Okay the one thing I've learned as a parent of teenagers is to never, ever say "I told you so."
The moment I do, the accord is broken. The line is drawn in the sand again. The defenses are up and the ability to hear my actual words rather than parental blahblahblah is gone, again.
It is the most frustrating thing on the planet not to be able to crow, even a little bit. But every time I do as a parent, some of the lesson learned is discounted. And every time I do as a lefty talking to a former righty, I lose ground in the War of Reasonable Conversation. I slide right off the high horse I rode in on.
I love those "I have seen the light" conversations and diaries. Yet I can only imagine if you're someone who's been in the trenches for years you want to clunk someone 'longside the head when someone says "oh. hey. Maybe I was wrong to vote for Bush twice. There's a problem here."
"no shit, sherlock!" would be a fine response. Save it for your friends. Save it for a nice long email diatribe. Or maybe your blog. Just not direct hits.
Why? As someone said, who cares as long as there are more D than R votes. And if your (justified) personal feelings push someone even a tiny bit towards the R, bad news.
Hey give them credit for changing, which is harder than running a marathon... not that I've ever attempted either.
Then there are the ones who are still busy hating you and your POV. Chances are, they'll continue to loathe what you're saying. If how you're saying it gives everyone a way to ignore you, it's going to all be blahblahblah to everyone. Sure, the nutcake frothers will always ignore you, but maybe some onlookers won't.
I work in a business where there are also two sides: writers and readers. Writers are trying to lure readers. They do just about anything to get the readers to buy their books. Sometimes in exchange for all that work, they get a piss-poor review. It's clear that the reader didn't pay attention to the damn book and still toddled off to Amazon to give out one star and a diatribe.
Promo 101 says ignore the idiots. If they demand a public response, don't even bother arguing. Just say sorry you didn't enjoy it and leave it at that. The tone of the polite non-defensive note is enough to make onlookers say, "Yo, that Author is a GROWN UP. A professional. Oh so worthy of my respect!" The original doot-brain reviewer probably won't notice, but he's beyond your help anyway.
Of course if you have the talent, you can always be TRex or Jesus General but I think only the few and proud can join the Marines of the Keyboard Wars and attempt satire and not look like sore, nasty little winners/losers. If you're going to froth, do it with panache. If you're not capable of clever frothing, it is best to deliver your message with devastatingly Good Manners.
Mom
Remember, A Scold A Day Keeps Her Bloodpressure Down.
alternate mom motto:
The Question is not 'Who Died and Made You God,' Dear. It's 'Who was Born and Made Me God'.