Be Like Sally

[Soph0571]

Heh. Indeed.

[ismnotwasm]

1. K&R

[rampartc]

2. i think the interaction with bob's boss was over the top

but the rest of it is necessary.

[lagomorph777]

7. Right - should have done it non-anonymously.

But absolutely do it.

[Bettie]

8. If Bob puts that stuff up on an open social media

platform, his employer would eventually have heard of it from someone other than Sally.

It wasn't wrong. White supremacists need to be outed.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

11. Yes. Posting publicly is announcing to the world one's positions and policies.

Forwarding to the boss is just part of that process of announcement.

[calimary]

19. Yep!

[Duppers]

15. Agree.

I dropped several friends during Shrub's term.

[SCVDem]

18. After a workplace shooting

they always go to their social (?) media.

Sally was correct and pro-active instead of ex post facto saying that he didn't seem that bad.

Nip it in the bud!

[watoos]

3. I just renewed my ACLU membership

but don't call me Sally, Ron will do. Funny story when I worked in Chile, I changed my name to Rolando because everyone laughed at Ron, which I guess means rum.

[FM123]

4. Yes! Let us sally forth and win this thing!

[Bettie]

21. I see what you did there!

LOL.

[ooky]

5. I wonder how many of us here have dumped one or more Bobs.

I have one Bob to my credit.

[HAB911]

6. I dumped 7 "friends"

told them I would issue a general amnesty when he's gone.

[FakeNoose]

9. We've learned much about our friends in the last 3 years

[colorado_ufo]

13. Agree!

Some of it was expected, but some was very unexpected and quite sad.

[Traildogbob]

14. Absolutely fact

Not just friends, I hate to see some family. Exactly how Putin planned it all. Putin is a murderous thug. He has us on the brink. He also knows, the final straw would be to send his hit people to take trump out and blame a liberal nut job. Then the war will commence as he laughs and enjoys all the benefits he got out of the fat ass and is no longer useful. Will will destroy ourselves and the only shots he will fire are his hit man taking out trump and frame democrats. MAGA! 🔥🇺🇸🐘🇷🇺

[MontanaMama]

16. Oh this.

Soooooooo this.

[Hortensis]

22. It happened long BEFORE Trump for us. After Reagan

was elected in 1980, over the next 20 years many Republicans became increasingly hostile, aggressive, intolerant, and outspoken in their antipathy to Democrats/liberals. We lived in a conservative community in Southern California, most of our usual friends were conservative, and we were unavoidably aware of their changing behaviors.

It increased markedly in the 1990s after the end of the Soviet Union took away a "common" external enemy. With the advent of leaders like Newt Gingrich, "family values," immoral "radical liberal Democrats," and so on, we replaced Russia as the big enemy.

We kept a relationship going, until we moved out of state, with next door neighbors we'd been friends and raised our children with for a quarter century. They were, and probably are in many ways still, fine people, great neighbors, very good parents, honest, honorable, hard working, dignified, good natured and outgoing, well mannered, decent. Solidly conservative, but in 25 years I never saw any indication of racist hostility. We all held the declined relationship together and they came to our goodbye party, but that was literally our last communication. We emailed them a couple times trying not to sever completely while we waited for better times, but they didn't answer. Same for two other couples who'd been long-time friends.

But that was nothing to the acceleration in partisan/tribal hostility this century which has so far culminated in Trump's election.

I worry about so many blaming Trump himself and not understanding that if he dropped dead today our real malady of determined partisan hostility and demonization that started with the right but has spread to many on the left would continue, fed and funded by power groups who'd be chained by a united electorate.

As for Sally, I can be Sally all right, zero tolerance for hatemongering, and have a number of times to a smaller degree.

But except for the truly worst, mostly I think it's desperately important -- for our nation! -- to keep the doors open and maintain at least tenuous relationships as much as possible, even if it's just an occasional "hi" relayed through a common friend or relative. Although those old neighbors' turning against us could be considered unforgivable, and we haven't actually liked them for a very long time, we share a lot of memories, including of their son who died in college, and we still hope to someday be able to contact them and have them answer back.

[brer cat]

10. K&R

[IronLionZion]

12. I've unfriended people who post racist, sexist, homophobic things

but there are many others who walk a fine line and I keep an eye on what the Trump supporters are spewing, just for awareness. It's amazing how many of them think Trump is a manly man when he's actually a worthless tub of lard.

[B Stieg]

17. How sad that it's come to this...

but, given tRump's persona and affect, and the "willful blindness" of his constituents, it's not surprising.

[calimary]

20. Sometimes you have to concede that not every soul can be saved.

Best to move on and work to save someone else’s soul then. There are some, here and there, who are waking up, and they’re reachable. And while it isn’t many, it just might be enough to tip the balance in our favor.