"Well the democrats..." "Well the republicans..." "Stop just stop"

[jackfaire]

I am non-partisan. I do not belong to nor will I ever belong to any party because I disagree with the concept as a whole.

I discuss issues as issues. I do not discuss them as what this, that or the other candidate says about them. I only care if they agree with me. If they agree with me on most of the issues currently being dealt with then they get my vote no matter which party they belong to.

So when I am discussing those issues with a fellow citizen the thing that bothers me the most is when suddenly it's no longer about that issue but rather what the other side thinks about the issue. Frankly this is like me asking a friend "Hey Bobby I was thinking about asking Kristin out what can you tell me about her" and my friend saying, "Oh well you remember my enemy Mark he can't stand Kristin he thinks she sucks" Uhm so?

I get this on political issues all of the time we can be discussing how something should be handled and while debating suddenly the other person decides based on my opinion which party I belong to and they start attacking said party, that I don't care about instead of continuing to discuss the issue.

When I point out I am non-partisan it's like they suddenly forget how to actually discuss an issue.

When did people let their party's start determining their personalities?

Am I alone in noticing this tendency? How do others get around this? Thoughts?

[TheHuckster]

Am I alone in noticing this tendency?

No, and it's hit the main stage and plays a huge part in election campaigns. I've spoken to so many people about issues, and when I ask why they support or don't support a specific issue, they'll tell me point blank, "[politician] supports it." with no other rationale or even understanding of what the issue even is. It's a dangerous mentality that I see from both Democrats and Republicans. Their party is a team that they feel they have to support 100%, any rational discussions be damned.

[D_Yeti_Esquire]

Alone?

I might as well call this year the year of "but Barack Obama _____"

[mjr]

Alone?

I might as well call this year the year of "but Barack Obama _____"

Is that anything at all like "But George Bush ___________"?

[MadMike]

There are definitely people on both sides who blindly support their party. It seems like there are more right-wingnuts than left-wingnuts, but I don't know if that's true or if it's just the ones on the right making more noise and invoking the name of God more frequently.

There's this one guy who I've been friends with for almost 30 years -- why I don't know -- and he'll blindly support anyone with an "R" next to his name. And I swear the guy is in love with Donald Trump. And if you say anything negative about his idol, he throws a fit about it, and throws a tantrum that would put a two-year-old to shame. Of course, if you try to back up your claims with a link to any news article, he'll actually use the words "Fake news", possibly along with "Stupid liberal." It's gotten so bad that I've unfollowed him on Facebook. I used to let him pull me into arguments over stuff I posted on my page. We'd go back and forth a few times, and eventually the conversation would turn into talking about hanging out, having a few beers, and listening to music, so in the end, he and I were good, but I came to realize that getting into political pissing contests with my friends wasn't doing my blood pressure any good, so if someone tries to post that crap on my page, I simply delete it, ignore it, and move on. And if I see something like that on their page, I remove it from my news feed, ignore it, and move on, although sometimes I really have to bite my tongue.

As for me, I don't trust either party, although I probably lean to the left on more issues than I lean to the right on. I actually don't trust any politician regardless of political affiliation. And my state has had a string of shitty governors from both parties. One time I was ranting on Facebook about how our current governor was barely even in office and he was trying to jack up taxes on anything and everything. My friend that I mentioned above agreed with me, and then ruined it by basically saying it was because the governor's a democrat, and that's what democrats do. When I pointed out that the republican governor who proceeded him jacked up taxes and fees on almost everything having to do with driving (gasoline taxes, registration fees, etc.), which cost him the re-election I might add, his response was, "Oh, that was necessary." So basically, if a democrat raises taxes, he's ripping you off, but if a republican does it, it's "necessary." That's what drives me up a fucking wall -- people who think their party can do no wrong, and the other party can do no right.

Basically, politicians are turning us all against each other, and sadly it's working. They say "Divide and Conquer" is the oldest strategy in the book.

[Tanasi]

My Dad was a yellow-dog democrat that grew up under FDR. It didn't the demo candidates record or platform they got his vote because the Democrats are for the common man. My Mom is more a blue-dog democrat. She doesn't like black people and won't vote for one and absolutely refused to vote for HRC or Trump, however she did vote for a black man for sheriff.
I've always been very much on the conservative constitutionist side, I don't believe in the whole "living breathing document" stuff. I'm very pro-1A and especially 2A. I generally vote on the R side during the primaries but I have no loyalties during the general election. This past presidential election was truly a shit sandwich no matter which way you went D or R it was a real stinky poowich.
My US Rep has decided to retire and thankfully our county mayor has decided to run, he a good guy and really works for everyone in the county. Yesterday our US Senator decided to retire. While he hasn't said so the Gov will hopefully run. He's also a local guy and hopefully not too establishment sided.

