Posted on 12/31/2017 6:19:40 AM PST by Kaslin
Anybody else sick of the constant bickering going on in the public forum? In 2016, we had a national election where we were at each other’s throats. We expected, based on history, things would calm down in 2017. They just got worse. My resolution for all of us in 2018: let’s take a deep breath and start to learn how to speak to each other again.
There is plenty of blame to go around with our national media being a prime example. Where the main purpose of the media was to inform and educate us on the issues of the day, it now seems their driving principle is to agitate. We know many in the media have a distaste for our president; but many forget that their jobs are not to drip disdain daily.
On the day the tax bill was introduced as well as Donna Brazile’s column disclosing some serious issues in her upcoming book, both CNN and MSNBC focused their evening broadcasts on their favorite narrative – the Russia investigation. Even two huge stories could not deter them from their “Take Down Trump Train.”
My God, the media has such antipathy for this administration they questioned the validity of the press secretary’s ability to make a pecan pie. Is that really what our country has come to?
It is not just the media doing the elevating, our elected officials must likewise tone it down a few notches. A client sent me an email he received from a local Congressman. Ted Lieu (D-CA) took over Henry Waxman’s seat. There are probably few safer Congressional seats in this country. It covers the Westside of Los Angeles. Yet, Mr. Lieu seems to think the only way for him to secure any national recognition from his moneyed district is with inflammatory rhetoric. I have yet to see him make a commentary where he was not on the attack. Some should tell him it is very unbecoming and not befitting his esteemed position.
Mr. Lieu assailed the Republican tax plan in the email. He called it horrible and stupid. He went on to call it a scam that will devastate California. This is all unnecessary and over-the-top language that scares his constituents instead of educating them about potential issues about which they should be concerned. Not exactly stellar leadership.
There are two ways to stop this. One is that we have a tumultuous event that so turns the stomach of all of us that we have a revelation.
The other way is that we one-by-one mimic Howard Beale (“Network”): “I am mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore.” In our own lives we demand that we live by a higher principle. I am not saying I am an angel or perfect, but here are some things I do as someone who has learned to cope with being a Jewish Republican in a very liberal city (Los Angeles) amongst many people who are far more liberal than I am:
1. Never bring up politics unless you absolutely know the person’s positions and you can converse with them.
2. If someone else brings up politics and you don’t agree with them, don’t launch into an argument with them. Ask first why they believe what they have just told you. Hear them out. Ask them where they read and gathered their facts from. Ask if they can forward to you what they read to obtain their position. Listen to their points and maybe you might learn something. It will open you up to listening to the opposition and maybe they will start to open themselves up to what you say.
3. Stick to the facts. No ad-hominem attacks. When someone starts calling their political opponents names or making derogatory comments about them then you know the policy points are weak. I may have slipped, but I rarely if ever said anything bad about President Obama. I just attacked him on policy points. I always said he was a devoted husband and father, thus he was a good man.
4. Read or watch the opposition. In my car, I am always listening to the Bruce channel. Having 3,000 CDs, I always have something old or new to listen to, but in my wife’s car she has satellite radio. I almost always turn to progressive radio. I find it a gas. Very entertaining and enlightening. I don’t agree and I think they are way off base, but I listen. Which is the point: we all need to do more of that, LISTEN.
5. If you find someone gets you wound up, then don’t watch them. If you are not learning from what you are reading or watching – lose it. I miss Hugh Hewitt’s radio show that used to be on in the afternoons in Los Angeles until he moved back East. He is a partisan Republican, but I always learned from his show.
6. Don’t always question someone’s motives or character if they disagree with you. Most often, we just disagree. Barack Obama was someone with whom I almost always disagreed; I thought his policies were wrong.
I have no illusion that everyone reading this column will have an epiphany and change their behavior and that will ripple throughout the country. But we must start somewhere. We are blessed to live in the most wonderful country, where people from everywhere on this planet are welcome and accepted as long as they follow the rule of law and desire to become Americans.
We must be a little bit more civil toward each other. That is my New Year’s resolution for us all in 2018.
Happy New Year!
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Nice thought but it ain’t going to happen. Toughen your hide.
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Correct. The battle is not WON until the white flag is waved. True, that that’s the standard-bearer in the (R)NC’s ‘quiver’...
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This is the new norm when dealing with Fascist political liberals.
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Correction: political OPPOSITION. They are *NOT*, by any stretch of the English vocabulary\definition, ‘liberals’. Leftists, Social\Commun\Fascis-ists
If they want peace, they’ll leave me the he’ll alone... Not going to happen, is it?
>>There are plenty of liberals who love America just like us. But there are no globalists, REPEAT: no globalists love America.
