Republican Friends

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm conservative and don't post anything political to FB. I don't care to have my FB page become a battleground for my liberal and conservative friends. For one, they all know how I feel about specific issues and two, there are other places for that type of discussion. Like DCUM.

Ditto! Totally agree, especially living in DC.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm conservative and don't post anything political to FB. I don't care to have my FB page become a battleground for my liberal and conservative friends. For one, they all know how I feel about specific issues and two, there are other places for that type of discussion. Like DCUM.

Ditto! Totally agree, especially living in DC.

What? Are you saying that DCUM is enabling conservatives to express views that they would otherwise keep to themselves? I'm going to have to rethink this whole anonymity thing.

Just kidding.

[Anonymous]

I post political comments on Facebook, and I definitely have friends of all perspectives on there. I don't mind reading their opposing views, so I figure they won't mind reading mine. If they do, they can hide me or unfriend me. I've never had an ugly exchange because of anything I've written, although I have had some discussions.

[Anonymous]

I also have a hard time being friends with anyone who would support a president who advocated torture.

[Anonymous]

You'd be one less person on my social calendar then. Seriously. Those of us who supported President Bush may disagree with you on the definition of torture. You would like to see us as bloodthirsty, ignorant etc. etc. instead of attempting to hear (not necessarily agree with) a different point of view. Which might be a big part of what friendship is. Go sit around with your like-minded 'friends' . I am not sure if they are friends though, or just people who happen to agree with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You'd be one less person on my social calendar then. Seriously. Those of us who supported President Bush may disagree with you on the definition of torture. You would like to see us as bloodthirsty, ignorant etc. etc. instead of attempting to hear (not necessarily agree with) a different point of view. Which might be a big part of what friendship is. Go sit around with your like-minded 'friends' . I am not sure if they are friends though, or just people who happen to agree with you.

I don't want to be friends with you anyway. You don't agree with me on the 'definition of torture'? How lame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You'd be one less person on my social calendar then. Seriously. Those of us who supported President Bush may disagree with you on the definition of torture. You would like to see us as bloodthirsty, ignorant etc. etc. instead of attempting to hear (not necessarily agree with) a different point of view. Which might be a big part of what friendship is. Go sit around with your like-minded 'friends' . I am not sure if they are friends though, or just people who happen to agree with you.

I don't want to be friends with you anyway. You don't agree with me on the 'definition of torture'? How lame.

As a fellow liberal, who probably agrees with you on the definition of torture, I feel I should give some friendly feedback (at least that's how it's intended): People are complex. One can be friendly, charitable, thoughtful, and worthy of friendship, yet still have (what you and I consider to be) weird ideas about politics. I find our conservative colleague's posting more reasonable sounding than yours -- friendly feedback, remember, not an attack!

[Anonymous]

reasonable minds can disagree on the definition of "torture". that has nothing to do with whether someone makes a good friend or not. not in the top 1 billion.

[Anonymous]

This is not about political differences. (I even have a libertarian friend. Ugh.) I don't care if someone is reasonable, kind, thoughtful and charitable if they advocate torture. Gotta draw the line somewhere and I draw it at advocating torture. It turns my stomach. I would not want someone sitting at my dinner table if they thought it was okay to torture another human being.

[Anonymous]

you are weird then. I really doubt your friends advocate having prisoners drawn or quartered or their eyes plucked out or their heads slowly cut off. hence, I really doubt they advocate torture.

they may however advocate non-permanent and non-painful forms of interrogation in certain rare circumstances where the information to be obtained could save many lives. Some call it torture, some call it enhanced interrogation that can save lives. Our judges find it constitutional, so clearly it is an area on which reasonable minds can disagree.

[Anonymous]

I find myself, as i gave et older, that I no longer can define myself along one party line. I am 41 and have thoughts divergent from the traditional liberal and conservative on many fronts. I am more likely to define my position based on topic....much less comprehensive and perhaps wishy-washy....hmmm - I wonder what party I should belong to.

And - i would no more post my political leanings on FB than fly to the moon. FB is simple, political conversations are complex...why muddy the waters as such???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you are weird then. I really doubt your friends advocate having prisoners drawn or quartered or their eyes plucked out or their heads slowly cut off. hence, I really doubt they advocate torture.

they may however advocate non-permanent and non-painful forms of interrogation in certain rare circumstances where the information to be obtained could save many lives. Some call it torture, some call it enhanced interrogation that can save lives. Our judges find it constitutional, so clearly it is an area on which reasonable minds can disagree.

If this helps you sleep at night then keep telling it to yourself. But people with more integrity are able to see it for what it really is, and leaders with more integrity managed to accomplish the same results without stooping to such uncivilized levels.

[Anonymous]

I had a friend who was as bleeding-heart liberal as they come... I thought. Then she learned that the university where I taught offered classes to inmates of a nearby prison, and allowed released prisoners to complete their degree, at night, free of charge. She flipped out. Ranted and raved about how SHE had to take out loans to go to college, and it wasn't fair that CRIMINALS got an education for free, etc etc. I'm like, here's someone who nurses sick squirrels back to health, but she can't see the value of redemption for another human being? It was the total disconnect of integrity that bothered me. Like how there are people who are totally ok with torture and the death penalty for humans, but wouldn't dream of euthanizing a biting dog.

[Anonymous]

Wow. I'm amazed at some of the last few posts. It's wonderful to have such deeply held beliefs, but it's amazing how nasty some people are willing to get so quickly.

My two dearest friends couldn't be more different from me politically. I'm pretty moderate (probably more Repub than Dem) but basically centrist. One is a right-wing evangelical. The other is very liberal. Do I often disagree with the way they vote - of course? Heck, my husband and I disagree on many issues. But, do I believe that they come to their positions from integrity and thoughtfulness? Yes. We occasionally might discuss the issues and learn a bit from each other. But otherwise focus on those other areas of our decades' long friendships that are more central to our daily lives without impugning one another's morals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you are weird then. I really doubt your friends advocate having prisoners drawn or quartered or their eyes plucked out or their heads slowly cut off. hence, I really doubt they advocate torture.

they may however advocate non-permanent and non-painful forms of interrogation in certain rare circumstances where the information to be obtained could save many lives. Some call it torture, some call it enhanced interrogation that can save lives. Our judges find it constitutional, so clearly it is an area on which reasonable minds can disagree.

If this helps you sleep at night then keep telling it to yourself. But people with more integrity are able to see it for what it really is, and leaders with more integrity managed to accomplish the same results without stooping to such uncivilized levels.

so if we were neighbors for 10 years and got along well in every respect, but you then found out that I don't consider enhanced interrogation to be "torture", then you would never invite me over to dinner again and end a friendship? cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo ...