You infer from recent observations that your neighbour seems able to ignore the implications of lying on record, misuse of secret documents, misogyny, fallacious accountancy, crassness on hallowed ground, encouraging a riot, supporting impromptu capital punishment, insulting war veterans, attempting to corrupt the electoral process, anti-feminism and breaking the law of copyright.
Do you continue to speak to said neighbour?
Nah!
ReplyDeleteIt's hard, it's really hard, but then thy neighbor is thy neighbor, isn't that what we have been taught. Turn the other cheek, keep friends close, but enemies closer, try walking in another's mocassins, you can take your pick of those. 'Tis a conundrum. It may take longer than a few days, for sure.
ReplyDeleteAnd it really makes me want to go back and insist we teach HISTORY and CIVICS again, or this experiment in Democracy is doomed to fail from sheer ignorance.
DeleteSandi: But the point I'm making is there are people in the USA - lots of them - who are capable of averting their eyes from those malpractices I listed (many immediately self-evident, others confirmed via a contradiction in the very next sentence, yet others confirmed in courts of law) and voting out of pure self-interest. Perhaps unaware of the shocking risks they are running. They may qualify as neighbours in the old-fashioned biblical sense but where eventually do we draw the line? Are we supposed to love neighbourly serial killers, drug dealers, foreign enemy sympathisers. I still can't get over the fact that five people died in the January 6 insurrection; conceivably if other rioters had caught up with Mike Pence they might have actually have hanged him.
ReplyDeleteI understand that dark road you are taking. Equating ALL of the electorate that voted for him...I know I have family, friends, neighbors, old workmates who voted that way...and I can't dismiss 51% of the population without attempting to understand.
DeleteMy son was convinced if he had lost we would have had civil war...perhaps we are lucky with this outcome. If the hate and division continues, where will we be? All I know is our garden will be in full tilt next year, and we are curbing any unnecessary spending now. My son isn't going to sell his home and buy that dream home, and the other son isn't going to retire early. That's just my little family, what happens if all of us do that?
I think the political fence is crowded with voters who can drift either way at a moment's notice, so 2 years isn't that far away. Hopefully we last that long.
Sandi: I agree that what one faces is a true dilemma: a situation in which all available options are unsatisfactory. That's why I phrased the original post as a question. The problem may well hinge on whether it's necessary to "understand" all the types of behaviour that I listed. I can't, for instance, imagine I would find anything forgivable about inciting a riot in which five people died. Yet those who support Trump must - in some way - be required to swallow this awfulness. The way back from allowing that kind of approval seems almost impossible.
Delete21st century Media has changed everything... so many outlets for 'news', hard to say 'news' without smirking, it just isn't what is was when we were young adults. Fact checking and statistics are manipulated and the electorate sees, only what it wishes to see. It was the 70's when Trump first appeared on the scene, and I made up my mind then he was a pig, crook, and useless. But, then I have a 'jerk' spidey sense...LOL.
DeleteYou were right to pose the question, I'm just sorry the majority here can't see beyond their own noses and own pocketbooks to realize the ramifications of a Trump presidency, with Nato, Ukraine, Israel and World Health let alone the costs of tariffs and disrupted supply chains will do to everyone. Disruption is the least of our worries. I wonder if he even realizes that the majority of USA farm land belongs to someone else. UGH!
I don’t continue to speak to anyone who continues to speak to that neighbor. Even if they are immediate family. Differences of opinion are intolerable where basic moral values are concerned. I tried to put on the stupid shoes - can’t make them fit.
ReplyDeleteMikeM: Wow, you open a real can of worms that I hadn't previously envisaged. Question: At what point do certain acts (and/or tacit approval of them) cross the "unforgivable" boundary. Thank you for providing strong clues about this.
DeleteNo.
ReplyDeleteColette: But is there - might there be? - any way back in the future?
DeleteHey pal, you're talking to an ex-Catholic. Yes, there is always a way back to grace. But, like an alcoholic in recovery, a hateful, stupid person would have to make amends that are believable. S/he would have to be heartly sorry, as they say. What a humbling experience they would have to endure. It rarely happens.
DeleteSpeaking to the type neighbor you describe is one thing, but more contact would be quite a different matter. I certainly would not be initiating contact and would likely be unavailable for any invitations to socialize, drawing the line on such. I would not think such a person a viable candidate to hold a position at any level of government. Your description reminds me of someone I know of that has surprisingly to me drawn the support of an incredible number of people in my country which I have questioned in a current post I felt compelled to address.
ReplyDeleteJoared: Just about to do a singing lesson. Will check out your post. Interested to note you implied the difficulties in breaking off an established friendship.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely not. We are not talking mild differences in opinion but support for a moron with the morals that make him totally unfit to be in power and a very dangerous person.
ReplyDeleteBeing polite over the garden fence and not poking the bear is the best approach.