Progressives are NOT liberals. They are globalists. They took off their “liberal” disguises a decade ago.
I don’t know. All these people who would tell us how to behave seem to have one thing in common but I just can’t seem to put my finger on it...
Nah! Let the mediots continue to shred any confidence that working Americans might have with their Never Trump BS.
That will destroy them financially over the next 3 years.
Pelosi/Schumer are backing down on DACA and probably other issues as their private polls and focus groups are showing their virulent attacks against our President and his voters are not working.
Nah! Let the mediots continue to shred any confidence that working Americans might have with their Never Trump BS.
That will destroy them financially over the next 3 years.
Pelosi/Schumer are backing down on DACA and probably other issues as their private polls and focus groups are showing their virulent attacks against our President and his voters are not working.
As I posted on a related thread...
Attempts to change the minds of ALL liberals and Trump-haters is a useless endeavor,
but one on one with some individuals, progress can be made.
...
Reaching out to this guy, respectfully, resulted in some reciprocation on his part
and perhaps induced some reflection by him of his thoughts, emotions, and motivations.
Maybe he'll be more likely to try to understand what motivates a Trump supporter.
Maybe he'll see there is some common ground and he'll change from pushing away to bringing together.
Or not... but even if the effort results in failure, it still is a worthy effort and goal.
Thanks for posting these reality checks!
“The political conflict in Washington, DC is like the conflict between the so-called Palestinians and Israel in the mid-east.
If the Palestinians stand down and disarm there will be peace between the two.
If Israel stands down and disarms there will be slaughter and bloodshed.
If the Fake Media and Never Trumpers stand down and start working for America instead of against America there will be a cessation (or at least a great reduction) of hostilities in Washington, DC.
If President Trump stands down and stops resisting the Fake Media and Never Trumpers there will be slaughter and bloodshed.”
If President Trump stands down and stops resisting the Fake Media and Never Trumpers there will be slaughter and bloodshed.”
My only dream and hope is our CINC, construction guy he is, has a plan to excavate TO A FEEDER ROOT the deep state, not just blade them over at ground level.
PERMANENT removal - and filling in, and diverting tributaries - of the swamp takes longer than just a drain.
I was behind Trump as soon as we knew he was serious about running; but I didn’t like some of the tweeting during the campaign.
As time has gone on I’ve seen how brilliantly strategic the tweets usually are, and I’ve got no problem with them now.
President Trump now has the momentum and will drag the RINOS along behind him to re-establish our republic.
"Cry havoc! and let loose the political dogs of war" (apologies to W.S.)
Would make it a resolutiin but I'm about 1 and 600 on them...
Thick skins and the ability to laugh at oneself are key to not going to bed with a case of acid stomach - too many take everything personal and end up sounding like snowflakes but many of us (Me...Me...Me...) often take advantage of their lack of coping skills.
Hint: one's mind rests a lot easier if they realize that everyone has an opinion but when it comes to one personally, what others think shouldn't really count if one has actually thought the thing through.
Many "consitutiponalists" here tend to think the constitution is a great idea but we should continue to break it if it is convenient to them - therein lies the rub.......they will be scoffed at for their NIMBY attitudes when it comes to returning to Constitutionalism and they will whine that they are being attacked.
That said, I will use the words "I apologize", "apologies", etc., more than in the past when I tweak some of the insecure minds.....how's that for a back-handed apology???
Once again....Happy New Year - here's hoping Trump makes even greater inroads in the coming year and we pick up seats in both Houses come November.
You cannot reason with a 2 year old that is determined to make your life miserable until they get their way. Leftist governments always, always fall back to violence to get their way, they won’t stop, ever.
“Ratchet down”???
Forget that noise.
CRANK IT UP TO 11!!!!
The Bush philosophy worked so well...
Let’s not. We need to keep the pressure on. It’s been a one way fight for decades. Now that we are winning, ‘they’ want a truce.
I agree with much in these comments regarding the Left generally. They are bent for evil. I think, however, the author was talking about PEOPLE talking again. The elites fear their “subjects” actually communicating again and realize what game they are playing while they steal from us. I find over and over again that most people are much more in agreement than they think once the conversation starts.
Stupid advice.
He’s a real imbecile if he thinks for a microsecond that the Rats, the leftists, the feminazis, the BLM, antifa will honor his call for a truce. They’ll just see that as a sign of weakness.
We should not relent until we destroy those cockroaches.
This author’s plan is too complex, too unlikely to be implemented. I have what I think is a better approach. Be thankful for and observe our most cherished political right in America; the right not to participate at all.
Little good comes out of politics. And what good there is comes at a very high cost. Politics fails any reasonable cost/benefit analysis. Yet we continue to dump time, treasure, friendships, lives, and our emotional health into this black hole.
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