Can You Forgive Your Republican Friends?

[thomhartmann]

Would you be able to forgive your friends for voting Republican, when Trump leaves office?

Can You Forgive Your Republican Friends? It will be hard for many to forgive, but we will all need to live together in the future, meaning effort will be needed from both sides of the political divide.

What will it take for them to wake up from the Trump fog? Your friends will need support when Trump loses the 2020 election.

[Aristus]

1. No.

No amount of "I just wanted an outsider in the White House" can make up for kids in cages.

None.

[rurallib]

2. Going to be hard to trust them with anything of value.

[onecaliberal]

3. Consensus is no way in hell.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212241916

[panader0]

10. I was just about to post your OP from a week ago when I saw it here.

[onecaliberal]

11. He mentioned it on his show. Not sure why he is posing the same question.

[Mister Ed]

4. Forgive, probably. Forget? Never.

They've revealed something about themselves that's ugly and cruel. Something I never knew was there in them, and never would have wanted to see. But now that they've shown it, I can't un-see it, and I can't un-know it.

[still_one]

5. What about those self-identified progressives who refused to vote for the Democratic nominee in 2016

by voting for Jill Stein, and some of those same people are in high positions in the campaign for one of the Democratic nominees?

and it might be argued by some they a worse, because they knew the Supreme Court was at stake, and trump was a racist, sexist, bigot, and looked the other way

[brush]

40. Them either. They contributed to trump's steal of the election, just as the Russkies did.

[still_one]

41. Yes. Several contributing factors

[tblue37]

50. Susan Sarandon is dead to me. nt

[jberryhill]

6. Forgive my what?

Why, yes, I will invite my Republican friends to a banquet of kosher pork and vegan meatballs.

Afterwards we’ll watch a movie. Perhaps a silent musical, with captions for the blind.

[PJMcK]

31. Thread winner!

If a Democratic candidate follows Trump, I'll throw a huge party at the Marriott Marquis in NYC's Times Square. The invitations sent to my Republican "friends" will tell them to go to the Grand Hyatt Hotel on 42nd Street, (Trump used to be a co-owner).

Hilarity ensues.

[still_one]

42. ++++++++++++++++

[Enoki33]

7. No. Certainly not after choosing to reject the deluge of evidence

confirming his criminality, betrayal of country, serial predator and liar. They have become willing enablers of our national and international embarrassment. No l will not forgive, neither will l forget.

[Union Label]

8. I dont have any racist or bigoted friends

so no.

Now I do have some relatives that can fuck off since I'll never speak to them and I do NOT want to hear from those racists assholes.

[rampartc]

9. no

the Trumpism is a symptom of an incurable, terminal disease. the soviets tried reeducation camps to no avail.

[Thekaspervote]

12. Not unless they openly admit their mistakes and work to make amends

[TheRealNorth]

15. I am still waiting for them to admit that the Invasion of Iraq was based on lies

In 2016, I flipped out on my uncle because he ranted to my younger cousins about Hillary voting for the authorization to use force in Iraq (In his words, she caused the Iraq war). He's not that stupid, but he thought he could away with lying about the Iraq War to my cousins and nieces and nephews who were too young to follow what was going on at the time.

People like that can burn in hell, IMO.

[Liberal In Texas]

13. I no longer have any RW friends. They're either dead or I don't speak to

them anymore. The ones that are dead died because they didn't have health insurance and got diagnosed too late with cancer to do any good.

[Meadowoak]

14. Nope, they're dead to me now.

[blueinredohio]

39. Amen to that

[MuseRider]

16. It depends.

Once things begin to turn around and get better and they do not recognize it or acknowledge that their lives are better than they were then I will consider them a lost cause. I have some friends who just will not talk about voting for him, I think they are ashamed and want to just get through it. I have one friend who says she is sorry she did vote for him, I have forgiven her already.

Those that remain stuck in Fox News and Hannity realities, I will not be able to let it go with them. They do not think for themselves and will never make enough sense to be able to hold an intelligent conversation with. I am afraid they are gone forever. I will give them a little time and then push them a bit and see where it goes. I think they were gone before Trump and that is why we are only sorta friends anyway.

[BigmanPigman]

17. I don't have any GOP friends anymore by choice.

I had one but she is history (she refers to the fucking moron as Dear Leader and worships Fux Ruse it turned out). Fuck off former friend and good riddance!

My phone machine has an outgoing message that has been on it for 2 1/2 years...and I always screen all calls.
"This is ***-****. Please leave a message, unless you are a Republican than go run along".

I think I was very polite when I recorded it since I really wanted really wanted to tell them to Fuck Off instead of "running along". Tons of people have left positive responses when they hear it the first time.

[Stuart G]

18. Yes, only if they admit they were totally wrong on supporting Trump

[global1]

19. I'm One Of Those That Say - Even When Trump Leaves Office - We Will Never Be Rid Of Him.....

If he winds up jailed - he will be a martyr for the cause and he'll maintain his base. They won't abandon him and we'll constantly have to put up with their deplorability.

