Politics is ruining my family

**hossenpepper** · November 13th, 2012

Time and again, conservatives remind me that the real backbone of their politics is "not in my backyard".

They don't seem to lend much credit to "what is good for the goose is good for the gander".

If your Dad can't chill, then tell him you will only discuss insect politics with him. That is easy as they don't have any.

**Vose** · November 13th, 2012

Originally Posted by hossenpepper

If your Dad can't chill, then tell him you will only discuss insect politics with him. That is easy as they don't have any.

I believe that ants might be semi-political, but I doubt they argue about it much

**PatInTheHat** · November 13th, 2012

Originally Posted by guido tkp

we should not be in this to win over (or worse, bludgeon into submission) ourselves a few disciples to a cause; we should be in it to do good...

Disciples

?...hell with that, I await my victims

.
Now as for the doin' any good, at all, yeah yeah sure, okey dokey and all that, but now I got a brother comin' over for his "free" feedbag in a couple weeks, and I'm pretty positive he already knows he's gonna be the evening's headline entertainment, just like I was eight & twelve years ago...yeah some years are better than others that's a fact

.
Hey good entertainment don't come cheap, I mean somebody's gotta pay the current market price for a top o' the line sideshow

.
Oh my word I can hardly sit still, is it ever gonna be so freakin' grand

!!!

**Shasta** · November 13th, 2012

Originally Posted by PatInTheHat

What I don't really get is, why it happens?

.

That's what I'm not understanding as well. We've always been able to have a debate then move right on.

**guido tkp** · November 13th, 2012

g'head, pat...break out yer mittens and slap 'im silly

**fushingfeef** · November 14th, 2012

I think in general it's not a good idea to take an absolutist stance on everything. Yes there are a few things that are absolutely wrong and right (basic human rights, etc.) but there are always fuzzy areas that cause lots of division. People really need to learn that it's okay that other people have other points of view that are different from our own, and try to learn from them (or at least learn to live with them) rather than being combative and absolutist about everything. I've sometimes said the one thing I won't tolerate is intolerance.

Easier said than done, right?

**Todash** · November 14th, 2012

Originally Posted by fushingfeef

I think in general it's not a good idea to take an absolutist stance on everything. Yes there are a few things that are absolutely wrong and right (basic human rights, etc.) but there are always fuzzy areas that cause lots of division. People really need to learn that it's okay that other people have other points of view that are different from our own, and try to learn from them (or at least learn to live with them) rather than being combative and absolutist about everything. I've sometimes said the one thing I won't tolerate is intolerance.

Easier said than done, right?

I have no idea what you are talking about. I'm totally right. About everything. And the sooner everyone just realizes that, the better.

**Moderator** · November 14th, 2012

**Tery** · November 15th, 2012

Part of the problem is that the extremists on the Right have whipped those who follow them into such a frenzy of hate and fear that they really believe all the hype. Hopefully, your Dad will come to his senses. Perhaps he will realize that fear and hate is no way to live.

((Shasta))U

Until then... here, you can use this:

**clownshooter** · November 20th, 2012

Shasta I'll go one more higher than Tery and say that extremists on both the right and left are guilty of fear mongering as in "if you don't believe my point of view or politics, the sky is going to fall!"
I don't know how old your dad is but allow me a possible explanation. I'm 63 which makes me a baby boomer. I grew up praying in public school, climbing under my school desk in the event of a nuclear attack (a lot of good that would do :-) ) and practice evacuations to the fallout shelter. I watched the civil rights movement from the safety of my TV not really understanding the whole thing till I moved to the south (from NY) in the late sixties, early seventies.
I suppose the previous was a long winded way to say that I have seen a lot of change in my lifetime. Unfortunately, change is very scary to some people. I have had very close friends who refused to embrace computers and technology not because they weren't smart enough or capable; I opine it was simply fear or maybe denial.
America has become more diverse. I remember an advanced management class I took for a week back in 1989. One of the things we were told is that the native born, caucasian American is on the decline and in 15-20 years the person working next to us may not be a native American and English will be a second language for him/her. Boy, were they spot on.
We have also recently experienced a really bad recession, our nation is in debt, and the climate is going to hell in a hand basket. There are a lot of social issues that weren't issues 30 years ago and some of them are very devisive.
The press (name your flavor) has taken advantage of this and has both sides of many issues foaming at the mouth.
So you may have to give your dad some time to digest everything. Once the election shock wears off, he may seek an opportunity to speak to you and it may be just to rant. Consider that a debriefing of sorts because if he does rant, you will be able to read between the lines and see what his fears really are. Even if they are unreasonable to you, they may be very real to him. Hopefully the opportunity will arise where you guys can just talk.
I don't know if this was helpful or not. I have had to go through this with a few very close acquaintances. Once they settled down and realized that they were still getting up the next morning and having a cup of coffee as usual, they began to calm down. I will earnestly hope for a reconciliation.