Ugh...talking politics with my mom....

[vi5]

My mom was nice enough to drive into New York City with me for my son's doctors appointment and the trip was fine but on the way back she asked me what I thought about the woman from Alaska. I said I thought it was insulting to women, ridiculous on it's face, and that for a person who says he "puts country first" and that national security is the utmost importance, this should prove to everyone that he's lying. She agreed with that but then talked about how she wasn't nuts about Obama. I got indignant (which I suppose I shouldn't have) and asked why and it was a ridiuclous hodgepodge of talking points ("has no specific policies or plans....wants to get things done by having us all sing kum-ba-ya....) and when I pointed out that they were talking points and asked her is she actually did research on the subject she said that she had seen her information on CNN and she said I was not looking at both sides, blah blah blah. Had to listen to her talk about how horrible rolling back the estate tax would be (her and my dad have done quite well for themselves) and how horrible unions are. I tried countering every point but just gave up when I found myself yelling too much.

I know in the end she'll vote for Obama since she's no fan of republicans. But she's just so stereotypical of the average american voter that thinks that by watching a few hours of cnn a week that they're getting "both sides of the story". For every one of her who just happens to hate republicans more than she does the dem nominee, there are others out there who will be just as gullible.

[Union Thug]

1. CNN? Both Sides? HA! That's a good one!

The corporate media gives you one side of reality - the official corporate side. YOu know, the one that ignores the world view and experience of the working people of this country. I laugh like hell when I hear this crap. But I'm secretly crying.

[vi5]

2. Yeah, same here....

Of course I made the mistake of saying first "Where do you get this stuff? Fox News?" So she probably thought she was countering my dig with something unbiased. She already thinks I'm a raging leftist conspiracy nut anyway, for the basic things I believe. If I were to start in on the corporate media she would have totally been annoyed and completely shut me out.

[orwell]

3. Best to keep it simple...

...is she happy with the way the country is going right now? If no, then why does she think voting for more of the same will change anything?

If she is happy, then there is nothing you can say she will vote Republican.

We don't need every voter.

[vi5]

4. Yeah, that's what I tried....

..it pretty much ended with me saying more or less that exact same thing.

[Geek_Girl]

5. Be happy that your Mom supports Obama

I just had a fun conversation with my mother (who happens to live with me) who supports McCain. I'm getting tired of the daily debates with her. She actually believes Palin was fully vetted and McCain knew of her daughters pregnancy. :crazy:

[givemebackmycountry]

6. My 76 year old mom LOVES Obama and when I talk politics with her...

All she says is "I agree".


I LOVE MY MOM!


:loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya:

[Divernan]

7. Tell her you don't want your son drafted for one of McCain's 100 year wars

and you could print out Obama's policies from his website and give them to her. If you think she's open to reading them. There are some people whose minds are beyond changing (like my next door neighbor w/ the only McCain yard sign I've seen in my town!)
And as to avoiding the estate taxes - there are all kinds of estate planning methods available to minimize or totally avoid estate taxes.

[vi5]

8. She wouldn't read them....

She'll vote for him. I've no doubt about it. I think I was more annoyed by what her mindset represents about the people in this country than anything else. It's why I don't talk politics with people. I go through the trouble of reading up on things, reading bills, reading proposals, reading policies and speeches, finding out how candidates voted, etc. then to attempt to discuss with someone who thinks they are equally as informed as you are because they watched some talking head pundit show on cable news just drives me batty. Precisely because I'm no genius and it doesn't take that much work. It's just too much work for the average voter to be bothered with yet they still go in and pull the lever same as I do. And there are plenty of people I realize who do not have the time to do all the work and research and who are worth putting in the extra time and having a little more patience when discussing politics with them. But my mom is not one of them. She has nothing but free time and the things she chooses to use that free time for rather than bothering to inform herself even slightly infuriates me.

[Divernan]

9. That's hard for you. Just keep doing your own good job of informing yourself

and give your son that good example. I considered part of my job as a teacher of both undergrads and graduate/law students, to get them to keep in mind that everyone who writes a text book has his or her own prejudices and agendas - whether open, hidden and/or subconscious - and to learn to recognize the difference between documented facts and high-flown opinion. Just because something is printed in a book (or on the web) or spoken on a news or opinion TV/radio show, does not mean it's true.