The Best Or the Worst
Political extremes bother me, even if I am sometimes on the
extreme end myself.
I had a frustrating conversation with my friend LB the other night. It was a scary chat, not because it was Halloween (it was) but because LB started with the words “I think Trump is the best president in my lifetime.” My reply was, “I think Trump is the worst president in the history of our country.”
LB is a great guy. He is intelligent and runs a successful local business. He is in the boomer age range. He and I, along with our significant others, spend time together at our local wine bar and at each other’s homes. We eat out together, go to cultural events together; we’ve even started a New Year’s Eve tradition together.
He is a Republican; I’m a Democrat. That should not be a problem. That political difference should lead to some pretty interesting sharing of opposing viewpoints. In a perfect world, the conversation should be spirited but not especially argumentative. Should be. Isn’t.
We had several outright arguments during the weeks leading up to the presidential election in 2016. We had no conversation about politics after Election Day until this past October 31st, 2018. I guess I started it, sort of, by mentioning that I took part in the early voting in Maryland and actually voted for a Republican in one of the races. After some chit chat about that, he followed up with his commentary about Trump.
That little conversation got loud and heated for a few minutes till we decided, with the ‘encouragement’ of my significant other, who was sitting between us, that this argument was going nowhere and could ultimately ruin an otherwise good friendship.
The ONLY thing LB and I agreed on is that Trump is an a-hole. That matters to me; it doesn’t matter to him.
My friend stated numerous ‘facts’ to back up his positive claims about Trump. I believe some of his facts are subject to interpretation and some of my facts aren’t the same as his. Facts relating to the economy and unemployment rates might be spelled out empirically but do not accurately place blame or give credit to individuals. Different sources often have different numbers.
Yes, unemployment rates are at historic lows. He credits Trump. I say it’s the continuation of a trend started during the Obama administration and Trump should only get credit for not screwing it up.
We ‘discussed’ health care, immigration, taxes, the deficit. We disagreed on virtually every point.
One thing we DID agree on was that nothing I say will change his mind and nothing he says will change my mind.
The scary part for me is that an intelligent voter like LB doesn’t see Trump as the ignorant, immoral, lying con artist that I think he is.
I’m tempted to never get into a political conversation with anyone again. But I do not want to be silent because I do not want to accept the behavior of the orange devil as anything normal. I have that right.
However I will try my best to never have a political conversation with LB again. We should limit our conversations to things that are less polarizing than politics.
When LB and I talk about best and worst, the topics should be our usual conversational focus points: wine, beer, Sinatra, the neighborhood. A disagreement about Shiraz vs. Pinot Noir or “My Way” vs. “That’s Life” probably won’t ruin a friendship.
I had a frustrating conversation with my friend LB the other night. It was a scary chat, not because it was Halloween (it was) but because LB started with the words “I think Trump is the best president in my lifetime.” My reply was, “I think Trump is the worst president in the history of our country.”
LB is a great guy. He is intelligent and runs a successful local business. He is in the boomer age range. He and I, along with our significant others, spend time together at our local wine bar and at each other’s homes. We eat out together, go to cultural events together; we’ve even started a New Year’s Eve tradition together.
He is a Republican; I’m a Democrat. That should not be a problem. That political difference should lead to some pretty interesting sharing of opposing viewpoints. In a perfect world, the conversation should be spirited but not especially argumentative. Should be. Isn’t.
We had several outright arguments during the weeks leading up to the presidential election in 2016. We had no conversation about politics after Election Day until this past October 31st, 2018. I guess I started it, sort of, by mentioning that I took part in the early voting in Maryland and actually voted for a Republican in one of the races. After some chit chat about that, he followed up with his commentary about Trump.
That little conversation got loud and heated for a few minutes till we decided, with the ‘encouragement’ of my significant other, who was sitting between us, that this argument was going nowhere and could ultimately ruin an otherwise good friendship.
The ONLY thing LB and I agreed on is that Trump is an a-hole. That matters to me; it doesn’t matter to him.
My friend stated numerous ‘facts’ to back up his positive claims about Trump. I believe some of his facts are subject to interpretation and some of my facts aren’t the same as his. Facts relating to the economy and unemployment rates might be spelled out empirically but do not accurately place blame or give credit to individuals. Different sources often have different numbers.
Yes, unemployment rates are at historic lows. He credits Trump. I say it’s the continuation of a trend started during the Obama administration and Trump should only get credit for not screwing it up.
We ‘discussed’ health care, immigration, taxes, the deficit. We disagreed on virtually every point.
One thing we DID agree on was that nothing I say will change his mind and nothing he says will change my mind.
The scary part for me is that an intelligent voter like LB doesn’t see Trump as the ignorant, immoral, lying con artist that I think he is.
I’m tempted to never get into a political conversation with anyone again. But I do not want to be silent because I do not want to accept the behavior of the orange devil as anything normal. I have that right.
However I will try my best to never have a political conversation with LB again. We should limit our conversations to things that are less polarizing than politics.
When LB and I talk about best and worst, the topics should be our usual conversational focus points: wine, beer, Sinatra, the neighborhood. A disagreement about Shiraz vs. Pinot Noir or “My Way” vs. “That’s Life” probably won’t ruin a friendship.
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