quote:

I don't talk politics with them.

I spend 50% of my time in Oklahoma, the reddest of red states. It's really nice to go to dinner with groups here, right political opinions are freely expressed. The friends I work to keep up with and have made the last 30 years pretty much lean right to hard right.

Like you... there are people you just can't talk politics with.

But, also, its refreshing to hang out with people where you can freely express your opinion.

I live in a very conservative area, complete with Trump flags flying along the county roads for the last eight years, so I'm fairly insulated from the Loony Leftists. I might have some liberal work friends, but we don't talk politics at work. One of our new-hires from WA state made couple of off-hand remarks early on that tipped his hand, but he figured out pretty quick to keep those opinions to himself and has now integrated fairly well within the established group.

The one person I'm having a hard time with is one of my two best friends. We've been close friends for over 45 years, but he's a RINO through and through with a disappointing case of TDS. Over the past few months I've pulled back from the friendship and he seems to have gotten the message to stow the politics and attacks on Trump around me. Life is too short to sit around and bitch about current politics.

Here I am, deep behind enemy lines in Chicago.

I'm lucky to be in a part of Chicago that's waving TRUMP & American flags all over the place. There's a few Liberals scattered about. 95% of the people I work with are rather conservative. I try to stay away from the ones that aren't. I just don't want to put up with their bullshit.

I have an Uncle that's a "true believer". I've had to explain to him that I just don't want to talk politics with him.

There's been more than a few friends that I've walked away from due to their political bullshit and leftist rants. Some have full blown TDS. There's a few that lean in the 49 - 35 % left and won't broadcast their crap all the time, them I can deal with.

"Hey, how are you doing?"
"Well, I'd be better if Trump was dead."
They are then talking to "Tone"- as in dial tone. I just hang up on them. There's a few that just can't or refuse to get beyond the subject. And if that's your opening line for a conversation... Yeah, I don't want to deal with you.

Then again, I refuse to talk to or deal with any stupid people.

quote:

Originally posted by Tailhook 84:
The one person I'm having a hard time with is one of my two best friends. We've been close friends for over 45 years, but he's a RINO through and through with a disappointing case of TDS. Over the past few months I've pulled back from the friendship and he seems to have gotten the message to stow the politics and attacks on Trump around me.

One of my best friends, a guy I have known for 42 years, I was best man at his wedding, is a Republican RINO with heavy TDS, one of the two Republicans I know of that is anti-2A. We've had a few run-ins about guns and Trump, but we always got past it. But the last straw was back in late 2021 when I was planning a business trip to CA and was planning to visit him and his wife, stay at their house for a night. It fell apart after he demanded to know my vaccination status and the status of those I worked with and other friends. I basically told him to cancel the visit and when he was through with this bullshit, to give me a call. I never heard from him since.

I have two friends that suffer from severe TDS. One is a high school classmate and the other is a guy I worked with for 40 years. Other than thir political views I still like both of them. Mostly I see their stuff on social platforms. I have both of them on ignore on the internet but if I do run across them face to face I am cordial and steer any conversations away from politics if it would arise. I told one of them that I believe differently so let's just not talk about it. So far, so good.

Can't say I have any Liberal friends > I would call them acquaintances .

FWIW, actual true friend count is pretty small anyway.

Being in the same flock doesn't make them a friend, most are also just acquaintances as well.

If they are rabid Libs> then I'm not going to hang out in that direction, that's for sure.

Nothing can replace friendships that date from when we were young—in school, or grad school, in our case when we lived in married student housing. Bunch of little kids about the same age, we babysat each other; in the winter (Connecticut) used the apartment basement to play ping pong.
Unfortunately divorce and, in a few sad cases, death has broken us up. Of the three couples (4 including us) who were closest, two husbands, very good friends, have died, one at age 60, the other last Thanksgiving. We just learned through hard experience we couldn’t discuss politics. My wife learned that leftists are not interested in seeking the truth about current events.

Back in 2004 my wife and friend Patty picked a news item, intending to try to find out the truth. Guess what—it was CBS and Dan Rather’s hoax about GWB’s service in TANG. But we did learn, and have kept close, following kids and grandkids.

Family is harder; on my brother’s side politics ranges from extreme left to crazy trans. Long ago learned not to discuss politics or we would break up the family, which is much more important. Our three kids are not leftists; one son is pro-Trump, the other son and daughter anti-Trump. I try not to discuss politics, but it’s inevitable because daughter-in-law works for the feds and is afraid of losing her job.