Differing opinions

Alright, here's the deal. I have an issue with this claim that I keep hearing from my conservative friends that "the one thing you bleeding heart liberals can't do is let anyone have an opinion different than your own." Let's set the record straight here. I am a bleeding heart liberal. I am more middle of the road fiscally, but socially - bring on the liberal. I have strong opinions about how things should be, how those things should be done, and what things need to change. Mostly, I disagree with every conservative I know about pretty much everything except good music and good beer (sometimes they're PBR conservatives, though).

I have absolutely no problem listening to and engaging in a conversation cross-party or between interested and intelligent people. I do have a problem listening to a rant that has no particular purpose other than being expressly designed to push liberal buttons, and then when I have a statement to make in return to these type of inflammatory rants, I am accused of "not being able to stand someone having a different opinion." I'm not saying that I'm not inflammatory to some people, fact is I tend to get pretty passionate about the state of the world. However, I continually defend any person's right to have their own beliefs.

What I won't do anymore is stand for people ranting, red-faced with spittle flying near me while I idly wait for them to either die of apoplexy or finish whining about how they have to pay too much tax and then try to calmly engage them in discussion. No. I will not. I will walk away, saying nothing, mid-rant.

For future reference, all my current and future socially conservative acquaintances. I will not listen to you rant about the following:

Homosexuality and marriage
Welfare and stereotypes about poor people
Climate change and Al Gore
"Leftist" conspiracies
How Fox is "fair and balanced"
Anything Fox related
How colleges are brainwashing people
How Sarah Palin will be a good president
Anything about Clinton or Carter
Anything about to the Tea Party
Anything about the Founding Fathers

I believe this list is comprehensive. Now, I'm stating firmly that you can believe anything you want to. What you can't do is try to scream your ideas into my brainpan. No. Not going to work.

I believe I can firmly state right now that I am a person with a strong set of beliefs and ideas, and you are just going to have to deal with it.