We have some fun memories from the mixed marriage time. We still laugh about the time, soon after we got married, that I asked, “So, you’re a conservative?”

“Well, yeah.”

“You make me sick!”

Speaking from the lofty perch outside of any such situation, I believe that it’s partly a key requirement for ANY marriage: R-E-S-P-E-C-T. As long as the two people respect each other, there’s no real problem.

> I am not going to convert her, and she is not going to convert me. So what is the point of trying?

It’s not a matter of conversion, it’s a matter of the Reality Check. How good are your positions if you never test them against the ideas of the opposition? How good is the basis of your beliefs if you never allow them to be challenged by the unbeliever? Further, “facts” change. Ideas used as the basis for consideration are sometimes later found to be false, or other overwhelming but invalidating arguments are found to be true. By forcing yourself to re-validate, you identify any problem areas where you cling to old inaccuracies by simple human inertia. Plus the mind’s reasoning faculties are no different than muscles — it does ’em good to get a workout regularly.

My own experience is that most of the arguments favored by those on The Left stand up to scrutiny like a wet paper towel in the Big Easy on 08/29/05.

It’s not hard to get them agreeing, either.

But they inevitably use the Liberal Reset Button to set their views back to Officially Defined Liberal Positions(tm) every midnight, so such concurrence generally doesn’t stick.

But in the meantime, you’ve gotten both the Reality Check and a good mental workout…

My wife was a Democrat when I met her. She is now an Independent who mostly votes for Republicans. However, she wasn’t hard-core about politics, so I had a chance of converting her.

Now that I’m happy with an extremely intelligent conservative woman, we can agree to disagree about my desire for drugs to be legalized (to reduce murders, etc., despite likely increasing addictions). I think in discussing policies, most conservatives are fare mor aware of the possible bad consequences of any policy, than are liberals (and big-gov’t supporters, in general).

What makes many conservatives outraged is the assumed “moral superiority” of the PC folk. This has become a hotter and hotter hot button issue. The culture war is a battle for defining what is moral.

The Bush-hate was merely a prelude for McCain hate, and a disguise for Republican-hate. Anybody who genuinely hated Bush, but now seems to hate McCain, should be asked which Republican they wouldn’t hate? I guess they would have trouble with that question.

I don’t hate Barry. I do think Iran will get a nuke if he gets elected, and that a nuke will be used against an Israeli city (Tel Aviv) — so I’m against him. I suspect the US economy would be a bit better with him, because the minority Reps would fight the worst economic junk, even tho the higher taxes would mean less job creation/ raises; the US could probably use a real recession to more rapdidly make adjustments.

The Supreme Court becoming more big-gov’t liberal would be terrible.

The issue is not the political differences, but the personality differences which cause them. And a major political change may mean either a change in personality or world view, or a manifestation of a personality component which, in other times, was not particularly important.

I have a relation who suffers from BDS. Among other things, she blames the Texas high school football overemphasis on Bush. Irrational. She has always “thought” by whatever was warm/fuzzy vs. whatever was sharp-edged. Her three daughters are the same. They are, it goes without saying, liberal.

He’ll come to his senses someday maybe. But then again I came to my senses when I was only 5. =D

My recent favorite for sparking up controversy has been the blog neo-neocon, which is where I got the kool aid comments.

He’s a bright high school kid. Yes, he lacks the perspective that real-world experience can give an adult. It would not be a bad idea to take that into consideration before replying to him. I did so by giving him some examples to show that his point of view is nothing new under the sun, for example.

As he is apparently trying to provoke a reaction- did you not ever make a statement in high school or college to do so- a measured reaction might be best.

There’s no way I could marry a conservative. I’m going to be looking for an intelligent woman.

You’ll be looking forever then. Though I could be wrong, I imagine it shouldn’t be relatively difficult to find a woman brighter than you. In fact I’m sure there’s quite a few amoeba specimens out there brighter than you.

😀