An old friend of mine, who is a passionate liberal and staunch Democrat, called me up on my birthday, and we met to spend some time together.

Miners used to carry canaries in cages into mines to warn of the presence of harmful gases. I don't know if the metaphor is fully apt, but I think I was with a canary for the Democratic Party the other day.

Our friendship has survived several fights over politics, even ones where one of us — not saying which one — walked out on the other from a restaurant or a coffee shop, going back to the days when George W. Bush was president.

Both of us expressed heartfelt gratitude that we were still friends; seriously, we even shed a few tears.

It's true that, over these years, we have learned to be more careful in our speech and, more importantly, in how we listen to one another. So we did a better job of communicating on this day and in expressing our opinions about politics. Even so, it was remarkable how much we agreed upon this time. Also, I noticed significant changes in my liberal friend's thinking.

For one thing, my friend said she did not like The Squad, the four congresswomen who are taking the Democratic Party so far left. (Normally, she doesn't countenance any criticism of any Democrat.) Furthermore, she said she was offended when they threw down the race card in response to Speaker Nancy Pelosi disciplining them.

My comment to my friend was that the racism charges are all slander, whether Democrats are calling Pelosi or President Trump racist, because there's no evidence of either being racist. I added that we have forgotten what a real racist is but that we have just been reminded by the sick person who killed so many in El Paso, Texas.

My friend thought about this a second, and then she said she was just sick of Democrats crying racism all the time.

We finished our lunch and went for a walk.

My friend objected to the Democrats wanting open borders. She said she wants the southern border secured, and she wants authorities to vet everyone who comes into our country. She added that Roman society died because Romans didn't control who came into their empire.

My comment in response was that I like different kinds of people, and I like living around different kinds of people, but I still want our borders controlled.

The subject changed, and my friend opined that gays and transgender people demand power and attention at a level that's not justified by their numbers in our society. She added that she actually thought transgenderism is really a kind of mental illness.

My comment was that pushing transgenderism on children is child abuse.

We sat down on some rocks by a river. My friend told me I had been right when I said the Republican Party was the party formed to end racism. She commented that she had just learned that her Massachusetts ancestors, who were abolitionists, were Republicans.

A little bit stunned, I just nodded.

We got up and walked to a bench in a garden and sat down.

Of course, we still disagreed on some things and had to tiptoe around them. My friend asked my opinion about Marianne Williamson, the spiritualist who is running for president.

My reply was that Ms. Williamson certainly could not handle the job of president, but I thought she was brave for getting out there and sharing her perspective.

My friend defended Joe Biden as a candidate.

No response from me.

My friend concluded that she just didn't know about the Democratic Party anymore and that she might just have to become an independent.

My thought was, she sounds like me years ago. Later, it occurred to me that she was a canary in the political coal mine.

C.S. Boddie writes for Meadowlark Press, LLC.