anecdotes from a Repub's (private) party

[wordpix]

I have one friend who's a Republican. She is not the brightest bulb politically but she helped me out in a time of need and has been a friend for 20 years. Over the weekend I went to a party at her home, which sits on large acreage. It was a pool party, cookout and shooting party (guns and bows/arrows).

The first trouble I ran into was with a Navy vet who just left the service after 20-some years. When he told me he had been to the Mideast including Iraq, I said, "Sorry," and he asked why. I said I thought we never should have gone into Iraq and went there under false pretenses including WMDs that would be used against US. The Navy man said that wasn't the whole story and Obama has totally f-d up the ME and handed Iraq to the enemy. I said that al-Maliki ordered us out of there since he didn't want to play ball with us or the Sunnis and have a pluralistic society. The vet said that wasn't correct and started to scream about Obama leaving a whole pile of s-t there, and he was responsible for all the deaths of his buddies and those deaths meant nothing now b/c we gave Iraq back to the Iraqis. At this point, another vet who was present at the party had to take Navy man aside to calm him down.

A little while later, I sat down at a table of women who were talking about Trump. One of the women began ragging on Obama, saying he "just lets our enemy do what they want and he says here, go build your nuclear bombs." I said very pleasantly, "I think you're oversimplifying just a bit." I started to add that I had seen a Kerry assistant on TV who explained the agreement...and then this woman went off the wall, yelling over me in mid-sentence. I said, "Excuse me, I was in the middle of a sentence," and she screamed nastily, "I don't CARE!" I left the table saying, "You are rude."

I don't know a lot of repugs personally except for the friend who hostessed and a couple of family members who are fairly moderate but this group is full of crazies. REally, the repug party is attracting so many stupid people who cannot listen to reason or facts.

[elleng]

1. They specialize in 'uninformed,'

it's how repug party succeeds, been doing it for years, and getting worse and worse.

[Populist_Prole]

2. That certainly sounded like a trying situation for you.

It certainly would have been for me. To be in the midst of a large group where every person was afflicted with confirmation bias so badly, they can't think critically/rationally: That would be too much for me.

[1939]

3. My old Vietnam buddy is somewhere to the right of Louis XIV

But he is my buddy. I let him rant for a bit and then try to change the subject to something else. If he persists, I just start to agree with him and go even further to the right than he is. When he finally winds down, we have a good time together (and he buys the most expensive sipping whiskey). No way will I trash him for his political beliefs.

[Populist_Prole]

5. I've tried that before a few times with my RW father

"I just start to agree with him and go even further to the right than he is"

I don't actually "agree" with him but make it vague enough to sound like I might.

What's interesting is his complete change of tone. For example, if I'm arguing from a a perspective leftward of his, he gets really nasty and insulting and yields not a fraction of an inch. Now, if I go full circle and argue from a "Bircher" or libertarian type perspective, he gets dismayed, but exhibits more of a "let's find a common ground" type tone, as if my heart is in the right place but I'm going the wrong way about it.

Messing with his head by using mind games is the only way I can stick it to him, argumentally sometimes.

[olddots]

4. I can barely tolerate anyone since 2000

the country changed drastically and lines were drawn that may take another 15 years to desolve so people can feel more comfortable with each other .At this stage of humanity alot of people seem to take great pride in being educared to remain uneducated.

[Ron Green]

6. They're mostly holding on to their property and their fear.

On some level they know by now that most thoughtful people disagree with their black/white world view, and that the bullshit called "history" to which we've all been subjected is coming up short.

But they have their acreage and their pool and their weapons, and can't imagine how much work it would be to evolve beyond those things in their limited remaining time.

[Populist_Prole]

7. Yeah. Bunker mentality

They do have weird swings though:

Sometimes they vacillate between bravado where they swear up and down they represent the true majority of the "real america" and other times they act they're the last holdouts even as the rest of the world has gone to pot.

Common theme is anger and fear, even through all the tough talking and chest beating.