So, I am middle of Trump Country

Awesome story. I don’t know if I could be so kind to a person who called Obama ,Pelosi, and Hillary those names. Just goes to show that some people just need to be nudged n the right direction sometimes.

power,,not mine,,



Koz

Bravo

Honey attracts flies,,but manure attracts more,,so what's the point?

Hattip to Sheldon on BigBang Theory.

Koz

... the language and political opinions are the norm in his circle, and so he assumed you were of the same mind. It wasn't so much that he held those beliefs strongly as that he expressed what his peer group expressed as a sign of solidarity with them. He said what he said because, like everyone, he simply wanted to fit in with his circle.

When I was in high school (over 60 years ago) I started "expressing" some pretty radical right wing ideas when I fell in with a group that also expressed those ideas. I did it to feel accepted and part of the "in crowd". But when I stopped to actually think about it, I realized that I didn't really believe those things, and didn't need or want their approval, so their peer pressure ceased to influence me. But some people spend their whole lives only exposed to one point of view, and so never stop to question that point of view.

Their peer group is not a safe place for them to consder new ideas, but sometimes all it takes to pop that bubble is to gently expose them to different points of view and make it safe for them to actually think about the issues rather than simply signaling solidarity by spouting the expected stock phrases.

perfectly explained as real life situations. TY, hope you and yours are well.

Koz

I can count on one hand the times it's been used in my presence and none since adulthood.

I got through my fingers,, halfway through my toes,until I was in a situation where I didn't feel like I was attacking a Repuke, and I could go on offense. And for record,,we are not AfricanAmerican. sorry if something got implied that totally wasn't.
Koz

But thankfully not the N word.

the N word is a precursor to the rest,, which came into LilBits world. I was calm, he never called her a name in front of her, but he did use those words on front of LilBit,and I drew the line.


Koz

-Laelth

Great job!!!!!

I did not post this for what I did.

I was hoping that we could learn, everything is online now, we see viral videos of people approaching people without masks and challenging them. THIS IS NOT US. My point on this is simply, what do you believe? I hate non mask wear's in public, but if we believe,, we walk away and protect ours,which is what I do,we do not advance and confront. Until it comes into our "space" if you will. Which is what I did and explaining.

I confront those who are willfully poisoning our communities(not wearing masks), and my AZ community isn’t saturated with “Southern Hospitality”. Sugar may work around “Southern gentlemen and bells” who breath the n-word, but folks within some parts of the country require (proverbial) smacks upside the head to change their minds.

Never the less, good job and good luck

why would you confront? while you just said poisoning? why would you,,with your statement,even walk towards that?

Koz

but I walk the path that you explained in your OP. My area neighbors are wearing masks with the exception of walking their dogs or going for an early morning jog.

been a very busy couple days in KozLand.. I have read all responses now and ty..I will offer this,,LilBit is 32 years old...this dumpy thing is only 4 years old. I do not need to be commended or anything f I r patience or whatever. Simply because,

LilBit is way more complex than any Trumper..I'm just lucky that she taught me how to deal with them! Here is the big and real point,,

I love LilBit... I would have been patient, semi quiet,or anything without her and her Mom.. they taught me all this.

It just happens to fit, perfectly into our political situation. Seriously..

Koz

As Democrats,, we do not confront,,we protect and react! I wish we could protect and never have to react, but we have R's in America.

IMO ,,heroes are almost always Repukes, they seem to love their heroes. I'm not one of them.


Koz

to those I disagree with. Seems to change more minds than arguing with them.

Good job.

Lots of times, if you can deescalate, you can poke a hole in their bubble.

for enlightening your neighbor.

to "fit in" and now he's voting for Biden?

I really admire your patience and ability to converse with people like that.

Not my cup of tea though.

I was never patient but she taught me..
Koz

I suspect there's a percentage of Republican voters that were brought up to be critical thinkers but somehow got trapped in the right-wing information bubble in adulthood. For those, it just takes a heavy dose of reality to shake them out of them out of the bubble.

Unfortunately, there's a lot of adults who were brought up as kids to not think for themselves in very rigid authoritarian homes and those are the ones that probably can't be helped. For many of those, it's unfortunate their thinking is even reinforced in their church as well as daily doses of Faux News and talk radio.


KY.....

Brainwashing un-doing is not easy. At all.

had your patience and wisdom and can only say: thank you for your service.

Wow.

I guess DU has no control over what ads get placed where?

Geeze. Lighten up, Francis.

light,,I adopted a child,,you chose to post this on my post.. I dont give a damn about what you think,

Got a problem with Du? talk to them, Do not come into my world of my challenged daughter,, you SUCK,,

Koz

I don’t see ANY ads, except GrovelBot, and he’s our guy

I did donate before i ever signed up. But that was a long time ago! Not a lot of "free" funds available lately but i'm hoping that changes soon.

Support us.

