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Voting For Obama Keeps Families Away From Each Other For Thanksgiving

Dooble said:
This is just plain stupid. Why in the world would anyone let politics slither in and destroy their relationship with members of their own family? I guess some people have become so jaded, that they figure it's worth drawing those lines.

Voting For Obama Keeps Families Away From Each Other For Thanksgiving « CBS DC
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To be completely honest, I feel like the media has been grossly over exaggerating how partisan this country is. And the more the media loves to cover this issue, the more the country becomes convinced that it is very partisan.

Being completely technical here, I think our nation is mostly a nation of moderates. We're all very close to the center of the political spectrum and don't veer far from it, even if we do give the people across the isle a dirty glare. The only recent phenomenon is the fact that the media seems to be a lot happier to expose the more partisan bits of our public and in turn we all think that we stand miles away from our opposition in beliefs.

The blow up that occurred on facebook and other social media after the election results were announced was obnoxious. As much as we'd love to believe there were stunning differences, Romney and Obama were only swimming on different sides of the same pond, not on different sides of an ocean. We believe we're about ten times more partisan than we really are.
 
roguenuke said:
Most of them already do work. Some are in our military (I know because my own family is one of those 47% and my husband is active, and my income is only 9/11 GIBill and reserve pay, since I am a student and stay at home mom). The vast majority of those who are in that 47% have low paying jobs or are students or are retired. They are not living off the system to begin with.
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Are you suggesting no one is living off the dole on a government entitlement?
 
If you take your political beliefs seriously enough that you bring them to the dinner table and can't have a civil conversation with family members, you're pretty much an idiot and should not have kids. I'd go even further and state that if you can't have a discussion with family members to the point where you can't be around them, the problem isn't politics, it's you and your family. You'd think people are discussing slavery or women's right to vote. You're actually discussing taxes and condoms. Piss off.
 
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I found it interesting as I read through this thread, which political party supporters did the most "ugly talk". I think that says a lot myself. I am not attempting to say that there are not good and bad on either side, I am well aware that those exist. However, if you go back through the pages of this thread, it will be obvious what this thread shows.
 
meh... my dad watches Fox News and gets the "Limbaugh Letter" newsletter mailed to him and believes he has a well rounded view of the world. Not to mention where he lives is a region where there is nonstop bias confirmation.

When I go to see him I have to do all I can to ward off political talk. He tries to drive any conversation that way. I usually deflect with off topic responses but it always gets to a point where I have to flat out say, "WE ARE NOT GOING TO TALK POLITICS!"
 
poweRob said:
meh... my dad watches Fox News and gets the "Limbaugh Letter" newsletter mailed to him and believes he has a well rounded view of the world. Not to mention where he lives is a region where there is nonstop bias confirmation.

When I go to see him I have to do all I can to ward off political talk. He tries to drive any conversation that way. I usually deflect with off topic responses but it always gets to a point where I have to flat out say, "WE ARE NOT GOING TO TALK POLITICS!"
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I can understand you don't have anything to say that makes any sense. :lol:
 
joko104 said:
That's what people are supposed to do now. Pick one of two sides and hate the other. It's the Obama way and a majority of people just voted for this to be the new America.
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It's the republican way...after all, they are divisive to women, blacks, hispanics, gays...and democrats...
 
Born Free said:
I can understand you don't have anything to say that makes any sense. :lol:
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Even though my dad is a professor with a doctorate... his political views make him an easy political defeat. All you have to do is break down those oh so simple-minded right-wing talking points. Once you say them out loud outside of the echo-chamber... they sound every bit as stupid to the loyal believers as they do to the rest of us.
 
poweRob said:
Even though my dad is a professor with a doctorate... his political views make him an easy defeat. All you have to do is break down those oh so easy right-wing talking points. Once you say them out loud outside of the echo-chamber... they sound every bit as stupid to the loyal believers as they do to the rest of us.
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He was probably more concerned with you thinking for yourself than ideology. My father has two masters and my mother has three I got my first when I was in my 20's my brother has two and my other brother is a Phd. My father is almost an Alan West type Republican my mom not so much but she does Republican most times.

The conversations at family get togethers can be very interesting.
 
All I have to say about the focus of this thread is sometimes people can be foolish. I don't always agree with some members of my family on political issues, but I'd never let politics splitter my household or keep me away from distant family members over the holidays. There's simply more important things in this world than politics.

To put it simply: If your family can't find other things to talk about over the dinner table - Thanksgiving, Christmas or whatever holidy OR any given day for that matter - then they've got much deeper problems to work out within their family dynamic than their political idealogy or political lean.
 
I have much better reasons for not wanting my family over than them voting for Obama. I don't even know who they voted for. But given their lifestyles and choices, probably Obama.
 
joko104 said:
In some circles is it very bitter. Much worse than before the election and in real, personal ways.

It also has affected people's sense of being charitable. A "let the government take care of it now" attitude that many have.

There is an old fella put in a wheelchair permanently after an accident, his wife promptly leaving him. That forced him to sell his house, and rented one in the neighborhood. Other than a daily visiting nurse, all alone day and night. No one really noticed. One day one of the very elderly neighbors saw him on his dock, struggling between trying to hold onto his boat and the dock - him stuck in the middle trying not to fall in. If he had, he'd have drown. That old person got him back on the dock as the boat tried to drift away from the dock, learned his situation, and spread the word. Clearly he was completely isolated and desperately lonely.

So in a sense, without saying to him, people organized to find time to visit, take him boating, shooting, shopping and just hang around watching Tv with him etc. No one had to do that, just did. The neighbors just doing their part at their own time and expense, not really getting anything in return.

