I think this is a great community (Rant, Complain, Talk) for expressing political opinions. As I looked around for an appropriate forum I was comfortable posting it here. I had to go back and edit to make sure I wasn't painting people on the other side with an overly broad brush. I tried to keep my piece deliberate and fact-based.
Thanks so much for commenting and supporting. These last days before the election are nail-biters.
I can be very frank with you here. I work for Big Oil in Texas, and this is common knowledge here on chain. As you can imagine I have many friends and co-workers who will vote the Republican ticket. I typically have great open discussions with them. Most of them are very nice and can take a bullet for me. I even have a few with 'bunkers' and I kid you not. If the end of the world comes, I know where I am going with my family. The reason I said all this is having an opposing political view is NOT a problem, it was never been a problem until recently. Now a lot of people are so dug in that they are beginning to tune out the other side, which is a shame. We are all Americans regardless of our political views, background and ancestry; in this great country, and we can have a conversation regardless of our political view. We need to promote this, which almost have become a 'novel concept'! That is the sad thing about it.
I moved into my current house about a year ago. My next door neighbor--we share a fence--introduced himself. Then, a few days later he brought over some goodies with a note. He told us his name and his wife's name. He gave us his phone number. If we need anything, call. He is a notary, he informed us. He would be happy to offer his services if we needed them. He is the nicest person, a great neighbor.
A while back, my neighbor put out a flag, a huge flag, announcing his preferred candidate for presidency. I was shocked. How could such a nice person think that way? Then I realized how foolish and narrow I was. People have different opinions. I don't understand it, but I accept it.
He's still a lovely man, but I'm not telling him who I'm voting for :))
Or maybe some nice spring day next year you may want to invite him for a dinner or maybe make a dish for him. Maybe you will find a lifelong friend. People are usually good and we are supposed to build bridges not burn them.
On a related note