Never ask an angry Conservative.....

[Neil C.]

...why everything they post is full of hate. I met a woman at my high school reunion and we had a nice chat, even though we were on different ends of the political spectrum. We became Facebook friends. Almost all her posts were angry, either about some social situation or the 'socialist Obama.' I refrained from commenting on her page, but dropped a note asking why is she so hateful about everything and the sky isn't always falling. I get back this long screed on how it's her page, I can't deny her first amendment rights (I never said anything about not posting her beliefs) and how it was a mistake being friends with any 'liberals' and then she dropped me. So much for her believing in first-amendment rights for anyone who has different views! Oh well, another crazy person to see at the next reunion!

[Keith P.]

I think anytime a conservative goes on about their first amendment rights being impeded and it does not entail the goverment impeding their freedom of speech, you should be allowed to smack them right in the mouth.

[AndrewCrossett]

Personally, I find it impossible to be friends with any outspoken conservative. I find these issues to be too important to just "look past."

I have one or two conservative relatives, and mostly get around the problem by keeping our conversations strictly away from politics. That ultimately won't work with close friends, though.

I get around the Facebook problem by never using it.

For people who claim to be so worshipful of the Constitution, cons seem to have a damn poor grasp of what it actually says. The First Amendment means the government can't silence you or punish you for expressing yourself, with a large number of exceptions. A private individual is by definition incapable of violating anyone's Constitutional rights.

[Stressfactor]

I think this quote from Dave Policar who commented on a post on the Slacktivist blog hits a pretty good idea....

[i]Increasingly, saying hateful things about queers is becoming socially unacceptable, which is removing our ability to say such things with impunity.

Those of us who want fewer hateful things to be said about queers correctly recognize this as an increase in options that we value. Those who want more hateful things to be said about queers correctly recognize this as the loss of options that they value.

… They want to say (and do) hateful things about (and to) me and people like me, and they want to do so with impunity and social support. Increasingly, their ability to do that is being constrained, and they resent it. Again, that isn’t a constitutional issue, and those who claim it is are mistaken/confused/lying, but there really is a loss of privileges there. They’re not wrong about that.

Whether they are privileges that any decent human being would want to have, is admittedly a whole different issue.[i]

[J.R. LeMar]

. I get back this long screed on how it's her page, I can't deny her first amendment rights-!

I always find that to be a weird response, which I've gotten too, though not about politics. A few months ago an FB friend was complaining about a well-known deadbeat, who shall remain nameless, to which I suggested it was time to stop letting this person get to him anymore, and just no longer respond to his latest antics. Then I got the "it's my page and I have the first amendment right to say what I want on it" argument. The difference is, I then dropped him, because I'm not interested in reading such negativity.

Likewise, I wouldn't have had someone like your old friend on my page. I have a few conservatives on my friend list, but they're all the rational type, like Jim Macquarie. People who say they don't think Obama is a good President are okay with me. Those who think his birth certificate is fake and that he hates Americab and is racist against White people get summarily blocked. I don't even waste time confronting folks like that anymore.

[Neil C.]

Yeah, I don't mind my conservative friends who say "I don't like Obama because of..." whichever policy they disagree with. But they are few and far between. Usually, he's either a socialist or comin' to get my guns. (wouldn't an authoritarian regime be more likely to do it?)

[MacQuarrie]

I'm a pretty conservative person according to the way the political landscape was around the time I started voting in the mid-'70s. The terms have since shifted dramatically. By maintaining pretty much the same political opinions I've always held, I found myself being unwillingly reclassified as a libertarian, then a liberal, then I don't know what. I may be a socialist by now.

I'm a First Amendment absolutist (I feel too much attention has been paid to the "respecting an establishment of religion" clause and not enough to the "nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof" one). I'm also a supporter of the 2nd (I believe it's there to put teeth in the First), as well as the 3rd through 10th Amendments, which are violated a lot more often than the first two.

I am pro-life, but I think it's a horrific mistake to try to force the issue through either legislation or judicial ruling. The only way to eliminate abortion is by convincing the people not to do it though appeals to conscience, and by making damn sure that there is abundant access to alternatives; the solution to a crisis pregnancy is to address the crisis. When abortion is truly a choice among equally viable options, a LOT fewer women will choose it. Trying to impose a moral position that the people do not hold is abuse of power.

I am a Christian, but more than one pastor has told me that my beliefs are heretical. Of course, since I think my position is actually based on what the Bible says rather than on what I think it says or wish it said, I guess I may be heretical after all. Oh well, I'll ask the Big Guy about it someday.

Anyway, the thing is, I don't think I'm unreasonable. I try to approach political discussions factually and reasonably, with enough humility to at least consider opposing views, and try to articulate why I disagree with a position without resorting to sloganeering or name-calling. Or at least I try.

One of my key beliefs is "if your political opinion fits on a bumper sticker, you haven't really thought about it.

[MacQuarrie]

Yeah, I don't mind my conservative friends who say "I don't like Obama because of..." whichever policy they disagree with. But they are few and far between. Usually, he's either a socialist or comin' to get my guns. (wouldn't an authoritarian regime be more likely to do it?)

My complaint about Obama is that he keeps signing horrific legislation that the GOP oligarchs love, while mumbling half-hearted "concerns" about it and attaching worthless signing statements.

[restlessnative]

Yeah, I don't mind my conservative friends who say "I don't like Obama because of..." whichever policy they disagree with. But they are few and far between. Usually, he's either a socialist or comin' to get my guns. (wouldn't an authoritarian regime be more likely to do it?)

This. most conservatives I associate with feel this way. They do not like, nor will they vote for Obama, but neither do they think he is the socialist second coming of Stalin as Faux News would have them believe. They disagree with him, but not out of any fear of conspiracy. It's more like a "road to Hell is paved with good intentions" type thing.

I do not agree, but I can respect this opinion.

[restlessnative]

I'm a pretty conservative person according to the way the political landscape was around the time I started voting in the mid-'70s. The terms have since shifted dramatically. By maintaining pretty much the same political opinions I've always held, I found myself being unwillingly reclassified as a libertarian, then a liberal, then I don't know what. I may be a socialist by now.

I'm a First Amendment absolutist (I feel too much attention has been paid to the "respecting an establishment of religion" clause and not enough to the "nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof" one). I'm also a supporter of the 2nd (I believe it's there to put teeth in the First), as well as the 3rd through 10th Amendments, which are violated a lot more often than the first two.

I am pro-life, but I think it's a horrific mistake to try to force the issue through either legislation or judicial ruling. The only way to eliminate abortion is by convincing the people not to do it though appeals to conscience, and by making damn sure that there is abundant access to alternatives; the solution to a crisis pregnancy is to address the crisis. When abortion is truly a choice among equally viable options, a LOT fewer women will choose it. Trying to impose a moral position that the people do not hold is abuse of power.

I am a Christian, but more than one pastor has told me that my beliefs are heretical. Of course, since I think my position is actually based on what the Bible says rather than on what I think it says or wish it said, I guess I may be heretical after all. Oh well, I'll ask the Big Guy about it someday.

Anyway, the thing is, I don't think I'm unreasonable. I try to approach political discussions factually and reasonably, with enough humility to at least consider opposing views, and try to articulate why I disagree with a position without resorting to sloganeering or name-calling. Or at least I try.

One of my key beliefs is "if your political opinion fits on a bumper sticker, you haven't really thought about it.

I Like you, let's be friends.