Thanksgiving Conservative Relative

[TlalocW]

I post a fair amount of political rants on Facebook and do some (but not enough) "real life" political events, but I always dial it back for family events. I'm one of few liberals in the family, and I just don't care to get fights started when I want to be enjoying pie - in fact, I head them off. Once my brother-in-law and his brothers were having a political discussion after dinner, and I went in to get another piece of pie, and they asked me what I thought, and I told them, "Easy," then pointed at each of them in turn while exclaiming, "You're wrong! You're wrong! And you're wrong! I'm right, but I'm not telling you how or why!" They found that funny, and it broke up the discussion.

For the past two years though, the BIL's step-dad, who is very religious, has been trying to start political arguments with me. Last year about abortion (family is close to Wichita, KS, home of Dr. Tiller). I was feigning being asleep after dinner and was actually trying to drop off when he started up about abortion and tried to drag me into it. I think I headed off any further discussion by saying, "You can be against abortion all you want from a religious standpoint, but if you're also against things like comprehensive sex education and birth control, then you can wring your hands about so-called immorality and pray all you want, but you're just working against your primary goal of reducing the abortion rate."

This year, out of the blue, he just made some crack about Obamacare, while looking straight at me. I was eating at the time so didn't bother replying. Later on, he brought it up again (particularly the website), so I headed him off with a two-pronged attack - first the website isn't Obamacare. It's a tool that needs fixing, and second, Obamacare has been with us for three years, and both democrats and republicans like it as both will gladly take money through the program to benefit hospitals and medical facilities in their districts including a couple of republicans from the Wichita area who did photo ops earlier this year at a couple of medical facilities giving some big-ass (both in physical size and amount) Obamacare checks to them. It's just the republicans turn around and hypocritically bash it."

He shut up after that.

TlalocW

[okaawhatever]

1. Awesome. Don't you want to say, If the website is about all they can complain about, doesn't that

tell you the law itself is pretty good? If the law was bad, they'd be discussing that....

[The Wielding Truth]

2. I love you. I wish I could be as calm, collected and methodical. I mostly get frustrated and clumsy.

Great job!

[OffWithTheirHeads]

3. We were lucky. My sil and family are all dems. Politics never came up.

Her brother, who is a teabag, was not invited. He was at a family event last summer and started in on "the nigra" in Casa Grande. I had been specifically asked by her not to talk politics when he was around and I respect her house so when he started in I just walked away. I let her know that I walked away because I respected her house but if it happened again, I would be firing both barrels. I simply will not put up with this shit. He was not invited and we had a great thanksgiving.

[karend62]

4. don't feed the trolls

Sounds like his immediate family has quit taking the bait so he looks forward to "debating" you every year at Thanksgiving.

[TlalocW]

14. No, his immediate family agrees with him

So they don't offer him anything in way of arguing.

TlalocW

[gopiscrap]

5. I refuse to visit, eat or host

anyone who is a republican. I haven't seen my inlaws in 30 years because they are a bunch of tea baggers.

[yeoman6987]

7. Wow

I am not saying you are wrong, but that is rather direct. I am not sure I could keep my kids away from their Grandparents just because I don't agree with them politically. We just don't talk politics and has been that way forever. There are many topics to discuss that has common interests.

[awoke_in_2003]

8. Life is too short...

to be surrounded by assholes. I no longer communicate with two of my three uncles. The one I do communicate with is an old easy going hippy who is a lot like my mother.

[gopiscrap]

11. good for you

[awoke_in_2003]

13. Truthfully, I am blessed...

My parents were of the hippy nature, very accepting of others. I grew up in a warm loving home. All I need to be around is my father (my mm has passed), sisters, wife, and grandchildren. Even though I don't associate with some, I am rich in good family.

[gopiscrap]

10. We gave them several chances early in our marriage

and we would travel hundreds of miles to see them only to have them tell us that when we grew up, we would be republicans also. We didn't want our kids exposed to that shit. The only we have seen them since 1981 is for my wife's dad's funeral and that's only because I was hired to sing it. What happens politically direct effects your life. I lost my father in Vietnam because of a political decision. My mother suffered greatly from war injuries because of a political decision. So to me politics comes first.

[Skip Intro]

9. That's too bad. Family should tanscend politics. n/t

[gopiscrap]

12. If you're not liberal, you can never be family to me!

everything that happens politically has a major effect on your life. I lost both parents as a child due to political decisions. So yes, politics does transcend everything.

[Skip Intro]

15. Again, that's too bad.

I have serious political differences, and other differences, with many members of my family, but we don't disown each other over those differences. We still come together. We love each other. And we're there for each other. Some things are bigger than politics, and should be.

ymmv

[ErikJ]

6. That's what they did with the 2009 Obama stimulus too.

They did photo-ops with huge checks for some kind of local project while bashing the stimulus mercilessly.

[MADem]

16. I had dinner with one conservative and a pair of Rand Paul-ish conspiracy theorists.

The rest of the crowd were rank and file Dems, reliable ticket voters, by and large.

No one said a political word all day. The food was just too good.

[Cha]

17. Two words, TlalocW

[Liberal_in_LA]

18. k&r

[wryter2000]

19. What is it with conservatives?

Almost without exception, in situations where there's general agreement not to discuss politics, it's a "conservative" who just can't stifle himself.