WARNING: BITCH FEST AHEAD.
Channeling my inner Shane (see J.W. Manus’ post about the Dale on her shoulder!)
Usually I live my life by this rule - never talk religion or politics in public. Not only is it bad for business, it’s bad for your health. But I have had enough.
Okay, so this friend of mine has gone from one extreme to the other - from her former days as a member of the far left to being reborn as a member of the far right wing. Every damn day she fills my inbox with the worst kind of extremist, vile, vitriolic, hate-filled, obscenity-laden, reactionary propaganda - spouting outright lies, innuendo and conspiracy theories, as in - Herbert Hoover was born on Mars…
Oh Really? So the elementary school I attended was named for a Martian??? Like, totally awesome!
If I want to read crap like that I can pick up a Globe or a National Enquirer at the check stand. No, either of those journals would be considered a model of restraint in comparison to the hate-speak she emails me.
I am this - liberal on some issues, moderate on others, and a conservative on still others. My political opinions are nobody’s damn business. I like NCIS, Person of Interest, AND the Big Bang Theory! And I’m still pissed about the cancellation of Moonlight - Mick St. John = yum - and Shane’s unnecessary demise on The Walking Dead. I loved BSG and Firefly. I hated Lost. And if that makes me politically incorrect, so be it!
As is my right and duty, I vote and I have voted in every single election since I came of age. I don’t vote a particular party, I vote a candidate. I am a thoughtful, well-informed citizen. I don’t automatically believe everything I hear or read in the popular press. If I have a question or a doubt, I research.
I have no intention of voting a platform because this is America and I have the freedom to vote my conscience. Thank you very much, America!
So my friend says - (and I’m not a Communist, believe me) - “The left wing is proselytizing, seeking converts! They (the ubiquitous ‘they’ word) are spreading their left wing agenda and infecting the world! The Communists are going to take your house, your car, you dog, all your money and destroy your life!”
Okay… and those 50 articles she sends per day, and phoning me constantly to call me an idiot because I refuse to take every goddamn thing she says on faith, accept her word as the gospel truth, is not proselytizing? Hello?
I’m looking around my neighborhood and I don’t see any Commie hoards bearing down on me… I do see a lot of decent, hardworking, old fashioned American citizens, most of us concerned about what lies ahead for our children.
You know… if I want to live in a place where the State, (or any one person), can impose its/her views on me, I can move to China or Iran. As far as I’m concerned both extreme ends of the spectrum are equally undemocratic in their philosophies. Both would take away my civil liberties in the time it takes me to sneeze!
I have a right to my political opinions, I will defend my right until the day I die, and I will never presume to tell other people what to think or how to vote. GMAFB!
And ya’ll wonder why I’d rather contemplate a zombie apocalypse…
P.S. I like rodeos too. And bull riders.
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I go through this with my mother every single day. She fills my email (and I delete) all her political ones. It’s all she wants to talk about when she visits. I gave up voting for a party last election and decided it’s best to vote for a candidate.
Now what’s this about hating Lost??? Just kidding.
Heeee…I like Amber’s LOST comment!
Is there a way you can make your “friend’s” comments go into your spam box so you don’t have to see them?
New rules of social etiquette…
1. Don’t talk politics.
2. Don’t talk religion.
3. Don’t mention that Grey book or I’ll stab myself in the eye.
4. Just in case there is a Zombie Apocalypse, keep plenty of canned goods in the basement. And some machetes.
New World Order!
I have unfriended some of my own family members on Facebook and blocked email accounts over this very issue. My dad isn’t allowed to talk politics while at my house because he and I are polar opposites in our political views, but even worse (like your friend), he takes it so personally that I don’t agree with him. Like he has failed as a parent because I grew up, went to college, and learned to make my own decisions. Sharin’ ya pain, sista!
Calm down and have a Martini…….
and there was me thinking that we could have an evening in Sept sitting in the back garden with a bottle of wine and discuss politics while I get the master physician to give me a once over ( he’s not a horse doctor, is he …. not that it would matter with me or maybe it would he might conclude I need to be put to sleep, Oh gosh I hope at least he waits until after dessert)
Penny’s correct of course, just tell your friend, she can still be your friend, but her emails are now going straight into the spam file. If she doesn’t like it tough you’ve still got;
Penny
Jaye
Amber
Lorca
and all the rest of your countless friends and admirers who don’t tend to try and ram our opinions down your throat oh and Me , not that I count as much as them
Sounds like your friend is in that so-called TEA Party, and is a birther.
Seriously, I live in a TEA Party state where the most change undertaken so far has been
1. a Witch Hunt of our experienced and public serving Director of Housing because she is a lesbian, finally hounding her into resignation,
2. Taking down a federally funded mural at the department of labor because it was labor friendly and thus anti-business. Oh yeah the gov. never saw the mural.
3. Putting a sign up that says we are open for business.
As was pointed out on Bill Maher recently America has amnesia and many are all to willing to believe rumor and innuendo. They forget when the recession started, disbelieve an official birth certificate, and a variety of other topics like war.
BTW I loved the “Grey” book.
I have no religion and no one religion is any crazier than any other.
My politics are what I believe is moral and good sense. Some of my beliefs require Don and I to pay higher taxes but create a more humane world.
If it sounds too good to be true it is.
I tell people I am too busy to look at round robin, or warning or other crap email. If they send me stuff that’s wrong (Aliens waiting to chloroform you and steal your body at the mall) I will sometimes send them the urban legend website.
