No, it is not a rhetorical question.
The short answer is "NO".
The long answer is "NO".
The other answer is "NO .... but...."
At my workplace is a guy who is seemingly normal and nice. He cares about his coworkers and seems interested in their lives, he is reasonably intelligent and articulate and outwardly kind. He is also, I just discovered, an Obama-hating Trump-loving Republican of the far right.
Therein lies the "but."
Before I get into the philosophical arguments that are staring us in the face, I need to state my ideology clearly and succinctly: I am a liberal Democrat and I believe in the Democratic party policies. I am not a 100% "Democrats are right all the time" person, but no one should be.
However, this situation goes way beyond Democrats vs Republicans. Trying to reconcile my like of this person with his values that I truly despise is making my head spin. If I met him at a party and he had on a badge that read "Trump Supporter, Obama Hater" I would not speak to him, would have nothing to do with him. When I met this person, he was charming and intelligent, a good worker, easy to talk to, blah, blah, blah. He likes me, I like him.
ACK! What do to? I have to work with him (he is not my boss, thankfully) but I don't want to even talk to him. On the other hand, he is funny and he makes me chuckle and he likes me as a person. Can I like him as a person knowing he staunchly believes in things that I find abhorrent? I am sure he knows that my political and philosophical beliefs are far from compatible with his but he has no problem putting that aside and joking with me and chatting about his life. Why is that? Why do I have a very difficult time putting his belief system aside while he does not?
There is no answer here, of course. At least not one that I can fathom at this moment. It makes me very sad and quite angry that I actually know someone personally who has hate and ignorance as a base of belief. And yet, there it is.
More on this subject to come because it certainly is not going away.
I have a brother-in-law, Joe, who just told me again he supported or supports Trump and did not like Obama. I told him I like Obama. It was a calm conversation in my house but I felt my heart rate increase as the brief talk continued. It ended with me saying I have read a little history and 'we have been here before.' Joe is a nice guy and we get along well. He stays with us when he comes to pick up or drop off his son who is at UO. I know he enjoys the time with us too. He was a sheriff in Sacramento. His life experiences have been entirely different then mine (i.e.he has dealt with the worst of our society). His father also visited last year. He is a former sheriff too and is apoplectic that his son supports Trump. And, yes, this does not make any sense. Maybe it has to do with where we are getting their 'facts'? Or, maybe, it has all to do with the feelings Trump and Obama engender it each person. Hell, I don't know. Ahhhhhhh!
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