My "friend", the conservative shill

[bkcc]

One of my friends has a husband who has become obsessed with Libertarianism and the Republican party over the last year or so.

Whenever we're together, he feels obliged to talk politics with me and I have to politely steer the conversation away to something else in order to keep the peace. We've butted heads a few times over his asinine comments, but it's been relatively subdued.

He has recently joined a young Republicans club, which puts out a newsletter for which he is a contributing writer. A few months back, he wrote a review of Hillary Clinton's "It Takes a Village" (pretty timely, huh? ;)) and described it as a "blueprint for disaster" in the same vein as "Mein Kampf". For some reason, he decided I would enjoy reading this dreck and sent me the article in an email.

Disgusted, I discreetly told his wife (my good friend) that I didn't really share his views and that I thought painting Hillary as the reincarnation of Hitler was way off the mark. I didn't want to ruin a friendship because my friend's husband is a Republican shill.

However, her husband just contacted me again...with an article blasting John Kerry. From his inspired prose:

Men such as John Kerry, with their Big Plans and egos to match, are a danger because they desire more power than is allowed by our Constitution, they desire a degree of power to be concentrated in their hands as to make government a tangible danger to our liberty and happiness. That's why, like all "activist" politicians, Mr. Kerry considers the Constitution -- which protects us from attack by severely limiting government power -- as an inconvenience, something to occasionally say nice things about then otherwise ignore. John Kerry, with his Big Plan, out-sized ego, and the tyranny of good intentions, would take America that much further down the road to serfdom.

I am beyond furious right now. This guy has every right to his opinions (no matter how delusional), but when I've asked to be spared from having them sent to me...well...maybe I just need to call him up and say "Hey, buddy, stop sending me this shit!"

If you would like to read more from Bizarro world, look here and join me in my rage: http://jonjayray.tripod.com/kerry.html

[Spinzonner]

1. Have you considered passive resistance

Block his email address using whatever filters you have.

Dont respond to his statements. Just smile knowingly.

If you take the satisfaction out of it, which can include inducing a reaction in you, he might just give up eventually.

[Jackpine Radical]

10. Got any friends who are mental health professionals?

Get some business cards from them & whenever he says something to you, hand him one of the cards & suggest that there is help available.

[Warpy]

11. Great ideas

especially the one about blocking his e-mail, either through the service's blocking feature or through the spam filter.

If you don't have a service that offers this, send him an email and keep a copy politely requesting to be taken off his list. Get a confirmation of email delivery if you can. If you get another piece of crap after that, send it to his ISP along with your copy of the request to stop, and issue a formal complaint for harassment. This is drastic, and will result in a warning and a threat from his provider. A second complaint will result in the loss of his service. My guess is that he'll respond to the warning.

As to dealing with his statements, the knowing smile just won't do it. Just tell him he's completely wrong and walk away. Don't be drawn into an argument, just tell him he's wrong with a smile. Not saying anything is giving tacit approval.

These people rely on being petty, meanspirited and vindictive to shut down dissent, and the resulting silence to fool people into thinking they are alone in their disgust. It worked for Hitler's bunch. We can't let it work for them.

[rpannier]

2. It's Laughable

and pathetic at the same time.

[prodigal_green]

3. what e-mail application are you using?

You can either block his e-mails or set up a filter that will send anything that comes from him to the trash.

I think if this guy doesn't respect you enough to leave you off his mailing list, then you have every right to tell him to cut it out. If he continues, it is harrassment.

[Misunderestimator]

4. Well.... he's someone you aren't going to sway...

So take a deep breath and don't waste your time. As for that insane quote about Kerry, all except for the two words good intentions, you could easily substitute Kerry's name for Bush, and suddenly it would be true.

War is Peace and Good is Bad.

[gandalf]

5. Ask him to provide some evidence for his claims

"Mr. Kerry considers the Constitution -- which protects us from attack by severely limiting government power -- as an inconvenience". How did he get this notion?

It seems far more plausible to say the same from Bush. The Patriot Act shows a shocking disregard for constitutional rights and civil liberties. Here the constitution seems to be an inconvenience.

You can easily dismiss his claims as unsubstantiated fantasies, as long as he cannot offer convincing evidence for his views.

[Spinzonner]

6. Its best not to encourage those who seek conflict

and thrive on it unless you do too.

If he was interested in objective arguments and evidence, he wouldnt hold the opinions he currently has, so it seems unlikely that he will accept such arguments.

[bkcc]

8. His "evidence"

...is taken from Kerry's book "A Call To Service." The quote I included above is from a review of this work, cleverly called "A Call To Servitude."

:eyes:

[sniffa]

7. you can caLL him jon, or you can caLL him jay

[amber dog democrat]

9. When a crazy person sends me things...

I delete them unread. I would not spare the time to read things like that.

[tandot]

12. He essentially described G. W. Bush:

Just replace "Kerry" with "Bush" ... here we go:

Men such as Bush, with their Big Plans and egos to match, are a danger because they desire more power than is allowed by our Constitution, they desire a degree of power to be concentrated in their hands as to make government a tangible danger to our liberty and happiness. That's why, like all "activist" politicians, Mr. Bush considers the Constitution -- which protects us from attack by severely limiting government power -- as an inconvenience, something to occasionally say nice things about then otherwise ignore. George Bush, with his Big Plan, out-sized ego, and the tyranny of good intentions, would take America that much further down the road to serfdom.

(although I would question if Dubya's tyranny is of good intentions)

He is completely delusional. What does he mean by all that crap? Does he have any facts about Kerry we don't have? Did you ask him to back up his statement with facts?

[Senior citizen]

13. Does his wife, your good friend, share his views? (n/t)

[duhneece]

14. Send him copies of articles

Sending him articles that are well-documented in recognized sources is a perfect antidote.