To be completely shocked about someone I used to know

[EWAB]

When my youngest was at primary school I really liked this woman who had kids either side of mine.

She was in the PTA equivalent and was just a nice woman. There was no drama around her.

I remember having a day off and went into the local cafe, and she invited me to sit with her friends. She was funny, warm and witty.

Significantly, she had friends of all ethnicities and her best friend was Asian.

Everybody will relate to being busy but I think if it was a different time in my life or we had kids in same year we would have been mates.

I am absolutely shocked that she is a member of a right wing political party and has a presence in that party, utterly and completely shocked.

I know it’s not illegal but God.

All three of my siblings are Tories, I’m not someone who thinks everyone has to think like me but I am stunned.

Mumsnet hates this, but I have had a physical reaction to the news. I am just Gobsmacked and weirdly let down and I do know that’s a stupid, irrational thing to say.

Is that all you've got?! Bless... 😂 You know a poster has lost their (lame) argument, when they attack another poster's grammar. And it's even more hilarious when there was nothing wrong with that person's grammar anyway. You're reaching so far that you have your hands in the clouds.

Oh, by the way... YOU LOST the Brexit vote! Get over it.

(Hope you're enjoying my emojis!) 😍

Have a and chill out. 😏

Oooof.

Crap comeback

There is not actually anything wrong with judging people for their political views.

If you can’t see what is wrong with the random punctuation, (a full stop should be outside a bracket for example), and hurl abuse at people who can, then that says it all about the intellectual heft of the leave campaign.

Gladly. Off to listen to Alistair Hulett...

The OP still knows everything she used to know, but now there is an extra piece of information to flesh the picture out further, and that changes things.

Yes it was. It's a sign that someone is losing the argument, when they resort to personal insults (attacking a poster's grammar.) Nothing else to say? Let's have a dig at their grammar and spelling. Terrible forum etiquette, and against the rules on here. (In case anyone else is thinking of carrying on attacking the spelling and grammar of anyone.)

(My 'bad grammar' was having ONE full stop outside a bracket by the way!) 😆

!

u wot m8

Whereas that, of course, is a complete zinger.

😂 (Funny!) .

Yep! Ta for the compliment xxxx

😂😁 (Four kissez two.) ! '. ,

😂

Careful

Bad spellin their

😀😃😛🤐

Sent from mi ihpne .

U wotch that grammer!

I fot u didn't like emoji s

I fot I did bot nither

😂

The hypocrisy is breathtaking isn't it?

That poster is trying to make light of the situation now, because they know they lost the argument, and they're embarrassed.

This thread is hysterical! Do posters not know that there is such a thing as fascism? Not as an insult but as an actually political system with specific forms and policy goals? Do you not remember Oswald Mosely, if you can’t remember Mussolini and Hitler?

Equally: there are political groups on both ends of the spectrum with goals to overcome and eliminate democracy and the rights that democracies generally require for citizens such as free speech, freedom of association, rights for children, women, minorities, and the right to vote itself?

In a functioning democracy with two or more parties that are oriented around democratic principles party membership may be understood as somewhat anodyne, like one’s choice of sports team or favorite food.

But outlier parties, parties of the far left or far right, generally have the goal of using democracy and the vote to get into power and then to change the rules so that their enemies ( however defined) can no longer compete successfully, share power, join in the government, or protect their citizen/members. So yes, as I pointed out upthread, there are parties whose goal it is to replace democracy eith fascism.

In the US the far right fringe outside and of the Republican party explicitly calls for shrinking the power of the electorate by eliminating problematic voters (women, minorities, non property owners, naturalized immigrants and the children of immigrants). They EXPLICITLY call for an end to democracy in the form of one person one vote.

Parties have platforms and policies that they strive to put into play. Government levies taxes, disburses taxes, wages war and protects or doesn’t protect citizens. These all result in choices and policies with enormous impact and therfore moral significance. The choice of which party to belong to is a moral choice.

You bet I judge someone who belongs to a party that is racist, corrupt, fascist, jingoistic, war mongering, or authoritarian. I would judge some nice lady on the PTA if she were voting for the cannabalism party too. I would kind of have to assume she wants to legalize cannibalism and potentially eat me, wouldn’t I?

I actually find this whole topic very interesting. I once watched an interview with incredibly right-wing person in America, around 2016 when Trump was first elected. He was a total MAGA crazy: anti-abortion, anti-gay, Barack-Obama-is-a-terrorist, pro-gun, climate-change-denying type of bloke.

Because I was bored, I searched for his facebook, which was an open page.

I followed him for about 5 years, and it was absolutely fascinating. He had a large and very loving family who he adored. He worked hard in a public service. He raised money for charity. He sat through the night with people who were ill or dying. He was a kind and generous neighbour.

I struggled to reconcile the man I had heard on TV and the shocking politics that he shared on his page from time to time, with the other part where he was clearly a kind and loving father and much loved member of the community!

It struck me eventually that actually most people are lovely to their nearest and dearest, and to ‘their’ people. We are tribal, we want to get along with, look after and be valuable to “our” tribe, and we reject and are hostile towards people outside our tribe.

Politics really is just about how we define “our” tribe and who we put first. For some that’s just White people. For others it’s British people. Other perhaps Scottish or Welsh people. For more still it’s the middle classes and the wealthy. Or it’s the workers. For some it’s ultra-inclusive of everyone.

I do think how open and accepting of other people says something about your personality. But more than anything it’s about where you draw your dividing lines. So it is possible to be a fun friend and loving mother while still being a monstrous racist. And if you’re not the other race, you might never know that side of somebody.

I don’t blame you for being shocked OP, it’s hard when we find a side to somebody that we disagree with or even find aborrent, when otherwise we have much in common.

They didn’t lose the argument and have no reason to be embarrassed.

I have got lovely relatives. Kind, sweet, give you the shirt off their back, lovely people. They are also Trump supporters. We don't talk about it. They watch Fox News. I expect if they lived where I lived and didnt watch Fox, they would think differently. They are a product of their media consumption, age and geography.

I'm possibly an outlier here, because I'm from NI and was always brought up not to talk politics. Probably being older than a lot of you on here, I've lived through violence and the troubles, worked in Belfast through the late 70s and 80s.

So I had lots and lots of friends and work colleagues who had completely the opposite views on politics and the way forward.

So I separated the two things, now maybe that's not right either, but if I hadn't I would have missed out on a lot of lovely people just because they didn't think the same way.

But I'll admit I shouldn't be posting here as I just find the whole faeces throwing at each other a bit ridiculous.

Apologies if I've been snarky