Sincere question: How are we to deal with our Republican friends?

[davsand]

27. I can't lump all Republicans together. Different strokes for different folks--ya know?

I work with a lot of Republicans and have several that are friends. Some are people that I'd trust with anything I have and I know they have my back. Do I agree with them on politics? Mostly, no. A lot depends on what KIND of Republican they are. The same goes for some of my Dem friends, too...

Some Republicans are fiscally conservative folks who really are not at all supportive of the socially conservative crap spewed by the fundy folks. You have got to learn to sort out the social stuff from the fiscal stuff. Most of my big hot button issues are social ones--Choice, GLBT/human rights, Social Justice, etc. More often than not, those issues really are not on the table with the fiscal conservatives. They GET the fact that this stuff has no real bearing on spending. (How much does it REALLY cost taxpayers to allow two people to get married irrespective of their gender?) Sure, it can be an uphill battle with them to try and discuss anything that relates to Universal Health Care, but trust me on this, if they are a true fiscal conservative they really are not marching in lockstep with the fundies.

If I am being honest with myself intellectually, I'm not terribly thrilled the level of deficit federal spending that has gone on for the last decade, either. Makes no sense to me that we are spending kerjillions of dollars on ways to kill of people who don't look or think like we do, and it pisses me off a lot to look at the suffering in this country that our unending love of war brings to us all. From my liberal perspective, if you are gonna spend it--at least spend it on stuff that helps people. From a true conservative perspective don't spend it at all... There really IS a place there for finding some agreement IF everybody is willing to be honest with themselves. Very often I can gain some traction by talking about what we DO agree on, and then I go on to open a discussion about what my perceptions are of the common sense it makes to be progressive with other issues.

Want to reduce the number of abortions? Let's work to do something proactive to reduce the NEED--like made contraceptives available freely and maybe fund research into more EFFECTIVE contraceptives...

Want to reduce medical spending? How about a national discussion about preventive care and the funding for it? How about a discussion about Single Payer and how with something like it that we can maybe reduce the really high cost visits to the ER that people are forced into because they don't get treated BEFORE it is an emergency. Treating that hypertension all along is a LOT less expensive than waiting for a stroke to happen, taking a trip to the ER, staying in the hospital, and THEN paying for after care if the victim is left unable to self care. Oh--did I remember to mention that single payer would probably reduce Doctors' overhead a lot because they won't need multiple billing clerks to bill all the different insurances people have??? Docs could charge a lot less if it didn't cost them so much to DO business...

Wanna discuss unemployment? Hey--how about a training program that is part of the benefit? If you don't have a job, and can't find one, attendance at this training program could be required... If you have kids and can't afford day care THAT could be a service offered as part of the unemployment training program!! The same thing goes for training new plumbers and electricians--while they repair public buildings, roads, and facilities?

I will say, that, IMO, discussion with the fundies and the morality folks is next to impossible. If they are acting out of some religious belief there is probably no getting through to them. Having SAID that, however, I have to ask--aren't there a few Dems out there that are SO convinced of the moral superiority of what they are saying that they can't be reached by logic either?


Laura