Travis and Taylor

[Ramrouser]

She’s somewhat estranged from my parents but not from me. She flies in to visit my family (me/wife/daughters) several times per year.

Her and my parents can coexist together for a short time, but if they are together for several days it’s only a matter of time before one of them can’t resist bringing up their well-established extreme differences in politics and then it gets explosive because none of them will give an inch.

I’m somewhat caught in the middle of it, but admittedly empathize more with my parents than with my sister when those arguments occur, because I believe my sister’s political opinions are absurd. She takes it way further than just mainstream political differences and goes to 100 with extreme feminism, men are bad, white people are oppressors, corporations are oppressors, America is a racist country, pro-Palestine, so on and so forth.

The difference between me and all of them is that I value having strong relationships with family more than I care about a political difference of opinion….no matter how extreme.

So all of this is a long way of saying, I actually do think highly of my sister overall. She’s very smart, talented, successful in her career….but frankly she entered UNC as a normal person and exited as a brainwashed liberal. Not just the Joe Biden type, but the Bernie Sanders/admitted socialist type.

Ask yourself this though, to bring this post back to the thread topic a little bit. Why exactly would my sister be so adamantly against Taylor Swift having children? Isn’t that just as strange as the rest of the family hoping (secretly, not like bugging her about it) that my sister eventually moderates on some of her positions, settles down, and has a happy family?

The answer is, she idolizes Swift to the point that Swift is all-consuming to her. In the same way religion is to some folks or that sports is to me. So she’s always put Swift up on this pedestal as someone who says “F the patriarchy, I’m focusing on my career, I’ll break up with tons of guys and write songs about them, I’m never getting married and never having kids. Oh and by the way, vote Democrat.” And now she’s watched Taylor fall for Travis Kelce, get engaged, and there’s starting to be chinks in the armor of this persona that my sister wants Swift to maintain.

I love how the board's liberal posters routinely opine on the personal/family lives of the few board conservatives and they are ALWAYS wrong in their predictions about us. It's like they don't know or associate with any Republicans so they deal in lazy stereotypes.

I too believe that family and friends ties are much more important than any political differences.

 

[uncjhodges]

I love how the board's liberal posters routinely opine on the personal/family lives of the few board conservatives and they are ALWAYS wrong in their predictions about us. It's like they don't know or associate with any Republicans so they deal in lazy stereotypes.

I too believe that family and friends ties are much more important than any political differences.

i’m from Burke County and work in a rural area. My frequent and constant exposure to Trumpers is why i have such a low opinion of them

 

[Ramrouser]

i’m from Burke County and work in a rural area. My frequent and constant exposure to Trumpers is why i have such a low opinion of them

Know it well as I grew up in Hickory (Catawba County).

 

[dukeman92]

I love how the board's liberal posters routinely opine on the personal/family lives of the few board conservatives and they are ALWAYS wrong in their predictions about us. It's like they don't know or associate with any Republicans so they deal in lazy stereotypes.

 

[CFordUNC]

I love how the board's liberal posters routinely opine on the personal/family lives of the few board conservatives and they are ALWAYS wrong in their predictions about us. It's like they don't know or associate with any Republicans so they deal in lazy stereotypes.

I too believe that family and friends ties are much more important than any political differences.

Man, we all do it. You do it, I do it, everyone does it. You assume that all of us who hate Donald Trump and/or what the Republican Parry has become are a bunch of America-hating, communism-loving, terrorist-supporting pinko Marxists. We assume that you are a weird, insecure, pedophile-supporting, woman-hating old boomer whose wife and kids hate you. The probable reality is that neither caricature is likely to be true. It’s the nature of anonymous message boards, especially ones like this one created to discuss exceptionally contentious topics- we demonize the “other.”

My current low opinion of Republicans and Trump supporters, as someone who was formerly both within the last decade, is directly a result of watching people whom I had always respected and thought highly of – friends and family- succumb to the ignorance and general mean spiritedness that is required to support Trumpism. Yes, I am fully comfortable saying that there is a level of mean spiritedness required to support Donald Trump in 2025. Doesn’t mean that I don’t still love family who support Trump or that I would ever put political differences above family relationships- I wouldn’t. But it does mean that I hate what has happened to them and I hate who is responsible for it.

 

[wmheel1287]

I love how the board's liberal posters routinely opine on the personal/family lives of the few board conservatives and they are ALWAYS wrong in their predictions about us. It's like they don't know or associate with any Republicans so they deal in lazy stereotypes.

I too believe that family and friends ties are much more important than any political differences.

Oh my God, look in the mirror. You post ridiculous tropes and stereotypes nearly daily.

 

[LeoBloom]

I have heard and read many Trump supporters say we have to get rid of all the illegals Biden let in. Why? Just because they are here illegally?

 

[heelinhell]

I love how the board's liberal posters routinely opine on the personal/family lives of the few board conservatives and they are ALWAYS wrong in their predictions about us. It's like they don't know or associate with any Republicans so they deal in lazy stereotypes.

I too believe that family and friends ties are much more important than any political differences.

Are there liberal posters posting here that they don't believe family and friends ties are more important than political differences ?

 

[Ramrouser]

Are there liberal posters posting here that they don't believe family and friends ties are more important than political differences ?

Yes, many. One poster bragged about all of the family and friends he's cut out of his life for being Trump supporters. We had a thread on it several months ago.

 

[rodoheel]

I love how the board's liberal posters routinely opine on the personal/family lives of the few board conservatives and they are ALWAYS wrong in their predictions about us. It's like they don't know or associate with any Republicans so they deal in lazy stereotypes.

This is an exact quote from you on this very thread:

"The left wants women living alone in apartments, drinking wine and cursing Trump as they binge watch Rachel Maddow."

