Political relations

I haven’t been writing much here lately about politics because I’ve needed a break. The neocons with their anti-democratic rhetoric just infuriate me, calling anyone who disagrees with them “anti-American.” This was voiced again by Richard Perle, one of the key architects of the Iraq war, earlier this week at a neocon panel. Josh Marshall rightly asks if “such attitudes about political disagreements suit a person to the task of spreading democracy.” Marshall also points to a new article on that neocon conference on Salon.com (requires subscription) by Michelle Goldberg, the same intrepid journalist who braved the lion’s den at the conservative Restoration Weekend (posted about this last month).

Frankly, I don’t like arguing about politics. I re-discovered this not long ago when dating someone who insisted on bringing any discussion back around to politics at every opportunity. I didn’t agree with him very much and I’m afraid it’s not conducive to beginning a romance, for me, when I find a person’s viewpoints objectionable. I guess it works for James Carville and Mary Matalin, no doubt because they both love to argue and appear to have enormous respect for each other. I can get along fine with people who hold widely differing opinions if we don’t talk about it. Either we agree to disagree or at least it’s a small fraction of our interactions, not the dominant topic of every conversation. I’m also thinking about this now because I’m facing spending Christmas week with my family, including my right-wing Republican brother who can’t resist spouting off. Wish me luck.

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