Do you avoid Repug relatives?

[La Coliniere]

I just don't feel guilty anymore about making up excuses to avoid having to attend family functions that occur at Republican relatives homes. I cannot break bread with these people any longer. Engaging in small talk to avoid any confrontation regarding politics at these events has become something I dread. The Republican outlook on life with its self centered ideology of wanting to live in a "me" society is entirely foreign to me. Call me immature. Call me ridiculous. I blame these people for being part of the mindset which has seriously put my enjoyment of life on hold until our national nightmare finally comes to an end. No more debates. No more heated arguments. I want them out of my life.
Anyone here feel the same? I know its tragic, but I just can't be near these folks if I can choose that option.

[benddem]

1. Don't have any

Yippee!!!

[Libby2]

3. Nor do I. Aren't we lucky?

But if I did have them, I would avoid them.

[niyad]

2. don't have any. being an orphan does have its advantages

[barbtries]

4. i moved to an eastern state

and my family remains on the west coast. i have avoided talking politics with my older brother and my sister for a few years now. given that bush's popularity is so low and the democrats are making such huge gains in the electorate, i am curious to know if either has come around. but i don't ask. i suppose at some point one or both of them will reveal their beliefs and i'll know whether we can talk about it. other friends with die hard republican friends and/or relatives have told me stories of their relatives having done a 180 because bush has done such a spectacularly poor job as president.

ps. i didn't move to get away from my loved ones, and they are still my loved ones. i patiently wait for them to pull their heads out of their asses, and in the meantime we talk about the new baby, the weather, etc - their health, my new job. i do feel a slight loss in not feeling free to express my feelings but in all honesty i have politics on my mind about 90% of the time any more. that may not be healthy.

[La Coliniere]

6. My immediate family members

are all Democrats or independents. The relatives I'm speaking about are aunts, uncles and cousins. I don't think any of those folks have turned around and I don't think they will. They're part of the 27% who are true blue Kool-Aid drinkers.

[calimary]

17. Many of my relatives on both sides are either gone or they live far away.

So I don't have that struggle, and I'm not sure how well I'd handle it, or whether I'd let my anger at that mindset seep out. But I do know that some of them ARE capable of doing a 180. We live next door to one such example. DIE-hard Republican. I give 'em a capital letter because they seem to revere old-style Eisenhower Republican ideals - by way of maybe an unfortunate amount of reaganism. But they didn't vote for junior in 2000 - they were mcsame people back then because, as one of them said, "he's SO STOOOOOOpid." Just before the California primary in February, as I was driving home, I about ran up on the curb - these same people had a big bright Obama sign posted in their front yard!

I NEVER thought I'd see the day. And we just yesterday ran into the guy who manages the storage units closest to us. He, too, said he was very likely to vote for Obama, because he didn't like the alternative, and thought his side had had enough opportunity to screw things up. "I think I'm gonna do it. I think we should vote for this new guy. Let's see what happens." That came as a pleasant surprise, also. And those aren't the only stories I've personally witnessed, either.

Souls CAN be saved. Not all, but quite a few. Maybe more than we realize. Hell, even my late mother realized (not soon enough for the 3004 election, though) that these bastards - as she put it - "really let everybody down." (Happy Mother's Day, Mom - wherever you are.)

[juajen]

5. No, now it's obama supporters.

NT

[depakid]

8. Bullshit

Far right or fundie family members are often downright unpleasant- or have character issues (actually, ANYONE who's still a Republican has suspect character in this day and age).

As the old saying goes- you can't choose your family -but you CAN choose to avoid them. And sometimes that's the best choice.

[notfullofit]

19. Sorry but

I love my family more than politics.

A politician is a politician, they come and go and when push comes to shove, they all look out for #1 (Pelosi and Reid come to mind)

[depakid]

21. That's an individual choice

As I've gotten older, I've found that certain behaviors and irrational beliefs are simply unacceptable and I won't enable or burden my SO with them.

As I implied above- that's quite independent of which particular politician one supports. It goes far deeper than that.

For instance, I have a family member who worked hard in the JAG to legitimize the use of torture. Sorry to say, but since his last rant- I don't want anything to do with him (among a couple of others).

