I miss my Dad. Since his death I am the lone Democrat in a sea of Tea. A fact brought home to me for the umpteenth time during a conversation with my stepmother. Something I try not to do too often because...well...it just might be contagious.
I called her. It's that "respect your elders" kinda thing that my Mom raised me to do. *sigh* During our conversation she made this statement. "Your Brother finally got a job in Louisiana, no thanks to that black bastard and his job killing policies in the White House" Yeah, she actually went there.
Some background here is necessary. My Bro has been out of a job since the BP disaster. He was employed doing maintenance on the platforms until that happened. He was a member of the crew that had been replaced by the guys on the platform when it blew up. He was back on land a whole 3 days when that happened. Since that put the company he was working for out of business, he's been unemployed ever since.
After taking a few deep breaths I asked her what policies she was objecting to and why. Yepper, I really am just that stupid. Of course her reasons were Obamacare and all the jobs it killed. Along with a few other items that are Congressional Bullheadedness that she seems to feel is the Presidents fault. She gets her news from the "number 1" cable news network.
The partial list of things she doesn't know or never heard of is monumental.
1...She didn't know that the mandated "tax" would NOT apply to her because she has Medicare.
2...She didn't know that the ACA CLOSES the donut hole.
3...She didn't know that she wouldn't have to pay, at all, for preventative visits like her mammogram.
4...She didn't know that her copays would be reduced.
5...She believed that the Paul Ryan Budget changes to SS and Medicare were policies CREATED by Pres. Obama.
6...She didn't know that the tax increases that President Obama wants are on people making more than $250,000 a year. She believed the increases would affect my youngest brother's small business.
7...Despite the closing of businesses and the outsourcing of American Jobs while "job creators" were not paying higher taxes, SHE BELIEVES THAT TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS WORKS.
8...She believes that jobs are scarce because of all the undocumented aliens stealing those jobs from American workers.
9...She doesn't understand that the debt ceiling increase is something that happens with no fanfare for every president EXCEPT the one we have now.
10...She also doesn't understand that if we weren't supporting a warfare economy, there would be no need for all these other cuts.
My Dad, who was as liberal as they come, actually married this woman?
If one stops to think about everything she doesn't know, it proves the study conclusion that Fox watchers are the least informed of all Americans. She wasn't the least bit inclined to listen to me until I mentioned to her that Fox can't be broadcasted in Canada. Seems they have a truth in broadcasting rule that eliminates Fox from their airwaves. She didn't really believe me until I suggested my other bro spend some online time away from Texas Holdem and look it up. He did so, only to be able to say I was wrong. I wonder how disappointed that made him?
If you want a REAL dose of the Kool-Aiders, go to a conservative blobber site and read the posts and comments from like-minded Faux Addicts. It's amazing. And trying to correct or inform them is like trying to bail out the Titanic with a colander... no matter how fast you pour out the misinformation they just replace it with another talking point memo from Rush or Sean Hannity. It really does make you feel sorry for them.
ReplyDeleteThe saddest part is knowing that many of those folks are kind, generous people who just believe what they see on television to be the unvarnished truth. Because they're constantly warned that the "lamestream media" is trying to pervert the news with a liberal spin, they're suspicious as hell of actual facts that aren't spinning wildly to the right... and you can't communicate with them because they can't "receive" when they're "transmitting" their latest Faux News themes.
I don't believe this is a problem anyone can solve. When propaganda becomes a very (!) profitable art form and actual governance depends on selling the product, facts are the roadkill no one slows down for.
You're a better person than I, Sherry. I can't put up brainwashed idiots long enough to be "respectful" to my elders, much less to set them straight on obvious errors of fact.
I've had 50 years to perfect the art of ignoring what she and all but 1 of my brothers actually say. Not only did Dad marry her, they procreated. *sigh*
DeleteThere is a very, very good reason why the bro I actually have respect for lives in Louisiana. He tried Texas for awhile, but it wasn't hot and humid enough to keep her up here. LOL
Something else I've noticed about the tinfoil hatters. They focus in a very negative way on money. They never have enough and are constantly complaining about rising prices even when they can afford it without too much sacrifice.
Sherry:
ReplyDeleteStraight from Mein Kampf:
"Propaganda must not investigate the truth objectively and, in so far as it is favourable to the other side, present it according to the theoretical rules of justice; yet it must present only that aspect of the truth which is favourable to its own side. (...) The receptive powers of the masses are very restricted, and their understanding is feeble. On the other hand, they quickly forget. Such being the case, all effective propaganda must be confined to a few bare essentials and those must be expressed as far as possible in stereotyped formulas. These slogans should be persistently repeated until the very last individual has come to grasp the idea that has been put forward. (...) Every change that is made in the subject of a propagandist message must always emphasize the same conclusion. The leading slogan must of course be illustrated in many ways and from several angles, but in the end one must always return to the assertion of the same formula."
Talking points, and heaven forbid that anyone sit down and actually think about the whole picture. I also think it works because people want results in the here and now, so anything that promises that is pretty much what they believe is truth.
DeleteI am also aware that I might have made a few minor dings in the armor but sooner or later a politician will say something that will allow her to slip back to her chosen state. One racist remark will do it if no "facts" are forthcoming.
Sherry: I didn't like Bush and I railed against him - but my complaints were based on facts. There is an older woman I know that told me (and believes) that if Obama is reelected he plans to do away with voting and declare himself a monarch - and he plans to do this by establishing sharia law in his second term. She is actually petrified of the President.
ReplyDeleteWhere do they get this crap? That seems over the top for even Fox News.
the Ol'Buzzard
The sources for that would be blogs like World News Daily, The American Thinker, Michelle Malkin, Dana Loesch and other extreme right wingers. Even if your friend doesn't read them, someone she knows might and then talks about what they're reading.
DeleteI'd ask her why she thinks Obama would do that since it's the Republicans that are trying to interfere with voters rights. If you ask her about sharia law, she'll probably give you the reason that Obama is a Kenyan. She's most likely a birther and they are beyond reasoning with.
Something else too. There are people who are petrified of anyone with darker skin than they have. Sad, but that's quite common. And the reason why my stepmom doesn't like our President and won't like him no matter what he does.
Sherry: BINGO!!! You win the big prize of the carnival!
DeleteIf this guy were just a Bill Clinton-ish clone, they'd pursue him through bogus witchhunt channels like they did with WhiteWater. But there's a pigmentation problem with our current Prez (or what they like to call a "Pre-existing Condition") that makes them irrational.
It is weird how some people, who may be otherwise relatively nice, go ballistic about Obama and pass on all the fearmongering "obama did this, obama did that" emails that say "please pass this on to all of your friends" (yeah, nothing says 'truth' like that email closing sentence, lol). I've read some of them claim Obama is a socialist, a communist, a closet fanatical Muslim, etc.
ReplyDeleteGets old as far as I'm concerned. Some folks need to grow up and get over the lies they want to spread because they're just too hateful to give any credit to someone whose working hard for the rest of us.
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