Friends No More

Everyone has different kinds of friends… mere acquaintances, and the good friends who are “our kind of people,” and those in between, who are friends despite being, shall we say, “less than universally aligned with our values.”

Such imperfect pals may be fun for awhile, as part of our clique, part of our crowd, but then they invariably go too far. They get too rowdy and start a fight, or they cause a party to get out of control. They get too drunk and trash the house, crash the car, get us all arrested. And then we finally ask ourselves why on earth we ever put up with them… why we’ve tolerated them all along… and we finally dump them for good, too late, after the damage has been done.

And so it has been with our Congressmen and Senators in the 2009-2010 session. So many people we’ve tolerated… despite being imperfect… giving them the opportunity to inflict disastrous harm on an electorate that tolerated their undemocratic, unconstitutional nature long after we should have known better.

Bart Stupak, an unreconstructed liberal from a traditional values, rural mid-American district in northern Michigan, should never have won in the first place. But he got such respect as a “valiant” pro-lifer in the anti-life Democrat party...

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During my working years - I don’t recall having to tolerate obnoxious colleagues’ political differences. Perhaps because my profession was in the private sector; not in the Government cesspool.

Since I retired a few years ago - I have been exposed to the most hateful leftist ideology from retired Federal employees, lawyers, and teachers. Their venom against Bush was frightening - but their demonic devotion to all things Obama is downright Orwellian. These are mostly affluent folks who have been blessed to prosper and enjoy America’s freedom. It is notable that these 1960 former hippie offenders have no children or grandchildren in the military.

After some nasty conflicts - I shun them all. Life is too short to share with looneys.

Occasionally I’m sorely tempted to respond like this. I work in academia, which means I already can’t stand most of my colleagues. My family is so devoted to the democrat brand name that a couple have told me not to visit merely because I had a bumper sticker one year supporting a republican state senate candidate. They’d happily vote for slavery if it was recommended by a democrat.

On the other hand, the insular mindset is a losing one. From a Christian perspective, the deliberate shunning of an unsaved person is sinful and hateful. From a political perspective, the insular mindset is a losing one. Hunkering down and not engaging is defensive and works for a time but ultimately the mobile force will wear down the defenses. Even as delightful as Civil War II fantasies are, I’m enough of a student of history to know that the only way to impose your ideals on a population is to convince them. Otherwise, even if you win, you’re likely to lose in the post conflict conflict.

I hate having to listen to liberals and leftists emote and abandon rationality while they claim that conservatives are stupid and irrational. I’m more than aware that the vast majority of them are unreachable. Listening to them makes me sick to my stomach because I know full well that they will not give me the same courtesy that I show them when (if ever) it’s my turn to talk. I know that they are fake, I know that they are truly hateful and more often than not a disgusting mix of racism, sexism, atheism and sanctimony, and I know that they will stab me in the back when I’m out the door. And I’m not saying I do it right or well every time — my tongue slips or I get angry or I just can’t be bothered more often than not. A lot more often.

On the other hand, I’m going to keep trying because (a) it gives me a chance to witness to them and potentially they may find Jesus and that in itself is worth it, and (b) it is possible to reach some of them. In my experience, about 1 in 50, but it’s possible. That’s why I took on my screen name.

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