<on edit: not sure whether he was working on this stuff under the auspices of JAG- I think it was some other department the army assigned him too.>

[notfullofit]

24. I guess some

families are closer than others but warts and all, they are still my family and I will love them no matter what.

[depakid]

26. Has little to do with how close families are or aren't

I won't violate Godwin's law, but some things are and should be thicker than blood.

The same thing can be said about love or loyalty of individuals to nations.

[Generic Brad]

42. Lucky for you

I am not so lucky.

My own mother called me a baby killer when she found out I was going to vote for John Kerry. She was openly campaigning within the family to have them exert pressure on me to end my interracial marriage. I was told New Orleans flooded because of the immorality of people like me.

Some warts are infected. I cannot love people who make all their love conditional upon doing and thinking exactly as they say and then pronouncing my soul will roast in hell forever if I defy their opinions.

[sudopod]

45. O_o

Dang, brother, that's a tough place to be in. :(

[OwnedByFerrets]

7. YES!!!

[AlCzervik]

9. i really only have one, i would avoid him if he were liberal instead of a conservative.

he should just be avoided.

[Juche]

10. I avoid politics with them

At least I try to. It is damn frustrating how arrogantly misinformed they are on fucking everything (taxes, economics, policy, foreign policy, what the candidates are and stand for). Ugh. I'd love to have an informed, rational republican who I can debate with in my family. I wouldn't want everyone I know to have the same opinions I do as I'd never learn anything that way, but I'd like people with differing opinions to not say things that are factually incorrect 80-90% of the time. I've looked and cannot find any informed republicans to debate with. its probably in part because all the true conservatives have left the republican party by now and only the irrational dittoheads and the people who aren't paying attention are left.

I don't think you can subscribe to 'republican' values like small government, low taxes for the middle class, the constitution, individual freedom, a competent foreign policy, etc. and still vote for the current GOP unless you are either irrational, not paying attention or misinformed. When I think of rational republicans (who I still disagree with on a variety of issues mind you) I think of Ron Paul or Cenk Uygur. But they aren't republicans anymore. Paul is a libertarian more or less, Uygur is a democrat.

Fuck it. I just avoid the issue.

[mitchtv]

11. well, yes largely

tho, I still see them at times, their children are not pukes.

[mdmc]

12. not at all

I love watching my bushbot relatives eat crow.
These people that called me on 5-1-03 to ask if I changed my mind now that the war is over.
NO! The war was wrong. It was poor policy. Poorly planned. No exit.
I love seeing my repug relatives.
This is my time (before President Obama breaks our hearts).

[Mutley]

13. Nope.

I love most of my family. We all tend to avoid talking about politics, and have no problems finding many other things in common. There is more to a person than his or her political beliefs.

[hwmnbn]

14. Yep, I avoid those holiday family functions like the plague..

Only children's birthday parties are the exception. However, we never discuss politics and the small talk gets used up pretty quick.

I don't mind the separation anymore.

[mnhtnbb]

15. My brother and his wife are die-hard Republicans. I used to make the

dutiful holiday visit every December to see them when they lived near Philly. Last summer they moved back to California. I went in November and swore I wasn't going again. I wasn't in the house 5 minutes with my brother when the Hillary jokes started (and I'm not even a Hillary fan). I told him as long as he told one Bush joke for every Dem joke, he could keep going. That stopped him--cold.

Earlier this year my sister in law sent me one of those hideous full of BS--erroneous facts
e-mails. It was so bad I hit reply all and boy, that started a war with someone on her
e-mail list.

I'm so sick of biting my tongue around them.

Thank goodness the distance from NC to CA is now an excuse I can use for not visiting.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

16. Mostly Where politics are concerned.

Unless they're seeing if they can rile me up.

Then I remind them why this is often a silly idea. :evilgrin:

[juno jones]

18. Yup.

I agree.

[angstlessk]

20. I avoid my son because he chose a different path...and I would just be

a problem. I could not accept his way, so I had to leave him to raise his family as he saw fit. He has sent his children to Christian schools and one of the last times I left his house at the doorway, I do not recall the conversation only that I remarked "nothing wrong with being gay" the children both gasped as if I said I was glad Jesus died or something as outrageous. So I have just slipped out of their lives so they can live it as they deem fit.

