Politics

[ghost2]

FYI: Not everyone who plans to vote Republican in this year's presidential election is stupid. (For that matter, not everyone who plans to vote Democrat is, either.) Will people please STFU with the insults already? Just because someone has different views than you, places different values on certain issues, whatever, does not automatically mean that it's okay to make rude, disparaging comments about them. Doing so makes you look like a jackass.

Comments

I'm assuming this means you're voting Republican

[biichan.livejournal.com]

You can probably guess I think you guys have your priorities totally out of whack^*, but I've tried not to insult the Republican voters (as opposed to their politicians) and I'm going to keep trying harder.

(But then, unless something has changed, most of my mom's family--though not Mom--will be voting Republican. And they're good people and not stupid.)

^*And I'm going to guess you guys think the same of my side.

Re: I'm assuming this means you're voting Republican

[ghost2.livejournal.com]

I usually vote Democratic--I placed a Ladbrokes bet on Clinton to win and stood outside in the dark for hours waiting to shake Al Gore's hand--but I just have too many reservations about Obama/Biden to go with them. OTOH, though I like McCain himself, I don't support a lot of his positions. So I probably won't vote.

I snapped tonight and made this post because I saw one too many "you must be stupid if you vote for McCain" comments. My grandmother is voting for him. So are a few of my friends.

[eponymous-rose.livejournal.com]

Just wanted to poke my head in and say that I very nearly made a similar post the other day, after seeing lots of epic defriendings on my flist due to arguments on the topic. I'm about as left-wing as they come, and I adore open and free debate when it comes to politics, but that should never extend to personal attacks, either of politicians or of their supporters. (My blood pressure may have spiked when I heard about Palin's nomination, but it also skyrocketed due to certain comments around the water cooler at work the next day, none of which had a whit to do with politics.)

I disagree on policy, but I know how easy it is to shift from there to name-slinging and generally kicking each other in the shins and whatever, so I've been trying to keep an open mind. I didn't make the aforementioned post because, natch, disagreeing with personal attacks on Republicans makes you a Republican, and on the interwebs that means you're an idiot. This whole thing has me headdesking - I want to discuss politics, but either find myself shying away from disagreeing with someone, or agreeing a bit too vehemently out of fear of being labelled one way or the other. And I'm not even American!

Long rant short: agreed. The only thing "stupid" about electors is when they make the election about anything but the issues and policies at hand.

[ghost2.livejournal.com]

I don't have much interest in politics. Generally I skip past those posts, but they've become more common as the election nears. The ones I've glanced have tended to be about policies and it's obvious the vast majority of the posters are liberal. Which I mostly am too, but that doesn't mean I think it's okay to make rude, insulting comments about people who aren't. Unfortunately, I've been seeing more personal attacks lately.

My main comment on Palin right now is: WHAT did she name her kids?!?

[bewarethespork.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[ghost2.livejournal.com]

:)

[lilly-rose.livejournal.com]

WORD! THANK YOU!

There are good people on both sides of the party line; there are bad people on both sides of the party line. What is so hard to grasp about this concept?!

[ghost2.livejournal.com]

It does seem like an easy enough concept, doesn't it.

[lilas.livejournal.com]

Thank you. While I'm not voting Republican (and in my state, it wouldn't matter if I did), I've been avoiding political discussions like the plague. People are entitled to their opinions, but people are also getting a bit enthusiastic about it for my taste. We're all informed, we all vote for the ones we want out of the bunch, end of story as far as I'm concerned.

[ghost2.livejournal.com]

I absolutely won't discuss politics with family. Especially with my ultra-conservative uncle, whose idea of debate is hammering you with his opinion to "prove" he's right, and my ultra-liberal cousin, who keeps bringing up the subject at inappropriate times. My family is proof that there are idiots are both sides. I don't want to see political arguments on LJ too.