????question on bully tactics and how do you protect yourself

[2Design]

As I watch bushCO, I am reminded that these are the same tactics used in grammer school, high school, and the workplace politics. I have never known how to protect myself against these 'group dynamics' where you are made out to be a 'dwebe' - when in fact it is the other guy who is a 'abusive perpetrator'.

How does one protect oneself from people like this??
They use 'belittling', minimizing, making fun of, isolating you, etc. Many of the RW are very good at these tactics.

Examples from bushCo:
1. FEC suit is frivolous
2. Kerry lost his cool (saying bring it on)
3. Olympics have told them they can't use olympics in their ads, They ignore
4. Supreme Court tells them guantamno POWs must have access to lawyers, they ignore
5. 911 commission gives them specific action, they ignore
6. Amnesty International calls them on 'torture', they ignore
7. Pictures show up about the 'torture' - they say the pcitures are bad - minimize
8. They have been reported on for multiple crimes - they ignore
9. 911 says there is no connection between sadaam and 911 - they ignore and continue to repeat the lie
10. They have completely and total ignored everything and no one is taking them to task on it.

After ignoring everything, they belittle, put down, minimize.

So I am looking for not just suggesting on handling BushCo, BUT handling people like this in every day life.

All the 'sane' suggestions will help.

[joefree1]

1. Fight back

Put your head down and fists up. Continue to land blows while looking for an opportunity to land the "big one." Keep fighting. Persevere.


Download the free poster/sign here:
http://ediablo.com/eDiabloGallery.html

[Gyre]

2. Hostile working environment

If it's at work then use the language from "sexual harrassment" which everybody recognizes. Tell the freepers that it's inappropriate to discuss politics at work and if they persist report them to your human resources department as perpetrators of a "hostile working environment".

All this assumes that you're aren't the person initiating the political discussion. If you did start it, then expressly tell your harrassers that that discussion is over. If they persist after that then they are legally in the wrong and you can proceed like you're being sexually harrassed.

Gyre

[LoZoccolo]

3. Take a lesson from Pinkey.

http://www.jeffreyatw.com/movies/pinkey.wmv

[Dogmudgeon]

4. Don't defend

ATTACK.

Never play defense with a Bully. Never. When you're up against a Bully, it is essential that you inflict as much pain and damage as you possibly can as effectively as you possibly can.

Figure out their rhetorical styles and feed them back, painfully -- "George Bush is too chicken to release his service records"; "Stop flip-flopping, George"; "... wild-eyed Republican rioters ..." etc.

Bullies have very low thresholds for taking offense, and they lose control when they feel offended. If you are in position to goad a Bully, don't let up. The Bully will quickly be reduced to irrationality, at which point you can talk sense and humiliate him. And if it's a physical altercation, you can play rope-a-dope.

You don't have to do it all at once; keep your own head and plan your fights well. You can lay a series of traps over an hour, a week, a year. There are many combat techniques, and they become easy to understand when you don't give in to the feeling of victimization.

Also, in any given fight, always give a Bully an opportunity to decline the fight without suffering for it. This may seem counter-intuitive, but what you're saying is, "OK, if you reform, I'll let you off the hook." You're offering a choice between civil behavior or certain pain. It's an effective tool.

And if the Bully does back down, honor your word.

You have a moral imperative to hurt and humiliate unregenerate Bullies. They are the bottom-feeders and carrion birds of Humanity. Let them scrounge their carcasses elsewhere -- through their broken teeth, if necessary.

--bkl

[2Design]

5. interesting perspective....took a short 2 hour self defense course....

and walked away realizing - I had to get to the point I could hurt someone else in order to physically protect myself. I seem to have a barrier inside of me that is so against hurting others.....that I want to understand and comfort them for their sickness and this harms me. It bothers me if something I say or do hurts someone. But the flip side of that is the slippery slope into victimization. And the convoluted, hurting myself first before hurting someone else.

I need to change this behavior and mind set. This is not serving me very well in life.

Need more skill both physically and verbally and competitively to attack.

I was reading a book recently where it was describing kids who kick, and fight back are more healthy than those who try to do the socially acceptable thing......

So where do I get this killer instinct that most people have???? Seems the services teach you that, but I am over age for that.

[MrScorpio]

6. Frankly, I don't have a problem with bullies these days

I'm six feet tall, 250 lbs and a bit muscular

Nobody fucks with me.

But I can say, from my past experience with them, fuck 'em back if they try to fuck you. I used to get pushed around all the time until I made it clear that I wasn't going to take it anymore.

It's a sad fact, but it's true that no one respects a wimp. It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.

The Bushies need a swift kick. No time for holding back now.