If he doesn't go to jail - Trump will make himself visible on the likes of Fox News and TV - if he doesn't start his own network he'll be holding news conferences and he'll be putting out all sorts of fake news about anything and everything. He'll continue to maintain his base - and maybe even grow it.

Just know this - We Will Never Be Rid Of Trump.

[jberryhill]

22. We'll never be rid of the paranoid element of American politics generally

There will always be a "we got sabotaged/stabbed in the back" narrative that sustains them.

[texasfiddler]

20. They don't want to be forgiven

Republicans will continue to fight against empathy and compassion and science. Whatever goes against their mob mentality is their enemy. Therefore, I am their enemy. No forgiveness requested and none given.

[Buckeyeblue]

21. No. I can't forgive my friends or my family that voted for Trump

I never will. Nor will I ever trust their judgement. The last two and a half years have been an absolute clusterfuck.

[sheshe2]

23. No.

Only one that I know of and no, I will never forgive or forget. The damage of a trump Presidency is going to take a decade to repair.

I will also not forgive or forget a candidate that hired Stein supporters as their top team. Stein supporters that refused to support Clinton gave us trump and they are unapologetic to this day. Fact is you build on the foundations and never tear it all down to rebuild from scratch.

[ehrnst]

24. I can't forgive my family and friends that thought Hillary was no different than Trump,

or any candidate who hires those who stoked that lie as their senior staffers.

[Bettie]

25. Nope

there is one friend I have. I can not bring myself to ask her who she voted for.

I suspect but I do not know.

It would be the end of our nearly 45 year friendship, which is rather strained at the moment, because I suspect that she voted for "it".

She's not politically aware. At. All.

She's white and well-off. Lives in Waukesha county, which used to be a liberal stronghold, filled with union members and is now a hell pit of Republicanism.

So, she has the luxury of being unaware/not caring.

[beachbum bob]

26. never, just like I will never forgive nazis and racists

[el_bryanto]

27. Forgiveness is required by my faith -

So I will do my best. How difficult it is is kind of dependent on how bloody the election gets - but I think it will get pretty bloody (hopefully not with literal blood but with attacks).

Bryant

[Floyd R. Turbo]

28. I have no republican friends!

[catbyte]

29. I don't have any republican friends.

[StopTheNeoCons]

30. Never, its who they are now

[Glorfindel]

32. No. I'm afraid not.

I would like to be a kindly, "forgive and forget" sweet elderly gentleman. I just can't do it. No way.

[brush]

43. I'm with you. And I like to rub it in too.

[kentuck]

33. Will Republicans be able to forgive themselves?

Once they look around and see the damage that has been done?

[cutroot]

34. This was not simply an error in judgment.

It has exposed A much deeper character flaw. Hypnotists say that they can't make you do anything that you don't really want to do. republicans have been programmed for quite some time now, but at key moments driven by fear and greed, they went along with it. It is quite revealing that their judgment system doesn't have any brakes when it comes to inflicting pain on others.

[Nay]

49. Yes, this. It tells you that the person is seriously in the "bad" category. I have no Republican

friends for that reason. I make it a point not to associate with criminals and/or psychos.

[cutroot]

70. It is just as well. They declared Democrats the enemy long ago.

When I am forced to go to RW in-law events, I have to be constantly on guard. They will nit-pick every little thing that I do or say. It's a waste of time trying to explain anything to them. Anything that they don't like is fake. They are too far gone. I don't eat the food and I do not even have a sip of alcohol for fear that it will loosen my tongue. I have flat out refused to return to any of their gatherings but, we share grandchildren and that will never change.

[Freedomofspeech]

36. Never...

They are resposible for this nightmare.

[CanonRay]

37. Right up until the kids in cages. Now? No.

If they still support Trump they do not exist for me.

[lagomorph777]

38. Of course not - especially if they exacerbate their sins by voting for Reperverts again.

[RichardRay]

44. Redemption through works

No redemption by grace, alone.

So, yes. Anything else smacks of religiosity.

[Runningdawg]

45. No and if the ones who voted for Bernie in the GENERAL or didn't vote at all

do it again, they will be on my list as well.

[NRaleighLiberal]

46. Nope.

[Generic Other]

47. I don't have Republican friends

nor do I associate with pedophiles, rapists, racists or greedy pigs.

[killaphill]

48. No.

I had very few to begin with, and I have since severed all ties with those I did have. Life is too short.

[gopiscrap]

72. welcome to DU

[Freethinker65]

51. Married to a conservative independent that voted for Johnson as a protest vote

We live in Illinois, so it ended up not mattering, but had we still lived in Michigan, I do not know how I would feel.

I have conservative in-laws, neighbors, and co-workers, but none are outwardly MAGA Trump loving. I have no idea what they plan to do in the next election.

[gopiscrap]

52. No fuck those ignorant asshats

I hope they fall off of the end of the earth in a pit of boiling oil any repuke is dead to me from the start

[msdogi]

53. The few I had

either changed registration in disgust, or were eliminated from my contact list years ago.
There is no forgiveness for any republican, they are all complicit in this horror show.

