How not to get invited back

As you may know, DC is kind of extreme in terms of politics, and that pretty much everyone has a stance on every issue, or is expected to.

This is sometimes hard for me, and particularly lately, when I'm even more unplugged than usual. So if I've missed the Daily Show or Nick is gone for a period of time, like this past week, I have no idea what's going on in the world.

Sometimes I rely on Facebook to tell me what's new, like yesterday, when everyone I know was rejoicing about the Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act.

Just about all my friends are Democrats, and very into politics. And as I recall from our single days, none of them would date a Republican.

It was one of the screening criteria during the dating days. Republican? No way. I have friends who have never dated a Republican.

Whereas I dated a number of them. I mean like actual boyfriends, not just the cheese-hating not-date date.

It must be admitted that during the height (or perhaps abyss) of my online-dating frenzy, my therapist did suggest setting the bar fairly low. And sometimes I'm sure it seemed like professional circus freaks were really the only absolute nos.

Which is not to say I'm putting Republicans in the low-bar professional or even non-professional circus freak category. I'm just trying to explain myself. Basically, you can't be as attracted as I am to conservative-looking men without winding up with a Republican or seven.

But among my friends, I am in the minority.

So my dear dear friend Ann, the only friend I've kept in close contact with since college, came to visit this week with her lovely - and very non-Republican - daughter. They live in Richmond, not DC, but their family is just as focused on politics as my friends here.

We were talking about the upcoming election. And our hopes and fears. And how why aren't Democrats focusing on the Mormon thing with Romney in order to make the rabid Christian voting populace twitchy?

Ann said that she'd recently met a Mormon and she asked him about the special underwear. Her daughter said, "Can you believe it? She didn't even know him and she asked him about his underwear!"

Ann defended herself with, "He was wearing a tag identifying himself as Mormon. Don't you think that's inviting questioning?"

I do. Yes, I do.

And anyway, this is just who Ann is. In fact, she and my dad horrified family friends when they talked about underwear at the dinner table. There are huge reasons we're such good friends.

She told me that some years ago a friend in Richmond had invited her and her husband over for dinner. She'd gotten seated next to a guy who turned out to be a speech writer for Dick Cheney.

Ann expressed her horror and the guy said, "He's actually very nice."

To which Ann replied, "I'm sure Hitler's friends thought he was a good guy as well."