn't bring up politics nearly as much as he used to. He's clearly uncomfortable having to defend his views on his own... he'd much rather just parrot them among like-minded right-wingers.

 

Back when I was a right-winger, I held similar views pretty strongly. And while I did believe (and repeat) certain things that liberals would no doubt find offensive, I can't say that I personally had anything against them (liberals)... except maybe the liberal straw-men that had been built up in my mind.

 

You're a smart guy, Jeff- and you seem to enjoy internet arguments. Next time he sends this sort of email, just send him the snopes link, or find a counter-example that similarly parodies conservatives. I'd bet he won't take it personally. He might remove you from the list, or he might have a spirited debate with you... but either way I'd bet his behavior changes some.

[Margee]

Jeff, this used to trigger me real bad too! Here's what I did. I didn't have to see these people a lot, but unfortunetly,I gave them my e-mail address and then the shit began to flow in.(religious and politics)

 

I then opened up another e-mail address, sent them all a letter and asked them kindly if they wanted to 'talk' to me in a personal e-mail, to use this new address....... then I explained (in a nice way) that I barely have time to read all the incoming mails. I didn't offend anyone. It was a nice letter. The stupid e-mails still come........I just don't read them at all.

 

Now I go in and just delete all the shit from that old address and most of them know that I send nothing back to them anymore. I find a few have just taken me off their list altogether. Perfect.

 

Hug for you today from me!!

[Guest wester]

I suffered similar problems coming up in "conservative" bible-belt redneck yahooville. I was constantly bombarded by transparent idiocy and lies for years and years by family members and 'friends'. Slowly I was fed up to the point of nearly going mental.

I tend to easily suffer emotional damage when these kind of mean-spirited attacks keep coming either at me or others. I felt it was too much about demonization and trying to pigeonhole anyone not following the party line as THE OTHER - a non-person worthy of attack and deserving of mental, emotional and physical abuse. The conservatives in the US are nothing like the modestly pragmatic party they used to be. Off the rails is an understatement.

 

Eventually I had to flat out leave to the other side of the country and finally exit the US all together before I lost my mind. Bully for you for staying. I can't do it.

 

As Mr. Driftglass says : "Our country cannot survive half-Fox and half-free."

Good Luck

 

 

 

Redirect your "friend" to the Spam Mail/Junk folder and forget it.

[blackpudd1n]

You know, when I first met my future father-in-law, I found many of his views on the world quite offensive. We had many tense discussions. and then, I woke up one day and realised that I was talking to a man in constant pain. Physical pain. My F-I-L had broken his back years ago in a workplace accident, and is on daily pain medication. He hasn't had a good night's sleep since the accident, which was when my fiancee was a child, and he is on pain patches which are changed every three days. So every three days, he has a really bad night's sleep, and suffers a lot of pain. I know how cantankerous I get when I haven't slept, and how little tolerance I have for debate when I am experiencing period pain. Seeing him for what he is, a sleep-deprived man in constant pain (despite the pain medication, which only knocks the edge off it), I found it easier to not get offended, and now we talk with ease, instead of the constant tension that used to underscore every conversation. I just take anything that offends me with a grain of salt, because I have found that the more intolerant he is usually indicates the level of suffering he is experiencing at that point in time.

 

Personally, I think most people who hold to strong conservative/intolerant views came to that point from an experienced hurt, suffering, or bitterness. I keep reminding my dad, who 's mate has become extremely intolerant since he lost his leg, to expect his mate to be intolerant. In that guy's case, he is grieving the loss of his leg, and the ramifications on himself, his view of himself, and the effect it has had on his lifestyle. Finding the source of bitterness in an intolerant person is how I tolerate their intolerant ideas. they may change with time, they may not. But I can still find things to like about them

 

I don't know if this makes much sense or helps you much. But it might be interesting to find out the story behind the man

[mymistake]

I am struggling with how to respond and not put a strain on our friendship from my end.

 

That really depends on your friend doesn't it? You can maintain half the bridge to him but if he decides to burn down the other half of the bridge what can you do? The reason I say that is because back when I was a wing nut myself I would have cut you off if I realized you were not a right wing nut. Maybe your friend is more open minded than I was. I remember repeating a version of that story to my Republican friends.

 

But I generally don't discuss politics with friends or post about it overly much on Facebook or anywhere else online.

