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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe older I get, the less tolerant I am with GOP friends/relatives....
I used to be able to tolerate them. The GOP seemed less nutty and less radical 15 years ago.
Now they all seem like they are totally insane. No logic. No facts.
I hate to try to sound smarter than any of my GOP friends but I honestly cannot get ONE of them to justify their stances on any issue. They cannot defend their policy's. They cannot tell me why they hate what Obama has done. And any facts they provide are easily countered without a return argument from them.
I have less and less patience and respect for them.
Makes it hard to remain friends with people I have no intellectual respect for.
Maybe I am just getting old and grumpy!
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BiggJawn
(23,051 posts)It's totally, completely batshit now.
gateley
(62,683 posts)my stomach clutches -- I'm AFRAID of what I might hear. Didn't used to be like that.
BiggJawn
(23,051 posts)But I can almost be certain there's a 65% chance it'll be racist Authoritarian drivel.
rurallib
(64,688 posts)I don't have enough time left to live to waste any on people who can't even see facts as facts.
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)
Initech
(108,783 posts)happerbolic
(140 posts)spoiled & bratty to the core. i never understood their desire to govern when all they do is want to tear down it's very fabric.
Bandit
(21,475 posts)Republicans believe they are ALWAYS correct and Democrats are ALWAYS wrong so they will NEVER accept anything a Democrats has to say nor will they compromise. They will have it their way or no way and that is in no way Governing.. That is Ruling and that is their intent. To Rule over us and force their beliefs upon us all.
ieoeja
(9,748 posts)You *never* hear/read a Liberal refer to elected officials as "our rulers". But they do it all the time.
When I first heard them say that about a Democrat I assumed it was the typical childish name calling. But then I started hearing them refer to elected officials they support in the same manner. Their open desire to be ruled instead of led/served is chilling as fuck.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)
KarenS
(5,050 posts)My siblings are Libertarians and I think they are disgusting. Over the years, I've wasted a lot of time and energy arguing with them. In the next two weeks, I'll be seeing two of them and have decided that I won't argue/debate/correct them again,,,, If they get too offensive I plan tell them to stop talking about whatever it is they're talking about. 
NAO
(3,425 posts)I was a libertarian, and I still am, after a fashion.
Libertarians are opposed to "all forms of coercion". They think coercion is only justified in response to coercion. They are anti-government because they see the state as coercive.
My pivot from libertarian to progressive came when I experienced - over and over in many different areas - the reality of the "economic coercion" that exists in the (so called) "free market". The coercion of the immediate financial distress of an individual matched by the economic power of private wealth merits the use of coercion in the form of government regulations as a counterweight.
Or so it seems to me.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)happerbolic
(140 posts)... as long as a representative government stays intact, the populace can decide if it should continue or not. with a private board membership starts to become the governing principality over it's fiefdom .... well good luck dislodging that cartel.
anAustralianobserver
(633 posts)Yeah that's true; resistance to coercion is the central moral concern of libertarianism. Currently they tend to conflate collectivity with coercion (and individuality with private economy).
And some cynical politicians try to make sure they point their paranoia in only one direction.
JHB
(38,213 posts)I've always had a mix of views that didn't fit well into the "usual" political categories, so used to refer to myself as a "left libertarian". (I've since dropped that, having learned that phrase already existed, and had implications I didn't necessarily agree with.)
Simply put, 'freedom' isn't freedom when it is effectively 'freedom for the most ruthless' and everyone has to watch their backs 24/7 just to survive.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)The teabaggers think they're free since they can wave guns at the president, and clueless to the fact that their insurance company's ability to bankrupt them at the drop of a hat renders said teabaggers far from free.
markpkessinger
(8,912 posts)... and what I've noticed (as have several friends of mine who are in a similar position vis-a-vis GOP relatives), is that if one dares to confront them with hard, objective facts that counter their narrative, one is met with volcano of rage and vitriol. And I just don't know what to do with that anymore.
sandyshoes17
(657 posts)They've become intolerable, I feel the same way. Have they really changed or is it me. Did their craziness make me find more of my sanity. Or did they just go too far. I look at family members and just don't get it. You guys are my only sanity sometimes.
rwsanders
(3,180 posts)Does the Republicanism come first or the craziness? They do seem to mutually reinforce each other and I've found my 2 sisters intolerable and we've stopped communicating.
