I'm tired of being called a Marxist Leninist who murders babies

[mmonk]

because I refuse to vote Republican. Show them the pictures so they can know why I don't vote Republican and would not as long as I breathe air.

[cali]

1. whoa. people actually call you that for not voting repuke?

where do you encounter this?

[tsuki]

2. If you live in NW Florida, you will encounter it. Also, you get told

you are what is wrong with America.

[mmonk]

4. They say it in a round about way. They say they can't vote for Democrats

like I do because of that. Therefore, it bears false witness as to why I vote otherwise than they do. I think their eyes should be opened as to the nature of those they believe in.

[JVS]

6. There is nothing so effective at opening eyes as a garden claw.

Go forth and reveal the truth, my friend.

[shireen]

3. next time someone calls you that,

just stare them down and give them a maniacal smile. Freak out those idiots!
I doubt that releasing the pictures (i assume you're referring to the torture pictures Obama won't release) will have any effect on them. The Abu Ghraib photos should have affected them. Clearly, they ignored them if they're still calling you names.

[Echo In Light]

9. Or, feel their flesh and bone yield beneath your fists

[JVS]

5. I'm tired of being called a Marxist Leninist who murders babies

because while I subscribe to Marxism Leninism (orthodox variety, please), I do not make it a practice to murder babies.

[mmonk]

7. It's ok, they don't even know what it is.

[RandomThoughts]

8. Make them explain to you what marxist leninist means.

Then throw 'commanding heights' at them, Lenin's attempts to move away from central planning in all but the main sectors of the economy. He wanted to move to a mixed economy before he died.

You might ask them what capitalism/Marxism is, and just keep asking questions making them think on it. not to be rude, but to try and get them to think on it.

[mmonk]

10. That would be way over their heads.

They just repeat the language they hear on rightwing talk and Fox. They in reality know very little of economic and political models. Their level of knowledge on such is on a primary school level.

[RandomThoughts]

11. Sometimes trying to get them to explain it to you

Can get them to realize that. But most of the time they just get angry to fight away having to face the fact that they are saying things they can't discuss.

[flobee1]

12. I've tried it

It doesn't compute with them. They just give you a look like you started talking a foreign language.
I even tried talking energy conservation with them from a money saving angle, thinking that the money hoarding repugs might relate to at least that side of the argument. All they can do is spout limbaugh/global warming=hoax crap. The only thing a republican brain can handle is what fox news feeds them, and nothing more

[RandomThoughts]

13. you may have to discus with them the basic idea of thinking

They may not know how. I am not saying this is true for all people of that group, but people on both sides that only know the slogans, and never even thought about what they might mean, sometimes have never really thought.

Sounds funny, but it is like a sleep, where they never got out from under the spell of the slogans.

You might start with really easy topics they don't have a vested interest in, and just try to get them to challenge what they hear or repeat.

Its hard to explain, but thinking has consequences that many people would rather not face.

I try to bring them back to the idea of building an argument, point by point, just get them to agree on anything, or offer an argument to anything.

Like on energy, just ask if they think it would be better to have lower energy cost, or less pollution, or being less dependant on a foreign source. unfortunately this requires a control of flow of conversation while you make your point, so you have to explain how that works, explain that if they listen and understand your point, then they can actually really disagree with it if they want.

Try and make them actually think on a point that is a step to the next point. And if they make an argument that is irrelevant, bring them back to the exact topic. Then try to let them do the same thing, and try to understand there point.

That's what I try to do.

One more thing, some people actually don't hear a word you say, it is not that they are not thinking, it is they don't listen, they create what you say, in there head from things Rush told them about your position on an argument. Its good to stop and just ask them to repeat what you just said. I have had discussions where I made a 4 word point, in one sentence, slowly, then made same point 3 times in a row, the guy I was talking to could not repeat the point I made, he was not listening at all. So you might have to get them to learn what listening is.