3 things I learned from my wing nut relatives over the weekend:

[Lex]

1. Banks aren't in the least responsible for the fact that they loaned money without asking for much evidence of the ability to pay it back. (No, it's all the fault of the jerks who had the audacity to think they might like to buy a house if banks would lend money to them to do it.)

2. If there were no social safety net like welfare or unemployment pay, then this country wouldn't have a jobs crisis because people would just get out there and take the jobs in the fields (in Alabama for example). See? Jobs crisis over.

3. Student loans are bullshit. If you can't afford to send your children to college, then that's too bad.

These are normally otherwise sane people. I despair.

[Angry Dragon]

1. DNA tests are in order

it may turn out that they are not really related to you

[hifiguy]

2. If they truly believe those three things

they are not sane. At the very least they are living in a state of fact-free denial so deep that they will never think normally again. At the worst, they are simply dumber than rocks.

[peace13]

6. They are out there in full force.

Lucky if you don't have any relatives like them. Every holiday is a continual battle. Very sad.

[MedicalAdmin]

22. Mine have stopped trying to argue with me.

Of course it could just be that they got tired of bringing pocket knives to carpet bombing fights. A friend of mine once commented that I verbally chop fools into pieces and then make sushi with what ever is left over after the carnage.

[Enthusiast]

39. Could we get you on TV?

I'm tired of our side never having a strong voice.

[MedicalAdmin]

40. Let me give you the advice my mom gave me.

You might as well speak up for yourself because no one else is going to do it and no one else should have to. ANd I am a puppy dog compared to my dearly departed mother. She was 5 feet tall and about 90 pounds dripping wet and she made most men scared to confront her. She had a presence and confidence that was all out of proportion with her body.

Trust me and trust yourself. You are much better at this than you think. Be the change you want to see in the world.


And if you need talking points or ripostes, then you have come to the right board for help.

[Scuba]

41. +1,000 "you are better than you think"

[hifiguy]

33. Oh, I do have some hardcore wingnut relatives,

I just never see any of them. I never saw much of the extended family growing up and never really have. A couple of my cousins are hard core liberal Dems, but many are Jebus-addled nincompoops.

[Marazinia]

29. The majority of the family is in the former category

They're not stupid by any means, but wow. Are they crazy. And they think I'm crazy.

I used to argue with them. I was the one that showed up at family holidays with a sheaf of human rights and FOIA documents in my hands. But I had to give up because I really don't want to lose all respect for the people I love.

[peace13]

3. We may be related!

Keep the chin up!

[Lex]

16. They're everywhere.

I think they are Faux News poisoned.

[peace13]

19. Yes mine are Faux poisoned and one is a Paul supporter! n/t

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[quinnox]

5. and did you sit there and nod your head or let it go by

and not even argue? Come on, show some backbone and stand up for your beliefs. Tell them they are full of shit.

[Lex]

9. Show some backbone? How do you know what I said?

:shrug:

[quinnox]

11. it sounds like you took it

and for the sake of family harmony or some such bullshit, didn't even object to their nonsense at the time. Otherwise, why not mention it in your OP.

[Lex]

14. Crystal ball FAIL.

But the OP wasn't about my reply to them. Only how despairing it is to hear that kind of stuff.

[quinnox]

15. then I apologize

I hate it when we liberals/progressives let the right wingers talk their bullshit and we meekly take it.

[peace13]

18. That trick never works.

When it is a friend you can say what you want and let the chips fall where they may. Family well, while their ignorance flourishes they will never open their minds to what you are saying or forget that you said it. Trust me, I am old enough to know. I have a mother and two sister who think as the OP describes. Not pretty!

[MedicalAdmin]

25. I think part of the problem is that too many folks don't go for the

throat with family. If you can't have a knock down drag out knuckle duster with family and get over it, then who can you?

That said, with folks with closed minds don't try to reason or convince. Go straight for humiliation and mocking. Eg. "That is the most sub moronic idiotic and uninformed opinion I have ever heard. Tell me, do you know how to wipe your own ass or do you have to turn on Rush in the morning to figure out how to deal with the shit?"

Of course not all families are like mine. ... And I'm an asshole ... so keep that in mind too.

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

7. I hear you.

same experiences here. If people who are on SS and SS disability are looking at candidates that proclaim SS "is immoral" or SSD is "the biggest scam in history", then this country is in for a whole lot of hurt.

[Lint Head]

8. It appears you have compassion for people who have mental issues.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

10. They are not sane....

....they sound like very miserable people, with zero sympathy or compassion. They are trained sociopaths.

[Fire Walk With Me]

12. Pull off their masks, it's alien lizard man time!

[RegieRocker]

13. No they were never sane. Closet insanity.

[southernyankeebelle]

17. It is really sad because they think they are good christians. How foolish.

[LongTomH]

20. I know how you feel, Pal!

My relatives on my late mother's side are mostly wingnuts, especially my cousin. She listens to Glenn Beck and buys his books. I remember a year ago, riding with her to shop. She started raving about hoping "Air Force One flies into a mountain," and "Acorn is a Nazi organization," all that rot. Her face was totally distorted by hate; she had her eyes closed and I was afraid she'd go off the road.

I'm dreading Thanksgiving.

Actually, I think the worst is yet to come. I have a political email list where I send out posts from DU and other sources. Somehow, I got her name mixed in with the list when I forwarded an alert from Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). It was a link to this article: NewsHour and the One Percent. I wasn't aware that I had sent it to her until I got a scathing reply, stating "Only liberal commentators lie.....and yadada yadada yaddada!"

I've actually tried to avoid political battles with her; but.............you know how it goes!

By the way, my aunt on my Dad's side has never fallen for any of this conservative claptrap. She survived the (last) Great Depression and remembers FDR.

[MedicalAdmin]

28. You could try reframing.

Eg. When she says "I hope that air force one flies into a mountain," say "how long have you wanted the US to be attacked by terrorists?"

When she says, " acorn is a nazi organization," say " how long have you hated jews?"


The idea is to knock her off her stride while indirectly naming her behavior. Hope this helps.

[Populist_Prole]

21. Sorry to hear that. I know the feeling, the despair of seeing a complete disconnect

Just spent several days with my RW father and his views mirror what your relatives said. He was always to the right, but ever since being comfortably retired, he's gotten really opinionated hard right, and cynical as all get-out against anybody or anything he deems to be to the left of him. Shame, because just like your relatives, you take politics out, we get along great.

[yardwork]

23. I remember now why I ignore an entire two branches of my family tree.

It is disheartening. On my mother's side, the wingnuts are descended from a family patriarch who was a Socialist. Imagine that. A farmer who believed in government programs. How did the Democratic Party lose all these people.

[Lex]

34. We try to get along otherwise.

I do present my point of view, and they theirs, but they are so far into the Faux News spin that they don't even hear how ridiculous they sound. Mostly we talk about other things when we are having family events. It's hard to hear them say things that make no logical sense.

[dtexdem]

24. Mental hospitals have always been full of "otherwise sane" people.

jes sayin

[snacker]

26. Yup...

those are the typical right-wing talking points.

[lib2DaBone]

27. I heard 3 people on the bus the other day... arguing

...arguing over the fact that Iraq had WMD's and WAS responsible for 911.

Fox News and Limbaugh never sleep... they bang away relentlessly at the sheeple...

[geardaddy]

30. "Extended warranty! How can I lose?"

Moe: All right, tell me when I hit the sweet spot.
Homer: Deeper, you pusillanimous pilsner pusher!
Moe: All right, all right. taps the crayon further up Homer's nose]
Homer: De-fense! De-fense!
Moe: Eh, that's pretty dumb. But, uh ...
Homer: Extended warranty? How can I lose?
Moe: Perfect.

[DainBramaged]

31. Republican logic and a picture of the RNC leadership

[Me.]

32. Did They Go To College?

Loans?

[DirkGently]

35. Hmm. So, they would say countries with larger social safety nets should have higher unemployment?

Or, not. :D

United States 9.1

Venezuela 8.2

Finland 7.8

Ecuador 7.7

Peru 7.7

Sweden 7.7

Iceland 7.6

United Kingdom 7.6

Denmark 7.4

Cuba 1.6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_unemployment_rate

[CJCRANE]

36. So corporate socialism is okay (taxpayer bank bailouts)

but don't try helping the little guy...

Ask them where their morals are.

[OneGrassRoot]

37. Do you find that, in general, they dislike people/humanity more than you?

And are apt to think the worst about people rather than give people the benefit of the doubt?

[Lex]

43. Yes, and I'll tell you why I think that.

One relative told 2 different stories about how they thought someone had stolen something from them (one a camera in rental car, in another instance an envelope with some money in it) and both times it turns out no one stole those items. The camera was just misplaced on a trip and the the envelope was recovered by the cleaning crew at the store later that night--it has just been dropped and inadvertently kicked under a store display. In the telling of the stories (at different times over the weekend) they related how they were so sure right from the beginning those items had been stolen. Someone always out to get them and their stuff, I guess.

[OneGrassRoot]

44. Seriously, that's what it comes down to, imho, based on knowing people like this...

(not just knowing them, but being raised by them and still being surrounded by them :eyes:)

They have an inherent dislike and distrust of other people. Many of them thump their bibles, but they can't begin to comprehend the truth of loving one another.

And this dislike and distrust of people in general (I think the word "humanity" makes them cringe) brings me to a point of amazement when they talk about trusting the free market and letting people do what they want.

They don't even LIKE people, so why do they feel no guidelines are needed in a civil society?!

Drives me bonkers. The disconnect and hypocrisy of it all.

:shrug:

[Enthusiast]

38. How could they believe anything else?

Once they have decided they are "conservative" or Republican, their thinking days are over. Fox News and Rush Limbaugh will tell them what to think and say.

[Scuba]

42. My wingnut friends and relatives don't seem interested in debating...

... they'd rather just have a circle-jerk of bitching and blaming. That way they can operate fact-free.