One is married to a drunk racist and now she claims she lost her house because she is the wrong color.
The other is married to a guy that insists the civil war was fought for 'states rights'.
The Wielding Truth
(11,433 posts)ieoeja
(9,748 posts)Answer: they were adamantly opposed to States Rights on the issue of slavery. They viewed Slavery as an individual property right guaranteed by the Full Faith & Credit clause of the United States Constitution.
Prior to the Civil War, northern politicians wanted each new state to vote on the issue of slavery. Southern politicians opposed the right of individual states south of the Missouri compromise to vote on the issue because no new state ever had a majority pro-Slavery population.
The South dominated federal politics for several decades prior to the Civil War. During that time they repeatedly pushed through pro-Slavery federal laws such as the Fugitive Law.
So if the South seceded over States Rights they must have been seceding to stop themselves from trampling the States Rights of the northern states!
Zax2me
(2,515 posts)But not up front.
Just less political talk with family, friends I know don't agree with me. Stuff like that.
Because life is too short and ultimately life is more than politics - plenty of things to exploit and enjoy.
I'm happier the older I get.
Logical
(22,457 posts)NAO
(3,425 posts)This is the best book to come out in a long time. It explains, using empirical scientific research, why conservatives are so often on the wrong side of "the facts".
Excerpt by the author posted at Alternet:
"I can still remember when I first realized how naïve I was in thinking—hoping—that laying out the “facts” would suffice to change politicized minds, and especially Republican ones. It was a typically wonkish, liberal revelation: One based on statistics and data. Only this time, the data were showing, rather awkwardly, that people ignore data and evidence—and often, knowledge and education only make the problem worse..."
"...Let’s face it: We liberals and progressives are absolutely outraged by partisan misinformation. Lies about “death panels.” People seriously thinking that President Obama is a Muslim, not born in the United States. Climate-change denial. Debt ceiling denial. These things drive us crazy, in large part because we can’t comprehend how such intellectual abominations could possibly exist..."
"...The idealistic, liberal, Enlightenment notion that knowledge will save us, or unite us, was even put to a scientific test last year—and it failed badly. Yale researcher Dan Kahan and his colleagues set out to study the relationship between political views, scientific knowledge or reasoning abilities, and opinions on contested scientific issues like global warming..."
The article is here:
The Republican Brain: Why Even Educated Conservatives Deny Science -- and Reality
http://www.alternet.org/story/154252/the_republican_brain:_why_even_educated_conservatives_deny_science_--_and_reality/?page=entire
other articles by the same author discussing different implications of the research:
The Science of Truthiness: Why Conservatives Deny Global Warming
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-mooney/the-science-of-truthiness_b_1379472.html
Want to Understand Republicans? First Understand Evolution
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-mooney/want-to-understand-republ_b_1262542.html
and the book is here:
Want to Understand Republicans? First Understand Evolution
http://www.amazon.com/The-Republican-Brain-Science-Science/dp/1118094514
Baitball Blogger
(52,345 posts)First, you have a master mind like Grover Norquist. He's followed by the marketing crew which find different ways to sell their message to their supporters. This is where the real brilliance begins. We've seen the Southern Strategy connect with the racists. We have seen privatization work with Christian schools who want more segregation for religious reasons; and we have free market for the Libertarians.
In all this you have one running theme: They don't want anyone looking over their shoulders to make sure that they're fair. Why? Because the whole reason behind the Republican party is to create a stratified society where white people are dominant.
As much as I believe the answer is to learn how to succeed within our own circles, the reality is that it's difficult to get a fair shake when they're holding all the cards. It would really help if we made inroads with prosecuting white collar criminals--in areas that many people haven't even thought of yet.
loudsue
(14,087 posts)AND the lying war criminals, were publicly prosecuted like they should be, there would be a much better understanding of where the rightwing propaganda has been taking this country. They would see their "heroes" doing the perp walk.
izquierdista
(11,689 posts)You'll be able to say "I told you so, now will you listen to me?"
When the Arctic ice cap completely melts in the summer, you can ask "was I right about global warming?"
When they get sick and get the same old health insurance run around, you can ask "was I right about single payer?"
