I'm a recovering conservative and have other family members who are conservatives or like myself are recovering conservatives. It can be so hard trying to debate with them because for them and at times the recovering conservatives as well employ a useful and very frustrating tactic that I call changing the historical record.
I was a right winger until a few years ago. The world was easy and black and white. I had my Rush on am stations and Fox news at night and all was well.That is until I left the army and went with out health insurance for the last 10 years and decided that the left wing was starting to make more sense in too many areas.That is not to say I don't agree with the republicans in some things and I think that's what makes me a Liberal because I try to think for myself and take other views into account before I try and make a decision. But this leaves me in a situation where family and friends get frustrated with me and some go as far to accuse me of being un patriotic even though I served in the army during the first Gulf war and stayed for 10 more years ,left with honor. These people on the right just cant stand alone on their principles with out changing the facts about how those principles are employed. I have found to often during debates with them that I will get to a great point ,one that I think will slay their ideology or force them to admit a contradiction and at that precise moment is when they change the historical record!!I,ll hear things like ,"I never said that","I never did that","that's not how it happened" . They deny the truth, once there I don't know how to proceed it flummoxes me . This is especially true with recovering conservatives that are close family members because when you have a relationship issue,family discord etc these former conservatives when pushed into a corner where they have to admit an ugly truth will most often revert to their conservative roots and just deny what ever facts are necessary so as to look to all to be righteous .That is where the real problems start for me . I have dyed in the wool republican family members who at this point I just state we are at an impasse lets agree to disagree but with former conservatives that are now liberals I cant just let it be ,I feel they should know better but if folks change the facts what do you do? But I guess there isn't much that can be done until folks are ready to accept things for what they are and not how they wish them to be ,this is something I too at times have a challenge with.Thanks for listening to my rant :).