Here is my interaction with a good Republican :-( friend.

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

Over the last few years, his fallback on any baiting is "Kennedy/Chappaquiddick" or "Clinton/BlueDress".

Lately he has taken to sending me all these funny sites spoofing K/C, without any opening provocation from me! And today, he needled me one too many times and here are my two email responses to him!

===============================My first response=======================================
I dont want to stoop to that level, but...

since you keep pointing out this one admittedly grave error in judgement from Ted's past, did you know the following?

1. George Bush had a girlfriend for whom he got an abortion destroying his "child"?

2. Did you know that she later died under very mysterious circumstances?

3. Did you know that the Bush Crime Family (BCF for short in knowledgeable democratic circles) has "suicided" off many of their political enemies?

4. Did you know that the BFEE (Bush Family Evil Empire) has extensive ties to Bin Laden's family (both via the Carlyle group and outside of it) and that Prescott Bush (Poppy's poppy, Connecticut Senator) had extensive financial ties to Hitler and his minions?

5. Did you know that Neil Bush's failed savings and loan was bailed out by the US treasury to the tune of billions of dollars? Did you know Dubya himself raised half a penny in taxes in Arlington to par lay his measly 750k (1%) stake in the Baseball team into a $14 million dollar return? Do you know of Jeb's connections to all kinds of Florida underbelly denizens? Did you know of Neil's serial involvement with prostitutes in the US and Philippines and the messy, ugly divorce that resulted from this?

6. Finally (not because I am out of dirt on the BCF/BFEE, but because I am out of time), did you know that Laura Bush, in a drunken stint with her car, knocked and killed off her best friend's boyfriend?

I can supply you with links for all of these if you are interested in finding out the awful truth about the criminals ruling this country now. But, if you are stuck with one powerless senator's one gross negligence once long ago, I guess we blue state of minders have to suffer through your petty little indulgences while the ranks of the poor and healthcare-less swell, while the troops die and get maimed in the 1000s because the pentagon is too busy shoveling all the money to Halliburton and other cronies, while the arctic shelf melts, and the world waits with bated breath for some responsible adults to shepherd the world's most powerful country, be my guest. You can be conservative and I can respect you for that; but after the unfolding of this maladministration, if you are still (a) cheerleading them and (b) nitpicking on the powerless Democrats, I hope you are content to learn that you will have succeeded in helping take the greatest nation in the world back to the 4th century BC.

Your Kennedy citations would be funny, if the Dems were in power and he was actually saying something about somebody's personal integrity. I would any day choose the personal foibles of the dems over the organized crime that are rethug maladministrations.

Wake up and smell the stench: the Dems do not control anything right now, the Republicans do -- you hold those in power accountable, if you are a responsible citizen; you do not keep picking on people that are at the bottom of the totem pole.

=========
================================My second response==========================================
Sorry for the tone, I think I am becoming very dispirited by the base 35 to 40% support he still seems to get and you were a convenient target, I guess.

While I readily apologize for returning fire on a joke, I do wish you would start to think outside the usual constructs. The transgressions of the elected dems currently are too minor, small in scope, and mostly private. What the elected repubs are doing to us and the world is unconscionable.

If you do consider me a friend, please start thinking about what is happening to our country and the world. Don't fall for this Ted Kennedy bait -- he is too irrelevant, as is every liberal. While every single social milestone has been achieved by them (liberals, that is!), the Republicans have so demonized them on a personal basis and so tarred the word liberal (and yet they want a liberal democracy for Iraq and the ME, go figure!) that there is nothing that the committed liberals can do any more. The revolution has to come from within. Only viscerally Republican people such as you can start to change this deadend dynamic we are in. Think carefully and look wide, please, as your special favor to me (and your children, really: the national debt for instance!).

