Twice in the past few days I've turned down offers for gatherings with conservative friends

[Populist_Prole]

I asked for rain checks and feigned telling them I'm too busy but what I'm really saying I don't want to be around either of them till the election is over a least a week. I feel bad, really, but I'm not going to put myself in a position that'll cause a "discussion" of such increasing harshness it would probably torpedo the friendships, and I'm quite sure their request of my company has much to do with their desire to electioneer. They'll be fine after that, but they are really going off the deep end now.

This already happened once before just before the McCain/Obama election. It was just after dinner and some drinks and he and his wife were like "So......which way you leaning on election day?" and then proceeded to pitch Gramps and Palin using the tritest talking points. They got irritated when I gave my reasons for strongly disliking both...mostly because they just assumed I'd agree with them and it came as a nasty surprise to them I didn't care about their issues ( basically "god & guns" ) By then it was time to leave anyway.

I've heard of politics straining or breaking friendships, but honestly I never thought it would happen to me and actually affect my social life.

[WilliamPitt]

1. I have fun with it.

I have a bunch of conservative friends, and recently got them to admit that none of them, and no one they knew, would be voting "for" Mitt Romney, but would be voting "against" Obama.

Had some sport with the so-called "enthusiasm gap" after that.

[Ezlivin]

2. They're not "gatherings" but rather "live traps"

They're humane, but you're tagged and monitored for the rest of your natural life.

[Populist_Prole]

6. That's funny, so very accurate.

It's all the more of a trap too because as a dinner guest in their homes I feel compelled toward a certain sense of decorum that prevents me from being as assertive as I'd like...which is to say, much less than would normally be the case with me.

My father is the absolute worst in this regard because he knows this and capitalizes on that "advantage" for all it'll work. If I disagree with a position of his, or question one or any of his "facts", he gets all confrontational like "WHAT....are calling me a LIAR!?" Talk about walking on eggshells......

[Rider3]

3. Keep your blood pressure down and avoid them.

It's the best thing you can do.

[meadowlark5]

4. My MIL usually comes out every Sept. for my husband's birthday

She is an absolute conservative nutjob, Fox News watching, sound bite repeater. She says really provocative things and just hates the president. I told my husband to tell her that if she comes out for her annual visit, because it's an election year and things are so heated, there will be NO political talk. There doesn't need to be any political talk. She won't change with anything I have to say and I won't change with anything she has to say. So political talk would just lead to frustration and anger. So I imposed a political talk gag order to maintain family civility. My husband passed along the request and you know what? She decided not to come out She is such a rabid republican that it's impossible for her to keep her stupid republican talking points to herself for 3 days that she simply had to avoid the situation because she has no self control.

I also had to tell my husband's aunt to stop forwarding those ignorant, hateful forwarded emails that get circulated. I really like this aunt and uncle and I did it as diplomatically as I could to please don't send me any bullshit emails unless it came from their brain and their own thoughts or opinions. Not some forwarded propaganda.

So I'm trying to keep the peace. I don't engage those I know are "set" but they sure don't have that same filter.

[abelenkpe]

11. Same thing happened with us

Only it is my mother who is the conservative nut job unable to avoid the topic of politics. She has arranged and then cancelled three times now over the past five years. Bummer because they literally don't know my son and daughter. I blame fox news.

[get the red out]

5. Good for you!

Engaging them never does any good, in my experience, their identities are too tied up in what they believe it means to be a "conservative" usually. There is no reason to attempt reasoned discussion against insane conspiracy theories and Fox gibberish anyway because facts are usually called lies and if you never heard their lies they say you are "uninformed" (which means don't watch Fox News or listen to RW radio). That's my history with conservatives anyway. You can't battle someone's identity, and where liberals have opinions they have a persona to uphold.

[TheCowsCameHome]

7. Ask them to postpone their SuckerWare Party until Nov. 7th.

Their jaws will be tight then.

[OutNow]

8. I think you have the right idea

I went to lunch with a co-worker and long time friend the day after the start of the Iraq war. I knew he was conservative, and was not surprised that he defended Bush and talked about how our superior technology would make it a short conflict, etc, etc.

When I told him that the entire premise for attacking a country based on lies about WMD was insane and that Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld were war criminals and that while the initial attack might be short but the war would be long and bloody, he lost it.

He couldn't believe that anyone could be against the war. He sputtered and fumed and then left the restaurant. That was the last time we spoke. Ever.

So it's a good idea for you to avoid conservative folks for the next couple of weeks. I hope the rhetoric dies down after the election, but I doubt it. Your hiatus may be longer than you think.

[cilla4progress]

9. Funny!

I'm in a similar situation!

I actually have an Obama sign up in my yard and I'm debating about having a group of Republican friends over (fellow saddle club members) and taking down the sign temporarily!

Hell with it!

[Egalitarian Thug]

10. LOL! Ours stopped inviting us because the last three or four times this happened we

just knocked down every one of their talking points with real life examples from the participant's own lives.

I guess you could think of that as one advantage of living in a pretty reddish state (If Ron Paul was on the ballot here Rmoney wouldn't get 10%).

[mick063]

12. It reads similar to how the Civil War split family and friends

I have written many times and believe this.to be true.

Fox is the single greatest threat to our way of life. It is tearing apart families and friendships across the board.

Fox has injected vitriol into our daily lives.

Just as the masters planned it would do.

The coup was nearly complete, but their desire for cheap labor has brought an army of defiance.

I once believed that uncontrolled immigration was a bane upon America. Now I believe it may be our only hope of restoring this once proud nation.

[Populist_Prole]

13. Interesting parallel you bring up

The poor whites who defended the confederacy, either politically and/or the battlefield shilled for their real oppressors but hid behind the "states rights" mantra

Today the poor and working class who do shill for the GOP do the same thing by spouting their anti-government BS and carrying water for the one percent and defending their lower tax rates.

Amazing how the powerful are able to pit the powerless against the powerless.