[notfullofit]

23. How sad. nt

[Fireweed247]

27. Strangely the "Christians" are the most judgmental bunch

whereas Jesus was the greatest non judgmental example to them all. That never has made sense to me.

[blondeatlast]

22. Nope, because I don't have any--honestly, I don't. nt

[lonestarnot]

25. Yes. Brother voting for McDrain. Haven't talked since.

[Fireweed247]

28. The last time I saw a relative they were racing out of my driveway

because my husband was trying to show them a video of the WTC7 falling. They literally would not watch it and freaked out and left. Maybe we shouldn't talk politics with family but I believe as MLK stated "Silence is Betrayal" and I will not stand by and watch this country destroyed without a fight. Many years ago 'someone' began the meme that one shouldn't talk politics with family so we began the path of small talk and look where we have gotten. I imagine it started with the denial that must have occurred after the murder of JFK. That was so freaking obviously a crime committed by our CIA that no one could talk about it because it was so horrible and unthinkable.

I still have a hard time driving around town though, watching everyone go on with their lives after the horror of 9/11 and what our government has done, the evil war crimes in Iraq, the atrocities in New Orleans at the hands of our government...no one seems to care...too busy living their lives...

[HughMoran]

29. I avoid all Repugs. I refuse to give the small business owners my business

if they are known Repugs, they don't get my business.

[Blarch]

30. I tell them how I feel.

I tell them they have betrayed the nation.

I told my brother-in-law that if elections are cancelled`and I have to live under a dictator I will unload my gun in his face...in short I will kill him and anybody else who supports the new dictator.

I explained to him that if we drop bombs on Iran and kill more innocent people, I will find him and beat the shit out of him.

Sorry...I WILL fight for this nation.

[sudopod]

48. Nonviolent civil disobedience

It werks, yo.

[Blarch]

60. So...

we should have never fought the civil war ?

Like I said, I am willing to fight for my country. Sitting on my hands while the country is taken is not a good idea.

[NC_Nurse]

31. I'm moving in with them this summer. My dad is a RW Repub. My mom has

really severe dementia and we are moving down there to help out. I love my dad, but I'm not
looking forward to Fox news on the TV every day and my dad's hero - Bill O'Reilly...:puke:

I'll be downstairs on my computer a lot. :-) Please help me stay sane.

[Ilsa]

34. Oh Dear. Come home to DU when it gets too hard to bear upstairs. Hugs to you nt

[NC_Nurse]

39. Thank you, Sweetie!

:hug: :hug:

[sudopod]

49. YOU

are a great American. I salute you!

:patriot:

[Blue_In_AK]

32. I don't have any...

We're Democrats through and through, even the ones who have married into the family.

[Ilsa]

33. Yeah, I have an unle about 600 miles away that no longer has my email.

I was tired of spending so much time every day refuting the lies in his stupid bullshit stories. I always "Replied to to All" although only half of them accepted the email.

[Anarchy in Detroit]

35. indeed

Yeah I stopped talking to my boss at work and to my cousins because they are, well, dumb. Never a good response from a Republicant. You can literally break down everything they say argument by argument, point by point, until their only recourse is their supposed morals and their fake harda*s stuff.

In particular I avoid my cousins from Georgia. I'd rather talk to my dog. "Maaan! I cayn't wait to git back to Iraq! Yeh jes drink beer and shoot ragheads awll day!" I s**t you not.

[LucyParsons]

36. Yes

But not so much because they're Republicans as because, frankly, they're ignorant and boring, and I have nothing I want to talk to them about.

Once my grandparents die, I am coming out of the closet (as an atheist and socialist), and they can take it or leave it. I expect a flurry of evangelizing emails, and then years of silence.

[Renaissance Man]

37. I think I have the best story!

My aunt visited my grandmother about a month ago when my grandmother went in for surgery and some family just happened to be in town (worried about grandmother of course) and after grandma came out of surgery, the family started discussing politics.

