Can’t we all just get along?

Depends on where you draw the line...

Last week I posted a cartoon that suggested Donald Trump might want to give up the presidency for the good of the country. That cartoon set off a social media argument that I largely avoided.

Kinda felt like I started a bar fight and then left the bar.

But here’s the deal: it took me a long time to reach this point, but now I figure I’ll tell people what I think about things and if that makes sense to them, great. If it changes how they look at things, even better. But if they totally disagree with my point of view, that’s up to them.

I’m not going to argue about it.

I try not to engage in internet arguments because I see no evidence that they ever change anyone’s mind. Come to think of it, arguments in person have pretty much the same track record.

If I ever had an argument where my opponent said, “Now that you point it out, I guess I really don’t know what I’m talking about” I might feel different, but so far that hasn’t happened. I’ll revise my argument policy if it does, but until then, no thanks.

So now you know why I try (but sometimes fail) to avoid arguments on social media. I tell readers what I think and readers are then free to leave comments and tell me what they think in return.

And I happen to think Donald Trump is a horrible president.

The cartoon at the top of this post takes issue with his insistence that nobody could have seen the coronavirus coming and he jumped right on it when it showed up. Here’s a link to a story that details what he was told and when he was told it and how long he ignored the warnings because he didn’t want to believe them:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/11/politics/new-york-times-coronavirus-trump-administration/index.html

In my opinion Donald Trump is a thin-skinned narcissist who needs constant praise to feel OK about himself, has trouble telling the truth, seems to be a racist and a sexist and a major league jerk who treats the people around him like crap.  

Other than those few minor flaws, Donald Trump is a peach.

But here’s the thing I actually wanted to write about: if you listed my Top 10 Friends in the Whole, Wide World, probably half of them voted for him.

Other areas of interests

OK, so how did a leftie, pinko like me end up with Trump voters as friends?

Easy: I’ve got interests other than politics.

For a couple decades I played on a Men’s Senior League baseball team and whenever someone wanted to argue politics with me, I’d tell them I came out to play baseball to get away from politics and maybe we should just play ball.

Right now seems like a good time to clarify an important point: I’ve got no problem discussing politics, but most people don’t want to have a rational discussion – in 40 years of political cartooning I’ve probably had six of those – most people just want to tell you why you’re wrong.

OK, you voted for Trump and I think he’s a horse’s ass – got it. I don’t see how yelling at each other is going to change anything.

Also – and I’m not quite sure how this happened – several of my friends are rich and if you have a whole lot of money you’re probably going to like any politician who suggests cutting your taxes. So those friends might share some of my opinions about Trump and vote for him anyway.

But while we may disagree on who and or whom to vote for, we have other areas of common interest and that seems to be enough to keep our friendships alive.

If I refused to have a relationship with anyone who voted for Trump, I’d lose half my friends and probably two-thirds of my family, assuming my family ever got off its collective ass and went out to vote.

Which for the most part they don’t – and thank God for that.

The limits of friendship

OK, so does that mean any of my friends can believe anything they want and I’ll still hang around with them?

I’ve had to think about that and the answer is no.

I’m guessing if I dropped by your house and there was a Nazi flag hanging in your man cave, we might not socialize much after that. Same deal if you show up wearing a JCPenney bed sheet and a hood.

For me, just the fact that someone voted for Trump isn’t enough to kill a friendship; voting for Trump, dropping the N-word and saying, “Y’know…Hitler had some pretty good ideas” is.

There are limits to friendship and each of us needs to decide what those limits are.

Who do you agree with 100 percent of the time?

One of the problems with being a political cartoonist is having everyone know what you think. I’ve got a theory that if everyone had to publish their honest opinion on subjects like abortion, handgun control and the death penalty, absolutely everyone would have controversial views.

Unless they suck at their jobs, political cartoonists have to reveal what they think.

That being the case, most political cartoonists have had the experience of meeting someone for the first time and that person saying some version of: “Y’know, I disagree with some of your cartoons.”

I don’t know about my colleagues, but my usual response is: “Who do you agree with 100 percent of the time?”

People disagree with their spouse numerous times a day and still stay married. People disagree with their boss over and over again and don’t quit their jobs. If all your friends have to think exactly the way you do about every subject under the sun, you’re not going to have a lot of friends.

We all have to learn to disagree with someone and still get along or life is going to get a little lonely.

Bottom line: I’ll still be your friend if you vote for Trump, but I’ll like you slightly better if you don’t.

Stay safe, everybody.