After the election one night with a few people over, he commented about Obama winning and "now you people are going to have to pay more for your fair share." When asked what THAT meant (everyone going over has supported Romney), he explained how they have so much and he so little, so they should have to pay more. He was really gloating about, laughing in "us" and "them" terms, in which the people visiting and running him around were "them." How people like them should have to pay more taxes for people like him. They all got up and left. No one visits anymore. Let Obama and the government take care of him.

He now sometimes rolls himself out by the street waving at people as they drive by. People wave back, but don't stop. I wonder if he even understands why? Probably decided they are evil Republicans not doing their duty to him.

We still stop by, but not as often because its just us and him. When he started that up with us, my wife told him if he says another word about it she's leaving and will never come back. I was a bit more blunt: "Shut the f/ck up old man." That he understood. What he said was, "ok, ok, I can respect that."

I'm seeing dozens of variations of how the election has driven hard wedges against people on real, personal levels, not just changes in many employer-employee relationships (including many now ex-employees.)
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That is a long post to make a point, but your point is well made. The moral of the story is: "DON'T BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU"
 
Helix said:
every election since the 1990s has gotten worse and worse. the result of hyperpartisanship speaks for itself.
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I was born in 1949 and came of age during the Sixties. Back then the Vietnam war was raging and the split in society was far worse and far more vitriolic than anything I see today in politics. I can see that younger people who were not around then would not realize that through no fault of their own. But it was far worst in the mid to late Sixties on through Watergate. I vividly remember lots of family gatherings which were disrupted by strong arguments.
 
madman said:
And it's no wonder conservatives are called out as racists.
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If

you read all his posts you might conclude that his posts are designed to make conservatives look bad.
 
MaggieD said:
I think this particular election drew battles lines between the 47% and the rest of us. And that was no accident.
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You may be right, but you shouldn't be. About half of the 47% are Republican, they just don't realize that they are part of the 47% so they pretend that when talking about the 47%, the talk is about someone else. :)
 
joko104 said:
That's what people are supposed to do now. Pick one of two sides and hate the other. It's the Obama way and a majority of people just voted for this to be the new America.
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That's right, it was Obama after all who pledged to oppose everything in order to keep him from winning a second term. Oh wait, that was the republicans in the Congress who did this. My bad!
 
Sarcogito said:
Yeah, Facebook has made for an interesting dynamic. I am very vocal on my Facebook about my political and religious opinions. As a result, family no longer bring those subjects up with me at get togethers. I enjoy debating, but most of them don't like talking about contentious subjects unless it is with people who agree with them.
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There is some truth to the saying that people should never discuss politics or religion. It can end badly.
 
haymarket said:
I was born in 1949 and came of age during the Sixties. Back then the Vietnam war was raging and the split in society was far worse and far more vitriolic than anything I see today in politics. I can see that younger people who were not around then would not realize that through no fault of their own. But it was far worst in the mid to late Sixties on through Watergate. I vividly remember lots of family gatherings which were disrupted by strong arguments.
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granted. the first election I can remember well was 1980, though I was only 6, so I guess that range is my point of reference.
 
MaggieD said:
I think this particular election drew battles lines between the 47% and the rest of us. And that was no accident.
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what 47%? I thought all that hullabaloo about romney's comments proved that he was talking about two seperate groups of people that he in his infinite ignorance conflated. The democratic base which actually is less than 47% of the electorate. And the takers who just want handouts from the government, and won't take responsibility for their own lives, which is far far less than 47% (less than 5%) and includes republicans and dems and independents?
 
Jonsa said:
what 47%? I thought all that hullabaloo about romney's comments proved that he was talking about two seperate groups of people that he in his infinite ignorance conflated. The democratic base which actually is less than 47% of the electorate. And the takers who just want handouts from the government, and won't take responsibility for their own lives, which is far far less than 47% (less than 5%) and includes republicans and dems and independents?
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Who's talking about Romney? I'm talking about the 47% of the American taxpayers who pay no Federal income tax.
 
I just returned from a great Thanksgiving family reunion. We are split pretty evenly between cons and libs but it was never brought up. We all were just so happy to get together and see each other that politics seems very unimportant. I save that stuff for places like this, "for everything their is a season".
 
MaggieD said:
Who's talking about Romney? I'm talking about the 47% of the American taxpayers who pay no Federal income tax.
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Exxxxcccuuuussse me.
actually that's why I asked the question, so thanks for the answer.
:)
 
Born Free said:
Are you suggesting no one is living off the dole on a government entitlement?
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Not what I said at all. What I am saying is most people, even of those in the "47%" are not living off the government. Even the majority of those who do receive financial assistance from the government have at least part time and/or low paying jobs.
 
MaggieD said:
Who's talking about Romney? I'm talking about the 47% of the American taxpayers who pay no Federal income tax.
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Who include plenty of people who still do work, including many military members. I guarantee that for at least the 3rd year in a row, my family will be in that bracket of "47%", and that is how long my husband has been active duty Navy. It is also guaranteed that next year we will definitely be in the same situation since the only taxable income my family will earn at all next year will be my reserve weekend and AT pay, which will be maybe $7K. My husband will be in the ME until late next year, if not longer. All of his pay as long as he is there is tax free. We have 2 children, and I go to college. We will have more than enough tax credits to make up for what taxes we would owe on income.

There is nothing that sets us apart, as Americans, from those who do pay taxes on what they earn. We are still Americans. Heck, many military members in the same position as us that I know are Republicans.
 
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