Here is really reprehensible behavior, if you are looking for one (remember this one I am talking about was not a mistake, it was the conscious product of a great many minds' conscious and conspicuous deliberations!): the Republican conventioneers in 2004 sported purple heart bandaids mocking Kerry -- think about the deeper implications of this kind of behavior vis-a-vis the "we support our troops" mantra that they spout. Here is a clue: there are some 35+ Iraq war veterans running for Congress -- at most 1 (again: ONE) is running under the Republican banner. Considering that the military is touted to be 80+ % Republican, why do you think this might be?

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. You won

[LittleClarkie]

2. You crushed his head... crush, crush.

Nice.

[villager]

3. "Never apologize," quoth Hunter S. Thompson.

While that doesn't actually work in families or intimate relationships, it's axiomatic in all dealings with Rethugs.

[Crunchy Frog]

4. You've got nothing to apologize for in returning fire.

If he can't take that kind of heat, he's got no business dishing it out himself. I say go at him with all barrels whenever he initiates that kind of exchange. It's his call whether he wants to play, but once he makes the first move, all bets are off.

That's just my opinion.

[MichiganVote]

5. Here's my response to your repo...

Regarding T. Kennedy. One of his brothers was killed in action in WWII, another brother served and was mortally wounded and later decorated. Jack was later murdered. Robert was murdered. A sister was killed in a plane crash. His sister was legally butchered (lobotomy) by her own father for being retarded and difficult to handle, and Kennedy's son had cancer. A nephew, his wife and her sister---killed in a plane crash. Both Ted Kennedy and his wife developed drinking problems and divorced.

Frankly, with a life like that---I'd drink too. Republicans need to get over the Kennedy's.

edit / spell

[bammertheblue]

11. I was just going to say....

with all that tragedy, I'd have a drink or seventeen as well. No disrespect intended.

[Carni]

12. Additionally ask him why big dick cheney takes gout meds

I don't think it's because he drinks too many iced teas

[MichiganVote]

13. Oh yeah...the silent, steady, scotch or bourbon type drunk

Whisky on the weekends

[Surya Gayatri]

6. Damn, that took my breath away!

Freaking brilliant. K & N

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

17. Thanks, I guess!

I am still kind of ashamed at turning an easy jousting relationship into a big serious fight

[Surya Gayatri]

30. I know what you mean,

but sometimes push just has to come to shove. I've had the same experience right in my own family. There is a breaking point when we feel impelled to say who we really are--and our core beliefs are part of us. Why should it always be us who suffer their idiocy in silence, while they make 0 attempt to meet us half way. Courage! SG

[flamin lib]

42. You can't be ashamed. Remaining quiet just lets them think it is

acceptable.

I had to say goodbye to someone I called friend. He kept using the word nigger even after I told him it was offensive. Final straw was the WP in Falluja. He said we should burn all the rag heads. I called him a bigot and ignorant and left. Haven't spoken since.

[NMDemDist2]

7. just send him Bush and Cheney jokes in return if he does it again

he obviously can't win in a logical argument

here's a handy site if you need ammo...

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/blbushjoke.htm

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

15. Thanks, that is really great!

I wish I hadn't blown my top in response to a joke -- I have sparred with him for about 5 years now, and always kept it light and jab-by. Something about this lame Kennedy bashing while the world is being trashed by their goons is really putting me out of sorts...

I will use the site that you gave me in future and try to keep it light...

[NYCGirl]

8. 6. Laura Bush was not drunk at the time of the accident. You might

want to change that fact in your response.

[hedda_foil]

9. Whether she was or not, it was her own boyfriend she killed.

[NYCGirl]

10. Perhaps. There's some speculation on that.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/laura.asp

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

23. Thanks!

We need to keep it straight, you are right.

[driver8]

14. Those freakin' band aids pissed me off so bad!! Everytime I

see that one woman's fat face with the band aid I get so irate. How disrespectful can one be? Well, I guess when you support a bunch of draft dodging chickenhawks you don't really give a shit about what a purple heart medal might mean to someone.

Fucking traitors.

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

16. That really enraged me.

[LittleClarkie]

18. !@#$%^&!!!!!!!!!!

