Well I guess it came to a head with that liberal friend over on Facebook. I got a note from him yesterday basically saying why don't we just talk about the things we have in common.
We're not close, but we go way back. I don't know why that makes a difference to me, but it does. Part of it is that I know he's intelligent and I have hope that he'll snap out of it. Which is one reason I challenged his constant dribble of links to articles telling everyone how stupid conservatives are. He says he posts them because he finds them "interesting" or "amusing", and the gist of his message was, between the lines as my buddy in KC observed, "Stop Booing When All I Want is Applause".
I said I would respect his wishes and basically stop countering his posts on his wall with my opinions. I'll stand by that. I'm a man of my word.
But Morgan had a good point when I talked to him about it. He said in situations like that he just politely tells in a world where silence=consent and he does not consent -- if they want his silence they need to post it somewhere where he can't see or comment on it. Force them into the shadows for a change.
So ... that dude's granfathered in. Unless and until he breaks his own part of the bargain.
But ... it goes against my Stop An Echo campaign. So I'll need to watch my acquiescence in the future.
13 comments:
Philmon, you are a wise and discreet, gentleman warrior. That's how I would decribe you (because I know you personally.) Your approach is persuasive as it is.
I have a liberal employee that I came to the same agreement with (a truce on political topics). We observed this truce with strict discipline until she got the opportunity to zing me/ conservatism. And that's how it is with liberals. If they can't win by the rules then they change the rules till they get an advantage. (And so we have Wisconsin.)
My advice with friends is never, never give up on the person. Change tactics when necessary, but don't agree to tie your hands while they give themselves liberties. With my liberal employee I have added levity to our discussions but taken the truce on political subjects off the table.
Thanks for your kind words and encouragement.
You and I go back as far as this guy and I do, and you know ... or knew him too, it turns out :-)
Serendipity!
Morgan introduces you to me, which introduces me to you. I click on your blog and you are in the same situation I was in a few days ago when Morgan "re-found" me.
http://ithinkthereforeierr.wordpress.com/2011/03/01/i-have-to-give-up/
It's an odd thing with the left. They seem to have no qualms about saying things in front of others that are insulting, but believing that it's such general knowledge that no one in the vicinity will be insulted.
I had to give up on my one facebook "friend" as per the post, but I in general stand with Morgan. You can't just be silent or they think it's ok and continue to expect approval.
On the other hand...I don't like being cranky all the time so a break is fair too.
I came here by way of Morgan due to a link by Joan of Argghh!.
Your comment "silence = consent" strikes me as a wonderful shorthand version of the famous warning by Edmund Burke "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
You may wish to fully review the rotten deal by which you obligated yourself. You might find an out along the lines of Whitehawk. Or you might be doing the lib a favor, unless he's a radical, by reopening the agreement.
OTOH, if he's turned radical, you ought have no real obligation in the light of Alinsky's Rule number 4 "Make the enemy live up to his own book of rules." For, if he's a radical, he has no intention of honoring the agreement either -- again as Whitehawk experienced.
If he's only a liberal, he is as much a victim of the radicals as anyone else. Maybe more-so given the fate of useful idiots of past Leftists.
I'd love to hear what more Edmund Burke, the father of the conservative movement, would have to say post Alinsky.
I wish someone who can write good historical fiction would do exactly that. It might serve to teach conservatives how to fight outside the box within which the radical agenda so depends on us remaining. Our (your) self-tied hands so aids their rotten gains.
The dilemma you're encountering forms a paradox with his famous maxim. Our writer might present it to the fictional Burke as the "Parabox."
And if you think I wrote this merely to be humorous, I would have you notice that, currently, only the radicals are laughing AT conservatives and libs alike.
Take this notion to your lib adversary. If he approves of this radical ploy, then he's no true liberal. In which case you'd be wasting your time speaking with him further anyway. If he scoffs, ask him if he's pissing on you and expecting you to believe that it's only raining.
