stuart in mn wrote:z31maniac wrote: It's also funny to trip someone up to the point of anger........yes, I'm a bad person.I'm sure they think it's a laugh riot.
It's really an exercise to show people they take themselves to seriously, they are usually to self-absorbed to get the lesson.
mguar wrote: So you think welfare is a problem? You're wrong.. it's simply the cheapest way to deal with poor people..
Sez you! 
I don't think we should ignore the poor, but neither do I think we should write a them a blank check. People who pay for groceries with food stamps buy cuts of steak that I can't afford. Honestly, I'd feel better about the welfare thing if I knew there wasn't untold millions of dollars being scammed off the US govt.
When I have to deal with somebody like that, doesn't matter if they are way right or left, and I want them to shut the berkeley up I simply act like the most ignorant insert party name here you could ever imagine. They usually get so pissed at the pure stupidity and ignorance of what you are saying that they shut up pretty quick. May not be super mature, but it IS effective.
My dad is like the OP's. I do generally agree with a lot of what he says but I have a life and choose to not bitch about politics endlessly. He, on the other hand, truly believes that given enough time of you listening to his logic, everyone will see the light. He is an extremely smart and logical person and feels he could convert anyone.
He lives across the country and I Only see him a couple times each year. I can be sure that within 15 minutes on me arriving he will be talking politics. I usually give him the first 10 minutes or so, then change the subject. He will always come back to it as it is what consumes him daily. He's retired and can't do much so the days are spent listening to biased opinions that just reinforce his own feelings and opinions.
My last trip to see I told him "we are done discussing politics" on the first day. On day two he started again and I reminded him that we are done talking politics. He stopped. Day three and my brother was there for dinner and as soon as we sat down, ..... Obama... . I said, "Dad, we are not talking politics". He got really pissed and I took my plate and sat with the kids and we talked about better things.
Dad has not brought it up since. If he does I will say I have to go if I'm on the phone, or I will walk out of the room if we are together. It takes two. I will not engage him in that conversation.
In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:
as advice, it depends on how 'rough and tumble' you can get with your dad in matters of discourse.
If he can take as good as he gives, you might hit him with "so....you let whoever is president dictate if you're going to be happy or not?"
Even the most stubborn sycophant of either side SHOULD balk at that suggestion (if they have half a brain).
But hitting someone with that might open up a path to discuss how their rhetoric might be making you uncomfortable.
poopshovel wrote:No, our country is not screwed. The sky is not falling.I appreciate your optimism, and respectfully disagree. Take a look, and keep in mind that there are 10,000 people a day retiring and collecting social security.
I understand that our government expenses are greater than the current revenue stream. I think the biggest cause of that is the recession. Because of the recession, our government is going to have less money to take in and more services to have to pay out for.
Once we weather the storm (which we can, since we still have a massive economy), we should see the balance shift to a much healthier level.
Beer Baron wrote: Once we weather the storm (which we can, since we still have a massive economy), we should see the balance shift to a much healthier level.
Hmm... I'd like to see a pie-chart of each year for the past decade. I'm wondering if you'd be surprised or I'd be surprised?
HiTempguy wrote:Beer Baron wrote: Once we weather the storm (which we can, since we still have a massive economy), we should see the balance shift to a much healthier level.Hmm... I'd like to see a pie-chart of each year for the past decade. I'm wondering if you'd be surprised or I'd be surprised?
I didn't say things would be perfect, just healthier. People have been predicting the degradation of the moral and economic fiber of this nation (and western society in general) pretty much since it began. This doesn't mean we shouldn't make a few adjustments to improve things at some point. Just means the sky isn't falling, our nation isn't doomed, we don't need to panic and go into "oh E36 M3" mode.
Carter was the worst president in my life time. Reagan had to pull us out of the mess Carter got us into. Clinton benefited from a technology boom. GW Bush had 7 years of war to deal with. This may sound like I'm defending the Republican's, but I'm not. These are just factors that need to be considered when looking at the stats above.
And you need to read "The 5000 Leap". Real history shows that Roosevelt delayed the country from recovering from the depression and in fact created a second depression that for some reason we (or at least I) never learned about in school.
