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Not that anyone cares (I may not). But I have had to attend many family gatherings over the past few months, years. Many members of my extended family have often expressed reservations with my political views. The subject of Rush Limbaugh came up, again. Which is fine with me but I thought over the weekend about a missive from a friend of mine - a phenomenon with which I am very, very familiar.
I have many friends, most as you might imagine don’t agree with me, but I was reminded, speaking of Limbaugh, of my youth. You see, many things have influenced me (as I am sure is true of most individuals) – Rush is included. But I thought I might share something, it regards Limbaugh. You see, my friend is no fan (I don’t listen to Rush anymore – it has been a couple decades – but I still find myself defending him) - no fan at all.
Anyway she makes clear, as always, she is no “dittohead” – whatever that is. But she says, “Rush is certainly not an inoffensive beige house, if you know what I mean, and for that, I do like him.” And I smile, but it continues, she writes:
What to say in response? Besides, yup. We agree on something.
I have many friends, most as you might imagine don’t agree with me, but I was reminded, speaking of Limbaugh, of my youth. You see, many things have influenced me (as I am sure is true of most individuals) – Rush is included. But I thought I might share something, it regards Limbaugh. You see, my friend is no fan (I don’t listen to Rush anymore – it has been a couple decades – but I still find myself defending him) - no fan at all.
Anyway she makes clear, as always, she is no “dittohead” – whatever that is. But she says, “Rush is certainly not an inoffensive beige house, if you know what I mean, and for that, I do like him.” And I smile, but it continues, she writes:
More recently, listening to bits of his radio show on road trips, I’ve been struck by his affection for his personal acquaintances, whatever their political leanings. He can be harsh about the Left as an abstraction, but seems disposed to like individual people, really.
In general terms, acknowledging that there are all sorts of exceptions, I’d call that a common strength of conservative people - when they find out you’re a liberal, they’ll look quizzically at you sometimes, but will not start withholding warmth or congeniality. That’s been my general experience as a liberal talking with conservatives, anyway.
I’m exasperated to admit that just the opposite behavior seems to be, in general, one of the great weaknesses of liberal people. As you know, I fell madly in love with a conservative man about two years ago, and we are now engaged. When some (not all, and not the best) of my liberal friends meet him and find out his political affiliation, you can almost feel the resulting “cooling off,” as if they suddenly fear they may be speaking to a Bad Person.
My fiancé confirms, matter-of-factly and without resentment, that he has noticed all this, and even goes so far as to say that he can sense which kinds of people would be most distressed by his politics. He withholds information about himself accordingly, to avoid social discomfort.
And he’s a fiscal conservative ONLY!! Doesn’t give a toss about the social/cultural concerns of the Right. In other words, he represents the sort of conservatism liberals claim to like.
It’s the kind of thing that makes me laugh to keep from crying, really. I feel like a genial (dare I say DEMOCRATIC?) interest in each person who crosses your path in life is completely consistent with what I call liberalism - and there was a time when I would have pegged conservatives as generally more judgmental, but in my dotage, I find that life is, as always, much more surprising than that.
In general terms, acknowledging that there are all sorts of exceptions, I’d call that a common strength of conservative people - when they find out you’re a liberal, they’ll look quizzically at you sometimes, but will not start withholding warmth or congeniality. That’s been my general experience as a liberal talking with conservatives, anyway.
I’m exasperated to admit that just the opposite behavior seems to be, in general, one of the great weaknesses of liberal people. As you know, I fell madly in love with a conservative man about two years ago, and we are now engaged. When some (not all, and not the best) of my liberal friends meet him and find out his political affiliation, you can almost feel the resulting “cooling off,” as if they suddenly fear they may be speaking to a Bad Person.
My fiancé confirms, matter-of-factly and without resentment, that he has noticed all this, and even goes so far as to say that he can sense which kinds of people would be most distressed by his politics. He withholds information about himself accordingly, to avoid social discomfort.
And he’s a fiscal conservative ONLY!! Doesn’t give a toss about the social/cultural concerns of the Right. In other words, he represents the sort of conservatism liberals claim to like.
It’s the kind of thing that makes me laugh to keep from crying, really. I feel like a genial (dare I say DEMOCRATIC?) interest in each person who crosses your path in life is completely consistent with what I call liberalism - and there was a time when I would have pegged conservatives as generally more judgmental, but in my dotage, I find that life is, as always, much more surprising than that.
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