 

Maybe that is worth a try. Tell him that you are sick of politics and that you don't want to talk about politics. See if he is willing to keep it to himself. You are not going to try to change him and don't care how he votes. You just don't want him to e-mail you politics or talk about politics with you - right? If he was as bad as I was then he will pull away from you but maybe he is more open minded. I don't know. I don't see how you can deal with the problem without taking the risk. Sorry.

 

And I'm pissed because politics and religion are two HUGE emotional triggers for me. And Bob just triggered pretty intense anger in me when I was having a pretty good evening.

 

Maybe you can tell him that all political talk makes you sick. You want him to keep it to himself right? You are trying to negotiate a treaty with him so that neither one of you will mention politics with the other. Maybe sell it to him as a promise that you won't be trying to change him. I don't know.

 

 

The ranting and anger aside, how should I handle this?

 

Well whatever you do keep your fingers crossed an hope for the best.

[Ro-bear]

The shorter the response, the better, Bro Jeff. The more you say, the more he is encouraged that you are willing to discuss politics. Just say "Bob. please don't send me the politcal stuff; it gives me a headache!"

[florduh]

Dear Bob,

 

I really enjoyed the fishing, and have a great time with Joe and Danielle, too. I value the friendships.

 

I should let you know, however, I am not the least bit interested in politics and I prefer to not be preached at from either side. I find that refraining from discussing religion and politics is a good policy for me. I hope you understand.

 

Thanks again for the fish!

 

- Bro. Jeff and the Holy Farter

[mymistake]

Dear Bob,

 

I really enjoyed the fishing, and have a great time with Joe and Danielle, too. I value the friendships.

 

I should let you know, however, I am not the least bit interested in politics and I prefer to not be preached at from either side. I find that refraining from discussing religion and politics is a good policy for me. I hope you understand.

 

Thanks again for the fish!

 

- Bro. Jeff and the Holy Farter

 

Oh yeah! Ya got to put politics and religion both off limits. Either one can kill a friendship.

[agnosticator]

I have an uncle who sends those emails every day. I ignore them and avoid political discussions. If he brings it up, I let him talk, and then change the subject. I really like him except for his crazy political beliefs. So I don't encourage him. He gets the message, but still sends the emails!

[blackpudd1n]

I have an uncle who sends those emails every day. I ignore them and avoid political discussions. If he brings it up, I let him talk, and then change the subject. I really like him except for his crazy political beliefs. So I don't encourage him. He gets the message, but still sends the emails!

 

yeah, I take the same approach with my aunt and her religious stuff. There's no point arguing with someone who has sent me, off the top of my head: a third of a pack of sushi, one wax strip, magazines with the stamp from the dentist surgery she scored them off still on them, a broken chinese takeaway container, clothes 3 sizes too big, very worn purple stockings, a tablet cutter, my grandmother's old makeup (she had already been dead 10 years)... I can never work out the logic behind what she sends me in the first place, so why bother debating with her? I just accept her as my eccentric aunt lol

[Sybaris]

My wife works for a very educated elderly man who's brother served decades in congress. This family is ultra-conservative and fanatically religious. Kinda scarey knowing this family as I do and their political connections and influence. It's no wonder there's such division in DC. Anyway, my wife's employer sends me whacked out anti-liberal/Obama email chain urban legends ALL the time. I used to spend a few minutes googling like you do Jeff and lay out factual references contradicting the assertions in the emails knowing all the while that I wasn't really doing anything constructive. After I sent him this paper, Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition ( http://www.awitness.org/journal/political_conservatism_as_motivated_social_cognition_summary.html ) and this link for the Urban Legend Combat Kit ( http://netsquirrel.com/combatkit/ ) I stopped responding to him.

[blackpudd1n]

My wife works for a very educated elderly man who's brother served decades in congress. This family is ultra-conservative and fanatically religious. Kinda scarey knowing this family as I do and their political connections and influence. It's no wonder there's such division in DC. Anyway, my wife's employer sends me whacked out anti-liberal/Obama email chain urban legends ALL the time. I used to spend a few minutes googling like you do Jeff and lay out factual references contradicting the assertions in the emails knowing all the while that I wasn't really doing anything constructive. After I sent him this paper, Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition ( http://www.awitness....on_summary.html ) and this link for the Urban Legend Combat Kit ( http://netsquirrel.com/combatkit/ ) I stopped responding to him.

