tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post2276748307420594125..comments2024-03-18T19:36:10.480-04:00Comments on Assistant Village Idiot: Politics In ConversationAssistant Village Idiothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-34420583108102210252011-07-18T23:11:07.853-04:002011-07-18T23:11:07.853-04:00There's something to that style differenceThere's something to that style differenceAssistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-74768830618552772172011-07-18T23:00:05.989-04:002011-07-18T23:00:05.989-04:00Ahhh, I have seen plenty of either from both sides...Ahhh, I have seen plenty of either from both sides. <br /><br />Most recently an FB friend of mind posted a photo of a urinal with a screen forming a picture of the current president. <br /><br />I consider myself independent, beholden to neither party, and largely fed up with foolishness wherever it pops up -- a longstanding NH tradition. But this sort of thing just grates me. It goes beyond political speech into personal invective. And I don't see the imbalance you seem to project. <br /><br />It could be that "liberals" are snotty and condescending whereas "conservatives" are overbearing and pugilistic. Beyond direction, differences may be more about style rather than quantity.Dubbahdeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00075702513873912334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-49164823235953380072011-07-18T19:40:12.901-04:002011-07-18T19:40:12.901-04:00I notice that complaints about the weather are mor...I notice that complaints about the weather are more common than comments of delight in it. I suppose there's something about shared suffering that invites a bond. <br />Some of the political nastiness seems almost as automatic, and about as emotionally significant, as complaints about the heat: "Isn't ChimpyMcHitler evil this week?" "Yah, you betcha."<br /><br />But you're right. They aren't horrified if their audience includes a Senegalese who finds the weather mild or a farmer who thinks the downpour that ruined the alfresco wedding is just what he needs. Those are <b>forgivable</b> deviations.jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01792036361407527304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-14356315874381383202011-07-18T18:18:12.044-04:002011-07-18T18:18:12.044-04:00Yeah, sto credits gave me the most spot-on complim...Yeah, sto credits gave me the most spot-on compliments evah.<br /><br />I have reflected today, before reading the comments, that people who lay down markers like this sometimes tell themselves that they are "standing up for" one cause or another which they feel needs public support. Yes, some are insensitive or willing to sacrifice other virtues for the sake of being amusing, but I conclude that many, perhaps most of these amazingly rude people believe they are performing a social good. They see themselves as knights errant, ready in all their travels to plant the flag for <i>traditional marriage,</i> or the <i>way of peace</i>, or <i>kicking the powerful in the balls</i>. In a world gone mad, they, they few, <i>have the courage to stand up to George Bush</i> and his cabal/junta/minions/whatever. It's one of those "Truth To Power" things where the meaning inverts. It now means "telling people who already agree with you what they want to hear."<br /><br />More <i>arrant</i> than <i>errant</i>, then. (Though yes, the words have been related in the past. But they are distinct now.Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-86564997987876751472011-07-18T16:05:03.362-04:002011-07-18T16:05:03.362-04:00My impression is that the liberal/progressive type...My impression is that the liberal/progressive types are so convinced they are right that "it must be so". After all, the NYT and WaPo and the alphabet networks and cables tell them so.<br /><br />But then I live in a left-leaning town (unreconstructed hippies, etc.) and majority leftie state on the urban axis.Sam L.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-1596699045296651582011-07-18T13:47:27.872-04:002011-07-18T13:47:27.872-04:00I have been suffering under liberal-leftists' ...I have been suffering under liberal-leftists' gratuitous slams for 45 years and counting. It has baffled me, frustrated me, infuriated me. The flat-out assumption that any reasonable sane good person MUST agree with them is unbelievable.<br /><br />I know this has caused some cognitive dissonance on Facebook, where I have come completely out of the closet with my views. So many of my friends always took me as one of that hail-fellow-well-met-ChimpyBushMacHitlerBurton tribe that, having hitherto known me to be an intelligent and literate person, they are having to readjust.<br /><br />(So far only one of them has dropped me.)<br /><br />Speaking of tribes, AVI, I have found your posts on the subject to be a great help in understanding this phenomenon. Saying something bigoted, hateful, and outrageous about Republicans is very definitely intended to be a secret-handshake among members of the Arts 'n' Humanities Kool Kids Klub.<br /><br />I am a card-carrying member of that tribe in every respect: by inclination, by history, and by family heritage. I have dedicated my life to it. Yet I can't dismiss every single one of my loudmouth-left tribefellows as shallow, silly, and ignorant -- or can I? <br /><br />It's getting easier all the time. <br /><br />Meanwhile, your posts about tribes, the A 'n' H in particular, and about your own political evolution, continue to enlighten and comfort me. I don't comment very often, but I check in here every day, and I thought you should know that what you and Mrs. AVI and your sons have to say is read and appreciated.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-34416863028504750682011-07-18T12:20:15.695-04:002011-07-18T12:20:15.695-04:00The worst example of this I've witnessed made ...The worst example of this I've witnessed made me nauseous and made me cry. Of course, I was emotional anyway as it took place immediately after the funeral of my 18 year old niece. <br /><br />Another relative, one I'd looked up to for most of my life (a minister, in fact) turned the conversation to the upcoming election (2004). After stating that he was sure the entire state of Arkansas would go for Kerry, he did a little "monkey" dance depicting what he thought of Bush. <br /><br />I'm not sure there is anything he could do to regain my respect. But since I now compare all instances of political conversation to this most of it seems quite civil.Donna B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16771075314473811594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-408534955652505722011-07-18T10:53:31.298-04:002011-07-18T10:53:31.298-04:00A friend just mentioned to me that she's begun...A friend just mentioned to me that she's begun to find some common ground with a mutual acquaintance, in the context of local neighborhood (civic association) politics. Our mutual acquaintance has many excellent qualities, but they do not include views on race that we two find palatable. She is upset about recent changes in the Houston city council districts that lumped my old neighborhood in with predominantly black neighborhoods. Speaking of this development, she casually suggested to my (wildly liberal) friend that, in private, she was sure it was OK to use what we now call the "N word." My friend had to reply emphatically that it was not at all OK. Well, at least the acquaintance had the good grace to test the waters a bit -- but how could she not have known that she was giving offense?<br /><br />If only my liberal friends understood how equally offensive it is to jump in with comments about how no sane person could welcome this, that, or the other Republican candidate as an alternative in 2012. I'm finding that even fairly good friends, who know perfectly well what my political views are, will say things like, "I know you've said you won't be supporting President Obama in the next election, but surely you don't mean you'd vote for Rick Perry instead? Sarah Palin? Michelle Bachman?!?!?"<br /><br />I don't agree with my liberal friends about issues such as global warming. I'm pretty sure I don't react to them, however, with comments like, "Oh, you don't mean that you believe in AGW, even someone like you, evidently intelligent and well-educated?" Nevertheless, I try to keep in mind how easy it is to fall into that kind of offensive conversational habit. I need to guard myself more carefully, for instance, against casual insults directed at unions in the presence of my sister, who works for one and can't for the life of her see what's wrong with them. I shocked her deeply once by thoughtlessly remarking that unions had destroyed Detroit.Texan99https://www.blogger.com/profile/10479561573903660086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-35193005396955707422011-07-18T07:29:21.245-04:002011-07-18T07:29:21.245-04:00This blog is very good and informative. It is diff...This blog is very good and informative. It is difficult task but your post and <br /><br />experience serve and teach me how to handle and make it more simple and <br /><br />manageable.Thanks for the advice. Today I am lucky and I find a lot of nice <br /><br />posts.sto creditshttp://www.deansale.com/sto/sto-credits.phpnoreply@blogger.com