Politics and Friendships?

First of all I begin this hub by saying it is not about political choices. Political issues and friendships don't mix. Whether you are a liberal or conservative does not matter--well it matters--but not so here today during my ramblings. Several years ago in my life, I had very few opinions about politics and what was happening in Washington. I was way to busy with my own life to care a lot was going on the political landscape. I could have cared less whether people were Democrats or Republicans. Today it is hard for me to contain my very strong political feelings in a group of people. I have to bite the old lip pretty hard when I hear about people who are really opposed to my perfect views. I am just kidding about that.

It has been a surprise to me after I became involved in my political madness that most of my friend-- and ones who I dearly care about--have totally different views than I do. It is of constant amazement to me that people who I have so much in common with how they can feel so differently about how our country is run, and the direction we are going in.

Of course much of the news today is so tangled, and often changes daily in the aftermath of anything that happens. My friends and I have decided to agree to disagree, and we never talk politics. Their friendship is way to important than pontificating about my personal political beliefs. The bottom line is that we see totally different things on what is going on in the world today. And we all feel we are totally right in our beliefs.

Basically most of us do not know what is really going on in Washington D.C. We hear stories about congress, the president, the economy. There are so many opinion journals claiming to write the truth, though I am not sure what that exactly means today. Politics is a hot subject everywhere and we will find political opinions from many sources. Most of what we see in regard to what is happening in our country is just someone's opinion. In turn what we share with friends is often just a repeat of what we hear or see. I got into a heated discussion with a friend's husband as he was ranting and raving about what he thought was corrent in the political arena. I nicely told him I would share in his discussion if he would admit that it is was just his opinion and not fact. The discussion came to an abrupt end, of which I was very happy.

The political parties have changed today from what they represented 30 and 40 years ago. Entitlement programs, failing economy, unemployment and budget deficit were not in the front running. Certainly we have been plagued by problems in government since the beginning of these civilized ways of managing the country. Democrats were often small business people and the Republicans owned and ran big businesses. Anyway that was what I was told. Today there are both liberal and middle of the road Democrats and very conservative and middle of the road Republicans.

The United States is going through major transition and the ideology has changed a great deal. Where the country is going is anybody's guess.

The secret here is to keep your thoughts to yourself when you are around zealots of either party. If by chance you can keep things under control, it may be possible that both parties can share in some interesting discussions--good luck with this. I still get really annoyed when people start spewing their personal beliefs and give opinions of things they know nothing about. I realize that no matter how much I read and hear it is still only my opinion. To happily maintain your important relationships with all your friends of different political beliefs omit this discussion, especially if you have had a glass of wine or two. You can always talk about the weather, as that changes a lot.