Two changers to read for today
Here’s Bookworm with some more advice on how to talk to a liberal.
And here’s “Robin of Berkeley” on the difficulty of finding friends of the conservative persuasion in the bowels of true-blue Berkeley.
Ladies, I feel your pain.
Robin’s piece was fascinating
Probably because I work in the belly of the beast in Sacramento, CA.
SEIU types galore. Sending emails to ALL EXCHANGE USERS (whether contractor or not ! )
From “Bookworm”:
“Instead, always attribute your fact to a comforting source. I like to say, “You know, I read in the New York Times that [insert actual fact].” The beauty of this approach is that the fact may often be found in the New York Times, although it will have been buried in a squiblet at the bottom of page B32, where no one looks. If your friends googles your fact, voila!, she’ll get a link to the Times.”
Ha!!This is what I said the other day, Trace the evolution of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the New York Times- probably all kinds of articles that seemed no big deal at the time…..
There are two other Robin of Berkeley articles on American Thinker: here and here.
I read these two articles earlier today, and was planning to link them here. There were over 300 comments to the May 11 article, and while I didn’t read them all, I saw at least three that recommended Neo-neocon to her. Maybe she’ll turn up here eventually.
Oh, my – I post regularly at Open Salon – which I have found to be full of very nice and well-meaning people, in the main, even a good few who are well-disposed to the military – and Bookworm’s tactics are pretty much what I use.
And even with the nic of Sgt Mom, and making it plain that I am a 20-veteran of military service, I am still an OS member in good standing; not one of the heavily trafficked, really – but still with a nice collection of readers, and quite a lot of “editor’s choice’ posts to my name. (Or nic)
And I am just now about to participate in an OS group-input blog about feminism, where one of the questions is about sexism during the 2008 presidential election.
Oh, my – I have already put forth a very gentle and ladylike response about how absolutely vile was the abuse heaped on both Hilary Clinton and Sarah Palin. It’s amazing how far you can go, being the voice of sweet reason, in certain circles.
re: jon baker (5/26/09 6:15PM)
From “Bookworm”:
“Instead, always attribute your fact to a comforting source…”
Indeed! Some of my juiciest flames on the Obama Administration come straight from Amy Goodman and the “Democracy Now!” transcripts…gotta love it!
OK, I just left a comment to Robin’s newest article on American Thinker. It’s still in moderation, though. I wanted to give her some moral support. And I also referred her to here, which I would have done anyway if others hadn’t already done so.
I don’t know if I’ve got it in me to go back to being winsome, earnest, and non-threatening again. Not that I was that good at it even at my best.
I’m sure all these folks advocating persuasiveness are quite right, and if I really care about moving this country in a good direction I should swallow my irritation. I should strive to draw folks out, teach socratically and all that. It goes against the grain, though.
Neo, would you like to run an online workshop on this? You could put out some current example of progressive bad reasoning and have us offer possible persuasive approaches in the comments. Lord knows I need the practice.