The fact that you would lecture anyone else about making assumptions about other people/posters is laughable. I actually tend to agree that many people on this board and elsewhere go way too far in making assumptions about others based on limited knowledge about their political beliefs. It's one of the reasons the internet is driving us further apart. as a society. But for you to posting that seriously without any regard for your own constant caricaturing of those you see as your political opponents takes "hypocrisy" to never-before-seen levels.

 

[heelinhell]

Yes, many. One poster bragged about all of the family and friends he's cut out of his life for being Trump supporters. We had a thread on it several months ago.

So one poster ? You said liberal posters ( posters is plural ) which threw me.

I am a liberal and may have more conservative friends than you have liberal friends...just wondering

 

[Ramrouser]

Man, we all do it. You do it, I do it, everyone does it. You assume that all of us who hate Donald Trump and/or what the Republican Parry has become are a bunch of America-hating, communism-loving, terrorist-supporting pinko Marxists. We assume that you are a weird, insecure, pedophile-supporting, woman-hating old boomer whose wife and kids hate you. The probable reality is that neither caricature is likely to be true. It’s the nature of anonymous message boards, especially ones like this one created to discuss exceptionally contentious topics- we demonize the “other.”

Fair.

Because of our current political climate, I rarely if ever go out of my way to discuss politics with someone (outside my family or close friends) unless I know they are a fellow conservative. People make comments to me all the time assuming I'm a Trump hater and I just smile shrug my shoulders. Same with my wife, since people assume a female attorney CAN'T be a Trumper. It's not worth getting into a discussion/argument since things can escalate quickly. But if someone asks me a direct question regarding my opinion on a specific issue I will tell them the truth.

I do have a group of UNC friends with whom we get together to watch Carolina sporting events. The group is mixed politically and racially. We will tease each other in good fun but we know each other well.

 

[superrific]

Never said a woman “has to” be married to be happy and fulfilled, just that it makes it more likely. Same goes for men.

My experience is, the single folks probably have more fun than the married folks in the 20s and maybe 30s. Highly doubt that’s true in the 60s and 70s when parents are likely dead, siblings have their own families, and you’re more dependent on having your own family (spouse, kids) or risk being really lonely.

Dude. Single seniors fuck like banshees. Haven't you seen the articles about the huge increases in VDs among seniors. I do not think they are lonely.

A lot of married people are lonely.

 

[superrific]

We need to eat our spinach first before enjoying desert.

At least you admit you have your head in the sand.

 

[rodoheel]

Never said a woman “has to” be married to be happy and fulfilled, just that it makes it more likely. Same goes for men.

My experience is, the single folks probably have more fun than the married folks in the 20s and maybe 30s. Highly doubt that’s true in the 60s and 70s when parents are likely dead, siblings have their own families, and you’re more dependent on having your own family (spouse, kids) or risk being really lonely.

I think it's definitely true that most people are happier when they have fulfilling relationships with close companions. I'm not sure it necessarily follows that being in a heterosexual marriage, or just a marriage generally, is the best or only way to get that kind of fulfillment.

 

[superrific]

So all of this is a long way of saying, I actually do think highly of my sister overall. ….but frankly she entered UNC as a normal person and exited as a brainwashed liberal.

You typed this sentence unironically. Think about that. She's brainwashed but you think highly of her.

When I correctly observe that you've been brainwashed by lies from conservative media for a decade or more, that is not paired with a feeling of respect.

 

[Ramrouser]

This is an exact quote from you on this very thread:

"The left wants women living alone in apartments, drinking wine and cursing Trump as they binge watch Rachel Maddow."

The fact that you would lecture anyone else about making assumptions about other people/posters is laughable. I actually tend to agree that many people on this board and elsewhere go way too far in making assumptions about others based on limited knowledge about their political beliefs. It's one of the reasons the internet is driving us further apart. as a society. But for you to posting that seriously without any regard for your own constant caricaturing of those you see as your political opponents takes "hypocrisy" to never-before-seen levels.

That was a general statement about the "left." I was not making any specific, personal assumptions about a poster on this board. I didn't accuse you or anyone of actually living alone in an apartment yelling at the TV...or your family must hate you.....or you are likely an abuser of women... or you aren't around any gay people, etc.

 

[rodoheel]

That was a general statement about the "left." I was not making any specific, personal assumptions about a poster on this board. I didn't accuse you or anyone of actually living alone in an apartment yelling at the TV...or your family must hate you.....or you are likely an abuser of women... or you aren't around any gay people, etc.

Ah yes, the very Trumpian logic that its perfectly fine to make up cartoonish stereotypes about millions of liberals people at once, but say it about one conservative and somehow it is deeply offensive.

So, like, you would be perfectly fine with me saying "MAGA Trumpers are all selfish assholes with an inferiority complex and the logical reasoning skills of a toaster" but if I said that about you specifically it would be problematic?

Also, wait, didn't you just say all the liberals on this board must not know any actual conservatives? Isn't that basically the same sort of assumption as "you aren't around any gay people"?

 

[superrific]

.....or you are likely an abuser of women... or you aren't around any gay people, etc.

Several posters here exhibit personality traits that are correlated with intimate partner violence. Many of them remind me specifically of behaviors of my abusive father. Since there is no chance you would admit to doing it, your denial means nothing. I have no specific evidence nor have I purported to; I form hypotheses based on observable evidence.

If you don't want people to think that you're a huge jerk, then don't act like a huge jerk.

 

[Ramrouser]

Also, wait, didn't you just say all the liberals on this board must not know any actual conservatives? Isn't that basically the same sort of assumption as "you aren't around any gay people"?

I've admitted that I'm occasionally guilty of making assumptions about this board.