"Maybe she was just trolling." "You've got a lot more to learn." Got it. Yes, not condescending at all.
Mystery-Ak wrote me a personal message on my email account, so I came back to read the replies.
Here's my background: I grew up in poverty in deep East Texas. I put myself through school, eventually earning an RN degree. Life took a few twists and turns, and I became very involved in the legislative processes of regulating healthcare in my area. I used to travel to Austin to attend stakeholder meetings, but I put that behind me about a year ago because I wanted to be back on staff. Currently I'm working in an ER, where I help people with suffering, chronic pain, death and dying on the daily. Today I own my own home, have savings, and am paying for my sister to go to college. So please don't accuse me of being thin skinned, sir.
And yes, I dare say there are many weaknesses in the conservative party. I like the way you put it, Alice, when you said liberals are more likely to think in groups than conservatives. Reagan was outstanding in that he could unite the conservatives, but that's another tangent. When I am not working, I am very involved in the arts and performance scene in Dallas. I perform regularly with a group of women. I went to a very liberal college, and artists tend to be very liberal. Wendy Davis has half the support as Greg Abbott in my state, but on my facebook, 4 times as many people on my friend's list have "liked" her page. As a result, I speak fluent liberal, and I know exactly what they think of conservatives.
In fact, until I was about 24, I was liberal. I was apathetic, and I did not vote. I didn't care to learn much about politics at all. It all changed when I started having those adult, real world experiences that showed the truth to me. I am intimately aware of the mental pathway from bleeding heart liberal to I live in reality conservative.
But what really set off my Irish temper was one word in this thread. And I argue, posters, that there were actually a few posts after, including Mountaineers, that seemed dismissive while I was talking about a subject that is actually important to me. That was when DC Patriot told me I was "overthinking" it.
The term "overthinking" still gets my blood boiling a little bit, to be honest. I went to a party last weekend with a friend, when a strange man approached us and very brazenly asked her to take her top off (We were both wearing flats, jeans, and t shirts, and nothing about our behavior invited this kind of treatment). I was walking with a man and a woman a few days ago, and his friend made jokes about how he should "go for it" meaning with us. I went to Vegas a few months ago. I only go because my fiancé likes it. In the literal five minutes I was separated from him, a pimp approached me and in utterly creepy manner tried to recruit me.
So yes, it was offensive to me that what has basically been a collection of life experiences for me and worthy of analysis was so easily poo poo'd. I wonder, men on this site, how often, if at all, you have any of the experiences I just listed? I can tell you that I can rattle off many many more....
I do like being a young, attractive woman. There is a lot of power in it. But my friends and I do attract a lot of attention that is frequently unwelcome. Dealing with men is a very important part of our lives, so to hear someone tell me I was "overthinking" it (and a few other posts after), yes, it offended me.
The place where the liberal progressive movement runs circles around conservatives is that it makes minority causes seem like a priority. I know it's a lie. These programs have done nothing to solve poverty, race baiting increases agitation, women are still paid less in the white house, etc. Most people don't look at facts, though, they just want a politician to lend a (fake) sympathetic ear. Meanwhile, Republicans have been called "The Party of No." No, you can't have that, no, you shouldn't do that, etc etc.
Care to debate me on that, Dan?