[TheHuckster]

There are definitely people on both sides who blindly support their party. It seems like there are more right-wingnuts than left-wingnuts, but I don't know if that's true or if it's just the ones on the right making more noise and invoking the name of God more frequently.

The left-winghuts are the vocal folks who overreact to anything they deem the least bit offensive, citing patriarchy and institutional racism as the only point they have.

Note that I'm not talking about the moderates who recognize there are undertones of patriarchy and institutional racism that need to be minimized. I'm talking more about the more extreme people who believe, for instance, general tso's chicken should be banned for cultural appropriation.

[D_Yeti_Esquire]

https://www.theringer.com/2017/10/7/...tein-breitbart

^ Relevant

[protege]

The left-winghuts are the vocal folks who overreact to anything they deem the least bit offensive, citing patriarchy and institutional racism as the only point they have.

Both have their triggers--the left sees racism everywhere, while the right sees a lack of religion everywhere. Those are the only plays that they have. Why? Because they know that they'll stir up their base. Give me a break.

[TheHuckster]

Both have their triggers--the left sees racism everywhere, while the right sees a lack of religion everywhere. Those are the only plays that they have. Why? Because they know that they'll stir up their base. Give me a break.

I agree. I can't stand the hypocrites who decry people making a fuss over political correctness and "telling people what to say" while also going apeshit over "Happy Holidays" and kneeling during the anthem.

[mjr]

No, and it's hit the main stage and plays a huge part in election campaigns. I've spoken to so many people about issues, and when I ask why they support or don't support a specific issue, they'll tell me point blank, "[politician] supports it." with no other rationale or even understanding of what the issue even is. It's a dangerous mentality that I see from both Democrats and Republicans. Their party is a team that they feel they have to support 100%, any rational discussions be damned.

This reminds me of something I saw recently where some "college students" were presented aspects of Trump's tax plan -- but they were told it was Bernie's. They all thought the things presented were good ideas.

Because, you know, obviously if Bernie came up with them...

Anyway, they were surprised, and there were several "Ummmm..."s when they were told it was actually aspects of Trump's tax plan that they liked.

[TheHuckster]

This reminds me of something I saw recently where some "college students" were presented aspects of Trump's tax plan -- but they were told it was Bernie's. They all thought the things presented were good ideas.

Because, you know, obviously if Bernie came up with them...

Anyway, they were surprised, and there were several "Ummmm..."s when they were told it was actually aspects of Trump's tax plan that they liked.

A political party or figure has become reduced to a brand. Only there's more loyalty to them than most brands in the traditional sense. Even I drink Pepsi once in a while even though my heart is with Coke. On the political stage, that's treasonous to some people.

[jackfaire]

while also going apeshit over "Happy Holidays"

Which has been used for over a thousand years (not exaggerating) to indicate "merry christmas and have a happy new years" but literally has nothing to do with there being other winter holidays and in fact actively ignores them.

Oddly it's the one thing that Political Correctness tried to get rid of was Happy Holidays. When I was a teenager PC people were telling me that saying Happy Holidays is exclusionary because it only acknowledges Christmas and New Years while there is also Kwanzaa and Chuanukah.

Now it's the other group of people attacking PC people for the saying that they were attacking. It's ridiculous.

[protege]

Now it's the other group of people attacking PC people for the saying that they were attacking. It's ridiculous.

...and we'll get to hear from them very soon. You know, when they start screaming about "persecution" and the "war on Christmas"

[s_stabeler]

...and we'll get to hear from them very soon. You know, when they start screaming about "persecution" and the "war on Christmas"

to be fair,there are occasions when I think the war on christmas folks have something of a point- specifically, I have no problem with stores encouraging their staff to use "happy holidays" but you occasionally hear of cases where they go out of their way to avoid any reference to christmas. (although I don't think it's ever actually occurred, renaming christmas trees comes to mind as an example of the kind of thing I'm talking about. Basically, when it gets to the point of eliminating any reference to christmas, even when it would actually make sense to refer to it)