Neville Chamberlain?
You know who else banged… Oh wait. Never mind.
I presume you banged Zombie Hitler. Not really the same, IMO.
Better than the Hitler with gatling gun arms from Wolfenstein 3D. Trust me.
There is simply no way that this conversation, if it happens, doesn’t devolve into politics and economics. That’s his express stated purpose in getting together so anything else would be disingenuous on my part.
I honestly think that he’s not dumb. But I do believe he’s a little too fond of accepting others beliefs and not looking things up himself. That first piece connecting Obama to Hitler was just ludicrous. It may be that he does it to get some respect from his tea party friends in preparation for a run at something. Or he may just be one of those guys who only speaks to people in his circle and therefore his beliefs, erroneous as I believe them to be, are continually reinforced. I don’t know.
So the invitation was something like “let’s get lunch and talk politics”? That’s a bit different and I agree it’s not fair to not talk politics if you accept that invitation. I also think it would be fair to counter-offer with an acceptance of lunch but a rejection of the political talk. Talking politics with friends is well and good, but you need the friendship first. Otherwise why not just keep everything public and in print?
Enjoy,
Steven
It’s like Pat Buchanan inviting Rachel Maddow to lunch. She has fun with it, but it’s really a waste of her time.
Would you believe I’ve done that? Had a drink with Buchanan? Charming guy, really.
To hear Hunter Thompson tell it, a lot of people have had a drink with Pat Buchanan. 
Really? He always strikes me as your friend’s racist, crotchety uncle who everyone tries to silence at the dinner table.
Charming, funny and likable. I was up for a job at a magazine he was involved in. It was, actually, a good time.
I think I was judged as politically unreliable, though.
A lot of successful politicians are very charismatic. They’re a hell of a lot of fun to be around, and very charming. They wouldn’t be successful politicians without charisma probably. The Obama=Hitler Guy may well be counting on being able to charm you in a one on one setting.
That having been said, I gave it a bit more thought, and you need to ask yourself, do I want to mix business with pleasure? Would you want him talking about having lunch with you in his column and maybe taking something you said there out of context and using it in his article? You can trust someone you’ve become a friend to not to do this, because they value the friendship, but right now you may seem more like the enemy to be kept closer than the friend to be kept close. Or you can trust to your own long background with politics and managing messages to be able to handle the situation. I’m sure someone who has spent time in the DC press corps has very little to worry about from this guy.
Enjoy,
Steven
OK, so I hope many of you know the ongoing sage of JC vs Obama=Hitler Guy. Including the fact that he recently invited me to lunch.
Most of our discussion has centered on a column he wrote in November for our local paper. We’ve got back and forth on it (you can find the links if you’d like) and recently the Editor-in-Chief of the paper put the kibosh and anything further (this is, by the way, what inspired him to invite me to lunch to continue the discussion.
Well, on Christmas Day he had another column published, Government Tinkering Leads to Chaos. I saw this when I returned from my holiday trip.
My response, Reasonable Regulation Can Lead to Growth, Stability was published today.
Note: the headline is not chosen by me. I don’t know if he chooses his.
Really, I feel almost sinful I’m having so much fun with this. I generally get paid (well) for my writing and I’m enjoying this far more than anything else I’ve written in years. It’s indulgent and fun. And flicking a tea party guy just adds to it.
Forgive me.
Do I remember correctly that at some point you claimed membership in the Republican party?
How long do you think that will last if you keep writing stuff like this? The conservative wing is on a witch hunt, and if it continues long enough, they will get down to your level and hound you out of the party.
Well written and reasonable, BTW. Are you sure you’re a Republican? 
There’s a few reasonable conservatives left, but they’re a rare breed. Not unlike reasonable liberals.
You misremember, sir. I ran for County Commissioner last year on the Democratic Ticket. I don’t believe I’ve ever been a register Republican, though I have voted for such in the past.
Oh, thank Og! The world makes sense again!
The Marietta Times should be commended for printing such long and engaging letters in dialogue. I’d long ago given up reading newspaper opinion letters, as I found that the noise overwhelms any signal. These are not that.
I don’t think I’ve commented in one of these threads before, but I’m glad that you post them here. I hope you continue to enjoy the writing, and continue sharing with the SDMB. Looking forward to the next installment…
Yeah, given that for years I competed with them with my own paper I’m surprised they do. I know the EiC isn’t so wild about the back and forth but I think she feels she’s on the tiger at this point and can’t get off. These have certainly become a recognized feature around town.
So my Letter to the Editor Adversary (as detailed in earlier threads that I’ll link to if requested) has begun writing letters to the editor of our local paper. She is, if anything, more…just MORE…than her husband.
Here’s the current one:
Labels are Useful When they are Rooted in Reality
Really, I know…I KNOW I’m going to reply to this one. I have to should I wish to remain a living being. There’s too much material there to run with to not do so.
Get me: this woman is a respected lawyer in our town. She and her husband (the original Obama=Hitler guy) were just featured in a video by our Chamber of Commerce as solid citizens who make the town better. But for a lawyer this doesn’t even make sense!
Am I missing something on this one?
The article to which you linked, taken by itself, makes sense. It is reminiscent of Abe Lincoln’s riddle - how many legs does a dog have, if you call a tail a leg?
The answer is four. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.
Which is entirely sensible, when you are talking about dog’s tails. Using it to establish “Obama is a Nazi no matter how you sugar-coat it” is another matter.
If you just respond to this article, you might not wind up looking too good - it expresses an obvious truism. If you respond to something less reasonable, like Obama = Hitler, then it might work out better.
This article is the first I know about this. Clearly it isn’t for you. OK, but part of your target audience is in my position. And if you send back some overly-excited screed blaming her for calling Obama Hitler, I am going to conclude things about you that you might not want.
Regards,
Shodan