I may have burned a bridge.... but they made me do it.

[Lisa0825]

A friend sent me some non-political stuff with his whole list CC'd on it. They were all law enforcement guys, and when they saw a "girl" reply to the joke I got about a dozen replies with good natured ribbing. Then my friend said my "only fault" was that I was a liberal. He has known for years not to go down that road with me. He is the only Republican friend I have left because we do not discuss politics.

I jokingly warned his buddies "not to go down that road," but they did anyway. The last response I got was this:

"Liberals are crime victims awaiting to get mugged. Conservatives are former crime victims. Liberalism is a disease, look it up in the Manual of Diagnostic Medicine, published by The Reagan Library and it's cure Conservatism."

I know I could have picked better links, but I was mad and in a hurry, so I grabbed the first few I could think of/google

I replied:

Look, you won't like me at all by the time this fight is done, and I won't like y'all much either, so please don't pick this fight with me.

http://www.downingstreetmemo.com/

http://oldamericancentury.org/bushco/bush_crime_family.htm

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1627427,00.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plame_affair

http://www.republicansexoffenders.com/

And I have so many more to choose from, but I don't want to overdo it.

I am sure you can get the standard talking points from Rush or O'Lielly to excuse every illegal or immoral thing any Republican has ever done as you condemn liberals, but I think 10 years down the road or more, the history books will include descriptions of the extreme corruption of the Republican Party and the majority of players in the Bush Administration. Bush was crooked in Texas, so I expected no less from him. Now, I won't be responding to anything political on this list again. So respond if you wish, but remember, I nicely tried to not go down this road.

I am now drinking a glass of wine and hoping they won't reply because it will take all my willpower to delete their messages and not let them get to me.

[liberalmuse]

1. LOL. Great job!

Don't let them get to you. You're the one who is not afraid of truth.

[Lisa0825]

8. I really didn't want to do it because I have known this friend for

7 years now, and he's a really decent guy. Since I trained him not to talk politics with me, I have really been able to just deny that part of him. But he's the one who brought this on, and I wasn't going to let a bunch of thugs get their laughs about the "silly liberal." There are about 30 law enforcement, retired law enforcement, and military guys on that list. I really don't think they expected this "girl" to stand up to them on their jokes.

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. Raising my glass to yours!

Ya done good! :hi:

[ColbertWatcher]

5. Here, here! n/t

[Lisa0825]

12. Your sig line

is probably how I felt when their replies started coming in... :rofl:

[Lisa0825]

11. Thanks! :-)

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. Well...

Sometimes, as much as you hate to do it, you just have to roll up that newspaper and swat them puppies on the ass.

[TechBear_Seattle]

10. Because if you don't, you know they will pee on the floor and chew up the slippers. n/t

[Lisa0825]

14. LMAO!

I hadn't seen your reply yet when I replied below! :rofl:

[Lisa0825]

13. If only they had only peed on the floor...

instead of pissing on my good mood!

[KingOfLostSouls]

4. If they work in law enforcement

tell them to stop working their TAX PAYER SUPPORTED governmental jobs, pensions, and health care and go join the private sector and see how they compare having no pension, no job security, and no health care.


then get back to us about the grand wonders of corporate conservatism and the wonders its done for america.

[Lisa0825]

16. Very good points!

If I wasn't so riled up by them and thinking more clearly, maybe I would have said that!

The thing is, my friend should know better because 6 years ago we went round and round on this and he finally gave up! :rofl: He'd left me alone ever since!

[a la izquierda]

61. I have absolutely used that logic

with my brother in law, an ultra conservative sheriff.

[AirmensMom]

6. Bookmarking this

so I can use it next time I need to.

Good job! :thumbsup:

[Lisa0825]

18. There are so many more links out there that are even better...

but my blood was boiling and I just had to get it sent NOW!!!

[AirmensMom]

24. I certainly can understand that!

I've been getting a lot of right wing hate mail lately from people I've specifically asked not to send me such things. My husband can just let them go, but I have to answer them. If I can find a Snopes link, I send it to the entire list. It makes me so angry that lies are being sent to so many people by others who don't bother to find out the truth. Fortunately, I haven't had to deal with personal attack like you have ... yet. That would make me REALLY mad!

[Ian David]

7. Set-up a throw-away email address on Yahoo or something and supply them with left-wing information.

One year or so should be about long enough.

[Lisa0825]

19. Ohhhhh.... good idea... heheh

I'll keep that one in case they won't let up on me. If they back off, I'll let it go.

[Ian David]

42. Even if they back off, use the throw-away address on them for a few months.

Use a male pseudonym.

Change the address every couple of months in case they block you.

