Dennis: A Liberal Became My Friend

20 years ago, the founder of the Boise Weekly — Andy Hedden-Nicely — seemed to love barbecuing me. I’d end up in his “best of/worst of” editions and had folks like Bill Cope and others write terrible things about me. I REALLY didn’t like Andy or any of his liberal buddies…or buddy-ettes, for that matter. And, yet, I had never actually met Andy…so it was VERY easy to dislike someone, to whom I had so easily affixed a caricature. Then, 8 years ago at a Christmas party, a mutual acquaintance, Jim Stephens, introduced us. Maybe it was the wine, maybe it was my recent disgust at the national neo-cons..maybe it was just the fact that I enjoyed having a tremedous conversation with Andy. … But I liked him, almost instantly/ Dennis Mansfield . More here .

• Cost of paranoia /Adam Graham, Adam’[s Blog
• Gaffe-o-rama /Tom von Alten, Fort Boise
• From where the misinformation? /Randy Stapilus, Ridenbaugh Press
• Verdict of history: Was Iraq war worth it? /Marc Johnson, The Johnson Report
  

Question: Have you ever become friends with someone you thought you didn’t like until you met him/her? Care to tell us about it?