I've found that the secret to thick accents is to just nod your head and say "Uh huh" a lot...
...works with wives too. Just the other day mz ribit was blathering away about me "not listening" or something like that. I just kept nodding my head and saying uh-hu, uh-hu. Didn't interfere with the MONK show I was watching at all.
Liberals are like a "Slinky". Totally useless, but somehow ya can't help but smile when you see one tumble down a flight of stairs!