A year should suffice.

[woo me with science]

9. Just correct the grammar and usage, and send it back.

There were two glaring errors in just the brief sample you copied here.

[Lisa0825]

20. Yeah, I thought of that and let it go... LOL

I figured they'd call me an elitist for having better grammar than them. :rofl:

[eshfemme]

15. I think you should avoid any sort of smart aleck name puns because it'll make it too easy for them

to make fun of you or your arguments. Also, simply linking them to those websites will be of limited use because they probably won't click and read-- you need to give it to them in easy digestible bits. Also, I know it's hard but try not to seem too extreme-- I think the republicansexoffenders site was pushing it (because it's easily shrugged off by the RWers) and the site about the Bush family because the evidence is easily dismissed for being a conspiracy theory of some sort. The main thing is to avoid having them trivialize you as a tinfoil hat while maximizing your ability to beat them in the ground logically.

I think one good starting argument is to ask how they explain the past 8 years. If conservatives are supposed to celebrate independence, why do they not respect personal boundaries or privacy and attempt to legislate things only a Big Brother type of government would? It also says a lot that they don't even respect your request to not go there-- and I think it's also fucking cowardly of your friend to knowingly pick this fight knowing that he had his conservative buddies to back him up. Yeah, that's waaaaaaay macho that your friends needs a whole posse just to back him up against the scary little woman. :sarcasm:

[Lisa0825]

22. You're probably right, but....

I really don't want to get into a debate with them. I just wanted to hit and run to prove to them that I was not someone they should even want to get started with! LOL

I am not good at taking on people who oppose me in a political fight. I get too angry and I don't like it.

[eshfemme]

27. That's too bad and I hope that you at least give your friend a good talking to.

That is just not cool. If he's your friend, he shouldn't be setting up a situation where he's essentially bullying you. It's cowardly of him and it's also something that's very disrespectful of such a long friendship.

[WestHoustonDem]

17. All they can offer is jokes, lies and one liners

I know that this has been an important friend of yours, but when he didn't respect your wishes and stop sending you this crap, you did the right thing.

:toast: :hug:

[Lisa0825]

25. He's probably laughing his ass of right now!

I don't think he meant any harm. I think he thought it would be funny to watch the fireworks. This has been his first infraction in years. I'm giving him a pass on this, but if it happens a second time, his WIFE will hear from me, and she'll have his ass on a platter! :rofl:

[Historic NY]

21. Take no guff, hook'em & book'em and don't look back........

hey you can always send their mail to the spam file. I've done the same and it drives them nuts that they can't annoy me.

[Lisa0825]

31. The funny thing about my friend is

he actually is liberal on many issues, but just doesn't realize it... has gay and lesbian friends, respects the illegal immigrants who come to work hard and make a decent living but things the system is broken, doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone else's decision to abort, etc.... but because he spent his entire life in the military and law enforcement, he thinks he's a republican. The other guys on the list actually sound a lot worse than him.

If they can behave and not send me political shit, maybe eventually they'll learn some things from me. If they can't, it will be off to spam for them!

I bet they are shocked that I even stood up to them, so there's a point in my favor :evilgrin:

[Naturyl]

23. It happens. Unfortunate but it was their choice.

If they insist on making their bad character an issue, you can't be blamed for reacting to it appropriately.

[Lisa0825]

32. So far only one of them has replied to me, and it was positive! I am shocked!

I will post it as a reply to the thread after I finish responding to others :)

[Ghost in the Machine]

26. Excellent job, Lisa! Thanks for linking to my site, too...

I own republicansexoffenders.com ...

:hi:

[Lisa0825]

33. It's a great site!

I have sent that link to many people! :yourock:

[Habibi]

28. In my experience,

supplying mostly links never sways anyone. You can't really induce them to go read them.

But, those *are* good links!

[Lisa0825]

34. Yeah, I know,

but I didn't have the patience to type out my POVs on all those issues. And I figured for most of those links, you could tell what they were about without even clicking, so they would know instantly what I thought of their Grand Old Party. I really wanted to shut them up more than anything, and it seems to have worked! :woohoo:

[Boxerfan]

29. Burn Baby Burn- Ignorance inferno!!!

Burn that mother down..

Sorry for the disco-couldn't help it.

You are dealing with a fairly sick bunch with bad motives & unlimited resources. Jsut don't let it get elevated.They have too much info from your e-mail addy already.

[Lisa0825]

37. I think they are more ignorant than anything.

I don't want it to elevate. I just wanted to shut them up. I don't think they would pursue me or anything. They're just blowhards.