Shit, I just had a similar experience just now. The same freeper courier who comes to pick up every night at 9 pm, who bounced around like a fat child during the election chanting "flip flop flip flop flip flop" came in and tried to start something with me.

He began with "Did you hear that drunk Teddie Kennedy wrote a children's book?"

Silence.

"Nothing to say to that?"

"Not if you're going to start off that way."

"I knew it! Just because I said he was a drunk!"

To which I replied, "I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you. Your president used to be a cokehead."

Insert several "Did not's" "Did too's" here.

"Well, no one's perfect."

"Fine, then the same should apply to Teddy"

"Well, did you hear he killed a girl?"

"Well, did YOU hear that Laura killed her boyfriend?"

"What?!"

"Look it up."

He started to say that he didn't want to talk politics with me any more if we couldn't keep it on a friendly basis, to which I replied, "Starting off with 'Teddy the drunk' was KEEPING IT ON A FRIENDLY BASIS?!"

"What do I expect from someone with a Kerry in 2008 bumpersticker on her car already." (and I do, too)

He then changed the subject to wiretapping, saying it would be a big issue for 2008. "All the other presidents did it."

"And Nixon. He got impeached for it too."

"Hoover did it."

"And Nixon. He got impeached for it."

"I'm not talking about that. You Democrats think we should be treating terrorists like the two bit drug dealer down the street."

"And you Republicans think that you can fight a concept. It's like trying to fight the wind. Why not treat terrorism like crime. Take away their funds for instance, by say cutting the poppy trade in Afghani..."

(Didn't get to finish as he went back to his "but other presidents got to wiretap! No fair!" defense)

"Well, other presidents did it. Like Kennedy, and Clinton."

"And Nixon. He got impeached for it."

"Stop saying that."

"Is Bush wiretapping terrorists, or his own political enemies? And how come the guy who made the film "Bush's Brain" is on a no-fly list. Is he a terrorist? And Teddy Kennedy. Why was he on a no-fly list."

"He was not."

"It. was. in. the. news. Look. it. up."

"Well you guys think we should treat terrorists..."

I started to close the overhead garage door on his head. That stopped him. Made a joke of it, but I was picturing slamming it behind him. He said he was about to say something else, but I'd get mad at him if he did. And with that he left.

How did I do?

Makes me wonder what Hannity was saying tonight. This guy tends to regurgitate what he hears from Hannity. If I ask him questions, he generally just repeats what he said.

[txindy]

19. "Stop saying that"

Don't confuse freepers with facts. It makes their faces get even more piggy. Glass in the immediate vicinity may shatter from the ugliness. Fair warning.

[LittleClarkie]

20. Ever see "The Princess Bride"?

"My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

"Stop saying that!"

Always been a favorite sig of mine.

[txindy]

21. I had the book memorized long before the movie

"Inconceivable!"

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

[Uncle Joe]

37. One of my favorite lines from that movie,

was when the egomaniac during the Russian Roulette drinking game cites something to the effect of Only a moron would fight a land war in Asia, a reference to Vietnam.

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

22. Pretty cool!

Actually, you kept your composure, I am afraid I can't say the same for myself.

"Stop saying that" I love that

My little four year old niece says that

[LittleClarkie]

25. Oh I think I was probably turning alittle red

I could feel my face get alittle hot.

But then, that might also be menopause.

I don't find such confrontations easy. I tend to feel like the top's going to blow off my head afterward. Hence !@#$%!!

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

24. The weirdest thing is that...

this guy is not really like a freeper in anything apolitical. Suddently when we get to politics, it is like he gets these blinders on.

I guess the current Kennedy bugaboo going around is because of the hearings (and esp. Teddy's oped a couple of days back) and Kennedy's attacking ScAlito's integrity head-on...

[driver8]

26. Damn -- that sounds like a lot of arguments I have had lately.

The rethugs are very efficient when it comes to distributing their talking points.

