One of the wisest things I did when I started coming to the States for the winter was to refrain from spouting my personal opinions about American politics. My feeling is that I'm a guest in this country and I should be a polite one, not taking chances of offending my host (or it's citizens). I take my cue from whomever I happen to be in conversation with and only discuss politics if they hold the same views that I do.
Tonight one of our card playing ladies sort of got on the topic of possibly unacceptable e-mails that people send out, usually ones that express opinions that aren't necessarily shared by the recipients of the e-mails. Somehow that conversation slipped around to Obama and a few of us mentioned that we like him but it was plain by the silence from some of our friends that we were treading on uncomfortable ground so we stopped discussing that particular topic. It was the right thing to do. It is never proper to make your friends uncomfortable and I'll certainly try harder to keep this in mind if it ever happens again.
It's so much easier to vent our displeasure or preference of specific politicians when we're in our own country and when we're with people who know us well. But it's nothing short of rude to do this in a country you're visiting. Sometimes it's best to just know when to shut up and listen.
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