Then I ignore it. Eventually, I ignore them. Spam filters are great.
Face it, if all that’s holding a friendship together is one party’s need to inundate the other with stuff they should know well enough the other is not interested in then the friendship has run its course.
It’s akin to one trying to bring the other to Jesus with each meeting-inconsiderate and obnoxious.
Your house/email inbox - your rules.
I loved Lost! l admit a few story lines went absolutely nowhere but it was still an amazing experience for our whole family. I’m sure that was part of it’s appeal, my husband, son, sisters and Dad would talk about it the next day-instead of politics. pheew.
I have noticed most sane people drifting a little more toward the middle. I think that provokes the lunatic fringe and makes them work even harder.
I get lots of kook email from distant family. We check out the most politically hateful, paranoid emails on “snopes” add the real info and sent the hate mail back with a “sorry this isn’t true… ” I know it doesn’t make a bit of difference but it makes me feel better.
XXOO Kat
PS having said this maybe the government really is spraying mind control agents on the unwitting public and making them so kooky they don’t even notice that the apocalypse has already come and gone and we do live in a giant communist internment camp with invisible bars and high speed DSL and aliens did attack Fort Knox and eat our entire gold supply… Oh my god, it’s all falling into place. I understand now what Lost was trying to tell us! : )
My husband has co-workers and a friend who do the same thing. He told the friend that I delete all emails that aren’t from family. Big liar. At work, he sends them to the urban legend page for all the good it does. Did you know that the left is going to take all our guns and ammunition and kill all the babies? There is no use trying to talk. They aren’t capable of listening. Delete, delete, delete.
Hope your weekend is spam free.
Wow! I had no idea the government was so nefarious! Ditto on what Penny said. And I miss Moonlight too (it was on the wrong network and ahead of it’s time), but I am also torn because then Alex O wouldn’t be on Hawaii 5-0 and I do love that show. I cringe every time I have to visit my in-laws because they gorge on a diet of National Enquirer and Fox news. I wish someone would tell them the no politics or religion rule. When we do have be in the same room, I find excuses to leave when the “hatespeak” begins that way I don’t lose my cool and say something I will regret later.
Block your friend (because in this case she isn’t). My dad’s a preacher. We have a civilized agreement. We don’t discuss politics or religion. Or my occupation
For those individuals who insist on e-mailing me extremists crap of any persuasion, I give them one warning and then list them as spam sites if they persist.
Have a better day, dear.
Inner Shane rules!
I love passionate people. I love people who take a stand. I love people who think and ponder and chew on problems and try to find solutions. I love people who say, “Jaye, you’re full of shit and this is why,” and then respectfully let me return the favor.
What I don’t appreciate is intolerance, bigotry, mindless group think or folks who act as if disagreement is a declaration of war. What I love best about America is that, for the most part and with a few notable exceptions, we have learned to live fairly peacefully together. We don’t behead our politicians, we vote them out. We argue, we fuss, we maneuver, and, for the most part, it doesn’t involve armed raids and genocide. We settle our differences, then find new differences and settle those, too.
If all else fails, we screen our phone calls and block emails.
Well said Jaye.
Conversation good, proselytizing bad.
I’d go insane dealing with a friend like that. I can’t even bear to read anything involving those Tea Party Birther’s because it just boggles my mind how some people can come up with irrational theories and believe in it so deeply. Just don’t get it. But it’s their opinion and I can’t change it, so I might as well just avoid hearing and being around people with such radical opinions.
Makes me shake, Delilah! So upsetting to read such vitriol!
I agree, Jaye. I remember reading somewhere that the one sin is hatred for no reason. Exactly - you’ve named the best things about America - we vote our leaders in and out of office, we don’t experience coups nor do we behead government officials we disagree with - thank god!
Wish I could block these emails, but not possible right now. I will attempt diplomacy one more time.
Anny, a civilized discourse would be welcome in this case. Yup… religion and politics - taboo!
Casey - LOL! I miss him on Moonlight. He was a great vampire! Oh so hate hatespeak! So seriously, did you know Herbert Hoover was born on Mars?
Stephanie, your husband is very smart. Unfortunately this person is like family. I have to find some way to help her control her need to control me. I hope my weekend is spam free as well! Thanks!
Have a great 3-day weekend!
Kat - perhaps we live in the Matrix! There’s a thought! Nope, could not get into Lost. Tried and tried and tried.
I like it, Steph - my inbox, my rules! Short, sweet and to the point.
I thought about that, Tom. I told my husband last night that I needed, and I mean needed, a super dirty martini with 4 olives. That would have helped a lot.
No, he’s a people doctor, but he did help repair a newborn calf’s dislocated hip!
Oh Lorca! Hey, my dad’s like me, conservative on some issues, liberal on others and a moderate on others. He’s on the receiving end of these emails too! I think he just deletes. Sorry you’re sharing my pain…
See Penny, now isn’t it far more fun and distracting to plan for the zombie apocalypse? And retain your sense of humor? Geez! Didn’t like Lost. Boring.
Oh poor you, Amber. I think it’s fear that makes people so extreme. We’re all worried, but you can’t go nuts! No, Lost is not for me.
Wow, I feel bad for you..I think people forget that not everyone shares the views that they do…
Julia - LOL! I obviously missed that fact about Hoover in history class!
Yeah, me too! And I was born in Herbert Hoover’s home state of Iowa and I’ve been to the Hoover Library. Silly me!
Hi Savannah. I think people just get nuts!
Sigh. I’m a centralist but unfortunately there is no center anymore.