Pissing off friends with politics.

[Stew225]

Have you had much experience with emailing friends and occasionally throwing in a, shall we say, something of liberal content; or forwarding the same to convservative friends?

I have prudently done this to many of my convservative friends and have had no major problem other than "good-natured" kidding in response.

However, today a lifelong friend with whom I've been emailing for over a year sent me a barrage of freeper forwards. The guy happens to be a Police Chief in Ohio and is a great guy overall. He and I have traded politic information and although he has admitted that he's not crazy about Bush, he really hates Kerry. Today's forwards have made me realize that I'm probably getting nowhere quickly. Besides, I don't want to ruin a lifelong friendship. It's at the point where I believe that he is so programmed that he'll never change his mind about Kerry.

What's a mother to do? Serve them Total? I learned many years ago that you can't logically argue with some people. My dad, for example, was like that. I got to the point where I realized that I was simply wasting precious energy trying to get through to him. Fortunately, politically, he and I were on the same wavelength. He was a lifelong and very active member of the Democratic Party.

So, have you had similar challenges? What are your thoughts on impacting a friendship with politics?

The first five replies will each win a year's supply of tractor grease.

[Melodybe]

1. Tell him to go see F 9/11 and decide for himself

Besides he has to be a bit curious to see what all the fuss is about.

I am generally friends with folks who have similar political views, but my diehard repub father in law who used to defend * all the time, now says that all politicians are bad. This is a big step for him, I am proud that my arguing has worked a little bit.

[Killarney]

2. if you know they will never change their mind

maybe you should agree to disagree and not discuss politics (nor email politics)

it's frustrating, I know.

[Melodybe]

4. MLK said that the second we are silient about the things that matter

we begin to die.

I agree with that, and his speeches concerning the Vietnam war are utterly chilling in today's context.

I think you should argue until your face is blue, that way you can atleast say you tried.

[livetohike]

3. My Libertarian friend and I

have lots of great, heated discussions, but we always end still friends as we know we will never change each other's mind. We've been friends for 24 years. My husband throws in his 2 cents as well, but he isn't as passionate about these things as I am. We are going to see Fahrenheit 911 together this weekend.

My father always told me that if you want to keep a friend, then don't discuss religion and politics. Fortunately, in this case, it hasn't ruined our friendship :-).

[ET Awful]

5. He's a police chief?

Did you give him a friendly little prod to remind him that Kerry is supporting the police union by not crossing their picket lines?

You'd think a police officer would appreciate Kerry's support of his brethren in other cities.

Most police consider themselves part of a larger fraternity and value such moves highly (as demonstrated by the fact that the police now say they won't picket the convention in Boston).

Of course F9/11 is a must see for him as well, offer to buy the ticket.

[Carni]

6. Yeah with inlaws and now we aren't speaking

AT ALL...

Do yourself a favor and just take a break from the guys emails if you want to remain on speaking terms.

[kikiek]

7. Cops and firefighters have been screwed over by Bush big time.

More cuts are on the way if he is reelected. Hope he can justify voting for a guy who is going to enact more cuts that will hurt his officers and the community he is chief for.

[The Flaming Red Head]

8. Humor them

And go on about your way, that’s what I do. I get tons of that stuff from family members and I delete almost all of it, especially if it’s a forward, and then when I have dinner with them I never bring up politics at all, if I can help it.

[funkybutt]

9. I constantly get freeper forwards from friends!

I'm so sick of it. I'm contemplating getting a list of good liberal things together to start emailing to them. Maybe then they'll get a taste of what it feels like.

Any good links I could do this with?

[Warren DeMontague]

11. Plug

http://impeachdubya.blogspot.com

Pissing off the right since some time this spring!~ :party:

[trof]

12. I do "twofers'.

Started a "politics" file in my Outlook Express e-mail.
Stuff I found here and at Buzzflash, The Hamster, in e-mails, and other sites.
For every piece of rw crap I get, I pick TWO from my file and copy and paste.
And ALWAYS "reply all".

[funkybutt]

15. Great Idea

that is right along the lines of what i was thinking!

[Kanary]

13. Have you seen any of TahitiNuts most excellent graphs?

They're clear, self-explanatory, and don't require *anything* from you...... the point gets made. And, certainly isn't easily refutable.

Good luck to you!

Kanary

[funkybutt]

16. would you happen to have a link?

my goodle search didn't turn anything up for TahitiNuts...or was that some kind of joke that i didn't get

[Kanary]

19. No joke..... ^_^

I wouldn't do that to you....... unless you had really ticked me off somehow. ~~chortle~~

He's a poster here, and has done some great graphs. I notice you have a star, so maybe you can try a search here. If you don't find anything, let me know, and I'll try to find some of his. Sadly, I didn't bookmark 'em, although I certainly should have.

Let me know if you need more help...

Kanary
on edit: here's one for ya......
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1887610

[Warren DeMontague]

10. Tell Him That Bush isn't *really* conservative Enough..

Look at the way he's spending money like it's going out of style. And he's obviously not as committed as some to dishing out the death penalty to the queers and sticking women in jail for using birth control pills.

So tell him to vote for the American Independent Party candidate or whatever other fringe fascist loony you can think of that might sound plausible to the guy. Sure, he's not going to vote for Kerry- give up on that- but maybe you can wave him off of voting for El Busho.

[Swamp Rat]

14. Occasionally I receive RW emails from family and friends.

If it pisses me off, I take their stupid little jab and twist it around. For instance, I received an email with a picture of a small barge and one jet airplane that said something like: "Kerry's leaner, cheaper ARMY." So, I turned my ire into creative energy and photo-shopped the picture into something I liked. Ha ha!

I wish I could post my latest creation, but I haven't found an upload site that would accept the images that I create - they remove anything they deem offensive. So, if you love Bush or Ashcroft, then you would be highly offended by what I say about them.

[gatlingforme]

17. I have had a great conversation with a local chief who said

he was vigorously independent but wanted me to change my mind on who I should support in the county sheriff's race. It was an interesting converstation.

[Wind Dancer]

18. Maybe you could simply send him some

info re: the *cuts and proposed cuts from law enforcement/firefighters since that affects him personally. Also, find out the figures each state receives per person re: homeland security. I don't have the link handy but NYC residents are receiving far less than those in SD.

Like most pubs, many just don't know the facts.

[Forkboy]

20. I dont get any emails period (thankfully)

and all my friends agree with my politics,or they are even further left than I am.I have no Republican friends (again,thankfully :) )