How do you deal with your family, when you're the only one is a democrat?

[HipChick]

ugh..
I know you're supposed to love them unconditionally,but at times I just have to cut off communication..

I get bombarded by stuff from them( I don't try to force my views down their throat)

They put it down to me getting myself an education(yep - I'm the only person to have gone and graduated from college)...(yep, I put myself through school, and got my masters degree as a working adult)..They put it down to me mixing with all those elitist liberal types...(yep, as soon as I was old enough I hiked it out of my hick town and headed for the big city)...

[SoCalDem]

1. You make a rule...NO POLITICS

and then you either hold to it, or you give yourself permission to create a "new" family of like-minded people:)

[robinlynne]

2. get a new family.....sorry. my first reaction.

[grantcart]

3. I moved to SE Asia for 20 years

Theoretically Papua New Guinea was further but that provided sufficient space for my purposes.

[LakeSamish706]

4. You can't deal with them, other than staying away from the politics topic when...

around them.

[stray cat]

5. Don't talk politics!

[PDJane]

6. I'm sorry, HipChick........

and empathize, but the only solution I've found yet is to ignore them, and find my own family of friends. My mother has gotten more radical as she's gotten older, and I'm afraid we're the only two who actually speak to one another with any degree of cordiality.

[tabatha]

7. Is the Republican mantra not

to pull you up by your bootstraps and take responsibility for oneself and to not expect handouts.

Well, you are a "perfect Republican".

That should shut them up.

[Individualist]

8. Assholes don't deserve unconditional love

That's why I avoid my repuke brother and his anal repuke wife.

[Greyhound]

9. I divorced them.

No communication except in cases of illness and death.

[Warpy]

10. They are who they are and it's good you're not trying to fix them.

That doesn't mean they get to use you as a punching bag, though. It's time to set some limits.

During my parents' mercifully brief fascination with Limbag it was tough. If they started to rant, I simply walked out of the room. I went for a walk or drove to the grocery to pick up a few items I wanted or just went to the canal to sit in peace. When I got back I'd ask, "Are you done?"

My parents got the point pretty quickly and the ranting stopped.

When coworkers would send me right wing email, I'd debunk with Snopes, hit "reply to all," and say such garbage was unwelcome and if they did it again, they'd be put on block and could phone, use a stamp, or come to visit if they needed to talk to me.

There's a mail prog called "Incredimail" that has a bounce back feature to bounce back any spam you find in your inbox. That could also be used very nicely for unwanted right wing spam.

They're trying to bully you. It's time to stand up and put a stop to it however you can. You can still love the parts that haven't been poisoned by the far right.

[Catshrink]

11. Same here.

I've tried to make a rule "No politics" and that doesn't fly very well. I usually disengage, walk away. I might say something like, "Oh, is that what Rush is spewing these days?" but usually I just ignore them. I too am the only one with a college education. Two of the worst couldn't wait to sign up for medicare and VA benefits. If it werent' for one of my cousins and an aunt, I'd think I didn't have the same bloodline. Someone once said my grandmother was a staunch Democrat because of Roosevelt but obviously that didn't rub off on her kids, except for the one aunt.

[mecherosegarden]

12. Oh, that is an easy one!

I am mom, so either they agree with me and they don't mess with my President, or they don't eat, don't have clean clothes for awhile, and they have to deal with my unhappy face all day long!
Luckily for me, here in the States, all my family members are Democrats!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Brigid]

14. If mama ain't happy . . .

Ain't nobody happy! :rofl:

[SammyWinstonJack]

13. All but one in my family are democrats and that person was, until she married a millionaire. Now

she claims she is an 'independent', although she votes republican. Money trumps all. :shrug:


:hug: to you. Hang in there.

[EC]

15. Just tell them that yep, it was the education

that it's called "getting smart"...being able to comprehend truth from lies, what could be bad about that? Or is being uneducated a good thing?


I know they all call the educated the elite, but why do they spend so much time telling their kids to go to school then?

[DURHAM D]

16. I argued back.

I never remained silent or allowed their shit to stay out there like it was legitimate. I did my research. I always watched Fox (and the Christian stations) so I knew ahead of time what my BIL and parents would be yapping about. In the early years I read Readers Digest so I would know what road my mother and brother would be heading down. I had two family members in the military so I kept up with funding issues through the decades and brass that made public asses of themselves.

Oh, and I got two of those pesky degrees in political science/public administration. I would print articles or bring them books I thought they might want to read so they could stop embarrassing themselves. And honestly, I laughed in their faces. I provoked them and pissed them off. Sometimes I got out a big piece of paper and drew diagrams for them. Honestly, I always acted like they amused me until they realized that they really did. They finally realized that they did not bother me at all and that I found them entertaining.

It didn't hurt that the next generation came along and the youngsters love me and my political views. So now they do not try to argue with me. They actually ask my opinion on everything because after Bush they are aware that they have been royally punked.

The transition only took 50 years and George Bush.

[Arugula Latte]

17. Fancy book lernin' turned ya liberal. See, that's because you know FACTS!

And as Stephen Colbert says, facts have a well-known liberal bias.

[fl_dem]

18. my family isn't the problem

my boyfriend is. He calls himself religous right, I call him a walking talking oxymoron.

[HipChick]

19. well.. I know they will be calling to gloat after tonight..

but they still haven't figured out how to hide their phone #'s...thank goodness for Caller ID..as I will not be answering..

[Raine]

20. Don't discuss politics, ever!

Agree to disagree and let it go at that.

[mikeSchmuckabee]

21. Roll eyes, laugh when they finish their ludicrous point

I know the feeling. Discussions are impossible because they abhor logic.

Don't challenge them. Don't even ask them to elaborate unless you want to know why blacks and Bill Clinton have caused life to be unbearable for republicans.

I just ask if they need a ride down to the airport men's room. Or if they have heard back from mark foley about that text message. Or if they need some oxycontin to take off the edge.

Don't fall into the trap, and don't raise your voice (my government employed republican brother gets really loud when I mock his lifetime of government trough feeding; I just laugh).