[Cosmocat]

54. It does not end IF he loses election and IF he leaves office

These people spent 8 years losing their mind over over BHO.

In their deranged mind, he was everything that this idiot is, despite him being a highly capable, decent and honorable man.

They spent DECADES ginning themselves up to believe Hillary Clinton was spawned from Satan.

They "swiftboated" John Kerry.

They gussied up a moron son of privilege into a "guy you would want to have a beer with" then a resolute tough guy who kept us safe (despite 9-11 happening on his watch).

They WILL go nuts over whoever the D POTUS is.

They will continue to be hateful, morally lost zombies whose defining political belief is "owning libs."

[dlk]

55. Forgiveness is Key but Never, Ever Forget

Forgiveness isn't for the other person, it's for ourselves and our own well being and peace of mind. Forgiveness is never saying what the other person said or did was acceptable in any way. Trump voters need to be held accountable for the damage they've done to this country and we must never, ever forget!

[Doc_Technical]

58. Well said, dlk.

We can't let hate consume us, that is what happened
to Republican voters. The have lost their souls.

[C_U_L8R]

56. I have plenty of former Republican friends

and even they can't forgive themselves.

[JustAnotherGen]

57. I no longer have

Any GOP friends.

They've betrayed me - and more important -

They betrayed America and continue to betray America with their fealty and devotion to a bad actor.

[wryter2000]

59. I have two Republican friends

Both of them despise Trump.

[UCmeNdc]

60. No! The problem with many Trump voters is the fact that they will still vote for Trump!

They will not bend one inch. Trump is their God!

So what in the world is there left to forgive them for?

They will all vote for Trump once again in 2020. We just have to make sure that we out vote them. Period.

[BigDemVoter]

61. I have no more repig friends.

And I don't know any out here, thankfully. But no, I cannot forgive them.

[Chemisse]

62. Of course I can - I already have.

I only have two Republican friends. I don't generally like people who differ so much from me about basic human values. But I know why they did it and that is just the way they are, and I care about them anyway.

I have forgiven most strangers too. What is the point in hating people? Why continue to stoke divisions after Trump is gone? My hope is that we will move back toward being one nation again, under the leadership of a president who seeks to reunite us. It's probably a futile hope, but it doesn't hurt to try.

[maxrandb]

63. I have no more Retrumplican friends

and please, start using the term Retrumplican... that's all they are now.

Someone who voted for this POS, when even a deaf, dumb and blind person could see the evil that would be unleashed on this country, has sold their souls.

I give not one fuck that some will say: "oh, it's economic anxiety", or, "I just want to try something new"... they... ALL OF THEM... voted for this evil fuckstick because he promised to harm the people they wanted...no demanded...be hurt

I don't want that evil in my life, so I've cut them all out.

Forgive? Ain't no fucking way.

[gibraltar72]

64. Not really.

It goes beyond a lack of judgement. There is a true mean spiritedness in anyone that voted for this man.

[brooklynite]

65. I plan on working to build a coalition for the future...

...that includes winning back Trump's non-base voters, some of whom voted for Obama. Self-righteous anger won't solve the problem.

[lapucelle]

66. I think I'm more angry at people who are supposed to be on our side who gleefully boasted

about voting third party and encouraged others to do the same right up until the very day of the election.

What do you think about those people, Thom? Would you forgive, embrace, and then hire and pay them to run your campaign?

[davekriss]

69. No

But, then, I don't *have* any Republican friends.

[redstatebluegirl]

71. I have backed away from more than a few people due to voting for Trump.

I do not want to be around anyone who voted for him and especially if they continue to defend him. I have a friend who is a lawyer, she has supported him from the beginning. She and her family have some oil wells in Oklahoma so she loves her money. I have always liked her very much, but I find I have nothing to talk about with her anymore since she constantly goes back to the orange menace.

[DFW]

73. I realize this might be hard to believe, so you can take my word for it or not as you see fit

But of my few Republican friends, only ONE of them voted for Trump. The rest voted for Hillary.

The one Trump voter is the Prince of Darkness (politically), a nut case who is so far gone, he fell off the right edge of the earth. He is also, much to my great dismay, extremely personable, a hell of a nice guy, and therefore dangerous as he could be. Well into his eighties now and well off, there is no chance he will listen to any reason at all, and he has a quick mind that can turn any logical argument to the contrary into one that supports his views (to his mind, anyway). He is a very active (still) public figure, and it is confounding in the extreme that I consider him a friend. Needless to say, he considers ME to be as much of a political nut case as I consider him.

He will not necessarily need support when Trump loses the 2020 election. After all, Trump lost the 2016 election. Yet, WE were the ones who needed support after it was over. He won't even need support if Trump is removed from office by the 2020 election. He delighted in the tormenting of Obama by McConnell and the like. He has no fear of being in the opposition.

His name is Richard Viguerie, and we can consider ourselves very fortunate that there are not to many more like him!