I feel like tearing my hair out!!

[Kitty Herder]

I just spoke with a friend who is voting for McCain. This person doesn't think it matters which party a person is from, just whether or not they like them. And apparently he likes McCain. He actually got quite angry when I suggested that the difference in ideology between the Democratic and Republican parties might matter.

Never mind that the Republicans have been turning this nation into a corporate fascist state since Reagan was elected and are in the final stages of that project. Never mind that McCain want our troops to be in Iraq for 100 years, wants to bomb, bomb, bomb Iran, and doesn't know the difference between Sunni and Shia. Never mind what the Repugs have done to our economy. None of that matters. He likes McCain and he has a bad "feeling" about Obama and Clinton.

And don't bother him with facts. When I try to point out some basic facts, he says, "I don't care about that stuff. I don't want to know."

:banghead: :banghead:

This, my fellow du'ers is why Republicans get elected. Willful ignorance on the part of the populace.

:grr:

[gateley]

1. Just show him this picture

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3075832&mesg_id=3075832


And if McCain is correct in his statement that we "might be in Iraq for 100 years", this little boy's little boy might be getting a flag, too.

[sharesunited]

2. Get him to like Obama or Hillary.

They are both very likable. Give him an alternative.

[gateley]

3. Easier said than done -

but a valiant suggestion!

[pompano]

11. It's sad really.....

I've heard of cases where people have voted for the best looking candidate from physical features.

I'll never forget. I was standing around the back of a work truck several years ago. We (the work group) were having the lunch break political water cooler talk. Every darn one of us were making minimum wage without a hint at a benefit. It was during Ronnie Rayguns failed Administration. We were making a whopping $3.35 per hr. I kid you not, one of the guys said " I am tired of working for peanuts, and next time I want a change, so I am going to vote Republican." I thought I would laugh so hard my eyeballs would pop out of their sprockets.

But, I've noticed over the years. The ones that knew of the suffering for some to get a right to vote take their Constitutional Right more seriously for the most part.

[man4allcats]

4. These days, Merkins are idiots.

It didn't start out that way. We had Franklin, Jefferson, Washington and later, Lincoln. Today though, Americans are just idiots. Sad but true.

edited for punctuation

[MADem]

5. Maybe she's sold on the two lousy things he has said that "sound" right

Torture is Wrong.

I Will Close Gitmo.

Some people just like that "command presence" stuff. The thing is, as anyone who has served in the USN (or any other branch, of course) knows, there's more than one way to present oneself. McCain knows it, too--he can do the "Senatorial" thing, he can do the "folksy MY FRIENDS" routine, and he can do the "Decisive Military Leader" voice.

The McCain he has to keep under WRAPS, though, is the mega-pissed off, swearing-a-blue-streak Popeye!

[Zueda]

6. I know a lot of repubs who are so ashamed of the current GOP that they claim to be Indies...

but retain repub ideology.

Maybe your friend is one of these? :shrug:

If so... maybe they are crackable. I have a friend at work that was like this and I think I now have him converted.

[pompano]

18. Yea....

Most of those (around here) are tired of immigration and spending. I have to laugh because they think slave labor that benefits big business and out of control spending is some "new" Republican phenomenon. There is nothing new about it they just found a Pres. too stewpit to hide it better than the others. Instant News and the Internet didn't hurt either.

[Bigmack]

7. "Willful ignorance". Damn right! nt

[frogcycle]

8. there are some 30 percent you just have to write off

maybe more. Not going to change them. In 2004 some woman with an entry-level job at a big corporation told me she was voting for bush because he backed big business and she worked for a big company. Might as well have told her he was a Sox fan. That would have convinced her, too, I suppose.

Just sigh and focus your energies on people with functioning brains. Save yourself frustration.

[Kitty Herder]

10. And get this.

He's twice my age (I'm thirty), so he says to me, "I'm way passed all that stuff. You're just young. And you have too much time on your hands to read all that."

Ooookay. So he's to old and wise to inform himself or care about what happens in the world? I happen to know he has time to watch about four hours of television each night, so he has time to inform himself if he wants to. I TAKE the time to read and become informed by making it one of my priorities. I don't have any more spare time than anyone else. A democracy can't function if people won't take the time to learn about the issues. I understand that some people have to work several jobs just to make ends meet and honestly don't have the time. But many are like my friend who have the time, but just don't care.

[Kitty Herder]

12. I just have to add that I hope I'm never as "old and wise" as my friend is. nt

[frogcycle]

16. you'll get as old, but you're already wise

It's been 30+ years since I didn't trust anyone over 30. I've learned that age is not the dividing line after all. There are young and old idiots and there are old hippies like me. And young responsible citizens like you.

