Tell us about "In my struggle to understand a person on the other side.."

[lostnfound]

Most of the time, the glaringly obvious evil of the Bush mal-administration impedes me from building bridges to those "on the other side" -- those who voted for them.

"If you're not completely appalled, you haven't been paying attention."

But I realize how counterproductive this "isolationism" is..so there are a few exceptions.

I thought it would be interesting to have a thread to compile our personal glimpses into the minds of the opposition into various issues.

[lostnfound]

1. "Strong defense"

Are the Bush rank-and-file unable to separate enthusiasm for supporting wars from enthusiasm for supporting individuals in the military?

[BOSSHOG]

2. "Well, we are already there."

This is my brother in laws logic for supporting the war in Iraq. He made this statement to me last May.

[rucky]

5. him & everybody else

many many Dems included

[LowerManhattanite]

7. Love the sinner...hate the f*ck out of the sin I guess...

My brother, who's been in the Navy for 22 years (A Chief Petty Officer 1st Class) went in a progressive and is now a card-carrying, ditto-headed, O'Reilly spouting, Coulter-lusting, Dennis Miller-chortling repug. I love him, but his politics disgust me ("love the sinner..hat the sin...).

And whenever we have a discussion that drifts into the political realm, it usually consists of me hammering him with facts and him hammering me with Pig Boy's latest quip of the day, replete with the oh-so-witty nicknames he's had his sweatshop of joke-writers conjure up.

Our last conversaton centered around Rush and his hypocrisy insofar as his own addiction to drugs. I reminded my brother about Piggy's ill-humored digs at Kitty Dukakis for her well-chronicled bout with alcoholism. My brother clammed up faster than William Casey after the lobotomy they gave him to silence him. Little brother then turned the discussion to Bush's skilled handling of the "war on terror". I pointed out how as a Navy man, how pissed I'd be with his donning a flight suit and using a functioning war vessel as a photo op for what was clearly, a lie. i.e. "Mission Accomplished". He said, "the crew put that sign up, not the president". To which I asked him "how often does a crew put up a sign like that when they come home from direct wartime activity?"

He clammed up again after shooting me a dirty look. We eventually went on to discuss other things, like our beloved Yankees and the "assets" of the lovely Beyoncé, but politics is off-limits for us. Right-wingers and progressives who are strong in belief will never agree it seems. But if it's family...you've gotta love em' and keep the conversation steered elsewhere.

[seabeyond]

3. it isnt hard for me

but this is a huge, good, but huge question and goes all over the place. i think something so many of us have to remember that we are seeing the few in extremism yelling so loud and this isnt representitive at all in a whole who the republican party is. theirs is the conditioning of people thru religion and areas they grew up in and their is the age that created the conditioning

another i think the demo dont own, there is a reason the fundamentalists have been able to get control. and part of that can be seen in the poligamy (sp) thread. the 60's thru the 90's words like honesty and integrity not being able to say god so much was dismissed and we became a me me me society. this is a backlash from that we are experiencing now. it hit hard and bush pushed to forefront quickly and visibly which is a gift, to bring momentum to a stillness and bring to balance.

there is the break ups of family the not taking care of children the unindating them with filth and violence and anger. there are schools being parents. all over the place this thing goes

anyway, i am not in battle with my republican fellows or my democrat fellows, cause really i am not sitting in either camp, i can listen to both. and i can hear their fears, though i dont have to be a participant in it.

and so much more

[lostnfound]

4. "Pro-life"

Several people I know take the position that abortion is murder, people do not have the "right to choose" to murder, and the government has not only the right but the obligation to prohibit murder.

Though some pro-lifers are against the anti-life nature of war or the death penalty, they then will add up the numbers and say 'the war in Iraq killed a few thousand (or tens of thousands), but there have been x million babies aborted since Roe v Wade.' Each life is the same as any other life, in their logic.

[rockymountaindem]

6. Many of these people are my best friends.

Issues and beliefs they hold seem to be:

1. democRATS want to give Cadillacs to welfare queens. Example; once I was riding in my friend's car and as we pulled off the interstate there was a homeless guy there with a sign asking for food. I immediately felt bad for the guy, but I wasn't driving so I couldn't do anything. My friend didn't just ignore him, but actually slowed down, rolled his window down and yelled "get a job!" at the poor homeless fellow.

2. Messed up religious ideals. They almost completely ignore everything Christianity says about loving your neighbor. Exceptions are made when there is a chance they can use a position of power over poor people to get them to join the church.

3. Greed. I am 17, so all my friends and I only enjoy our middle-class/upper middle class standard of living as a result of our parent's work. However, they are the last people to consider contributing anything of "theirs" to the greater good, such as taxes. For example, my dad (a former repub.) showed my my family's tax forms. He pointed out how much money he made and then how much his total taxes were (state and local taxes included). He thought it was outrageously high. I thought they were fair.

4. Residual fears of communism from the Cold War.

5. Belief in the "haves" and "have not" system of economics.

6. Insecurity. They may not be millionaires, but dammit, there are many poor people they can think themselves better than. If others from lower down on the ladder become more successful than they are, they feel like failures. Therefore they do their best to keep other people down.

Some of you say that you don't have any conservative friends. I have many. There is one "paleo-conservative" who is very reasonable and thoughtful. He is devoutly Christian but actually uses that as a reason for charity and not high-and-mighty-ness. Although I disagree with him sometimes, he is a good man and I would vote for him if he ran for office. I think he would vote for me, too, even though I would have (D) next to my name and he would have an (R) or maybe an (I). The others, although we enjoy each other's company, scare me shitless. If they were ever to run for office, I would actively campaign or run against them.

On edit:

7. They hate Clinton and think that anyone who supports him is a sex pervert or liar.

[TheFarseer]

8. I sort of understand

My Dad for instance, hates the war in Iraq, he doesn't like Bush's tax cuts, or any of his economic policies, or pretty much anything he's done the last 4 years, but he's still voting for him. WHY? "Because Democrats are immoral homo-kissing, baby killers who want filth on TV." I myself find it hard to decide between having a job and and denying someone I will never meet have an abortion(sarcasm) but that's how alot of people think. I think it's silly but I understand it.