That was actually Morgan's quote - but I thought it was good to take under consideration and to repeat.
My old high school friend may be lost, but I still hold hope for him -- which is probably why I am reluctant to burn that bridge. I will find another tack, eventually.
He himself claims he is not a radical, and actually, I believe him. He has been led by the nose into the progressive camp; his favorite president is FDR (to whom I am not completely without thanks. I dig the National Parks) ... anyway, he and I had talked about all of this.
Fact of the matter is, he hasn't thought about any of this outside of what the NYT et al have spouted authoritatively.
He is, after all, a failed Journalism major.
I will honor my word with him and him alone unless and until he breaks his side of it.
I got a slightly conciliatory note from him just yesterday, but it did not in any way free me from the honor of my word.
Thank you for your kind words of encouragement.
And for reminding me about Joan of Argghh!!!
You're very welcome. And there's more reason for you to be encouraged.
The quote got to me due to a team effort of Morgan, you and Joan -- but it was YOU who first reported it, so it was to you I sent the comment. It may have remained an obscure observation that would not have clued me -- that's your name, right? :) -- to connect it to Burke's maxim.
You 3 have demonstrated how blogs, working like a telegraph line, can overcome the Agency of Lies (aka, MSM). We may not be as fast -- we may be the unpaid tortoise to their overpaid hare -- but the truth will out when we refuse to remain silent. Edmund Burke would surely approve.
"Ripple in still water
Where there is no pebble tossed
Nor wind to blow"
Yup. That's about the size of it. They do work that way. Mine's not a very popular blog, but occasionally someone reads a post, picks it up and links it and it gets out.
Still, even more subtly, I hope something I've said infects the mind of a person who reads it, and the idea works its way into what they say and do ...
and so on, and so on, and so on... ;-)
I face this same issue with a friend on FB - like the true passive-aggressive I am, I started a blog that she'll probably never see to express my views rather than challenge her in her own space. Perhaps I should be doing both. :)
Hey, Janet. I started this as a place to vent and to organize my thoughts.
On top of that, though, the act of writing makes you think more about what you're trying to say and to make sense out of it ... to be consistent.
It helps you, over time, to make better arguments when they come up elsewhere in life. I highly recommend it.
Besides, I get to share my misery with folks such as yourself, which makes me feel better :-)
A reader had to remind me that You Set the Standard When You Accept What is Rotten suggested this same idea "Silence is Consent" (but without the conciseness) only last month.
In my current under-performing state, I need all the reminders I can get. IOW, I appreciate teamwork far more than any time in my past.
---
FYI: Each time Blogger's "Links to this Post" malfunctions, as yours is now doing -- the link to Morgan site and the link to my blog were there yesterday, but not today -- I am reminded of the following.
Consider that Google owns Blogger, and so this blog and mine are published by an entity whose tolerance may evaporate literally overnight. Back up what you think is important. Be prepared to find another outlet on short notice. Keep on writing.
"his favorite president is FDR (to whom I am not completely without thanks. I dig the National Parks)" -- Phil
Okay, then you're off the hook even with respect to FDR. :D
It was Teddy R who gave us the national parks. It was FDR who deepened the depression with lighter versions of what our current nihilist/Statists have saddled us with.
Sorry for the late comment Phil. I couldn't remember until today who mistook FDR for his cousin, TR.
No, I was laying awake not long after I posted this and realized my switcharoo, but never went back and corrected it.
Thanks for reminding me.
Teddy is is favorite. And I do think the National Park system is pretty darned cool.
It is something that I can justify the government doing -- in that if we want to preserve some of this land like this, private ownership is a shaky prospect. This way, at least (theoretically), enough of us have to vote that it's ok to develop it if we want it developed, rather than succumbing to the temptation of quick cash for my generation at the expense of losing these gems for future ones.
Ah, it was in my comment. You can't edit comments, so consider it corrected by our friend Pascal.
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