A response to the Obama b.s. I got last night.

[grace0418]

Last night I posted the latest RW smear being sent around via email. It was sent to me by my father-in-law. I won't bother linking to the thread because I got blasted for it, people even insinuating that I was a concern troll or worse. I had no idea I would get this reaction. I figured that we all know what happens when we employ the "ignore them and they'll go away" tactic with RWers, so I thought everyone here would want to know what was out there. Boy was I wrong.

Anyway, someone suggested that I post my father-in-law's email so they could set him straight. I respectfully declined. I did however send the following to him. I know it's not harsh enough for some DUers, but I was trying to find a way to be diplomatic.

Dear Dad

How are you doing? I hope all is well. I am looking
forward to seeing you soon.

I have to admit I've written and re-written this email
several times. You know I love getting email from you
and respect your opinions. When I disagree, for the
most part I just let it go and move on because I
believe everyone has a right to their opinion.

However, this is one email that I cannot let go.

I care very deeply and feel very strongly about the
direction this country has been going for the last
eight years, and I think it has been truly awful. I
believe that Senator Obama is our best hope to turn
around this country. I don't believe he is perfect,
just our best hope. Senator McCain will only continue
the disastrous policies of the Bush administration and
I don't see how our country can survive such an
onslaught to our rights, our economy, our environment,
our foreign policy and on our Constitution.

I am not asking you to support Senator Obama, just
that you refrain from forwarding the lies,
distortions, and manipulations being sent out by
Newsmax and other hatefully biased publications.
Instead, take the time to read about Senator Obama's
platform and policies, then make your own decision
about your support. http://factcheck.barackobama.com/.
Again, you may decide you cannot support him, but it's
better to base it on what he actually says and does
than what someone with an agenda against him has to
say about him.

Many people in Washington and beyond have an ax to
grind because Sen. Obama is being supported by the
little people, regular hard-working Americans, instead
of big business and lobbyists. The people who stand to
lose their cushy jobs and (largely unearned) fat
paychecks will say whatever they want to make him look
bad, most of it lies. Then there are those who know
they will be brought to justice by Senator Obama
should he become president. These are people that have
gotten away with horrible crimes for years now, and
are afraid of going to jail. You can imagine what
people like this might say to save their skins. And
sadly, there is still a great deal of racism in
this country. There really are still people who hate
Senator Obama simply because of the color of his skin.
And they too will say anything to bring him down.

It is for these reasons that I ask you to take stories
you hear about Senator Barack Obama with a grain of
salt, and think twice before you forward them. Like I
said, I do not believe his is perfect, no human is,
but I believe he will make an excellent president.

Much love,
grace0418

[gcomeau]

1. Very well handled. k&r. -nt

[mrreowwr_kittty]

2. That's a very nice letter.

It may not change your dad's mind but it makes your point, respectfully, and allows him the opportunity to do his own homework.

Well done. :thumbsup:

[redwitch]

3. nicely done.

:hi:

[Iris]

4. Nice job.

And I think lovingly done. It's hard to stand up to in-laws.

[yourout]

5. Excellent reply...

One can only hope there are a few on the other side with a sliver of an open mind.

[blondeatlast]

6. Very well done; thank you for sharing it. You touched on issues that really matter

to people.

[BonnieJW]

7. VERY diplomatic.

My inlaws have always been the same way. My fil passed away in January and my mil is slowly losing her mind. When I was first married, they thought they could tell me how to vote, and were very suprised when I let them know I really didn't care what they thought.

[bunkerbuster1]

8. Attagirl.

You kept it positive, and you gave reasons why you actually support Obama (as opposed to tearing into McCain.)

Smart stuff. Good work.

[lyonn]

9. If you are a troll you sure wrote a nice letter to a die-hard repub.

All we can do with people that talk trash about Obama is do what you have attempted. To make them do a bit of reaserch. My husband has a friend that tells him these wild stories he gets on the internet and my husband tries to explain how far off base those comments are. Apparently it doesn't do any good. Mostly this guy gets haired up over the black and muslim issue. Since the guy has lots of money in bank and not married, I suspect he is a lonely old man hording his dollars and being miserable.

[NatBurner]

10. well done, and I hope it works

[woolldog]

11. Good letter.

Kind but firm. Your dad was probably proud of you while reading it.

[otohara]

12. Diplomatic & FIGHTING The Smears

at the same time!

Bravo!:woohoo:

[grace0418]

13. Thanks everyone. Your responses have encouraged me.

I was really thrown for a loop at the responses I received last night and feeling pretty down about it. Anyway, I don't know if this will change anything with my father-in-law or not but at least I said it. I hope, if nothing else, he stops forwarding that crap for awhile. I will lose my mind long before November if I keep getting this stuff from him.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

18. I'd tell him his email address gets added to the junk mail filter if he persists.

[Dems to Win]

19. Great letter, respectful and loving.

I have also made posts at DU and been gobsmacked by the response -- you are not alone. :pals:

[sniffa]

14. You did a great job

:thumbsup:

And another Rec' from me.

[democrat2thecore]

15. That was just about.....perfect! -nt

[papapi]

16. I confess. I was the DUer who said you should post your dad's . . .

email so he could be email bombed. I truly only meant this metaphorically to voice my own anger at the miserable Newsmax message he sent you. I'm truly sorry if my frustration upset you and I hope you will accept my apology.

Your letter in return was well thought out and informative, unlike the message you received. Maybe your father-in-law will also experience some regret like I have and seriously consider your reasons for supporting Sen. Obama.

Hopefully, we can be friends.

papapi

[grace0418]

17. Thanks!

Wow, you really made my day. Apology more than accepted and of course we can be friends.

I truly understand your frustration, believe me. I was actually more upset about the people who asked that I remove my OP.

:hug:

[barack the house]

20. A wonderful letter, hope he listens to you.

[Triana]

21. PLEASE SEND THE RW SMEAR EMAIL to [e-mail]

...so they can debunk that shit.

[grace0418]

22. I did. I posted here after I sent it off. I wanted to see

if anyone else had seen it yet. That was apparently my mistake.

[Triana]

25. Don't let the overzealous get to you.

I've had my head ripped off here in the past for things I'd never have expected to be digitally beheaded for. Like - oh - posting about signing petitions or making phone calls on an issue that Democrats SHOULD care about and want to do something about. And, other things. With 10,000+ members, there's always somebody....

[Cha]

23. That's a perfect letter Grace..

Thanks!

[me b zola]

24. If your given name is Grace, then you were properly named

Very nice. :toast:

[Lisa0825]

26. Sorry you were blasted, but....

try to understand how many people do post such things just to troll, so it's easy to see how people could jump to that conclusion.

Your letter was excellent. You did a very good job of being diplomatic with your father. It's so much easier to fight back against people who are just acquaintances or distant relatives. It's much more difficult when it is someone one is still close to.

:pals:

[grace0418]

34. Thanks Lisa0825.

You make a good point. People probably meant well, but some of the conclusions they jumped to were pretty harsh.

Hey, we have similar screen names! :hi:

[sellitman]

27. Please let us know what his reply is.

Not nessasarily word for word but the "gist".

Great job!

[tomg]

28. A think a lot of us who have

relatives we love but who are prone to e-mailing Newsmax and the like could use your letter as a model of tact and firmness. As someone else upthread said, if your given name is Grace, you were well named.

[grace0418]

29. Holy cow! Thank you all so much!

I think I'm going to cry, your responses are just about the nicest things I've been told on DU. You are all so kind.

:hug:

[klebean]

30. I'm going to use your letter

as often as needed, w/a few edits to personalize it.
you nailed it - THANK YOU

[grace0418]

32. I'd be thrilled to know someone was using my letter!

Personalize all you like. :hi:

Also, you'll have to edit a typo in the last paragraph ("I do not believe his is perfect" should be "I do not believe *he* is perfect"). :)

[L0oniX]

31. K & R ...and screw the bullies on this board. Just brush them off like the dirt they are.

:hi:

[grace0418]

33. Thanks! Though, to be fair, I don't think the people who responded

to my earlier thread intended to be bullies (at least not most of them). They just jumped to conclusions. I do wish they had responded when I wrote the reason *why* I posted the email. None made any comment. This thread made up for it though. Restored my faith in DU.

:hi:

[yourguide]

36. Have you heard back from him yet?

[grace0418]

37. No. And I don't necessarily expect to hear from him. He's not much of a fighter.

But it would be nice to hear something back.

[yourguide]

38. Well, perhaps he is just mulling it over

and hopefully you will hear back.

[grace0418]

39. Maybe. I guess it just felt good saying it. I do keep my opinions to myself most

of the time with my husband's family. They are superstitious people, very religious and very scared of the world around them. They lived through terrible hardship in their native country and came to live in the US when they were in their 30s. So I allow them a little leeway. They're good people in their way, and are certainly not going to change overnight into open-minded liberals. They've been fed superstitious boogeyman bullshit for too long. One lefty daughter-in-law is not going to change that.

Still, thanks. Maybe by some miracle he will respond and respond positively.

:hi:

[zulchzulu]

35. Great letter...and I'm sorry for how your father is embarrassing you

When people send out such obvious crap about Obama, I just wonder what the hell they are thinking. Is it some kind of groupthink? Some kind of way of binding together based on absolute untruth?

I went through some times with my father on this email junk and turned him on to Factcheck and Snopes in 2004 and he's seen the light about how his Republican Party are just hypocrites... he voted for Obama in the primary season and has left the Republican party after being in it since 1968.

Give it time with Dad. Certainly let him know you are serious about him knowing the truth over lies.