There was grandma, somewhat reclined in her favorite chair, after the family was discussing Sen. Obama and the primaries when an aunt (grandma's daughter) of mine stated, "Well, (her husband) and I are Republicans!" Shit hit the fan, and whatever pain medicine grandma was taking must have not been strong.

*Note: Grandma is an African-American woman, born in the Jim Crow South.

So, as the story goes, after my aunt's declaration of being a Republican, grandma tells her, "How could you be so got-damn stupid?"

At this point, I'm literally biting my tongue trying to hold laughter.

Aunt answers, "Well, the Republicans are against abortion?"

Grandma says, "Yeah, they're so pro-life, but they don't have a problem with sending 4,000 soldiers off to die in a war over a lie?"

Dead silence. I think that the aunt was given a harsh pill to swallow.

[Anarchy in Detroit]

40. Abortion rocks! Kill em all!

Gah abortion. If ever there was a bullshit issue it was this one.

YES. Let people have a child they don't want and may conceivably not take care of when you yourself refuse to pay welfare for said uncared for child. They hate you after you're done being a cute little bastard.

FACT: Dick Cheney is powered by the remains of unborn fetuses.

[Useful Idiot]

55. And if your mother aborted you?

The ultimate irony of the pro-abortion supporter!

A hypothetical:

If somehow you had the conscience choice to be aborted or not-Would you wish to be aborted???

[FourScore]

43. Great story!

My Mom keeps telling me the best part of getting old is that you don't have to watch out for what you say anymore. She blurts everything out that comes to her mind now. No apologies either. It's great to see.

[FourScore]

38. I love my family too much. I would never turn my back on them for their shortcomings. :-)

Southerners are taught that it's best not to talk about politics or religion amongst friends and family. Especially those who have differing opinions. That rule works well for me in those situations.

[Hobarticus]

41. Sad to say, yes...

I'll ask for a detailed attendance report at any family event before I'll show up.

[XOKCowboy]

44. No

I just don't talk politics with them. I'm not going to change them and they're definitely not going to change me. Believe it or not, people are not defined by their politics. Besides they are my family and my friends. I have shortcomings that they overlook too.

[tuckessee]

46. I avoid the apolitical. n/t

[graywarrior]

47. Yes

[hughee99]

50. Not at all.

My brother and father are repugs. As repukes go, they're not that bad, they make "reasonable" arguments, that I disagree with, but they're not fundies, so political arguments never devolve into "it's immoral" or "because the bible says so". Both of them lean far more to the libertarian side of things, and their argument on most issues is that it's not the government's place to get involved. In many cases, this comes from a distrust of the government, and while I may disagree on what the government's role is, the current administration has made it much easier for me to see where they're coming from.

[nadinbrzezinski]

51. i know exactly how you feel

and my former friends who are pugs showed their true colors not over bush, but over a door falling on toe two years ago.

Lets just say that when that bidness finally closes I will not be shocked, or sad. or for that matter care

[Kool Kitty]

52. I do the best I can to avoid the repiggies in the family.

My Father-in-Law is the worst. My husband just got back from a visit to him, alone. I would not go. I told him that it was too expensive for both of us to fly out there (FIL lives in Wisconsin, we live in NJ) and while it is important for him to see his Dad, it isn't really important for me. It would be non-stop FOX news and why everything bad that has happened since the fall of the Roman Empire is the fault of the Clintons. Unbearable. (He came home saying that his Father had lost his mind.) My Brother-in-Law is a little easier. If you don't talk politics, all is well. I love seeing my Sister, so I try to stay away from the head-exploding topics. But it ain't easy.

[pfitz59]

53. yes too many are repugs

they're living hand to mouth. blame everyone but bush

[Mike Daniels]

54. I have relatives on both sides and in my case.....

the Republican relatives are universally loving, open minded and compassionate while a portion of the Democratic relatives are bigoted and racist.

Guess who'd I'd rather spend my holidays and free time with?

[undeterred]

56. Yes, I do.

My BIL says stupid things and it infuriates me. They buy into 'family values' crap and don't notice all the children Bush is killing.

[Useful Idiot]

57. Silly and immature

No of course not. I do not avoid family members of differing political views. I have far more important things to talk about and do with my family then worrying about politics 24/7. It sounds like your problems with your family run deeper than political views and your using politics simply as an excuse so you dont have to address the deeper issues.

