[quote=afx114]Great post eaves. You’ve been able to elegantly summarize what I’ve been wanting to say but been unable to articulate in response to the barrage of daily emails I get from wingnut family members. I’ve pretty much given up on them, because even if I was able to articulate what you have above, they’d refuse to even consider it.[/quote]
I can empathize, afx. I have four siblings, and they’ve all gone over to Electric Crazyland, taking their spouses and kids with them. My in-laws were already there, waiting for them. I have the same problem that you’re experiencing: when I ask them why they believe someone, or support a particular candidate, or why they’re dragging someone’s name through the mud, they start to let loose with the Tea Party-approved sound bites. When I short-circuit the feed after 8 or 9 seconds with some carefully aimed – oh, what are they called? Oh, yeah – FACTS, and ask them to craft their responses around those, they immediately get flustered, and then comes the inevitable “I don’t want to talk about it any more.” Of course, I can’t resist asking them why the fuck they brought it up in the first place.
I’ve told them that it’s not their beliefs to which I object, but the misinformation and the flawed logic and the out-and-out lies that they propagate in order to spread their message. IMHO, if you believe in your message to such a degree that you are trying to convert others, then you should take the time to craft a comprehensive coherent and cohesive argument to persuade them to do so, instead of simply scaring the hell out of them.
I watched all of them get significantly poorer during the last ten years, but they’ve managed to convince themselves that Obama is responsible for every bit of it. And there’s no way that I’m going to be able to convince them otherwise. You know, I’m not always against denial as a way of coping (at least temporarily). But it’s particularly frustrating and heartbreaking to watch when people continue to dial up the denial while allowing themselves to be used by the very people who are screwing them. I’d go nuts if I had to respond to every one of their emails that has another “breaking” 10 year-old story (that was never true in the first place), or incriminating evidence, or really weak political “humor”.