 

My friend, Michael, wrote a novel around this theme- The Janus Conspiracy. I haven't finished it yet, I'm trying to also read another of his, Nightmares of God, but if you're interested in a copy, the Kindle version is on amazon here http://www.amazon.com/The-Janus-Conspiracy-ebook/dp/B003CJU1M8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321730725&sr=8-1 or if you're interested in a hard copy, I can talk to him about how to get one to you. I am a third of the way through The Janus Conspiracy, and so far have found it to be excellent

[Brother Jeff]

Hey everybody, I appreciate all the replies to my late-night bipolar anti-Republican-right-wing-nut rant! Glory!

 

I think I am just going to ask Bob again to please remove me from his political mailing list and leave it at that. And yeah, set up my email to send his political junk to the shit can. Or is that political shit to the junk can?

 

Glory!

[Brother Jeff]

My wife works for a very educated elderly man who's brother served decades in congress. This family is ultra-conservative and fanatically religious. Kinda scarey knowing this family as I do and their political connections and influence. It's no wonder there's such division in DC. Anyway, my wife's employer sends me whacked out anti-liberal/Obama email chain urban legends ALL the time. I used to spend a few minutes googling like you do Jeff and lay out factual references contradicting the assertions in the emails knowing all the while that I wasn't really doing anything constructive. After I sent him this paper, Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition ( http://www.awitness....on_summary.html ) and this link for the Urban Legend Combat Kit ( http://netsquirrel.com/combatkit/ ) I stopped responding to him.

 

Hey Brother Sybaris,

 

Thanks for those glorious links!

 

Glory!

[Brother Jeff]

My wife works for a very educated elderly man who's brother served decades in congress. This family is ultra-conservative and fanatically religious. Kinda scarey knowing this family as I do and their political connections and influence. It's no wonder there's such division in DC. Anyway, my wife's employer sends me whacked out anti-liberal/Obama email chain urban legends ALL the time. I used to spend a few minutes googling like you do Jeff and lay out factual references contradicting the assertions in the emails knowing all the while that I wasn't really doing anything constructive. After I sent him this paper, Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition ( http://www.awitness....on_summary.html ) and this link for the Urban Legend Combat Kit ( http://netsquirrel.com/combatkit/ ) I stopped responding to him.

 

My friend, Michael, wrote a novel around this theme- The Janus Conspiracy. I haven't finished it yet, I'm trying to also read another of his, Nightmares of God, but if you're interested in a copy, the Kindle version is on amazon here http://www.amazon.co...21730725&sr=8-1 or if you're interested in a hard copy, I can talk to him about how to get one to you. I am a third of the way through The Janus Conspiracy, and so far have found it to be excellent

 

The Spook of Kryasst who is also somehow magically Him magically prompted me via His Holy Bird Form to buy this glorious book!

 

 

Glory!

[Brother Jeff]

Dear Bob,

 

I really enjoyed the fishing, and have a great time with Joe and Danielle, too. I value the friendships.

 

I should let you know, however, I am not the least bit interested in politics and I prefer to not be preached at from either side. I find that refraining from discussing religion and politics is a good policy for me. I hope you understand.

 

Thanks again for the fish!

 

- Bro. Jeff and the Holy Farter

 

Yes! And AMEN, Brother! That's basically what I'm gonna say to him.

 

Glory!

[Brother Jeff]

You know, when I first met my future father-in-law, I found many of his views on the world quite offensive. We had many tense discussions. and then, I woke up one day and realised that I was talking to a man in constant pain. Physical pain. My F-I-L had broken his back years ago in a workplace accident, and is on daily pain medication. He hasn't had a good night's sleep since the accident, which was when my fiancee was a child, and he is on pain patches which are changed every three days. So every three days, he has a really bad night's sleep, and suffers a lot of pain. I know how cantankerous I get when I haven't slept, and how little tolerance I have for debate when I am experiencing period pain. Seeing him for what he is, a sleep-deprived man in constant pain (despite the pain medication, which only knocks the edge off it), I found it easier to not get offended, and now we talk with ease, instead of the constant tension that used to underscore every conversation. I just take anything that offends me with a grain of salt, because I have found that the more intolerant he is usually indicates the level of suffering he is experiencing at that point in time.

