A glimmer of hope in a probable freeper?

[zbdent]

Against a few fellow protesters' suggestions, I engaged in a debate with someone who had told me something along the lines of "go home" (I live in Richfield, probably have paid more taxes than this twerp).

The guy had Freeper written all over him (this was after the 80+ year old woman and I had a momentary discussion).

Through the conversation, I found out:

He supports the President (meaning Bush)

He supported Clinton (I told him that, somehow, I didn't really believe him).

He felt that supporting Saddam Hussein throughout the years prior to 1991 was a mistake, and that we can learn from our mistakes, "right?"

I may have struck a nerve, at least, when watching his face, I saw what could be considered a moment of doubt, when I asked him this (not the exact wording, but pretty much the entire point):

"If we have been at war with Saddam Hussein and Iraq since 1991, as Bush claims, then why was our/your vice President Dick Cheney and Halliburton doing business with Hussein up to 1997/1998?"

There was that momentary glitch in the programming that caused his face to reflect turmoil.

He went on to try to spin off that, but I believe that I had struck a nerve.

[sexybomber]

1. it's possible.

Sometimes people are too far indoctrinated to be saved, though. The glitch you saw may have just been a massive wave of "does not compute."

But you may have set him on the road to salvation... haha

[zbdent]

4. Doubtful, but one can dream

Hmmm, in 1997, on my lunch hour, I dove into Lake Erie at Edgewater Park to save a kid who had found her footing drop out from under her and was about to drown. (Her mother was smoking a cig on the beach, attention elsewhere). When the bottom dropped out from under her feet, you could see the panic in her eyes, but did not cry out. When the water closed over her face, I shouted "HEY!" toward the mother and dove in. Before I got my footing, I was shoving the girl up above the surface. When all was said and done, this kid almost drowned in 5 foot of water. The mother was quite grateful.

I guess that I should have stopped and asked the mother if she was a liberal or conservative, eh? If she said "conservative", I probably should have said "sorry, I side with the Baby-killers, you see."

It's hard to prove this, since there was no glory found in the rescue. I was just happy that there was no drowning of a small child that day.

That's also the day I realized that I would never be famous.

[JustJoe]

2. Great sentence!

"There was that momentary glitch in the programming that caused his face to reflect turmoil."

[Fovea]

3. Ow.

a little fugue state just when he was being so clever, and all.

[Imajika]

5. Good try, but I have my doubts...

"He went on to try to spin off that, but I believe that I had struck a nerve."

One word of advice someone gave me a long time ago, and I discovered the hard way that it really is true:

Don't try to reach the unreachable.

At the end of the day, it just isn't worth it, and besides, the extremes of both parties are really a small minority. There are plenty of people throughout America, the majority, that are willing to listen. Your really just wasting your valuable time on the hardcases.

Political rightwing partisans, even ones you sense are actually intelligent and otherwise reasonable, are typically just too commited and/or brainwashed to change their mind through argument and debate with the opposing side.

The only way these types of peoples worldview and political opinions usually change is through their own personal self discovery. And even then, they usually won't admit their change of heart at first. Nobody likes to confess that their entire line of thinking was wrong.

The same idea applies to the extreme ideologues on the far left.

Imajika

[rock]

6. Good logic, but this is politics

It's the proper way to go, but don't expect miracles.