When the banks cause the next crash, you can ask "was I right about deregulation?"
The only solace we have now is to cut them off when they pull a Condi Rice and start out "nobody could have expected that...." and remind them that not only did you expect it, but you have been telling them about it all along.
iemitsu
(3,891 posts)i was arguing that reaganomics would ruin the economy in the early 1980s.
everyone of the right's policies have since been enormous failures.
yet, not only do half of americans still subscribe to those failed policies but the other half legitimizes them by acting as if the proponents of such silliness were any less than insane.
Autumn
(48,962 posts)I guess just because I've learned that they aren't going to change my mind and I figure if they are too stupid to realize what republicans do then I sure as hell can't fix them.
baldguy
(36,649 posts)First, we were talking about the weather. Simple, right? Not really. After I said we'd been spoiled last month with the 80 degree daytime highs, he jumps in saying it's been too cold this past week. And they had a record snow storm in Anchorage AK. "Global warming, my ass!" 
Later, he was talking about the shit he's had to deal with from his health insurance company. A little background: This guy is in his mid-50s. He's never spent more that 5 yrs at any job he's ever had, and the jobs he's had have been barely enough to keep him in the middle-class. He's got no savings, no job currently, and he's also had various health problems his entire life. He only has any kind of health insurance at all through the kindness of his ex-wife and her employer allowing him to piggy-back onto her policy through her work.
Over the last year, he got some kind of weird auto-immune disease that kept him in the hospital for 8 months. He only got out in October. Since then, he's been out of work and the doctors have been putting him through a bunch of tests still trying figure out what happened. In February, he got a letter from the insurance co telling him that he and his 20-yr-old son had both been dropped retroactive to last June and that he owed them $200k. He called his lawyer (also paid by the ex-wife) and, after several anxious weeks, got everything straightened out.
But here's the thing: HE'S TOTALLY CLUELESS AS TO WHY THAT MAY HAVE HAPPENED & WHO'S RESPONSIBLE.
He still thinks Obamacare is an "unconstitutional intrusion on my civil rights" and will put his trust in the soulless corporation who'd just as soon see him dead & bankrupt over a govt agency created specifically to help people just like him. He can't fathom the idea that, if his wish to repeal Obamacare came true and if he lost his insurance HE WOULD HAVE BEEN TOTALLY SCREWED!! And his kid too!!
I had to bite my tongue to keep from pointing out what a FUCKING IDIOT he was being, out of respect for my aunt. She's a Tea Bagger, too. But at least she tries to enforce the "no politics" rule at family gatherings.
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)really a brain function. They operate from a portion of their brain that is like a RW echo chamber, illustrated by the fact that all of the logic in the world doesn't change their thought patterns. It's hard-wired responses.
cstanleytech
(28,471 posts)is one or two points shy of being declared mentally retarded so the stuff like Obama is a muslim and he is a socialist he believes without question and you just cannot talk to him as its a waste of time as all he will do is start shouting.
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)mindless dribble. I have a friend that parrots Glenn Beck quotes to stuff.
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)Between the crazy state people introducing sharia laws against women it is a lose lose situation.
madokie
(51,076 posts)I know I'm getting old and all that but I can't stand to be around my old friends who hate President Obama now.
Skittles
(171,710 posts)I'm old enough to remember a time when I could debate conseratives - that time has LONG passed - today's conservatives live in a land of lies and illusion, as told to them by their dittomasters. They make NO fucking sense at all and it is scary and depressing trying to engage them in any kind of dialogue
cstanleytech
(28,471 posts)that they willingly live in that state thats the real problem and they do that largely imo because if they stop doing it then they would have to accept responsibility themselves for some of the problems and they just wont accept that they arent perfect.
Skittles
(171,710 posts)willfully ignorant
daligirl519
(285 posts)My granddaddy used to say, "You cannot argue with crazy or stupid." I just let it go. I do a lot of smiling and nodding, the type you do with the nut on the corner.
Marie Marie
(11,309 posts)I refuse to enter into a battle of wits with an unarmed person. (My thanks and acknowledgment to whoever coined that phrase - it is so apropos. Just smile and nod and when that doesn't work - walk away. The bathroom is always a good escape.