 

Personally, I think most people who hold to strong conservative/intolerant views came to that point from an experienced hurt, suffering, or bitterness. I keep reminding my dad, who 's mate has become extremely intolerant since he lost his leg, to expect his mate to be intolerant. In that guy's case, he is grieving the loss of his leg, and the ramifications on himself, his view of himself, and the effect it has had on his lifestyle. Finding the source of bitterness in an intolerant person is how I tolerate their intolerant ideas. they may change with time, they may not. But I can still find things to like about them

 

I don't know if this makes much sense or helps you much. But it might be interesting to find out the story behind the man

 

This makes a lot of sense to me, Sister!

 

I don't know what drives Bob's extreme political beliefs, but I do know that he is a Vietnam veteran. We didn't discuss that subject though. I just noticed a license plate he had displayed in his van.

[Brother Jeff]

Jeff, this used to trigger me real bad too! Here's what I did. I didn't have to see these people a lot, but unfortunetly,I gave them my e-mail address and then the shit began to flow in.(religious and politics)

 

I then opened up another e-mail address, sent them all a letter and asked them kindly if they wanted to 'talk' to me in a personal e-mail, to use this new address....... then I explained (in a nice way) that I barely have time to read all the incoming mails. I didn't offend anyone. It was a nice letter. The stupid e-mails still come........I just don't read them at all.

 

Now I go in and just delete all the shit from that old address and most of them know that I send nothing back to them anymore. I find a few have just taken me off their list altogether. Perfect.

 

Hug for you today from me!!

 

Thank you, Sister Margee!

Glory!

[Brother Jeff]

I suffered similar problems coming up in "conservative" bible-belt redneck yahooville. I was constantly bombarded by transparent idiocy and lies for years and years by family members and 'friends'. Slowly I was fed up to the point of nearly going mental.

I tend to easily suffer emotional damage when these kind of mean-spirited attacks keep coming either at me or others. I felt it was too much about demonization and trying to pigeonhole anyone not following the party line as THE OTHER - a non-person worthy of attack and deserving of mental, emotional and physical abuse. The conservatives in the US are nothing like the modestly pragmatic party they used to be. Off the rails is an understatement.

 

Eventually I had to flat out leave to the other side of the country and finally exit the US all together before I lost my mind. Bully for you for staying. I can't do it.

 

As Mr. Driftglass says : "Our country cannot survive half-Fox and half-free."

Good Luck

 

 

 

Redirect your "friend" to the Spam Mail/Junk folder and forget it.

 

I love America and find myself weeping for the future of my country more and more as conservative idiocy and insanity progressively ruins our nation. I had the opportunity to travel all over the world when I was young, thanks to my mother owning a travel agency and being able to get good rates. I spent most of the summer of 1984 traveling Europe after graduating high school. I spent most of that time drunk or stoned (or both)! Had a very awesome time! Several months after returning to the US I got sucked into the Cult.

 

But, Europe was an amazing place back then. The world isn't as good or as free a place as it was back in those days, but living in Europe somewhere would still probably be fun.

[Noggy]

Add him to your brand new mailing list.

 

You know exactly what you want this mailing list to be about.

[midniterider]

I have a situation I don't know how to handle. Not sure what to do.

 

I went on a really enjoyable vacation to New York state to see my friends Joe and Danielle back in July. We actually met here in Alaska back in 2007 when they were on vacation here! This was my chance to see them and be their guest in NY. I renewed my friendship with them and also met their parents and a few of their friends.

 

I greatly value my relationship with these people but Danielle's father Bob has become a problem. I really like him and got along great with him while I was in NY. He taught me how to fish, and we had a great time spending evenings there at the local fishing pond. But he is also a right-wing nut who just can't seem to get enough Obama and liberal bashing in. He's one these nutty folks who seriously believes that Obama was born in Kenya and is a Muslim. He was sending me more hate-filled political emails than I cared to receive and I politely asked him to remove me from his "political" mailing list. This was after I gently corrected the blatantly false assertions made in one of his emails. Doing so took me all of maybe 30 seconds courtesy of Google. One simple search, entire email refuted. Now why the fuck couldn't he have done that himself???

 

He temporarily took me off of his mailing list as I requested, but now I have been added back in. I got this thinly disguised smear piece tonight:

 

 

Father-daughter talk

 

This gently explains the difference in thinking between people with

opposite outlooks.

 

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so

many others her age, she considered herself to be very liberal, and

among other liberal ideals, was very much in favor of higher taxes to

support more government programs, in other words redistribution of

wealth.

