Arguing politics with friends

[William Brownstein]

Just got off the phone with my friend Steve.
We were supposed to go to Birdland tomorrow but I called it off after about five minutes of him rant about blacks, Muslims and how great Trump is.

Blacks should go back to where they came from years ago. "You mean back to Africa?" No, look at what Obama did to this country! "So you blame all blacks for this because of people like Obama, Sharpton and Holder and they should be second class citizens?" Yes!

"You're from a different generation than me but I don't judge people on color or race."

He felt like Donald Trump is the savior. "Really Steve? The former president of Mexico told Trump yesterday that he's not "gonna" pay for that fucking wall but I agree we should control our borders without calling all Mexican's Criminals and Donald wants to temporarily ban all Muslims from coming here.

Good they should all be thrown out!

"Yes Steve I had a bad experience with a Muslim at my old apartment but I don't hate all Muslims"

Well you should have learned something. All mosques should be destroyed and torn down.

"This is a land for everyone Steve, people from all over the world came to this country."

But they HATE US. I want them all murdered and put in concentration camps.

Staying calm and not losing it with my 80 year old gay friend - "Well Steve, I don't feel like going to the show with you tomorrow"

Steve - Ok
Calmly replying - "Ok bye"

[kevin]

Post by William Brownstein
Just got off the phone with my friend Steve.
We were supposed to go to Birdland tomorrow but I called it off after about five minutes of him rant about blacks, Muslims and how great Trump is.
Blacks should go back to where they came from years ago. "You mean back to Africa?" No, look at what Obama did to this country! "So you blame all blacks for this because of people like Obama, Sharpton and Holder and they should be second class citizens?" Yes!
"You're from a different generation than me but I don't judge people on color or race."
He felt like Donald Trump is the savior. "Really Steve? The former president of Mexico told Trump yesterday that he's not "gonna" pay for that fucking wall but I agree we should control our borders without calling all Mexican's Criminals and Donald wants to temporarily ban all Muslims from coming here.
Good they should all be thrown out!
"Yes Steve I had a bad experience with a Muslim at my old apartment but I don't hate all Muslims"
Well you should have learned something. All mosques should be destroyed and torn down.
"This is a land for everyone Steve, people from all over the world came to this country."
But they HATE US. I want them all murdered and put in concentration camps.
Staying calm and not losing it with my 80 year old gay friend - "Well Steve, I don't feel like going to the show with you tomorrow"
Steve - Ok
Calmly replying - "Ok bye"

Sad.

For Trump - and the other right wingers bigotry is back in vogue. Trump has been endorsed repeatedly by neo-Nazi groups, one even formed a small pac to run ads and robo calls for him. Yet he has never made any attempt to repudiate them or separate himself from their hatred. The sad part is this gives them all an air of legitimacy. I weep when I ponder this country's future. Sorry agan your friend was such a raging dick.

[William Brownstein]

I heard all about the KKK supporting him and things along the nature of what you mentioned.

The more I heard Trump open his mouth and the people that supported him, the more he reminded of Hitler.

I was in the supermarket a few weeks ago and this lady was one of his supporters boasting to me about how she wants her country back again.
She seemed so brainwashed and said all kinds of things. Then she mentioned how gay marriage is bringing down the country and I told her that people should be happy no matter who they are. She said she found that disgusting and I tried to tell her that it's also about rights associated with marriage. She then said let them have civil unions and that marriage is between a man and a woman. I parted ways with her and there was no stopping this highly optionated loud mouth.

I may vent and say things out of anger in the heat of the moment but I am not a bigot and know right from wrong. I am educated and keep up with issues. Unfortunately, some of my political beliefs these days are popular for the wrong reasons or unpopular for the wrong reasons and right for the wrong reasons as well as unpopular for the right reasons.

Hearing a friend that is about the same age as my father who is both gay and Jewish saying a certain group of people should ALL be rounded up and be sent to concentration camps, be gassed and murdered did it for me. That went too far. I remained calm and ended the conversation. This may have also ended the only friend I have and person I talk to in my life since my dad has stopped talking to me. My dad called me a cocksucker during an argument this year and that hurt. I've known Steve since 1997 but I can't stop his thinking. That was a bit too much for me.

I'm very disappointed in him. I've always wanted to go to the classic jazz club Birdland but that can wait. Steve even wanted to scheme getting out of paying the food and drink minimum by using his walker and have us sit on the side like he did when he recently took me to another club for a show about Edith Piaf. I told him I would rather sit at a table this time and always wanted to go to Birdland and would take care of the drinks and would take him out to eat afterwards despite being a bit low on rent right now because of things happening at the comedy club that might make the husband and wife team that I work for part ways and go to another club.

They want me to go with them but there are a couple of other comedy clubs that want me. An article came out this week in The NY Times that exposed some of the dirty and dishonest tactics that some people use to sell tickets. I don't work that way and never have nor will I ever engage in.

Steve is cheap and tries and get free things all the time. I might be better off without him even if he is the only person I talk to. I'm going through a lot right now but the Muslim remarks, black remarks and his praise for Trump saying how all this is good was over the line. This election is a joke. As much as I'm fed up with Obama, Trump isn't the answer. I see the handwriting on the wall.

