ya know what i hate more than anything? the fact that my ultra conservative mother feels the need to forward hate emails to all her ultra conservative friends & family without a thought to whether anything encompassed in said emails are true, facts, opinion, or complete fallacies. and in my OWN home, i am made to feel less than 'intelligent' because i don't claim either of the big parties. she actually is MAD at me because i'm not an ultra conservative republican. she votes straight party tickets all the time. i would be equally as irritated if she was a liberal democrat. closing ones mind to the possibility that any given party on any given day can truly make good choices, changes, and/or laws - i believe - is what has this country in the state it is. stand by your ideals, that's great, but there is no way possible that you can completely agree with EVERY idea premised by one party or another.
sorry i know this is off topic but it's something that i felt compelled to share with you. it's hurtful for me that i can't have any sort of political discussion with my family because they have closed their minds.