http://blog.lisbepartners.com/listening-and-politics Just another WordPress weblog Sun, 20 May 2012 17:16:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 http://blog.lisbepartners.com/listening-and-politics#comment-16 kathleen damiani Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:06:16 +0000 http://blog.lisbepartners.com/?p=52#comment-16 I was with Eddie when this incident occurred outside the polling place. His appearance was a bit repellent: unkempt, toothless, and evidently angry about Obama after listening to right-wing talk shows. My immediate reaction was irritation and a quick assessment of him as a "stupid redneck"--one of those idiots who are victims of propaganda and are clueless when they continue to vote against their own interests, such as health care and preserving social security. I quickly got angry and turned away from him. When Eddie gave him a listening response, i was surprised. We talked about it after we left the scene and i realized that my dismissal of him (the other pro-Obama women in our group also dismissed him) probably reinforced the right-wing propaganda of the "liberal elite." In other words, my quick judgment of him as stupid and a fool for being sucked into the propaganda machine... certainly must've been felt by him and then further divides us into "us-them." Altho difficult to do, listening at least tears down the wall erected by judgment & rejection. I was with Eddie when this incident occurred outside the polling place. His appearance was a bit repellent: unkempt, toothless, and evidently angry about Obama after listening to right-wing talk shows. My immediate reaction was irritation and a quick assessment of him as a “stupid redneck”–one of those idiots who are victims of propaganda and are clueless when they continue to vote against their own interests, such as health care and preserving social security. I quickly got angry and turned away from him. When Eddie gave him a listening response, i was surprised. We talked about it after we left the scene and i realized that my dismissal of him (the other pro-Obama women in our group also dismissed him) probably reinforced the right-wing propaganda of the “liberal elite.” In other words, my quick judgment of him as stupid and a fool for being sucked into the propaganda machine… certainly must’ve been felt by him and then further divides us into “us-them.” Altho difficult to do, listening at least tears down the wall erected by judgment & rejection.

]]>