My Sister is a hard core Republican: supports the war, pro-life, etc. But she has a brilliant mind none the less and I enjoy the contrast and intellectual challenge engaging her on her views provides. It helps me to crystalize my views on things.

[babylonsister]

66. Because you say it is? Speaking of silly...

:eyes:

I haven't talked to my brother in several years because of his political views. He is not brilliant but has swallowed the kool-aid. We have nothing in common other than our parents, and we both prefer our current relationship. Now we don't fight.
Not silly or immature to me, but it does keep my blood pressure down.
Unless you have walked a mile in someone else's moccasins, please don't be so judgmental.

[Maureen1322]

58. I could never stay away

from my siblings because of politics. When I have been down and needed help in my life I never called a politician. Honestly, I find this post ridiculous.

[MadHound]

59. Yes, I have a whole family full of 'Pug relatives

I simply don't allow politics to become the overriding factor in our relationship. Life is entirely too short for that sort of shit. Yes, we've been through the heated debates, etc. and yet have decided not to let politics ruin our relationship.

Hell, if I made some sort of "no Republican" rule, I would have to not interact with at least half my extended family, and I refuse to do that.

[Perry Logan]

61. Not since they all died mysteriously...

...and horribly.

[notadmblnd]

62. No, I rub their noses in the shit every time they complain about high gas prices,

high food prices and the lack of jobs. Believe me, they're complaining now, just as loud as any of us have the past 6 years.

[treestar]

63. It would be impossible to

I just say my piece in response to their idiocy and am then done with it.

My family is Catholic and of course will vote for McSame over abortion. I've tried stating reasonably that the people being killed in Iraq were born and known and have relatives who will want to avenge them and that ultimatly, those deaths are worse. They will lead to more hatred of America and more deaths in vengeance that mean each one of those deaths is a multiple of every "death" caused by abortion. If I repeat this often enough, it might penetrate some thick heads. They are liberal on everything else, and for some reason this one issue just overrides everything else for them.

I've tried pointing out that the republican nominees for the Supreme Court may overturn Roe v. Wade, but the same ones are also willing to overrule the Bill of Rights to the greatest extent possible, but apparently my relatives would as soon live in a police state, so long as there was no abortion.

If we could only develop forms of birth control that would make abortion obsolete. It would go a long way to get rid of that issue.

[Papagoose]

64. I don't avoid the relatives, I avoid political discussion

Family comes before politics for me - and I try very hard to keep politics out of it when I'm with my family. My Mom is a registered Republican, but openly admits that George Bush is the worst President ever (she voted for him twice). If you go through the issues with her, she sides Democrat about 90% of the time, yet votes Republican. I expect her to vote for McCain and then complain about how bad he is if he wins. My brother is a wannabe redneck - calls Bush a hero - thinks the Republicans are going to "kick some terrorist ass" - won't vote for Barack Hussein Osama and all that BS.

It's not much easier at friends and neighbors. Living in NW Georgia, Democrats are very far and few between. I just had a neighbor who I don't even know very well come over on Saturday and ask me to remove the Obama bumper sticker from my car. He told me that someone might break a window or key the car. I'm taking him at his word that he was just acting out of concern - I'm pretty sure he wasn't threatening me or at least I hope!

[Echo In Light]

65. We only have a few extended ones who are, so they're very easy to avoid yr round

We can be civil, but there's obviously too much difference in world view and priorities.

[Dorian Gray]

67. No...

At family functions we all get along fine. Politics rarely come up when my entire family (cousins and aunts and uncles) get together.

[Mudoria]

68. Not at all. Still my family and if we have disagreements about

different political viewpoints then that's all it is: disagreements. Throwing someone under the bus because of political beliefs or if they don't pander to your particular worldview is just childish.

[City Lights]

69. No. But I do avoid talking politics with them.

I have one who is so far gone that she won't even believe Snopes. In her world, Snopes is just another opinion.

[Jamastiene]

70. Like the plague. n/t

[baby_mouse]

71. I have one Born-Again Christian relative, She isn't allowed to know my phone number. NT