Pakid
(478 posts)I don't waste my time on them any more. Talking to them is like talking to a wall except that the wall is a lot smarter, at least it never opens it mouth just to show how little it knows
evilhime
(373 posts)condescending attitude that they are SO right, and we are stupid for voting for what they consider the worst president ever... I guess they have to think that after liking BushCo. 
. As a woman I find they can be even worse... one last night actually started talking to me as if I was the "little woman" who doesn't understand such important things as politics ARGH! Actually told me to look up words so he could "educate" me <sigh>. I laughed in response . . . and moved on.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)The rightwing thing has become a religion to them, and if I won't enthusiastically agree, not just hold my tongue or say, 'Yes, fine, okay,' I'm the enemy now, I'm not welcome.
It's a major loss as virtually all my family has passed on now and if I needed any help, I know now that I could never ask without being made to pay penance. They'd insist I worship at the throne of Glenn Beck, insist that I lie, say the world is flat, whatever, but submit.
This wasn't a problem three years ago, it's more recent and has changed their entire attitude. It was affecting my blood pressure just trying to get the yelling to stop, when I begged to discuss anything but politics. They hate the state I live in, they hate and hate. They never acted like that before. I don't trust them now, they're like strangers and it's scary.
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)by now, but if they were around I have absolutely no doubt that some of them would definitely display the same behavior. It's really become an illness. It's a blindness and I'm very uncomfortable with it too.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)We will probably go to our graves now and not be able to speak to each other in peace again. It's a religion.
cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)like politics or Trayvon Martin or "right-wing" craziness.
Those subjects just don't seem to come up. I can't think of a single drunkfest when someone traded words over politics or current events.
I'm talking about a 30 year period with the same players.
kctim
(3,575 posts)most people don't have a 'my way or the highway' mentality about politics, so they aren't so petty to let it interfere with their regular lives.
IMO, anybody who gets all bent out of shape over anothers politics is just pissed because somebody dares to disagree with their personally held beliefs and opinions.
leftylauren
(51 posts)Especially after listening to my father go on and on about how the Socialist Obama is destroying our country even though he has no facts to back anything up and no desire to listen to anyone who may have a differing opinion.
But the best part is when he then goes into his gloating on how wonderful the Dr's and Nurses were during his recent hand surgery and treatments all paid for by his more socialist than Canada VA health insurance, and thats about the time you can find me banging my head on the wall because he will just never ever get it.
Kath1
(4,309 posts)And welcome to DU, leftylauren! 
Tabasco_Dave
(1,259 posts)I've been parties and gatherings of mixed people and I've noticed the republicans always have to steer the conversation towards politics, they have really crappy manners now.
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)time. I was talking with someone the other day in our city expressing similar thoughts, that the republicans have no tolerance anymore and no respect for other people that are not 100% in agreement with them. It's weird and highly unproductive for the future of this nation.
alittlelark
(19,139 posts)I know they are brainwashed and fearful, but I have to hold my hand to keep it from smacking them upside the head.
TheMastersNemesis
(10,602 posts)emilyg
(22,742 posts)not to let politics destroy my relationships.
Duppers
(28,469 posts)Join the crowd.
Historic NY
(40,037 posts)yes I am getting grumpy.
hay rick
(9,605 posts)I've had the same problem since 2000- I'm used to it now.
It's difficult to maintain friendship if you can't hold up your end of the mutual respect that underlies friendship.
My problem with most Republicans is not that I disagree with their opinions- it's that I DON'T RESPECT their opinions.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)
silverweb
(16,410 posts)[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]That's my new motto. Thank you!
It will get plenty of use during the annual visit with the relatives this year. 
ingac70
(7,947 posts)No different than fucking klan members, as far as I'm concerned.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)Barely miss them. The most annoying part is that they feel the need to inject Hate Radio talking points into every fucking conversation. It is truly not worth the aggravation.
Jamaal510
(10,893 posts)It annoys me that whenever I talk with a Republican or conservative somewhere like YouTube or Yahoo Answers, they automatically blame Obama for our woes, as if everything started going haywire in January 2009. I find it incredible that there are still non-rich people who will vote Republican, despite our job losses under * and him driving up our debt. Whenever I mention any of the Republican candidates, such as Ron Paul, wanting to dismantle safety nets for the poor and making bigoted comments, they see it as Ho-hum and resort to name-calling.
