About two years ago, I ended up friends with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
greyhawk. It was a strange friendship, entered into a little warily because we're at opposite sides of the political spectrum on practically every issue. He's a small-c conservative and I'm a liberal, fairly far to the left but we managed to have a reasonable conversation about politics, and became lj-friends.
Why am I bringing it up now?
I've noticed that this election isn't affecting my circle of friends and myself by polarizing us against Republicans. Instead, we're being polarized against each other.
If you're for Obama, you're for Obama. Hook, line and sinker. You can't take any criticism of him, and you defend every mistake he makes.
If you're for Hillary, you're for Hillary. Hook, line and sinker. You can't take any criticism of her, and you defend every mistake she makes.
I have friends whom agree with me on pretty much every political point. We're all pro-choice, anti-death penalty, pro-gay marriage. But when it comes to the Obama versus Hillary split, it's shut-up-and-don't-talk-about-it.
I have friends who will toss me links to YouTube videos of Obama's ads, but shut me down if I bring up the fact that I support Hillary.
So my question is, how did this happen? When did it get to the point that it's easier to talk politics calmly with conservatives than with people who actually support my stances?
I'm not a fan of Obama because personally, I think his foreign policies suck. He tried to act tough when he said that he'd be willing to order strikes against Pakistan, and he's made no mention of working with the UN. That doesn't mean that I'm not pleased with his record on abortion rights, to take one example. It just means that I don't want to vote for him, and that I don't think he'd make a good President.
It doesn't mean that I'm incapable of having a calm, rational discussion about the candidates and their relative merits/flaws.
On The Issues is THE best source I know for researching the stances of the candidates on different issues. Go check it out.
greyhawk. It was a strange friendship, entered into a little warily because we're at opposite sides of the political spectrum on practically every issue. He's a small-c conservative and I'm a liberal, fairly far to the left but we managed to have a reasonable conversation about politics, and became lj-friends.Why am I bringing it up now?
I've noticed that this election isn't affecting my circle of friends and myself by polarizing us against Republicans. Instead, we're being polarized against each other.
If you're for Obama, you're for Obama. Hook, line and sinker. You can't take any criticism of him, and you defend every mistake he makes.
If you're for Hillary, you're for Hillary. Hook, line and sinker. You can't take any criticism of her, and you defend every mistake she makes.
I have friends whom agree with me on pretty much every political point. We're all pro-choice, anti-death penalty, pro-gay marriage. But when it comes to the Obama versus Hillary split, it's shut-up-and-don't-talk-about-it.
I have friends who will toss me links to YouTube videos of Obama's ads, but shut me down if I bring up the fact that I support Hillary.
So my question is, how did this happen? When did it get to the point that it's easier to talk politics calmly with conservatives than with people who actually support my stances?
I'm not a fan of Obama because personally, I think his foreign policies suck. He tried to act tough when he said that he'd be willing to order strikes against Pakistan, and he's made no mention of working with the UN. That doesn't mean that I'm not pleased with his record on abortion rights, to take one example. It just means that I don't want to vote for him, and that I don't think he'd make a good President.
It doesn't mean that I'm incapable of having a calm, rational discussion about the candidates and their relative merits/flaws.
On The Issues is THE best source I know for researching the stances of the candidates on different issues. Go check it out.