I have had to listen to my Republican father and siblings make fun of and criticize liberals ever since my dad switched parties in '68 to vote for Nixon. I am subjected to Fox News at every family get together. But can I make a joke that George Bush walks like he does as the result of a vibrator accident? Noooo. I get glared at for my disrespect. You'd think I'd made a joke about the Pope.

I am having a hard time coming up with sympathy for any Republicans who get hassled or teased. We Dems have been putting up with it for a long, long time.

Do you really want me and other conservatives to get into the liberal hate-speech that has been going on for decades?

I'm not saying that its okay for one side to do it and the other side not to, but the way I see it, you ought to have sympathy for pounded-on Republicans because you know how it feels.

as a black, female democrat married to a white, male republican (hello stereotyping!) i can't begin to tell you the barbs that go across the room from us sometimes. we've learned how to joke about it, b/c as good citizens we realize the good and bad spots of our party and are willing to admit and exploit them for our own benefit. we've also learned the fine art of discussing politcs among ppl we don't know well (we just moved to ft bragg. oh i didn't mention we were army? yeah stereotypes!), without turning it into an "us vs them" thing. which is VERY important. NO ONE wants to come off as "that guy:" the guy who carries his party's platform like a badge of honor, but acts like a martyr. the teenage writer would do well to listen to what her family is REALLY saying. behind those barbs is a bonafided argument. you just gotta know how to listen for it. and prudie was right, she would do good to join her hs debate team. it'll help her hone her argument skills and teach her a thing or two about how the other side comes to their conclusion in an effective, coherent way.

What about the large and growing number of people who have lost their respect for both sides? Right now we have a very bad president who is a Republican and a very bad congress controlled at least nominally by the Democrats. On the state level it's worse because the level of sophistication is lower.

I'm so with you tonto. I have no idea if I'm voting this year. I don't feel like I have anyone I can really support but I'm such a vocal advocate about doing your part and every vote counts no matter what box you check. I'm torn.

Careful with that sentiment .... that's what happened up here in Canada and we ended up with a Conservative minority government that doesn't have the voting strength to do anything ... oh, wait. That's what you already have. Never mind. ;-)

I used to be a Tiny Tory...back when they had some people worth voting for. Then I left the country for Texas, so now I can say it's all y'all's fault!

I still think Maz would have been the best PM ever. sigh.

Messy, for us illiterate statesiders, who's Maz?

BTW, by chance this winter I got to read some Canadian history from various gov't sponsored websites. It was fascinating and I had no idea of the depth of my ignorance of our good neighbor to the north! I was frankly impressed. It was like a smaller version of the US that somehow didn't get everything screwed up.

Enghrn,

What a sweet post! Thank you for taking the time to learn about your neighbor, speaking for all Canadians, it is very thoughtful.

Please know, however, that as Canadians there are several incidents in our past that should never have happened. We are human as well.

Thanks again!

Mouselady

I think it's that parliamentary system...Talk about checks and balances...and bad language!

We did have one Prime Minister that was certifiable, though. He held seances and consulted his dead mother on matters of diplomacy. Apparently, the conversations were three-way, because the dog had input, too.

Don Mazankowski was the Member of Parliament for someplace in Saskatchewn (? I'd have to look it up) during the late 70s and through the 80s.

This was post-Trudeau (I'm an Albertan. I saved my bumper sticker that says "Let the Eastern Bastards Freeze in the Dark" - it was an oil thing), and post a long run for the Liberal Party. He had been in Parliament during much of that time, but when the Conservatives finally won, he really went to town.

He became known as the "Minister of Everything", because over the years it seems he held just about every Cabinet post there was to be held. He came from a business-oriented background and became well known for his common sense, level head and a sense of diplomacy that never allowed anyone to accuse him of any foolishness. It also helped that he was one of those frighteningly smart individuals who was always about 20 steps ahead of everyone else. He was one of those people that everyone listened to, no matter what party they were in.

During leadership conventions, though, he never seemed to get the delegates, which I thought was a damn shame. Instead we got a decade or so of Brian Mulroney who was loathed for his shameless kowtowing to whoever was in power south of the border and blatant favoritism toward anyone who had enough money to impress him. (Like Conrad Black.)

Even later, when the choices was between him, Joe Clark (widely known as "Joe Who?") and a couple of other no-names, he never made it. It was terribly sad, because if anyone could have pulled the party and the country, some say, out of the fire, he had the smarts and experience to do it.

He retired from politics after over 20 years, with one of the most distinguished records that any other parliamentarian could claim. I think that the main strike against him was that he was from the West. The party was afraid that with a Westerner at the helm, they wouldn't be able to win in Ontario and Quebec. Damn shame.

Dear Messy and Mouselady,
After watching a heartbreaking 4 decades of politics by division in the US I was fascinated by what I read of Canada's efforts--at least on the part of some--to keep their fragile union of two very different cultures united in a single nation. Yes, Mackenzie King may have been certifiable for his séances but I also read of his devastation as a lonely man after the loss of all but one family member in the space of 6 years. And the accounts I read were generally in agreement that he did not base political decisions on any of his otherworldly chats. BTW, did you know that CBC sponsored a séance of their own at Laurier House to contact King back in 1977? King also saved the Lend-Lease Deal between Roosevelt and Churchill during WWII. Strange he may have been but being PM for 20 years suggests he knew something.

I was also impressed with Laurier and his vision of a united Canada fully bicultural. And if King was into séances, what about Sir John A Macdonald and his drinking? He still put together a federation in 1867 that has lasted this long; tied Canada together east and west, and as pointed out, with a nation of 4 million built a transcontinental RR only 15 yrs after 33 million Americans had done it. I was so impressed with what all I read and the difficulties surmounted in making the nation of Canada if I were young and liked winter better, I'd be moving up there. People (mostly) don't seem to have lost their civility up there as has happened here.

BTW, I happened across King reading about his efforts as a labor conciliator for the Rockefeller foundation after the Ludlow Massacre in Colorado in 1914. Rockefeller was so impressed with King he later sent King a gift of $100,000 in the late 40s which Mr King used to endow scholarships for Canadians and one American annually.

Yes, there have been tragedies and mistakes--Louis Riel, the Indian Schools issue. But there is willingness to right wrongs and move toward a more just future. We haven't seen that here in decades.

Canadians, be proud! You've done so much better than we have against far greater obstacles. And what a fascinating story to read! This is one Yank who's mighty impressed.

Thanks Messy. Maz I hadn't heard of, though he sounds talented. Unfortunately, the one westerner I do remember was John Diefenbaker and I still wonder if maybe he wasn't certifiable.

I know someone here who teaches at the U--English and a Cather scholar I believe. I think she told me shw was from Alberta. Canadians are rare this far south but we have a few.