In addition, they nit-pick and make up stuff to get on PBO's case for, whether it's him being Kenyan, being Muslim, or plotting to do away with the 2nd amendment. It's truly becoming more difficult for me to not have disdain for the GOP or conservatives in general.
skydive forever
(512 posts)You know what they say, there are only 2 kinds of republicans, millionairs and suckers.
Kablooie
(19,107 posts)Once you stop being a fetus your value as a human being declines and the farther away you are the less value you have.
PA Democrat
(13,428 posts)I'm talking about people who NEVER talked about politics in the past and now they have to work their wacko talking points into to every freaking conversation you have with them. The most innocuous topic somehow becomes a launching pad for some insane Glenn Beck screed about taxes and the constitution and how unions have destroyed everything, blah, blah, blah.
It makes me crazy. The one thing they all have in common is FOX "News."
I don't think it's about getting old and grumpy. I think it has to do with remembering a time when Republicans did not endorse the extreme policies (like denying science and getting rid of the social safety net) that they do now and when people with different political opinions were not viewed as one's mortal enemy to be be defeated at all costs.
Ship of Fools
(1,453 posts)
YellowRubberDuckie
(19,736 posts)...and get more conservative as you get older. My husband and I are doing the exact opposite. And people are so pissed off about it. I don't really understand most of it.
Logical
(22,457 posts)
When I run across a GOP shithead I just ignore them completely, I guess they assume I’m a democrat and my OBAMA bumper stickers kind of give me away LOL. No politics or religion at work, and I work for DoD so no OBAMA bashing is allowed, I get the privilege to walk by his picture every day. As a Vet I know a lot of Blind Soldiers and I just SMH.
sarcasmo
(23,968 posts)The wife's family is another ball game, all right wing nut jobs.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)I would like to be doing more things like volunteering, belonging to some service organizations, joining the symphony, etc., but I am certain of two things:
1. These psychopaths will be there, and
2. They will inject their lies and propaganda into any conversation
So I avoid them.
marshall
(6,706 posts)People get tired of it very quickly.
Kath1
(4,309 posts)Seriously, I have a lot less patience with it than I used to have. I would just rather not have the discussions, just as I never discuss politics with my immediate family.
The funny thing is that these right-wing rants I hear have made me much more liberal on a lot more issues than I ever would have been had they just left me alone.
Daniel537
(1,560 posts)i realized that raising my blood pressure does me more harm than it does to the righties. So i simply do the one thing that pisses them off the most. Vote Democratic and then gloat about it in their faces. 
Namvet67
(111 posts)It's been said many times, but they vote against their own interests and I too have lost patience....completely. Friends have fallen by the wayside over the years because of racist attitudes and all manner of intolerances. But the worst are the right wingers who actually go to church and think they're christ-like!!.....maybe they are....maybe christ was a racist. Seems like it to me. I no longer have contact with those ex friends that are in the last category....just can't stand the lack of rational thought and empathy.Don't miss them at all.I block e-mails of those who forward right wing illiterate shit to me. It keeps one busy because they're coming at us from all over the place....whew
maryellen99
(3,798 posts)I'm deactivating my Facebook page.
avebury
(11,196 posts)spend it trying to talk to the ignorant and clueless. I find myself a lot more happier to just plan stay away from the escapees of nuthouse.
DCKit
(18,541 posts)I don't hang out with stupid people, but the arguments they make are based on nothing but the opinions of "pundints" (I actually hear that pronunciation often on the Sunday nooz shows), RW radio and the GOP talking points/lies regularly spewed by/on both.
At this point, the only thing I can suspect is Obama Derangement
Syndrome. And, as many times I've tried to explain the three branches of government, the separation of powers and the limits of the Presidency (in the absence of a functional Congress), they always circle back to the scary Black man in the WH.
They're on the verge of total insanity now, but what we're going to be dealing with when President Obama wins a second term and (if) we gain the majority in the House again and gain additional seats on the Senate? Jeebus.
Ratty
(2,100 posts)But I could often respect them. It's not that you're getting older, it's that it's a different party now. I can still tolerate someone who identifies as a conservative but I have no patience for anyone who still calls themselves republican.