My boss the Republican

[maseman]

My manager is a fiscal conservative Republican.

Let me tee-up my relationship with my boss. He is nearly my best friend. He hired me over eight years ago, he was in my wedding, we travel together, we dine together, we drink together, etc. I love the guy. The one area we have ALWAYS disagreed on is politics. It has never been a huge discussion or feisty argument but usually ribbing and snipping at each other.

The good news is he is very socially liberal probably because he grew up in a NYC borough. He couldn't care less about gays or gay marriage, the abortion issue, not much of a church goer, etc. He makes a lot of money so he is for lower taxes since he's in the highest tax bracket. He shudders at the social programs because he pulled himself out of near poverty to make a very comfortable living so everyone should do be able to do that and not "Live off the system."

I had dinner with him this week (we live 300 miles apart so I don't see him all the time) and the elections came up in discussion. He said something smirky like "Well I suppose you love Obama right?" I said yes and that I would be voting for him. I was expecting his usual ribbing and jawing but we ended up for the first time actually discussing the financial situation and complete lack of regulations in the country. To my amazement he agreed with me and essentially agreed taxes will have to be raised to save our nation.

One last point...he never said he would be voting for Obama (and he is certainly not a racist so that wouldn't be a problem) but he said he could never vote for McSame. To me my friends that is a "win."

PS...he came up with a name for Sarah Palin...The Alaskan Thunder Fuck. I have no idea why or how that name got generated (maybe the bourbon) but we laughed are asses off when he said it. I like it!

[tblue]

1. Oh that's good. Yes, a Repug staying home is better than a vote for Gidget & The Geezer.

[seabeyond]

2. MY hubby is that kind of repug. he, first time dem vote, voted kerry. he is so comfortable

with his choice he is now down stairs watching maddow, after having watched olberman and hardball. lol lol. and really looking forward to voting obama.

AND

this is important

i still call him a republican, cause that is who he is. just a smart one with a conscience.

[Cha]

5. Those are the kind I like.. Nothing wrong with

being a republican back in the day..heck, Susan Eisenhower's for our guy now:)

[seabeyond]

6. yup. maybe some of them will develop a conscience this time around, n/t

[RoccoR5955]

3. Your boss is a typical NY Republican, from the old days...

...but now a days, many of them are more socially conservative. Though there are still many 'old school' NY republicans in NYC and LI still.

[maseman]

4. Absolutely correct

He hires blacks, Hispanics, Asians, gays...whatever. As long as they bust their butts and do their job he couldn't care less the race or what people do in their own time. And I admire that at least.

[iiibbb]

7. A conversion is net +2... a abstention is a net +1

[CrispyQ]

8. It would be nice if he would vote for our ticket!

Would this change his mind at all?

A short Biden clip on the economy: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4459225n

[maseman]

9. No that would not sway him

"Why should I give my money to the middle class" would be the answer.

The better route to go I think is the fear route. If things get really bad he could easily lose his high paying job and have a very tough time finding something else for a long time anywhere near what he is making.

Or since he has many investments the stock market crashes and loses 30-40% he could lose TONS of bread. That is the way to go with him. Also the Palin doctrine of sending our progressive social issues back tot he stone age is a third angel.

I'm going to tread lightly since it is my boss and friend. I'll take a no vote for McCain as winning an important battle. We'll try to win the war by getting an Obama vote out of him.

[knixphan]

10. One of those guys

...who needs a thorough Thom-Hartmann-ing...To help him remember why we are all connected in this society whether we like it or not.

[maseman]

11. Yeah no kidding

[eeyore]

12. Alaskan Thunderfuck is a strain of killer WEED!

Your boss is a closet (or not) stoner.

AKA Matanuska Thunderfuck
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=alaskan%20thunderfuck

[maseman]

14. Not a stoner...some Xanax though.

:rofl:

That's too good.

[Hekate]

15. That, my friends, is laugh out loud funny!

:hippie: :rofl:

Hekate

[Va Lefty]

13. According to the Urban Dictionary...

alaskan thunderfuck
An intense, fast-paced, unforgiving experience of sexual intercourse. Side effects include, but are not limited to: stomach ache, headache, muscle contractions involuntary convulsions, partial paralaysis, or even death. The reciever of the alaskan thunderfuck may also experience bowel or vaginal disorders for 4-7 days. If said disorders last longer than this time period, a doctor or physician should be consulted.

Kim found herself in rehab after experiencing the Alaskan Thunderfuck.



alaskan thunderfuck
very good weed grown in the manatuska valley in alaska also known as manatuska thunderfuck

that alaskan thunderfuck fucked me up after like 1 hit

[maseman]

17. I love the urban dictionary

Some terms I have no idea...like this one. Thanks for helping clarify.

[calimary]

16. I do appreciate stories like these!

Especially when it's about someone who isn't guzzling extra kool-aid anymore.

[Bonn1997]

18. RE: He pulled himself out of poverty; everyone should be able to

First, let me say that I'm happy your friend is voting for Obama. I wanted to address your comment above, though, because I hear it a lot. I always respond by saying something like, "It's great that you pulled yourself out of poverty. I'm sure you faced much tougher conditions than I did. That said, one thing we social psychologists have found is that people have a lot of trouble appreciating the role of environmental or external factors in current behavior. Let's imagine a couple of other scenarios that sadly are common among those on welfare. How might you have turned out if you were born into poverty but ALSO
a) your mother abused drugs while pregnant, altering your brain's development and predisposing you before you were even born toward drug addiction; or
b) your family was SO poor that they could not afford to feed you enough to nourish healthy brain development during childhood."
I find that many people who make the comments your boss makes were in fact born into tough conditions but nevertheless had failed to appreciate that many people are born into exponentially tougher conditions.

[maseman]

19. Those are some great points Bonn

I actually went down the path of my wife. I told him (since I know he adores my wife) about how she had to go on WIC when she got prego at 18 and needed some help. She also had some tuition assistance/government subsidized loans to go to college as a single mom and also had some very cheap healthcare for the baby with the help of the government.

Now she is a college grad, her son is a great 10 year old, she's in her second year of teaching inner city public schools, and is now going to BU online for a masters degree. She is SO thankful for those social programs that helped give her the opportunity to get to where she is now. Her only downside...she married ME!

[Bonn1997]

21. That's a great example too!

Adding a human to the story makes it much more impactful, like your story.

[Kahuna]

20. I took this financial meltdown as an opportunity to school my republican friend..

She's been saying that she's on the fence. I figure because she just doesn't want to offend me. So I tend to try to avoid discussing politics with her out of respect. This week I gave her an earful about McCain the deregulation king. She was appreciative of the information I gave her.