Folks, are you finding yourselves in similar situations? How are you dealing with it?
Lloyd Marcus
You are lucky it’s only a friend. My mom had an obama sign in her yard, thinks abortion is OK and blames Pres. Bush for the trillions of dollars of government waste. We just don’t talk about politics at all to save our family relationship.
Lloyd, I really like your TEA Party anthem.
That being said, I haven’t lost any long term friendships over this, but have had heated disagreements with a potential son-in-law over Obama.
We haven’t spoken since the election when he couldn’t wait to gloat over the results.
At the time, he said he couldn’t wait for his personal comp plans to thrive again, now that Obama was elected.
I’m sitting back quietly waiting for his admission that his selection was due to ‘white guilt’ and that he, like the main media, never looked into what Obama stood for.
It may never come, but I bet those “personal comp plans” have yet to “thrive.”
With the desire to prosecute the last administration, I’m afraid this straining of America is only going to get worse.
This is not a racial matter and the turning it into one is contributing to the straining.
Obama is not a uniter but a divider.
My recommendation.............don’t even talk politics with your close friends. I have a good friend of over 40 years. We have never talked politics and never will. I don’t even know where he stands on anything political. Our friendship is to important to get into a disagreement over something that will change in time. If you really value that friendship, let politics go by the wayside and talk about the weather, talk about his health, talk about the up coming State Fair. Enjoy that friendship because one of these days, one of you will be gone and the memories will last forever.
Socialists in my life know to shut their mouths around me. I make sure there is a price to pay for bothering me with their religion.
You, sir, are a courageous human being.
We are not going to be quiet anymore! We are not letting anti-American, anti-Military, anti-Right comments go unchallenged!
Bring it on. We have been quiet to long.
My boss is an Obama supporter. We really only talk about work or the weather these days.
Lloyd, the saddest part is that no matter how much we pretend the tension isn't there, it's always right at the edge. We pretend to be easy in our friendship ... but mutual contempt is never far from the surface. The saddest, hardest, worst part is that our leftist friends, like your very appropriate comparision to the Civil War days, are putting themselves in the way of being our enemies, threatening our lives and freedom, if not directly, then indirectly by siding with or reporting to oppressive government authorities their suspicions. Brother against brother, friend against friend. That, for me, is the most difficult aspect to anticipate.
I guess all we can do is wait for those friends to "come home," grieve if they choose to remain in the wrong, and pray for guidance in how we deal with new enemies who have been old friends.
I’ve never bought into the whole “agree to disagree” thing.
I may have to work with liberals/socialists, may have some as relatives, but they are DEFINITELY not my friends.
For me, friends must share the most or all of my values. I am polite to liberals/socialists, but it is only a facade. I will not be friends with someone who supports abortion on demand, government control over our businesses and lives, gun control, is anti-Constitution, and believes we “owe” more taxes to support people who birth children out of wedlock, refuse free education, etc etc.
I stopped “backing-off to be polite and avoid confrontation” about 2 years ago. I don’t let any liberal statement made in my presence go without my comment. I’ve found that if you speak up with some conviction and force in your voice, the other side will back-off.
In addition to not having to say to yourself later that you wished you would have spoken up, there’s a self-satisifying smugness that comes over you when the other side shuts up.
A liberal friend of mine found something wrong with everything George Bush did for eight solid years. Not only did he disagree with every single thing President Bush said, he insulted him personally as well. Now the worm has turned and I don’t intend to miss a chance to do the same for the next four years. Every dog has his (or her) day.
See my business website. It's cost me some business, but it's also brought me some as well.
I just ask them how that “Hope and Change” is working out for everyone they know? It usually stops the conversation...which is the best you can hope for.
Last week I sat through a online social media marketing presentation with the featured speaker being a gal hugely responsible for the execution of Obama’s online social media strategies.
McCain did not have a chance because first of all who he is, but second, because Obama’s social media strategy was from a marketing perspective so well executed.
The thing that came through more than anything was just how absolutely craven (tell them whatever they want to hear) Obama’s politically savvy tactics were with whatever demographic someone fit into. He is continuing that tactic today. They were and are still banking on friendly support from the media to give them “air cover.” They understood that without that air cover their “be all things to all people” tactic would not work.
Good for you, Lloyd. Btw, your song is wonderful. Keep up your good work for America.
Lose one false friend and find 100 true friends ... right here on Free Republic! :)
My relationship with my entire extended family has become strained since GW first ran for the presidency, and I made it clear to everyone that I was done voting for Democrats.
Through the eight years of George Bush, it became worse and worse, though we never completely cut communications with each other.
However, the ‘08 presidential campaign was finally “the straw that broke the camel’s back” for them (and for myself, somewhat). Our philosophical divisions have become so great that they now supersede our blood ties.
I’ve finally been relegated to “crazy old uncle” status, or something like that. I’m fairly ostracized from the clan at this point. Some of my familial connections are entirely broken, while others are diminished to the very infrequent and meaningless email.
They see me now as a traitor to my race, and as someone who’s fallen prey to the “haters” and “right-wing extremists”. I’m now in the “enemy” camp, as far as they’re concerned.
For my part, I view them the exact same way, except that I realize that they only bear allegiance to the left because of their lifelong indoctrination and steady ingestion of leftist misinformation. I feel sorry for them, more than anything else.
In the last few weeks, I’ve started completely avoiding discussing such things with loved ones who are of differing opinions. Should they start going on about emperor bammy, it’s time to change the subject or more likely, leave.
We’re facing the ever increasing possibility of seeing brother against brother and it makes me sick just thinking about it.
Got a call from a man who had seen my website and liked it. He's one of those North Idaho snowbirds - likes to pack up the RV and head for AZ in the winter. Owned a grocery and liquor store in Priest Lake for the last 27 years. Nice guy.
He had contacted a StarBand dealer in AZ to get service down there and for some additional gear for installation up here. The AZ dealer found my business website while she was searching for a local dealer to do an install. Well, she told my customer that, "He's an Obama hater - don't do business with him!"
He had a good chuckle over that, and told me that he was going to do business with me because he liked the fact that I was standing up for America.
A few days later, he called back, gave me the business and said that he had canceled the deal with the AZ Obama-lover. When he told the AZ Obamunist that he was going with my outfit, she flipped out and screamed that I was a racist.
To which he responded, "No - I think he's an American." And hung up on her.