Among Friends

[doxie1]

Do you value the friendship? She may be more stressed. I think I would remind her that you are not going to reply to political comments but value hearing from her. A 50 to 55 year friendship seems valuable.

When I got an email with a rant I would only reply to the part that is newsworthy.

doxie

[Sage04]

@Nataliesgramma, I would not respond to the political rant. I would change the subject and talk about the weather. Then I will delete anything about politics.

I have friends who send me texts and pictures of things I am not interested in and when asked why I didn´t respond I always say I didn´t know i was supposed to.

[qualitygal]

It's your choice on how you want to handle it, but it appears, she'll do repeats.  Sure it's just frustration.  You could remind her one last time of the agreed upon rules.  If she can't abide by them adding to your stress, tell her when she can, then you'll be available.

[NYC Susan]

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@Nataliesgramma wrote:

We are both the same age ....mid 60's and have known each other since we were little. She hasn't lived close since we were 16.

We email....text... sometimes call once a week. We made a deal NOT to talk money or Politics. Well she just can't help herself. The first time, I REMINDED her about our deal. The second time I ignored the email and when she asked if I got it....I answered "Yes". ...thinking she would get the message. She seemed to....

Yesterday, I  sent a friendly email about what we are doing around here and after a few sentences of what they were doing......she goes into this Political rant again....It was 2 paragraphs in BOLD letters....

Do I give her a FOURTH chance or just not respond back and when she does just tell her I no longer want to email each other.

I just feel that she thinks her opinion matters more than our friendship...

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I would send a separate email explaining exactly how I felt.  Not buried in an email filled with newsy stuff about my day, just a "We need to clear the air about this one issue" thing.  Or better yet, I would call.  Just lay it out there.  Tell her you don't want to discuss or read about anything political, and this is a big deal to you.  Ask her to respect that. And listen to her point of view, too.

The way I read your post, I don't see that this is a fourth chance.  Ignoring her email wasn't a great idea, IMO.   "Thinking she would get the message" is not the way to communicate.  Speak up and say what's on your mind.  If you've been friends for so long, you should be able to do that.  

Personally, I wouldn't be so quick to drop such a long-time friend.  Don't "just not respond back."  You're adults.  If you feel she values her opinion more than your friendship, you need to tell her that.  Communicate with her clearly and directly.  (And keep in mind that not everything has to be on your terms.  Friendship is a two-way street.  And people are under enormous stress right now.)

[occasionalrain]

It's an email, just ignore the political part. Now if meeting a friend for lunch and she went on about politics or her grandchildren, I'd change the subject.

It's rude to dictate what another adult is permitted to say.