That freeper courier is an idiot.

You did great, by the way!!

[nicknameless]

29. Bush is conducting *warrantless* surveillance. That's ILLEGAL.

Clinton and the other Dem Presidents haven't done that.

[mwb970]

46. Why do you even bother?

You might as well talk to the cat.

[LittleClarkie]

53. The cat doesn't get in my face

Not lately, anyway.

Couldn't help myself. Just sort of exploded.

[BamaBecky]

27. Sick-of-Rethuggery, you are extremely talented, I do

hope you are a writer! If not, start now! Write editorials, letters to the editor, essays. You are damn good! Your writings could help open eyes on a wide scale - get busy! I wish I could write like you, I'd be working on a book!
Bama

[AtomicKitten]

28. you were provoked into telling him the truth.

nothing wrong with that. They haven't heard it before.

[Iris]

31. You did an excellent job.

If your rational explanations of why he should start thinking outside his little red box go unheeded by him - well, then he's completely irrational. If he doesn't respond respectfully, at least admit you two will never agree when it comes to polictics and for the sake of your friendship, ask to keep the topic of politics off limits between you.

[The Backlash Cometh]

32. Love to wake up to this stuff.

Thanks!

[MsMagnificent]

33. As C.E. said in 'Million Dollar Baby':

Shall I count to ten?

(referring to countdown for TKO/knock-out punch)

I'm sorry you feel bad, as s/he is your 'friend' and that you felt you had to apologize; still, I applaud you and your honesty.
Every single one of us should be saying the exact same thing, no matter who says it to us, every single time.
IMO anyways...

Bullshit is bullshit. Ignorance is ignorance. Irrelevance is Irrelevance. No excuses.
Deliberate blindness is a conscious choice.
Interventions may be painful, but they are never wasted.

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

34. I completely agree.

However I do wish I had had the composure to keep my cool on a light-hearted thread and the honesty to start this line of conversation upon my own initiation...

I have had conservative-leaning friends all my life and have jousted with them successfully coming up on 20-some years now. This is the first time I blew my top and I guess the times, they are a-getting to me. (Also, my knowledge of the deep political arena those days was pretty sketchy, compared to what I do know now -- thanks in large part to DU -- so all y'all get the credit )

"Interventions may be painful, but they are never wasted." Words to live by, especially in these times...

[MsMagnificent]

39. But was it REALLY meant light-heartedly???

what s/he said to you, I mean...

From my experience, these psychopaths
oops I mean RepubliCONS
ACT like it's a joke... but they just perpetually, perpetually, perpetually use it.
It's not normal -- what they do does not follow the normal, standard pattern of a 'light-hearted, teasing joke'. It NEVER stops, they NEVER let up; even when it becomes as trite as trite can be.

I do not feel so, anyways. It is my firm opinion they are evincing extremely aggressive and bullying behavior.

Again, just my feelings on that -- something I feel 99.9%, but have no real proof for it.

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

41. True.

As a collective, they certainly merit these generalizations, having more than earned it over the course of at least 30+ years.

It becomes difficult however, to put someone that seems sane in every other respect into this loony bin. The added complication is our own innate sense of decency too, I think. More and more, I am beginning to think what separates the rational from the loony is not just that fact, but our additional inability to ascribe our near-certain suspicion of their lunacy to individual members of their group. I so sympathize with Congressional dems because of this. As Bush would say, this is really hard.

I completely grant you that it shouldn't be (hard, that is) though...

[Uncle Joe]

35. Outstanding, I believe you gave your friend a banquet for thought.

Kicked and nominated.

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

36. Thanks!

Thanks to all of you for the substantive points, the kudos and the nominations (my first ever greatest page appearance! My first ever attracting more than 4 comments in fact!)

Much appreciated...

[buddysmellgood]

38. You rock. That was beautiful

[On the Road]

40. What I Say When Someone Brings Up a Democratic Parallel

to a Republican scandal is "So first off, you acknowledge the point about (Republican X)." Then compare them: "So if Clinton was impeached for denying an private extramarital affair, do you think the punishment should be more severe for (Republican X)?" Something like that.