[Kitty Herder]

17. Thank you.

:toast:

[BlueJazz]

9. Do what I do. Ask them to go with you (at night) for a "Little drive out in the country"...

...of course, make sure nobody knows about your ...ah.."Trip"
PS: Don't forget the Shovel

[Deep13]

13. Yup. Guy-to-have-beer-with all over again. nt

[Kitty Herder]

21. I never even understood why anyone would want to have a beer with Bush. Yuck. nt

[cynatnite]

14. It's a sad fact a lot of folks vote with their guts rather than their heads n/t

[elleng]

15. Several of your observations are correct, Herdin,'

and I share your anger.

I've read about studies that conclude that people decide whom to support by personal things you mentioned, 'they like him.'

And wilful ignorance is a major part of reps success; that's a major attribute that rover has used, around which their campaigns are based. Least well educated.

[orleans]

19. a republican i used to know:

prides himself on being a "conservative" republican.

he enjoys being a part of the group wearing the label "conservative family values"

but the republican forgets that when he was living with a girlfriend (in sin!) he used to go out to church socials to try to pick-up "nice" girls

the republican hasn't spoken to his own father in over ten years, and has never allowed his wife or daughter to meet his father.

the republican is forgetting that he was cheating on his wife.

the republican is overlooking the fact that he was screwing around on his wife which is why he is going through a divorce.

the republican does not acknowledge verbally abusing his daughter (but his wife and daughter will acknowledge it)

the republican thinks george bush has done a pretty good job with the economy.

the republican is not taking into consideration that he is "uniquely american" with the two jobs he is working, and the fact that he shaved his head because he doesn't have time to wash his hair in the morning before work.

the republican i used to know doesn't like either of the democratic candidates (naturally). one reason is that they are both "pro abortion"

but the republican is forgetting that he wanted his girlfriend (of years ago) to have an abortion. he fought and argued with her about it to no end.

the republican who wears the badge of "family values" on his sleeve made sure he got paid under the table to avoid a few years of child support payments

the republican will be voting for john mccain to keep the delusion alive that he is a well respected member of the community, someone with strong moral and family values.

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[Kitty Herder]

20. I know a few Republicans like that.

Like this one guy I know who is into BDSM and proudly asserts his right to engage in alternative sexual practices, but at the same time condemns homosexuality. He can't seem to understand that EVERYONE has the right to do what they want in the privacy of their own bedroom. He votes for the people who would stone him along with homosexuals if they had their way. His reasons? He believes in the "free market" (the free market that is treating him so well that he lives in a tiny cabin without plumbing in Alaska). He is sure that all Muslims are terrorists bent on killing all Americans and that we must kill them first, and, although he lives in Alaska and sees more Russian immigrants than immigrants from Latin America, he rails against "those damned illegal Mexicans."

I just don't understand it.

The friend I spoke of in the original post who plans to vote for McCain is also a bit of a hypocrite, when it comes to Republican "family values." Recently, he was living with a 22-year-old girlfriend and had no plans to marry her. He is also suffering mightily under our wonderful system of unregulated capitalism. He's sixty with no pension or savings, recently went into debt to pay for dentures, and then more debt to fix up the ancient clunker of a truck he requires to get to work each day. He lives in a tiny studio apartment and can barely pay the rent with what he makes working full time with no vacation. The reason he can't get a job that pays well is that he has an old felony record for drug charges. And it was just pot. So he is also a victim of the drug war.

But I don't think he actually understands the ideology that Republicans stand for, let alone how it affects his life. Not because he is stupid, but because he doesn't care to find out. He listens to the evening news, but Lord knows that doesn't truly inform anyone.

I wish I could help him understand, but this evening when I we were talking politics, he was irritated that I even brought the subject up. And I don't think he's open to learning anything from someone half his age. I guess I'll avoid the subject of politics with him. I don't want to do anything to harm our relationship. He's been like a father to me. I hating having a subject that I'm passionate about being "off-limits" with good friends. It's like having a wall between us. But it's better than making him angry.

[orleans]

22. sounds like the alaska guy has been having one too many nights

alone with lou dobbs--i know every time i watch lou i feel as though i'm participating in some sort of crazed s&m moment.

as for the 60 year old (and the republican i was talking about) "stupid is as stupid does"

duh, huh? i don't quite get what the hell is with these people.

[Skittles]

23. it's almost proof that Americans never deserved the freedoms they had

they're just so fucking clueless - it's the "if you haven't done anything wrong you've got nothing to worry about" mentality run amok