Fact is, Obama quadrupled Bush's spending in his first year as president. And you can't make the poor rich by making the rich poor. The rich make the jobs. Yes, they should be taxed, but not to the extent that they have no incentive to continue doing what they do. If they do that, then the jobs go away, and we end up with socialism, where everyone leads a mediocre life and the government takes care of us. If that appeals to anyone, consider that our government pretty much screws up every program they try to run, regardless of who is in charge. This country is the world power it is today because of freedom and capitalism, both of which breed innovation, and we did so in spite of Roosevelt, not because of him.
The way to deal with a overly political person is to start arguing in a political thread about it. I don't really think the trololololo guy died...
I am from Canuckistan. I have my own views on why/how you guys got to where you were, but my original post was non-partisan. I was sincere in that I was curious as to whether Beer Baron (aren't you Salanis? I hate it when people change their names, at least the avatar is the same...) description was accurate. I honestly want to see those pie charts done the same way for the past decade, would be interesting!
HiTempguy wrote: I am from Canuckistan. I have my own views on why/how you guys got to where you were, but my original post was non-partisan. I was sincere in that I was curious as to whether Beer Baron (aren't you Salanis? I hate it when people change their names, at least the avatar is the same...) description was accurate. I honestly want to see those pie charts done the same way for the past decade, would be interesting!
I didn't think you were. I would be very interested in that as well. I would actually like to see it go back farther than ten years. Make it 20 or 30 for me. I think government expenditures compared to revenues are interesting, also interested in seeing changes in "public debt as percentage of GDP", and also "Public Debt as percentage of government revenue." I think that last one would actually be the most telling. I do not know who would be the most surprised by that and in what way.
I do know that our debt level rises dramatically when we: have a recession/depression or go to war. Right now we have both.
(Yes I am Salanis. I could change back, but I felt the name change was appropriate and would not be overly confusing for people given my normal proclivities. I kept the avatar to help lessen confusion too.)
Smewhere or other I heard/read a very smart assessment: each president receives the benefit or lack therof not from the immediate preceding administration but from the one before that. That would mean Obama is getting the benefit or lack therof of the Clinton administration's policies, not Bush's. No,they did not mean immediate things such as the wars but rather economic and social policy. Makes sense; the economy is like a huge juggernaut of an aircraft carrier that takes a lot of space and time to turn in.
In reply to Beer Baron:
You're super berkeleying confusing. Fitting name, though.
this thread kind of sucks now. I hope things work out for you, man.
Even when Obama had a MAJORITY in the House and Senate, he couldn't get things done. What does that tell you.
"If you notice when I post I try very hard to present personal opinion."
FTFY
One day your Dad will be gone.
At that time you will not regret a single moment you spent with him. You will, however, deeply regret NOT spending time with him because he was too into something that bugs you.
Stop trying to fix him.
You can only control your own attitude in this scenario.
Would it piss you off if he was always ranting against the Republicans? Do you have friends who do this who you find quite tolerable?
I don't think the issue is politics. I think the issue is that you disagree with HIS politics.
If you love him, you're gonna need to let this one go. I suggest you consider it like a conversation about thermal dynamics, or pet food recipes, or any other subject that you don't understand. Pretend it's something he is into that you don't get, and just leave it at that.
My grandfather spent the last decade of his life talking incessantly and in enormous detail about people he knew that I had never met. It drove me crazy. I really couldn't stand it. But I really loved my grandfather, and I miss him deeply. I don't regret one bit that I always listened intently (or at least pretended to listen) to all his exceedingly boring stories.
You'll feel a lot better if you give yourself the freedom to forgive him on this one.
...and why in the world would you open emails that you KNOW are junk and will piss you off??
That's not too bright.
I'm just saying...of all the forms of communication, emails are the MOST likely to be junk, and the EASIEST to ignore, filter, never open, whatever.
You are getting yourself worked up. It's not his fault.
I'll bet you don't get pissed off like that when you get a deal on Viagra, or a note from your long lost Nigerian cousin.
tuna55 wrote: this thread kind of sucks now. I hope things work out for you, man.
+1
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