These argumentative types always want to have their cake and eat it too.

[TexasThoughtCriminal]

43. WTF is their obsession with Chappaquiddick?

That was almost 40 years ago!! All the subsequent Nixon, Reagan and Bush crimes & scandals pale in comparison, as you point out.

Truly a case of pointing out the speck in Democrat's eye while not seeing the log in the GOP eye.

[mwb970]

47. What was Jesus W. Bush doing at the time, I wonder?

Lying on the floor in a drunken, coked-up stupor? The moral hypocrisy of Republicans is stupefying.

[Kurovski]

44. Do you have a link to the story about Bush's girlfriend dying?

Is that recent?

During campaign 2000 Larry Flynt broke the story about the abortion, and apparently the girlfriend herself did not want to speak as she still liked George. (not romantically)

A friend of hers, however, did take money for information.

Perhaps the ex-girlfriend was offered more for her silence by the Bush family, perhaps many years ago.

So you say she's dead now?

[Rosco T.]

45. Game. Set. Match. n/m

[Donald Ian Rankin]

48. Hmm...

2) and 3) strike me as distinctly dubious, I'm afraid - I'd want to see much more concrete evidence and proof before I took much note of them.

The comment on Prescott Bush in 4) and on Laura Bush in 6) strike me as below the belt, on the grounds that neither of those was the responsibility of George Bush. 6) strikes me as actively distasteful - so far as I know there is no suggestion that the car accident was anything other than a tragic accident, and raking it up again strikes me as beyond the bounds of acceptable political debate.

1), the first part of 4), and 5), are I think the ones to hammer home - Bush's hypocricy on abortion is striking, and it does appear that there is considerable conflict of interest between the financial interests of Clan Bush on the one hand and the political power of Clan Bush on the other, and that they have not necessarily acted with as much disinterest as one might wish for.

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

50. I agree with your comments on 2) and 3), but

not on 4) (Prescott's financial ties) and especially not on 6) (Laura's car accident).

Re: Prescott, the rap is that he did not sever his ties to those banks even after it was patently obvious what was going on in Europe.

Re: Laura, this was particularly germane to my friend because he keeps harping on Kennedy's CAR ACCIDENT!! Laura's needs to be trumpeted precisely because right wing nuts and their press stenographers have no qualms at all about dumping on Kennedy, but have never mentioned Laura's accident. This is true of every aspect of the egregious "mistakes" that the wingnut reps have made in their past -- these never get mentioned in "polite" (I consider them obscene) society, even when these are repeat offenses, but isolated ones by dems are given air time ad infinitum.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

49. I think it's a good idea to pare these down a bit.

2) and 3) strike me as distinctly dubious, I'm afraid - I'd want to see much more concrete evidence and proof before I took much note of them.

The comment on Prescott Bush in 4) and on Laura Bush in 6) strike me as below the belt, on the grounds that neither of those was the responsibility of George Bush. 6) strikes me as actively distasteful - so far as I know there is no suggestion that the car accident was anything other than a tragic accident, and raking it up again strikes me as beyond the bounds of acceptable political debate.

1), the first part of 4), and 5), are I think the ones to hammer home - Bush's hypocricy on abortion is striking, and it does appear that there is considerable conflict of interest between the financial interests of Clan Bush on the one hand and the political power of Clan Bush on the other, and that they have not necessarily acted with as much disinterest as one might wish for.

[jillan]

51. Here's a great response from a repug I know

"Kennedy is just doing what the People for the Liberal Way
want him to do."



My response -
There isn't a group called People for the Liberal Way, so you better get your facts straight when you argue with a dem, or you lose all credibility.

Stupid repugs

[hippiechick]

52. I wouldn't have apologized.

Your first response to him/her was spot on.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

54. kick

kick, kick...