In a very personal episode of Bill Whittle Now, Bill Whittle shares how he handles partisan attacks from strangers, as well as from family members. You may find some help here for your struggle, or at least a brother who knows what it’s like.
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How Conservative Bill Whittle Handles Progressive Attacks
In a very personal episode of Bill Whittle Now, Bill Whittle shares how he handles partisan attacks from strangers, as well as from family members. You may find some help here for your struggle, or at least a brother who knows what it’s like.
5 replies on “How Conservative Bill Whittle Handles Progressive Attacks”
I just had a personal family encounter, on the occasion of my father’s funeral. We were in the car driving home, with my oldest sister and myself being conservative and my youngest sister and a niece being progressive. What started out as a point of discussion quickly became people interrupting each other trying to get their point across, and it became emotional. We finally agreed to not talk politics, and although certain hot topics were subsequently broached, I spoke up and said “No politics, we agreed”.
I am generally perhaps overly non-confrontational, wanting everyone just to get along and love one another. Perhaps that is my saving grace… perhaps not…
I learned a bit about my future in-laws when I posed a hypothetical physics question in about 1991. The question was about birds sitting versus flying in the back of an enclosed tractor-trailer (see MythBusters Episode 77 which aired in 2007) They all gave the incorrect answer that the truck would be lighter when the birds were flying than when they were sitting. I explained why the truck would weigh the same. They still concluded that I was wrong because the 5 of them had the same answer and there was only me on the other side.
A few years later (1994?), I got my first insult from my father-in-law, stating that my thoughts were just what every Joe Six-pack would think. This was related to the government funding of the crucifix in a beaker of urine “art”.
By 2007, I had had enough and decided that I did not need to spend my time and money traveling to see them over 1000 miles away. I have not been back.
A few years later, my brother-in-law asked my wife why I hated Jews. I told my Jewish friend this and he said something like, “Yeah, yeah. Where are we going for lunch?” I have had good Jewish friends in every state in which I have lived (5 states so far). I have no idea how he got the idea that I hated Jews. I think it must be that, since I am a Conservative, I must hate Jews.
I have had enough US government clearances to know that I would have been sent to prison if I had done what Hillary Clinton did with classified emails. However, I have a brother, who has never had a clearance, tell me that she did nothing wrong.
I will try to feel out people that I meet to see whether they might be open to ideas that contradict those presented by the MSM, Hollywood and Academia. If I encounter actual open mindedness, I will continue. If the “open-minded” people respond to arguments with insults, our voluntary association will end.
Bill, I hope the experience you had with your extended family has helped you realize the power God’s curse of “strong delusion” unleashed on the American people. No amount of your persuasive rhetorical skills could have knocked any sense into your relatives; simply because they rejected the Truth, making them unable to resist the lie. Anyway, even though I’ve written disagreement with your positions on some occasions, it’d be an honor to have you at our Thanksgiving table.
With the friends I have who are political opposites I have only a few tactics. Few really want to change their minds. The first tactic is we simply agree to disagree and don’t discuss politics. We’re friends because we like each other, and treat each other kindly, not because we agree on politics. For reasonable people, and those willing to get along, this works perfectly.
But there are people who simply cannot leave politics out of anything, because they have wed their own identity to those politics. These people do not really want to have a discussion. They only want to attack and criticize. My tactic with them is to simply avoid them when I can. When I can’t, I try to take the higher ground. Where I draw the line is when they attack me personally. Attack my argument all you want, but once it goes ad hominem, you are no longer showing the same respect I give to you. Those kind I either have to call out for their tactics or I avoid as much as possible. They will argue forever and never agree with you, no matter how much your logic proves them wrong.
There is a third type, however. These are people who don’t want to debate. Their minds are already made up. They only want a fight. And sometimes you have to give them one. If it’s verbal, then its verbal. If it’s physical, sometimes you must defend yourself from a bully. If you can’t avoid them and they bring it on, you have to dish it right back to them in spades to earn respect. But there is a subgroup of this type that is truly dangerous. They are psychopaths. They look like anyone else, but they don’t want an argument. They want to hurt you, socially, financially and physically. These kind of people will physically assault you. These are people like the AntiFa, and they commit crimes of assault and battery. In some cases they present deadly force and you must be ready to defend yourself, especially if you cannot avoid them and have been put at extreme disadvantage by society (e.g., forced to be unarmed on a campus full of hostile antifa). The first two types you can deal with by using argument, persuasion, and humor. The fighting types you cannot. The irritating ones you can de-escalate and reason with. The dangerous ones you can only avoid or defend yourself against as necessary. The trouble is, you never know which type of person it is facing you in a crowd of people who are strangers. Be very careful always, guys. If you always expect a physical attack from a hostile crowd, you’re better prepared to stop one.
I think I speak for many members when I say it feels like we are in the room with you guys on a daily basis, even if we have never met you personally yet. That feeling is personal and it is greatly appreciated, guys. It is a joy to tune in and watch.
This is a very helpful episode! I have family with whom I have to maintain silence at gatherings as they are not interested in–or are totally hostile to–hearing other points of view than the one they are intdoctrinated into. So the weather is the big topic of discussion, although that can turn to global warming being my fault so even the weather is not a safe topic anymore.
In discussions with others I have used “coming alongside” and humor and word pictures to get ideas across and have seen little lights go on, as Bill said. It is a joyous moment to hear someone say, “Hmm, I have never heard that or thought about it that way.” And it seems to me that the whole Walk Away movement is a picture of that. Someone plants an idea in the head of another, and that idea becomes sort of a “stone in their shoe”–something that just keeps irritating at the back of their mind till they HAVE to deal with it. And the dealing with it can result in a totally new outlook–one that deals with the world as it is, not as they pretend it to be. And then they may be putting stones in the shoes of others!