Question: is anyone really looking for civil discourse?

As respectfully as I can possibly be--

yet you had no issue posting the mighty handslap and shoveling liberals into one nasty group. We are not and were not the only ones dishing it out.

Many liberals were tired of being talked down to, with the holier than thou, sanctimonious, being made fun of and called names, posts coming from conservatives and started to speak up and stand up and be heard.

In the last few months, several conservatives continued to do nothing but rag all over liberals anytime a trump/political thread was posted--they did not want discussion they wanted to bash liberals, totally avoiding the topics.

What's really funny is the conservatives that periodically post that "if there were more threads like this/no echo chamber/etc..." they would come back---so now we have to post what conservatives like/approve of?

Start a thread with a topic to discuss--no one--not a single liberal is going to stop you from doing it, but be real here---it's not the liberals stopping you from doing anything, it's about time you all stop blaming them for a lack of engagement on the conservative front.

Trump and the republicans in office right now have the entire country all jacked up--ON PURPOSE, knowingly, willingly, and admittedly so (from their own mouths) and are hurting America as well as has other countries concerns re: the US in turmoil. I'm sure as a conservative it's difficult to defend/acknowledge/support that--but your choice is just that, not liberals here.

I have no problem with conservatives. They have a different outlook on things, but generally are decent people who have different ideas on how things should be done. I disagree with them, but so long as they support the constitution and freedom for me to live my life as I see fit, that's cool.

I do have an issue with Trump supporters. He's not fit to lead. It's not that his ideas are at odds with mine - it's that his actions and his character cheapen the presidency. He doesn't act like a president, he acts like a toddler who wants to be the king. He wasn't prepared for the job and nothing he's done since then changes my opinion in that area.

As far as Republicans - this is where it's a bit tricky. I generally haven't had a problem with Republicans who really, truly believed the party platform as it aligned with their conservative ideals. But recently I've noticed that any Republican who steps out of line and criticizes Trump or disagrees with him in any way is quickly branded "Republican in Name Only." They may follow the party ideology 100%, but because they dared to say that Trump is wrong on something, they are branded as a fake Republican.

Which leads me to ask - what exactly is the GOP ideology any more? Is it the conservative party with conservative ideals - or is it the party of Trump? If being a Republican means that you support him 100%, no matter which way he happens to lead - well, what was the point of the party platform? Trump does NOT go by any ideological beliefs, and what he says today may not be what he does tomorrow. And right now, the GOP seems to be plenty willing to accept the support of Nazis and other white supremacists. So if you're a member of the Republican party, you really have two options - either you fight to take your party back from the people who are currently in a battle to hijack it, or you admit that the GOP is now the party of Trumpism and white supremacy. If that's the case - why are you sticking around? If it's going to essentially be a group of racists pursuing racist policies and whatever whim Trump wakes up with on any given day, is that who you want to associate with?

If I were in a group and someone from outside tried to come in and take it over and start pursuing ideas that I found morally repugnant, I would have two choices - get rid of them, or leave myself. As Chris Rock said, If 10 guys thinks it's ok to hang with 1 Nazi then they just became 11 Nazis.

I have to say that among the heroes who have come out of this whole mess of a presidency for me are the 3 Republicans who voted against repeal of the ACA--John McCain, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. They showed me they are concerned about their constituents, and were willing to risk their seats to stand up for their principles. I'm sure we disagree about other things but it. is. so. damn. refreshing. to see politicians with some standards.

I do enjoy hearing the viewpoints of conservatives who were not/are not Trump supporters.

However, if you voted for Trump and are still supporting him, then I can't have any sort of serious conversation with you. Every move he makes diminishes the greatness of this country just a little more, and if you can't see that, or choose to look past it, then I have serious concerns about the quality of your character too.

There are a number of conservative peas who continue to participate on political threads (Miss Jen is one who sticks out to me) who don't seem to view every attack on Trump as a personal affront and who have been able to find common ground with others across the political spectrum. There are a number of conservative, anti-Trump peas who post on the political threads who seem to find themselves without a political party these days but still desire to engage in constructive dialogue about what is happening in our country. The "teams" on this board aren't so much ideological anymore as much as they are differing opinions about what constitutes basic human decency.

