Reply #25: I got a call from an old friend today.

[imnKOgnito]

Hadn't talked to her in years. Politically, she is a batshit crazy Teabagger, I'm sure (based on conversations we had years ago before they even existed), but as long as we dont't talk politics we get along fine. But it occurred to me today that aside from her politics, she is very warm, goes out of her way to help the less fortunate, is at least moderately culturally aware, works in her community for good causes, and espouses a LOT of the same viewpoints as I do. In fact, when we don't talk politics she sounds like a liberal. Which got me to thinking that she actually IS a liberal at heart, but there is some disconnect with who she actually is and the ideology she purports to follow. Fact is, I think it's because her father is such a staunch, dyed in the wool Reaganite and she worships the ground he walks on and that over-estimation of who her father is colors her perspective in ways she's not aware of.

But the funnier thing is, she is FAR from the only 'friend' I have like that. People that in casual conversation seem like they share a whole host of core beliefs with me that I consider liberal or progressive, but as soon as politics comes up, they become completely different people. I can't help but think that a lot of that has to do with the overwhelming propaganda we're exposed to every day.