 

She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch

conservative, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures

that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor,

she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire

to keep what he thought should be his.

 

One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes

on the rich and the need for more government programs.

 

The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be

the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by

asking how she was doing in school.

 

Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and

let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was

taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which

left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She

didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many

college friends because she spent all her time studying.

 

Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?"

 

She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy

classes, she never studies and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so

popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always invited to

all the parties and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes

because she's too hung over."

 

Her wise father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's

office and ask him to deduct 1.0

off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way

you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and

equal distribution of GPA."

 

The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired

back, "That's a crazy idea, how would that be fair! I've worked really

hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard

work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played

while I worked my tail off!"

 

The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, "Welcome to the

conservative side of the fence."

 

If you ever wondered what side of the fence you sit on, this is a great

test!

 

If a conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one.

If a liberal doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.

 

If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat.

If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for

everyone.

 

If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his

situation.

A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

 

If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.

Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.

 

If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.

A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and Jesus silenced.

 

 

 

 

If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping

for it, or may choose a job that provides it.

A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.

 

If a conservative reads this, he'll forward it so his friends can have a

good laugh.

A liberal will delete it because he's "offended."

 

Well, I forwarded it to you.

 

I am struggling with how to respond and not put a strain on our friendship from my end.

 

My political views tend to be liberal. To say that I despise the Republican party and everything they think, say, and do (when they actually DO something, which thankfully is rare) would be putting it very, very mildly. But I generally don't discuss politics with friends or post about it overly much on Facebook or anywhere else online.

 

I could write Bob and tell him my opinion of his views and ruin a friendship, but that's not what I want. I started to reply to him with something like this:

 

Grossly misrepresents liberals, their views and why they hold them, and why they believe as they do. I could say many things about conservatives, none of them nice but all 100% true. And it wouldn't require writing a thinly disguised smear piece. All I would have to do is cite facts and actions or the lack thereof from the Republican's deeply shameful and very sad last decade of history. But I won't. What would be the point? Name ONE THING the Republicans have done in recent history (or possibly ever) that has been positive and/or helpful. Hint: Standing on the sidelines and criticizing those who are actually DOING SOMETHING while at the same time blocking their efforts to DO MANY THINGS THAT BADLY NEED DOING ain't gonna cut it. Good luck!

 

That's what I want to say. What I should say after I get over being angry I have no idea. I don't know the best way to handle this. What pisses me off even more than his insane political beliefs is his lack of respect for the fact that I don't want to hear them. And I'm pissed because politics and religion are two HUGE emotional triggers for me. And Bob just triggered pretty intense anger in me when I was having a pretty good evening.

 

Most people spend their days working and then relaxing at home with the family or their special someone. I spend my days battling bipolar disorder. Every night I can chalk up another day that I SURVIVED the emotional roller coaster and didn't hurt myself or anyone else. I usually handle life and what this illness throws at me reasonably well, but I need all the help I can get, and Bob is not helping me!

 

The ranting and anger aside, how should I handle this?

 

Thanks and "Glory!"

 

Glory!

 

Why do you need to receive email from this douche? Someone used to send me anti-democrat email because they knew I was a 'flaming liberal' so I put a filter (gmail) that immediately trashed any emails containing the words democrat or republican or Obama. You might try the same for 'liberal' and 'conservative' or just put all his emails on auto-delete.

 

I like how your 'friend's' email sterotypes all GOP and Dems. I'm personally a gun loving democrat...omg! haha. And I'm getting tired of the Occupy movement...omg! What kind of weirdo democrat am I? haha.

[midniterider]

My wife works for a very educated elderly man who's brother served decades in congress. This family is ultra-conservative and fanatically religious. Kinda scarey knowing this family as I do and their political connections and influence. It's no wonder there's such division in DC. Anyway, my wife's employer sends me whacked out anti-liberal/Obama email chain urban legends ALL the time. I used to spend a few minutes googling like you do Jeff and lay out factual references contradicting the assertions in the emails knowing all the while that I wasn't really doing anything constructive. After I sent him this paper, Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition ( http://www.awitness....on_summary.html ) and this link for the Urban Legend Combat Kit ( http://netsquirrel.com/combatkit/ ) I stopped responding to him.

 

I scanned your first link on my own about a year ago and the words "ridigity of thinking" stuck with me. For a great number of GOPs I know, it is dead on. But I hate to make sweeping generalizations.