Passive aggressive "apolitical" posts which are really just a dig at liberals will end the same way they always have on this board, regardless of the name the OP is choosing to post under any given day. We also aren't oblivious as to which board participants engage in very personal attacks masquerading as biting observations. It's a minuscule cohort.

As far as civil discourse, I'm very willing to continue to engage people on political topics like abortion, gun control, immigration policy, campaign finance, tax policy, etc. As far as support of anything related to Donald Trump, it's a non-starter. If you're unable to understand why that is, that's the beginning of the disconnect as to what constitutes basic human decency.

Regarding the name calling of Trump - cheeto, tiny hands etc. I don't recall conservative peas telling Skybar to cut it out when she consistently called Barack Obama DBO. That seemed to be totally fine. I don't recall Lauren or Gia or any of our prominant conservative peas saying anything to her about it. Oops, skypea. same person.

Not trying to make this a tit for tat thing. But there were a lot of conservatives who complained about every single little thing that President Obama did. Now that there is a reprehensible president, they are offended when liberals are picking apart the truly crazy things that Trump comes up with. It's interesting.

those were NOT his initials... his name is Barack Hussein Obama, right?? She called him DBO (as in, "Dear Barack Obama") like North Koreans called their leader 'Dear Leader' so that she could rip on his policies, and make a connection between President Obama and the North Korean leader.

She NEVER called Obama by his initials. If she did, they would be BHO, would they not?

If I am wrong about the DBO, I apologize. I actually don't remember her calling him by those initials--I remember the BO fuss. But I clearly remember her being asked nicely by more than one conservative, not to offend the liberal members. She ignored the requests, but she WAS asked.  

I also blame those who voted third party to make a point

I would like civil discourse, but I rarely find any.
I respect some conservatives and their views. I don't respect others. I respect some liberal in their views. I don't respect others.

When name calling starts, civil discourse is gone and far too often and calling starts quickly.

I've stayed fb friends with most of my friends who differ from me just to see what they say and post and I am baffled by them. The reposting of memes is probably the most irksome because they make no sense or no argument of value.

I tend to fall on both sides often and I try to see the way people see things and why even if I don't agree, but I can't with trump. Nothing the guy has done has been presidential. It has all been vindictive or showboating.

So i would love to have civil discourse on policy, but not when it comes to Trump. There is no way you are still defending him if you don't agree with what he says and does.

I like funny and cute ones, even if I don't agree.

Someone I know posted one that said, "64 shootings in Chicago over the weekend and not one perpetrated by a statue. " SMDH

The ones that irk me that are old are "the liberals don't want you to post this because it might offend certain people" and it is a picture of the twin towers. First of all, we all know that by certain people, you mean Muslims, and second I have never once heard or read about anybody asking that is not be posted. It is made up crap. Just like the posr thw flag to piss (Muslims, Mexicans,...whatever the group of the month is (. Arrrghhh

I could have sworn this thread was made once before...

There was a pea ( or maybe two I can't remember)who actually wanted polite political discourse around election time or maybe around inauguration time and even asked for private messages instead of being attacked if posting in the open threads. Those were about the last of the real civil discussions around here.

Oh please.

Every single post that skybar made was calling liberals, democrats, the president a name here.

Most conservatives have taken to insulting liberals/democrats--some outright and boldly--others with the subtle slams and condescending speak.

Like Delilah saying she didn't recall seeing any conservatives telling skybar to knock it off--you know what? I don't recall seeing it either! Same goes for many other conservatives who were insulting and mean.

It's a shame that many conservatives rely on the now patented response of being "liberals are too mean and name callers so we can't post here anymore".

Yeah, I have no memory of any conservatives calling down the usual suspects for using "BO" or "boy" or any other derogatory terms during the Obama years. But that's neither here nor there, as far as I'm concerned. Sticks and stones and all that.

Civil discourse? For me, it depends on what's being discussed. If someone is going to try and tell me that Joe Arpaio deserved a pardon or that Transgender people should be excluded from serving in the military or that there were some fine people standing around that statue in Charlottesville? No. I can't be civil in that discourse.