[seabeyond]

30. i have republicans. they dont tease anymore. a few forget and talk politics still

and i never apologize when i go into my rant. told them all before 2004 not to go down that road. and we are ALL sorry when one of them thinks they might get a jab in

[Lisa0825]

40. I used to have a few other Republican friends, but

eventually they tired of me calling them on BS. in late 2001, one of my best friends from high school said that a new McCarthyism "is just fine as long as it makes me safer!" I completely lost respect for her at that point. We argued about it that night and we never called each other again after that.

[seabeyond]

44. mine are family. i dont get to just drop them

lol, they are all males with kids. i take care of ALL of them and their emotional needs, lol. damn good thing i am a liberal.

i am in a very conservative fundamentalist area. since about 2004 i have been isolating self from the people i knew. i cant listen to it anymore either.

anyway, i am checking for updates if any of these guys are man enough to reach out an olive branch, admitting that liberal are good people too. kinda a cant we all get along kinda thing

[Canuckistanian]

35. Whoa, you chose great links

And if you DO get responses, ignore them.

Those articles DESERVE some long contemplation. Anyone who responds right away isn't reading them.

That took a lot of courage. Congratulations.

[Lisa0825]

41. Thanks!

So far, they have been vewwwwy quiet!

[Canuckistanian]

50. Heh

[Lisa0825]

58. Yep!

That's what I was goin' for! LOL!

[FatDave]

36. These are extreme times.

I don't talk to my father or my brother-in-law anymore.

[Lisa0825]

43. My brother is strange....

He works with a bunch of rednecks, but this is a union town. He went through a Bush allegiance period of time, but I think he's coming back to his roots. His wife is black, and his redneck friends gave him quite a bit of shit for that, and I think now she is a much bigger influence on him than they had been.

[Ilsa]

38. Good for you. You tried to play nice. Enjoy your well-deserved glass of wine. nt

[Lisa0825]

45. I'm enjoying my second now....

so pardon any typos you may find! :rofl:

[Ilsa]

60. I'm on my first glass. Have to get to bed very soon, though. And

screw the bastards for being so stupid. Let them rot. :rofl:

[MJW]

39. I know how you feel

I recently told two family members to quit sending me hate E mail re:Obama . I skipped my family reunion this year because of it. I know they both had a wonderful time discussing my mental health (according to them any progressive is mentally ill)



I am SO THROUGH with their crap

[Lisa0825]

46. It's stories like yours that make me glad

that I have a realllllly small family!LOL :pals:

[MJW]

49. I have cuz'ns by the dozens

and I just could not take it any more !I have tried to reason with some of them but they just think I am an eccentric and somewhat "cute " old Liberal GRRRRRRR!!!:hippie: :hi:

[Lisa0825]

47. UPDATE: I have only received TWO replies from them!

One was a really silly reply meant to be funny, not offensive.

But the other one was actually positive! He replied to me only, not the list, and said that he usually just tells them to "go to hell" when they go off about politics. I don't want to post his whole reply in case they do come across this on the internets, but here is a snippet:

"I take them on every once in awhile & keep telling my self to get out, but I don't want them to think they are right all time....
Give them hell girl, I am behind you all the way."

He also sent a reply to the list just saying "Go Girl!" :loveya:

The rest seem to have taken my advice and backed off! :rofl:

[alittlelark]

51. I'm tipping my Pinot Noir to you !

It is often the spur of the moment 'little things' that can make the most difference!:beer: :smoke: :toast:

[Lisa0825]

54. Maybe some of them are closet doubters!LOL nt

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

52. So, you asserted a pure heart. It had an impact. Now, maybe,...

,...a stronger relationship among those guys will develop.

Congratulations!!! You reached out to those who were presenting closed doors.

They didn't intend to LOCK those doors.

[Lisa0825]

55. I really think they were surprised at my reaction....

I take this shit seriously. They joke. The reason I hate debating those folks is that it gets me so wound up. But so many people like them just don't take it seriously. It's all a joke a la Rush Limpballs. All in fun. NO. It's NOT. And if they think I will just sit back and take their ridicule, they are wrong. They will either respect me by not picking a fight, or I'll confront their idiotic ideas.

[lonestarnot]

48. Oh so gooooooooooooood on you!

:applause: :thumbsup: and keep you pinkie on delete.

[Lisa0825]

56. Thanks!

So far, so good... only 2 replies, and one was positive :woohoo:

[lonestarnot]

59. Woot! Standing at the gates of hell and won't back down!

:woohoo:

[derby378]

53. Lisa, I think you done earned yourself a frozen margarita

Top shelf, natch. :woohoo:

[Lisa0825]

57. That will have to wait for the weekend!

But yeah, you're right! :pals: