How many DUer's have civil war within your family?

[Joe Fields]

As a result of polarizing political beliefs?

What was once a strong family has now turned into a family that has divided into three very polarized camps. We have a very large family. But because of the fascist policies of our current administration we now have some who are in full lockstep with Bushco. They will not even question ANYTHING that this bunch of criminals have inflicted on us and the rest of the world. Then there is the camp that I belong to. The third faction says that they don't care about anything, except keeping the family in tact.

The situation has gotten to the point where reason has been replaced by pure emotion. None of the sides will budge. At this point I'm not sure that there is a solution.

I'm really not looking for advice, but if you feel compelled to give it, i will graciously listen.

What I DO want to know is if any of you find yourselves in a similar distressing situation. The slavery issue notwithstanding, I feel as though it's like the Civil War all over again, with brother pitted against brother.

[mirandapriestly]

1. Even former GOP people in my family are against

this administration. My husband's slightly redneck family are Bush supporters though, and I just don't say anything, but I smolder and avoid them

[ewagner]

2. Here

but in all honesty, the war was going on over religion AND politics before Bush....

to add fuel to the fire...throw in a disputed Last Will and Testament

throw in a picture of George HW Bush and his lovely :puke: bride hanging in the dining room over the table

throw in a framed invite to Dubya's inauguration displayed on a coffee table...

and what've you got?

No speaking to each other for about five years.....

[Joe Fields]

10. Man, oh man...I thought my family was bad...

There is a united front within my household. My wife, son and I are staunch dems, angry beyond words or reason over the coup of our government and shredding of our constitution by Bushco. At least there is that sense of peace, if you want to call it that, within my immediate household. But the civil war is on, between brothers, sisters, in-laws, uncles, and neices and nephews. I really feel for you.

[iamthebandfanman]

3. waking up to see the light

my brother was a republican until 9/11 happened.
he even voted for bush the first time.
needless to say he didnt in 2004.
heh

the only other republicans in my family have died in the last few years.

[ThomCat]

4. I'm the only dem in my family

Several of my immediate relatives are far right-wingers. A cousin works on campaigns for republicans.

They consider me the nut-job because I don't worship Bush, hate affirmative action, and want to abolish abortions.

In fact, I spent years volunteering as a pro-choice escort at a doctor's office in Buffalo back in the late 80s and early 90s when things were getting violent. So they consider me a radical freak for standing up on the wrong side.

[Tsiyu]

46. Kudos to you ThomCat

:hi:

[drduffy]

5. it is coming to civil war, I believe

One part of my family is Jewish and my brother-in-law is completely opposed to my views (similar to the remainder of my family) because he supports anything our government does that appears to support the government of Israel.... including the up-coming nuking of Iran. He is an ardent Fox watcher and anti-Chomsky, anti-Thom Hartmann (both Jews also).

I guess it all comes back to the ways in which one feels threatened..... he and my sister believe in the great extremist radical islamist conspiracy.....

I don't.

My fears relate to the great neocon fascist corporatist dominionist conspiracy...


......the real conspiracy

[OnionPatch]

23. I never knew Hartmann was Jewish

I listen to him all the time. I thought he came from a Lutheran family. He used to be a Christian minister, I think, years ago.

[Ron Mexico]

6. You're in the middle of a small-scale version of

the country's politics as a whole, but you have the option to simply ignore it. A lot of our pansy-ass "leaders" like Harry Reid don't, but act as if they do.

As for advice, if you're not going to drop it, then insist that all political discussion take place through e-mail. It eliminates a lot of shouting and you can't be interrupted. Eventually, since you're on the side with more facts on it, something should sink in.

[Flirtus]

7. me, too

No new advice to give - I don't back down when pushed, and I try to not be the person who starts the pushing. Older relatives, I think in most families, tend to leave the TeeVee on constantly, and when the newsy people break in unexpectedly I can expect some verbal attack.

Every time there's something coherent said that is critical about the Bushies, I have to hear the same old rundown about Ted Kennedy or Al Gore's father (being in Tennessee you have to understand) (And, I've lately learned that I would have supported Al Gore's father and am shocked at my mother playing whichever side of the racial fence that suits the occasion.)

Change is good. Revolution is good. Pay off your credit card debt and get ready for some tumult. Oops, that is what I usually say that really starts the civil war.

[slor]

8. None here, I am from a...

African American family, so we all hold the same view of the chimp regime. I do hate how my family relies on the "God will take care of it" stuff, though.

[peace frog]

9. Our family is divided into similar camps

but I can't say we're engaged in civil war, it's not that contentious yet. The good news is that some of the more moderate members are slowly coming around to the truth regarding the horror that is the Bush administration. They don't want to believe their beloved America has fallen so low, but they cannot deny it is happening now that the scales have fallen from their eyes. As for the more militant family members, all I can say is "there are none so blind as those who will not see".

[Sammy Pepys]

11. Nope....

Wide range of political views in my family, but nobody is bothered by it.

[The Wielding Truth]

12. Would be a great poll question. My neighbors, my family, my friends

are pulling apart at the seems over the state of this country. I am not alone in my views. Unfortunately, neither are they.

[izzybeans]

13. During the election time my wife's family actually came to

physical blows. Tends to happen when somebody's brother votes for Bush when that somebody is in a long term same sex relationship that has produced a few lovely children. Voting against your neices and nephews isn't the wisest thing to do in my book.

Most of those who turned against their family members are now loathesome of their choice. Not all but nearly every last one of them. However it's in the "he's not really a conservative" kind of way. They really haven't seen the world differently, they just got over their charismatic loyalty. now if we could just steer them away from the rightwing propaganda mill then they might realize that deep down they too see that the words liberal and liberty share a common root.

[Joe Fields]

41. My brother and his wife are like Carville and Matalin

I don't know how he can stand her.

[izzybeans]

42. They really do make it work sometimes

It was just this particular election cycle that really got to them.

My brother and sister n law just don't talk politics because she's a dem and he's a republican. You have to agree to disagree I guess.

[populistdriven]

14. Its not a war, I just havn't spoken with my 2 brothers in 4 years

[mnhtnbb]

15. My brother is a Bush supporter

and lifetime Republican--just like our parents. I sent him quite a few things in 2004 that came out from Republicans who were turning against Bush.
He's a scientist, and I thought I could get to him that way, but no sale.

I was very selective about when and what I sent him because I didn't want to cause a rift. My parents are gone and it's just the two of us. He finally asked me to stop sending him stuff and in the interest of family I agreed.

He lives in Philly and I'm in NC, so we don't see each other alot.
I was delighted to learn at Christmas, though, that at least 3 of his 5 kids have become Dems (last I knew they all mirrored their parents) and despise Bush. So at least he's getting a little more crap on a regular basis from his kids.

It's tough. My husband's family is in a similar situation. They're in Georgia and even more impossibly pro-Bush. My husband just has to really bite his tongue when he's around them.

[Joe Fields]

19. Where has reason gone to?

I'm not saying this to pat myself on the back, but when president Clinton, (whom I thought very highly of and still do) started splitting hairs with what "Is" is, I openly agreed with his detractors. And when he admitted that he openly lied to us, I was sick and angry over it. I sure didn't try to cover up my feelings and continue to try and defend his indefensible actions. What the hell is it with these Bush and Cheney supporters? I used to think that the members of my family were more reasoned than this.

[Tactical Progressive]

43. The only reasonablness they had

was you projecting your reasonablness onto them.

Sure they were reasoned when you were capitulating to their sneering contempt over what a bad guy Clinton was. But now that Bush and his Republican supporters have done a hundred things, each a thousand times more depraved than Bill Clinton ever thought of doing in his entire life, you can see just exactly how much reason they actually bring to the table. None.

In retrospect, the behavior of Republicans from Clinton through Bush has given alot of Clinton detractors the perspective to finally see the criticisms of Clinton for the ridiculousness, for the absurdity, that they were. And to see the people making them, and not making any against Bush and his twisted Republicans, for the type of people that they are.

My evolution went differently. I was getting increasingly annoyed at Clinton's compromising towards right-wingers until the whole Monica thing got started and I saw how much even a moderate, compromising, centrist Democrat was up against in the form of mindless right-wing hatred, full-on corporate media support for it, and a willingness by Democrats to turn on their own in the spirit of being fair-minded.

Hopefully the lesson of these past fifteen years of screaming one-sided rancor of the right wing will forever disabuse Democrats of being 'reasonable' in admitting anything more than that Republicans are a absolute blight on this nation and everything it could be.

[Tsiyu]

49. I think that the Clinton debacle cemented the deal for me

I knew back then that things were on a terrible course.

Why?

Because of all this feigned outrage. There were guys I knew back then who slept around on their wives all the time. A few of them had even propositioned me. (Yuck. No way, Puke Boy!)

Suddenly these well-known adulterers were SHOCKED...SHOCKED I TELL YOU!!!!!!!! to hear that....*******arrrrghhhhhhh*********** A MAN HAS CHEATED ON HIS WIFE!!!!!!!

:wtf: That's me over there on the left.

Now, the scientific climate was such that all manner of male behavior was being explained by science and the religious climate was such that only really bad people ever even thought about having sex so I was mucho confused. Men are just men, right? Or maybe, some men get to screw around but others don't according to some Bible code only Pat Robertson can decipher?

My confusion and my absolute wonder at the cognitive dissonance of these people lives on....

[Tactical Progressive]

52. The outrage isn't feigned

These people have the capacity to screw around on their wives, break up families, hide children out of wedlock, divorce their wives during chemo, and still be truly, deeply outraged at Clinton for doing not half of what they did. They're out there screaming to the cameras, and make no mistake, they mean it. The hypocrisy is stunning.

And the media gave them all the play and all the support they ever needed. Can you even imagine a known wife-cheating Dem getting out there and making accusations against a Republican philanderer? The media would wipe the floor with them.

They have no shame and no honesty. They aren't reasoned in the least, let alone reasonable. That's why it's so hard within a family to countenance this kind of behavior - because it is insulting personally and intellectually to have sanctimonious, two-faced liars spewing their stuff at you with ZERO RESPECT for interpersonal honesty. It's one thing when outsiders do it; you file it under an ugly world. When it's family doing it against you - basically lying to you and assaulting you morally and ethically - how do you excuse it?

They are, when you boil it all down, people who have no respect for anyone or anything except what they want. That's hard in a family like it is in a country of families.

[Earth_First]

16. Almost...

I have broken my father down over the past 5 years, almost had him voting Kucinich in the primaries, in which he balked. In 2006 I almost have him voting D/WF for Spitzer for Governor. The problem being is that he's balked on his indecisiveness because of his inability to look past the social issues, which I agree is a large part of a responsible Democratic candidate. However, with people like my father, you are going to win on the economy, which is where I have my father right now, SO CLOSE to tipping D that I can taste it.

But in the past, it has included ALOT of shouting and O'Rielly-esque GOP debate skills from my father. I commend him, he's come quite a long way since 2000.

[hwmnbn]

17. Man, it's to the point we don't even do holidays....

together anymore. Only time is for a kid's event like a play or birthday party. And then we make sure not to bring up politics.

It's a fucked-up situation. I don't know if it will ever improve. :cry:

[txindy]

18. We did, but now it's settled into a pained silence of perceived betrayal.

One, in particular, who avidly supported the neocons, has now admitted that they are criminals, but doesn't want to talk about them or hear anything about any issues (although he even acknowledges they use Diebold to steal elections! ). He feels completely betrayed by the cabal. He's just going to remain in a pained, completely disgusted, self-imposed silence. Which is really rather pleasant after the previous idiocies that came out of his mouth on a regular basis. :evilgrin:

[Joe Fields]

21. "...a pained silence of perceived betrayal."

I would imagine that that silence is speaking volumes in millions of households around the country. This whole subject is so sad and seemingly lacking of any real solution.

[canichelouis]

20. Hell, I'm finding that the gap keeps widening

I thought I knew who the fools in the families were. But lately I've begun adding more to my list.

It really is becoming a situation where 'you're either with us, or against us".
Scary.

[SaveElmer]

22. Politics is sport in my family...

My mom's side of the family all Republicans (except my mother and one of my uncles). My other Uncle worked on Capitol Hill for many years and is now a (very ethical) lobbyist. He is a rabid partisan Republican. Every holiday meal we get into political debates...it's something we look forward to.

[Neil Lisst]

24. Not me!! We're split down the middle in every direction, but ...

... but try to avoid getting too heated up or exorcised over politics and religion when we get together. So, someone votes Bush, thinks abortion is a mortal sin, thinks I'm going to hell, doesn't like my cartoons, and thinks civil liberties are for commies! Beyond all that, they can still be someone I love, someone I want to see a few times a year or more.

My 2 best friends always vote Republican! They know I always vote Democratic. But that's life. There are people with whom I agree politically that I can't stand to be in the same room with.

I think we need to take the concept of acceptance to the war at home, among our own friends and family. Call a friggin truce and be a grownup.

[Joe Fields]

25. With so much at stake, it is hard .....

not to look at the Bush supporters as the enablers of the psychopaths running our country. They are the reason that the polling on certain issues cause little concern for this administration, in turn "allowing" Bush to feel justified it making executive orders to destroy our environment, or ignore the constitution, or whatever.

[Neil Lisst]

28. Yeah, but I'm not hater, just a cynic.

I'm greatly chagrined at the Pub party, but just because someone votes for them doesn't mean that person is a bad person. It means the sum of their life experiences puts their head in a different place. Which, admittedly, might be up their ass.

[trixie]

26. as dysfunctional as we are

we are all on the same side of politics. Most families veer away from politics to avoid family arguments. We call on politics when other topics get heated to pull us together. :headbang:

[Innocent Smith]

27. No problems at all

Get along fine regardless of beliefs.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

29. Yes. But, the problem is solved. We don't speak to each other.

Been that way for about 30 years to our mutual satisfaction. As some wit once said, "Having a family is like having a bowling alley installed in your head."

[Caoimhe]

30. I have a heavy undercurrent of disgust at family gatherings

At Thanksgiving we were all sitting at the dinner table and my semi-conservative (mostly he's a farker) brother's son (my nephew, about age 12) asked "Why did all those people stay in New Orleans? Are they just stupid?"

I have friends from NOLA and explained that they were told to go to emergency shelters. The levees breaking was preventable, the hurricane was not. This drew several eye rolls and then my cousin (who is about 21 and a repuke) said "Oh yeah that's the Nagin defense, just excuse the lazy black people living on welfare, yeah that's the ticket"

I was so disgusted. My mom was glowing she was so happy with the conversation. My dad was perched on the side of his chair ready to flee, and my husband was white knuckling his spoon and fork hoping I wouldn't push my claws out and begin to shed blood. I told my cousin that maybe he should talk to some people that were there instead of getting his information off of Fox News. That launched my mom into "What's wrong with Fox News?" Meanwhile, my little nephew, the turd, is giggling at the mess he started. It was a festering boil that was lanced while we were all supposed to be enjoying a wonderful bountiful meal.

Later, after most had left, my mom and I got into it pretty severely when she said something about evil Muslim terrorists. My husband put a blanket over his head while my mom began speaking glowingly of the Dim Son, and I said wow, I really can't stand Bush, his fake wife and his boozer kids. She was so shocked she couldn't speak. What's wrong with his daughters? she asked. I said they are spoiled trust fund brats with lazy parents. She said OH so you think Chelsea is a good kid? I said yes! Has she ever been arrested for being an underaged drunk? She immediately started in about Clinton's blow job, as if that was the end all be all of bad bad behavior. I said I'd rather have a blow job than an unnecessary war with hundreds of thousands dead and a drunken idiot in the White House. She said STOP IT STOP IT DON'T TALK TO ME. Instant head in the sand trick. Don't say bad things about my wonderful president. I told her if she wanted to talk about politics with me, she better get used to the idea that I can think for myself.

Christmas was a little better, but still pretty tense. At least it wasn't at the parents house with Fox News or Court TV blaring 24/7.

Sadly, my relationship with my parents and my brothers have suffered greatly since 2000 because of this. We used to visit them about 10 times a year and stay the weekend. (we live about 4 hours drive time away) Now its only Thanksgiving and Christmas, and we often stay in a motel (my mom is a chain smoker and it really bothers my sinuses-plus we have a dog so we use him as an excuse) and we have the obligatory dinner and then we flee. I think it's symbolic of the rift in the country as well. I just can't suffer fools, even when they are related to me. I refuse to sit and listen to bullshit or racist comments or homophobia shoved in my face without calling it what it is. Even when I was a small kid, I prayed that I was adopted, cuz I just didn't fit. They made jokes about niggers and jews and japs and wops and pollocks and they gleefully laughed and I never thought any of them were funny.

Lately it's hard to find reasons to want to spend time with them. I am aware that many folks have families that all are on the same page, and I can't tell them how lucky they are! You have no idea.. imagine the worst freeper you can imagine, and then imagine it's your mom, or your dad, or your brother! UGH

[Joe Fields]

31. Sounds pretty similar to my situation.

I have a racist younger brother. My parents were wonderful human beings who brought ALL of us up to respect all people. Not one shred of racism while I was growing up. I cannot for the life of me figure out where my brother's hatred of people with dissimilar backgrounds, creeds and color came from. My sister-in-law and my brother-in-law are racist. I can't stand it. We were at my brother-in-law's house for Thanksgiving two years ago. My brother-in-law, who is a Vietnam vet made the remark that the all blacks should be rounded up and shot. My jaw dropped wide open. My wife clutched my arm, as if to say, "don't start, Joe." But I couldn't let it pass. I had reason to believe he was racist, but had never heard him make such an open remark. If we're lucky, we only see him once a year. But when he made that comment that was it! A couple of family relatives from his side of the family let out a titter of nervous laughter. I stood up, said,"I cannot believe what I just heard. I'd be willing to bet you didn't feel that way when your African American buddies were saving your ass in the jungles of "Nam." I didn't wait for a response. I told my wife and 16 year old son to get up from the dinner table. We were not going to stay another minute there. A couple of my wife's sisters followed us out the door, pleading with us to not let this ruin Thanksgiving. My wife told one of her sisters that she felt the same way I did, and that she didn't care if she ever saw her brother again. We haven't seen or heard from any of her side of the family since that day. Thank God.My brother and I almost never speak to each other. Not only is he racist, he has drank way too much of the Kool-aid, and I believe he is beyond hope.

[Carni]

38. Sounds like the intrigue that started my husband's family fight

One of my husband's sisters is married to the most bigoted asshole known to man...he's also a dyed in the wool Cheney supporter (bush is bad enough but who in the hell admits to liking Cheney?)

He prides himself on throwing tantrums, yelling and threatening people when they don't agree with him about bush/cheney, African Americans, abortions and a host of other topics.

He's also a drunk so combine all this and it's not a good combo.

I kept my mouth shut around this asshole for three years until the dam broke as a result of his African American rantings one night--I told him where to get off and would you believe *I* was supposed to apologize to HIM-- per most of the rest of my husband's family? (this took place in MY house btw)

That was the beginning of the end -- I am ashamed to be related to these people even if it's only by marriage and my husband is mortified that his sisters (because they are also bushbots and worse yet the one is only married to this clown because he's wealthy)have turned out to be such shallow ignorant sorry excuses for humanity.

I can certainly tolerate political differences and even NORMAL republicans but these bushists aren't *normal republicans* they are something all together different--I cannot and will not tolerate a person such as described above.

[renate]

47. about your sister-in-law's husband:

Oscar Wilde (I think) said "Those who marry for money earn it."

It sounds like your sister-in-law ought to be earning interest on that money, too.

[Carni]

53. You and Oscar are probably right!

No amount of money would make me live with the horse's ass she's married to!

[Lexingtonian]

32. very, uh, familiar

I've got older relatives that are just plain hell- racism, anti-Semitism, all that. We try to talk about things we agree on and they know I accept them as people but will absolutely not listen to any such crap beyond the first sentence. Sad thing is, that crap occupies more and more of their mental space.

And yes, it's rather precisely the psychology that was seen during the late parts of the Civil War. It's no accident, either- this conflict is about derivatives and legacies from that war, in a sense about settling/destroying everything Reconstruction salvaged.

I'd say don't bother with argument in your family anymore- be merciful and simply confident. Reality is relentless and doing the hard work for you/us, it's starting to cut into and politically victimize the other side. Polling under 38% support means breakup of Republicans, which means breakdown of Republican power, and without massive worldly power to prop it their Faith/ideology fails. Be prepared for the cognitive dissonance and mourning process- adamant delusiveness, ugly and angry lashing out, eye-rolling bargainings and rationalizations and lies, grotesque depression and ego collapses- breaking out during the next year or two.

[Carni]

33. Dealing with the same thing

The right wingers in the husband's family haven't spoken to us in almost three years and they have firmly stated that they are all done with us in general.

Quite frankly...I am happy not to have to deal with them!

[foreverdem]

34. None in my family

Luckily we are all Dems, going back a few generations, so none of us disagree in our politics.

[DemonGoddess]

35. Well, we certainly have some polarization, depending upon

where you look. In my side of the family, most are Democrats, or Democrat leaning. However, NONE of us have ever voted straight party. We can and do have some lively discussion without it devolving into a shouting match most of the time. There are some in my generation of the family who've gone from being liberal leaning to being quite conservative. Why? I haven't a clue. But those of us who've not gone that way like me, my brother, mom, and some of my cousins usually work on the OTHER ones via email.

OTOH, in my husband's family it get's very interesting. I don't bring up politics at all with my mil (at hubby's request) because she is a staunch conservative on many things, and he'd rather not have a problem. I can understand that. But what I do with his younger brother, for example, is send him irreverent and satirical type cartoons. Humor is a great way to get things across without really pissing off too many people, and making 'em think. Of course, they all understand that I happen to like irreverent humor with a bite, so they do expect it. My fil who passed away last year, we used to discuss politics ALL the time. And this with a man who was a life long Republican. However, when he started seeing all the crap this administration has pulled, ESPECIALLY about things near and dear to his heart, such as conservation, it started to open him up. Also, as a vet (Army National Guard) he became incensed at what he saw as a back door draft (with NO prompting from me). What's even funnier is that we actually started talking about politics by sending each other emails on subjects we felt strongly about. He told me a few months before he died that the vote he most regrets casting in his life is the one where he voted for BUSH. In the SECOND election, he voted for KERRY. So you see, being rational in your approach and not swaying, and using facts will take time, but it does work. I'm taking 'em on one at a time.....

[Silverhair]

36. My family has hard-core on both sides and also peace.

We have simply learned how to disagree politely and with respect, and remember that there is much more to life than politics.

[SmokingJacket]

37. It's a Cold War, here...

We just don't talk politics -- At. All.

Sometimes conversations are like a slalom race, with all the veering away from hot-button topics... but no one's going to change anyone's mind, so that's how we deal.

[distantearlywarning]

39. My parents and Hubby's parents are all Libertarian.

However, this has caused no problems between any of us, because everybody is down on Bush and Company, regardless of whatever other beliefs we all might have.

My mother, who actually tends to be an ostrich type more than anything else (sticks her head in the sand to avoid unpleasant news and politics), surprised me after Katrina by calling me up and repeating negative things she read in her local paper about Bush and his response to the disaster. She actually seemed both informed and angry about the whole thing, which is unusual for her. I haven't talked to my dad about politics recently, but I bet he feels the same way.

My husband's mother and stepdad were neutral on Bush in 2004, but moved to rural Louisiana last year and have now seen the average southern bible-thumping Bush voter in their full ignorant glory. (Let me just say, for example, that they beg us to send them kids books for my husband's 10 year old brother because the school library is a joke and there's not a bookstore within 100 miles). As a result, they have now completely abandoned the right, and make mean comments on the phone about all the Bush-voting morons/politicians they have to interact with. I don't think they're going to be voting Republican this fall.

The good news is that that's 4 people who won't be voting Red in the near future, who might have done so previously. I don't know if they will vote Democrat, though. It might help to get voters like my family and in-laws if the Democrats would stand up for stuff and present a clear message about their stances.

[Ksec]

40. Me and my brother, who believes what hes told

Hes a retired Air Force lifer, married with three home schooled younguns. A bible thumping Baptist who is just gullible enough to believe anything hes told by anyone who is against abortion, which the repubs have sold quite well. He'd sell his own family if he thought they had a pro choice bone in their body.

Ive had long drawn out arguments with him. Hes singularly obsessed with abortion and nothing will change his mind. Its like every point I bring up he says the same thing about the repubs being against abortion so its his party and he would NEVER vote for a Dem because of this one issue.. So I gave up. Hes down in Alabama now, working for a military contractor as a inspecter of maintenence done on some military helicopter. We dont speak anymore. Its a shame cause I love my nephews and neices, and I do send them a few bucks in a card on birthdays and such.

[Obamarama]

44. I have distanced myself from two of my GOP sisters and their husbands....

They grew up in a dyed-in-the-wool Democratic family and should know better. AND, they're Jewish, to boot. Sadly it's become less and less true, but Jews have historically been ardent Democrats.

In my opinion, they married down when they hooked up for life with their Republican husbands. They aren't freeper material, thank the gods, but they do spout the party line nonetheless. One of these sisters spouted the "this isn't the time to be pointing fingers" line in the fuck-up after Katrina and it earned her a four page email from me outlining exactly WHY it was the time to be pointing fingers.

I've also told her several times that if the tables were turned and SHE were gay and I were straight and Republican, I would be outraged with the party's treatment of her and I would disassociate myself from the party on that reason alone.

She doesn't get it. At least not yet. I'll keep trying.

[titoresque]

45. Yes in my family too!

Holidays haven't been the same since 9/11 and getting worse. No advice here. Sorry you're in the same boat. :hug:

[NorthernSpy]

48. not me! we all have the same politics...

... thank heavens!

:kick:

[ralps]

50. I have what sounds like the same situation going on in my family

One side- my Republican parents & brother & sister in law. The other side my other brother, his wife, their kids, and possibly my sister, her husband & their kids. the way I cope with it is basically to not bring up politics in front of my dad. I sometimes talk with my more democratic family members in another room when I'm at my parents. At times I have just simply shut down when I'm there. :hi: :loveya: :hug: :pals: :cry:

[Odin2005]

51. All Lefties here.

Mostly Dems, a few greens, and a handfull of moderate socialists. My dad's side tends to be somewhat more socially conservative than my mom's side, though.