Politics in the Workplace

[Seneca]

No, I am not speaking of who is backstabbing who in order to get that coveted corner cubicle.

I mean, discussing politics. Is it verboten where you work? There is no express prohibition of it at my employer's, which is good, because I could hardly contain my fury and incredulity when an otherwise likeable co-worker praised Reagan yesterday.

Despite my initial outburst, we had a calm and reasonably even-handedly discussed Reagan, Clinton, and other matters, without fireworks.

Anything to take my mind off the tedium I suppose. :-)

When I can, I use discussions of politics to educate, and though I may have not been successful, I hope I made my points, especially when bringing up the recent leakage in the Chimp House.

[Love Bug]

1. I avoid discussing politics and religion at work

except with my closest like-minded coworkers. Even then, we are careful to not be overheard. I have to work with these people and I'd rather not know if they are repukes!

[bearfan454]

3. They are.

[DBoon]

8. Me too

Tolerance of opposing viewpoints is not a freeper virtue. When your higher-ups are conservative fundamentalists (like mine), disagreeing out loud with their opinions will not help your continued employment. Fortunately, I work offsite at clients most of the time, so I avoid this

Being able to pick and choose a job based on political compatibility is not easy to come by.

Added on edit: Read other comments on post 9/11. When (post 9/11) I listened to people at work talk about "taking out" the Berkeley City Council, I suspect they would not take too kindly to liberal views. Being on the wrong side of office politics can cost you your job.

[bearfan454]

2. Almost all of them are freepers where I work at.

I have a distribution list of Dems I send articles to from different organizations on our side. I don't talk about it at our nightly tie in meeting. I have gotten in a few heated discussions. About 2 or 3 nights ago Eddy started talking his shit at lunch about the war. I listened for about a minute. Then I told him the terrorists were in the White House. Look at your 401k and tell me it isn't getting terrorized. Some of these people have lost over 50k. He tried to say the economy goes in cycles. I said yes it does, but unfortunately it is always in a down cycle when the repukes are in. They are too busy raiding the treasury in the name of patriotism. That shut his ass up. He was an easy one.

[Drifter]

4. It is better to avoid ..

we have a Conservative/Republican nut in our group (actually we have quite a few), who can sometime overstep the bounds of decency. One day he was on a rampage about how Hillary Clinton (our Senator) was a terrorist. This was obviously after 9/11, and I'll bet a paycheck if you find the transcript of Rush's show that day, he was probably ranting the same.

Finally another of my co-workers (who is on the correct side) got in his face and told him point blank "Hillary Clinton is not a terrorist". He then immediately went to speak with our supervisor, about how this person was creating a hostile work environment, and that he was not going to put up with it anymore.

The next day our Rep/Con nut had to visit every cube in the group to formally apologize (even to those who were not there), for creating a hostile work environment with his Clinton bashing.

When he came to me i simply said "I will fight to the death to protect your right to free speech. I will not however tolerate your hypocritical right wing Clinton bashing", and I accepted his apology. He seemed quite surprised at what I said to him.

Save yourself some embarressment, keep your mouth shut (but feel free to hang bumper stickers all over your office like I do)

Cheers
Drifter

[Rainbowreflect]

5. There are a few liberals at my work I can talk to,

otherwise I try to avoid the subject.
Althought I went to a confrence with my conservative boss and after a few drinks we started talking politics. I don't know if it was my smartest move, but I still have my job and I got a good review & a raise earlier this week.

[Darth_Kitten]

6. My boring workplace just isn't political at all......

and we do fight over seating, etc. :eyes: You wouldn't believe it.

Too many people who went right from high school into a plum city job. Think they are mighty special too.... :eyes: After all, I'm a clerk, but they are higher classification clerks because they have been there longer. Merit and effort mean squat. :P

Sorry, my mini self-absorbed rant is over. :)

[DuctapeFatwa]

7. Flowers and dogs

These are the best subjects to discuss with co-workers, neighbors, casual acquaintances, strangers on the street, and most people you thought were your friends before 9-11.

[idontwantaname]

9. politics + ill informed co worker = bad thing.

when politics comes up ill try to educate on misperceptions or false truths of fox11 media... but after that i just sit back and listen. most are stubborn lazy wont share and dont care.
they like their standard of living and will do anything to keep what they have.

