Hiatus

One of the crosses we all have to bear is the cross of politics and family. Politics and friends are manageable. You can choose your friends. Friends can obviously choose to discuss politics or not. Friends can choose to be friends in spite of a difference in politics. Friends can choose not to be friends anymore because of politics. We’ve covered this ground before.

What we can’t do is change our family. We have the option of ghosting family and I know people who have. Personally, I find that to be the nuclear option, but sometimes that is necessary. It would seem counterintuitive to think that families would differ that much on politics, but I think many of you would have the same experience.

My wife is what you might call a classical conservative. She believes strongly in lower taxes, less spending, and the government staying out of our lives. Unlike many current conservatives, these feelings are absolute. They include matters that conservatives traditionally feel and they include matters that progressives traditionally feel.

What does all of this have to do with anything? Well, thankfully she never bought into the Trump hype. She knew what he was before he even entered politics. He has only been telling us for the pasty forty years. So, our house has been fine for the past five years. We are fundamentally agree on most major issues.

I can’t say the same thing for her parents. They have been Trump supporters the whole time. We are going to visit them this next week for Thanksgiving. It shouldn’t surprise anyone, but I and my daughter have been instructed not to mention politics on the trip. It’s the same standing order every time we go to visit them.

What’s funny is that I have never mentioned politics before when visiting them. Sometimes they bring it up. I’ve learned that Trump is a brilliant businessman and an economic genius. I’ve learned that Democrats are morally bankrupt. As you might imagine, all of this was news to me.

So, this will be my last post for awhile. It will be good to take a break from politics and hopefully by the time we get back we will have better news on the post-election front.