My late father was lost to the Fox Noise rabbit hole, never recovered. A bit prone to racism, (ironic because it was his native American blood that got us labelled as the "bad blood" by my mother's all-too-lily-white side of the family) and easy to anger and resort to violence. I had to do some therapy to un-learn some behavior in my latter youth, after I ran away from them.
Basically, I was disowned, particularly by my dad, because I wouldn't fall in line with his brand of "redneck conservatism". Didn't help that I'm gay, either. That.... was kind of a biggie, but I digress.
All my siblings made tracks fast from the stormy atmosphere of home as well. So our parents ended up isolated with nothing but the damn Fox Noise blaring propaganda at them. Oh, crap, their outdated mode of living became a living nightmare of continual bashing anyone outside of their ilk. I think Fox Noise intentionally geared their programming to appeal to that WWII generation, now mostly long gone. Basically since the unwelcome mat was always out for me, I stayed distant.
So double down on the irony that I was the one most qualified, and most financially able to go fight the good fight to have him put away in a nursing home, against his will. Discovery was made of physical abuse that had become extreme towards my mother. It's sad I had to witness it, but that was the legal binding Achilles heel that got him put safely away in a lock down facility. My mother died peacefully in her bed later, far more relaxed and in good home care with him put up.
My father never was particularly a "nice" person. But he had truly become a monster, peppered with right-wing-isms thrown about indiscriminately: ultimate self-revealing irony in him at one point calling me one of those "liberal takers" bleeding a living off the "makers". "Really now" I retorted. "I've never been on public assistance in my life, been continually employed, god only knows you didn't give me a thing, now I'm here to try and help you both with tremendous troubles because I have the resources to do so, but I'm a "taker". Like wow, dad, you need to shut off Fox News". My mother laughed so hard I thought she'd choke.
It's truly astounding what such brainwashing can do to those so deluded by it.

You are a good person.

I'm catching up,a day or 2 later..ty for sharing

Doesn’t matter — only that she got better.

Yes,, I give her shots,,and she laughs at me each time, we are down to a shot once a week.. she is doing very well,TY.
a couple blood tests we waiting on. But I am seeing LilBit mentally getting back to normal, which means,, "Dad. you make me cheesy eggs each morn, and then,,I need a tuck for my post breakfast nap..oh,,,Dad,,, you forgot? I need to be tucked often?"


with no more,, I guess Lil Bit is doing well,,,lol

shots will continue,with pills



Koz

who doesn't like diversity or getting out of the house.

Those fools just huddle up like cows and die from the herd mentality population control.

Stupid Hucklefvcks.

Thank you

I'm not religious, but I am spiritual and you touched me.

I found this beautiful and moving. Thank you for sharing.

My love to you three.

you continued to speak with and engage with them?



Check YOURSELF.

If I simply reacted and walked away,,could I have any argument next time we met. remember,this is across the street. where I live,,or across the room,or across the hall,or across anything,, so you are saying I should have just went off? and that would have solved,,exactly what? I chose to step back,,as we should when in a face to face situation and bring my fight later, which happened to work. never think for a second I put LilBit in danger as your reply suggests. I chose to listen,,protect mine,,and engage in conversation. if you want to readjust your reply .. the one thing we have as Dems,is ,,we listen, we respond,,we hear hatred,,and we respond again.
So greenjar_01 wanna respond again after you answer my question,, if you hear the n word and walk out,,,what did that solve?


Koz

As you have seen here, some others might have walked out and perhaps cussed him out while kicking him out of your home. Very understandable reactions. I must confess, I would have either shut down all political discussions or asked him to leave.

You perservered, and now hopefully he will at least consider the Democratic/centrist/left-of-center arguments and candidates. If you had cussed him out and told him to leave, he would undoubtedly still be stewing in the toxic brew of Faux and hate radio/internet.

Maybe he will even persuade another person or two to open their minds too.

Ignorance is one of our biggest enemies, if not our biggest enemy of all. The point of flooding the airwaves with Fox Noise and National Hate Radio is to make sure all truth is drowned out, and only their version of reality remains.

In the days before the wall fell, when you crossed over into the "true existing socialism (their expression)" of East Germany--day visits to East Berlin were permitted for a price--all newspapers, in ANY language, were confiscated by the very vigilant border guards. The people there could get western TV and radio in many parts of East Germany, but you never knew who was going to report you for listening to it. The Stasi had tens of thousands of "IM," or "inoffizielle Mitarbeiter (unofficial collaborators)."

The point is that any dictatorship fears the worst if the population informs and educates itself. Better to convince them they are living in a paradise, and they need not ask what is going on anywhere else in the world. It's the same whether in East Berlin or in Oklahoma. If the people recognize BS, then they will stop believing it. Only if they do not recognize it as such do they continue to accept it as the gospel truth.

Your patience paid off, and you actually had someone who was willing to listen. That is usually an uphill struggle that few end up winning.

Who'd have thought that factual reality could persuade a Trumpie.

I am awed and humbled and still a bitch.

I'm done.

I would not have had the patience.

Thank you, kozar!

Great story! Encouraging! I'll take every "LilBit" of encouragement I can get!

Virtual

made me chuckle


Koz