[scarlet_owl]

10. We talk politics all the time where I volunteer.

We are all liberals, thankfully. Well, except for the old lady that is there a few times a week who listens to Pigboy.

[Kusala]

11. I live in Texas

a right-to-work state and of course you know the rest.

I keep my mouth shut.

[bearfan454]

14. I know what you mean.

[Iris]

12. The difficult thing is that

just as you experienced, Repugs. and Freepers freely spout off their rehtoric, probably because they believe everyone agrees with them.

I try to make it known I don't agree with them without actually getting in a discussion. A lot of times that involves little "hmm" noises and such!

[RebelOne]

13. No problem where I work

The three people in my department are liberals. We bash Bush all the time. And I have Bush-bashing, anti-war , Kucinich and Dean signs on my cubicle walls. There are quite a few hardcore Republicans here, but they don't say too much.

[tishaLA]

15. I'm in academia

and in California. Let's just say that we talk about politics.

[bleedingheart]

16. I wouldn't do anything without checking with the ombudsman

At my company, my politics are well known and the repukes come to fight...then they leave my office licking their wounds....

my republican officemate always laughs...about how they react to my rebuttal...she always says..."they asked for it..."

[Nevernose]

17. I am always SHOCKED at my coworkers poltical beliefs

I work at the local family court, primarily with Juvenile Justice. The D.A.s -- one of whom is one of my closest friends -- are rabidly, psychotically Republican (how do intelligent, well-educated people believe that Hilary is a lesbian orgier who killed Vince Foster, who was a cocaine smuggler, so the story of their affair wouldn't come out?).

That having been said, most people in my office are COPS, probation officers, and we spend all day looking at the seemy underbelly of society. (You know what you see on TV? It's much, much worse than you ever imagined.) These guys are mostly retired military, too, and make damn good money. I really thoguht that I would see a hot-bed of Freeperism when I was employed there.

The surprise, for me, is that these people are almost unanimously Democrats -- ESPECIALLY the many who are retired military. Out of 25 people, perhaps three are not, and one of THEM doesn't like the Shrub. Though even the Repukes are in the union :-) .

The clerical workers -- none of whom are not college educated, are mostly single mothers, and work part-time for the county in addition to their regular job, as a way of making ends meet -- are almost unanimously Republican.

[Seneca]

18. thanks all

Great differing experiences and perspectives.

I have definitely worked places where I wouldn't dare open my mouth, or it was expressly forbidden. The current place is very relaxed, and when I heard the supe himself badmouth Bush one day, I knew I wasn't alone, and felt some modicum of safety.

I have a good rep at work as a friendly hard worker, and I would not want to jeopardize it, so I will keep such discussions at a minimum. As misguided as the Reagan-worshipper is, at least he doesn't foam and froth O'Reilly or Rush style. He is also not smug or arrogant in that smirky frat-boy kind of way. He is so mild-mannered and soft-spoken that the impression I get is one of naivete rather than blind ideological allegiance. He is smart in other areas, but in politics, so very very naive. Or something. :-)

Good input from all!

[Piltdown13]

19. I'm an academic...

Grad student, to be precise. I work in a couple of different offices/labs on campus, and fortunately everyone is pretty liberal -- at my main office in particular we get into some pretty spirited discussions. Lots of different perspetives -- a couple of my colleagues are from Africa. Hopefully I can get some of them involved in election-type stuff next year.

[SmileyBoy]

20. I have one good friend on the football team who is liberal...

...and I don't even want to THINK about how freeperish the rest of the team might be. I asked my friend about the team's politics, and the only thing he could bear to tell me is that we were probably the two most liberal people on the team.

This is a college football team in North Dakota, BTW.

[jono]

21. It's not a problem where I work

I know not everyone holds my political beliefs, but it's a mission-driven organization and generally people hold pretty liberal views which they are not afraid to share. Every political conversation I've heard in the past several months has involved something negative about a Repuke or positive about a Dem. Except, of course, for exchanges with the moderate-gone-conservative IT guy, who comes over to our department to jab playfully with us.