There is much at stake and I will continue to see how this plays out and vote the best way I can. Mr Trump will never get my vote now.

[kevin]

Post by William Brownstein
I heard all about the KKK supporting him and things along the nature of what you mentioned.
The more I heard Trump open his mouth and the people that supported him, the more he reminded of Hitler.
I was in the supermarket a few weeks ago and this lady was one of his supporters boasting to me about how she wants her country back again.
She seemed so brainwashed and said all kinds of things. Then she mentioned how gay marriage is bringing down the country and I told her that people should be happy no matter who they are. She said she found that disgusting and I tried to tell her that it's also about rights associated with marriage. She then said let them have civil unions and that marriage is between a man and a woman. I parted ways with her and there was no stopping this highly optionated loud mouth.
I may vent and say things out of anger in the heat of the moment but I am not a bigot and know right from wrong. I am educated and keep up with issues. Unfortunately, some of my political beliefs these days are popular for the wrong reasons or unpopular for the wrong reasons and right for the wrong reasons as well as unpopular for the right reasons.
Hearing a friend that is about the same age as my father who is both gay and Jewish saying a certain group of people should ALL be rounded up and be sent to concentration camps, be gassed and murdered did it for me. That went too far. I remained calm and ended the conversation. This may have also ended the only friend I have and person I talk to in my life since my dad has stopped talking to me. My dad called me a cocksucker during an argument this year and that hurt. I've known Steve since 1997 but I can't stop his thinking. That was a bit too much for me.
I'm very disappointed in him. I've always wanted to go to the classic jazz club Birdland but that can wait. Steve even wanted to scheme getting out of paying the food and drink minimum by using his walker and have us sit on the side like he did when he recently took me to another club for a show about Edith Piaf. I told him I would rather sit at a table this time and always wanted to go to Birdland and would take care of the drinks and would take him out to eat afterwards despite being a bit low on rent right now because of things happening at the comedy club that might make the husband and wife team that I work for part ways and go to another club.
They want me to go with them but there are a couple of other comedy clubs that want me. An article came out this week in The NY Times that exposed some of the dirty and dishonest tactics that some people use to sell tickets. I don't work that way and never have nor will I ever engage in.
Steve is cheap and tries and get free things all the time. I might be better off without him even if he is the only person I talk to. I'm going through a lot right now but the Muslim remarks, black remarks and his praise for Trump saying how all this is good was over the line. This election is a joke. As much as I'm fed up with Obama, Trump isn't the answer. I see the handwriting on the wall.
There is much at stake and I will continue to see how this plays out and vote the best way I can. Mr Trump will never get my vote now.

The Hitler comparison rings true for me as well. This guy is all about himself and what suits him. Yesterday he talked about changing libel laws to make it easier for him to "take lots of money from the New York Time and Washington Post for all the disgusting things they write about me." All of the Post and Times articles are well documented.

When Christie endorsed Trump he tried to get Gov. Hogan of Maryland to endorse him as well. Hogan said no - which really impressed me. Christie endorsed Hogan early and campaigned fir him when no one gave him a prayer, and Hogan gave him a lot of credit for his upset win against a well funded Democrat in a Democrat majority state.

I'm sorry you reached a breaking point with your friend. Maybe the relationship can be salvaged at a later date, but I would have a hard time getting past some of the tings he said, ad I know you are sincere in your feelings. Tough situation.

It is nice that you are in demand from some comedy clubs. I am sorry the couple you work for is having problems - but it has to feel good to be appreciated for your skills and integrity .

In times of great stress it is easy to get wound up and loose sleep which disrupts you further and causes more stress. Good luck working through all of that. I have to force myself to keep to a routine when that happens - go to bed even when I feel compelled to stay awake. It is hard. Hang in there. You are amazingly resilient and have shown a great capacity to face challenges and adapt.

I hope there are better times ahead. Enjoy your trip to the Colbert show.

[William Brownstein]

Thanks Kevin

Been on the phone the last hour talking to my boss hearing he might not be running the team but the club will still give him a cut of sales and then talking to the guy who trained me now at another club with the possibility of going there. He is well aware of their problems and knows the details as they both talk and remain friendly.

Both parties advised me of staying away from another club which wants me and has a bad reputation and puts on an inferior show despite being in a great location.

Christie wants to be VP and it's obvious that is why he is endorsing Trump.

I'm not sure if I will go to Colbert now if I have low ticket sales. I need to make rent and all this has been stressful and a distraction and I've been going through this for the last few days back and forth with them. It's hard for me to focus when things like this happen. A few months ago Steve loaned me some money which I paid back to him within a week. I hate doing that anyway but that opition is now gone and I don't think I want to talk to him anymore anyway. At least right now.

One thing is I can sell anytime of the day or night I want to and I've had sales as late as 1am and as early as 5am. The weather has been the biggest obstacle lately with strong winds and real feel temps in the teens yesterday, so I skipped working. Also a couple of days of heavy rain last week.

I wanted to get an early start today and then the phone call came in before I was going to jump in the shower at noon. Now it's 1:30 PM and all thus aggravation.

The weather is supposed to be nice this weekend but I'm stressed. Hopefully I'll remain calm and sell. The lineups are strong today which helps. Caroline Rhea is doing two shows tonight at our club.