That would be me, gritting my teeth so tightly, I think I broke them all last night. That was because I called my oldest friend (someone who’s been an important part of my life since I was 13) to check in.
She’s had some hard times. This is her third marriage, and she’s finally happy. She adores her husband, and hangs on his every word. They have a lot in common (Mayan hieroglyphics, for one) and he’s offered her the emotional stability she’s always craved. There’s just one little problem: He’s a right-wing asshole.
You know the kind (and please, I’m not saying every guy like this is a right-wing asshole): He’s an engineer, works in a highly technical field and believes everything in the universe is a matter of logic - his logic. He’s rigid, and he only watches Fox News, because it tells him what he already knows.
My friend, who used to be one of the sweetest, thoughtful, most open-minded people in the world, now talks openly about how the Jews and the Mexicans are ruining America. Every time we talk, there’s some tension. Last night, I mentioned (because her Stepford Wife routine really bugs me, and I like to crack her facade when I can) that most people now accepted that the 2000 and 2004 elections were stolen, and that the only people who didn’t believe it were the ones who watched Fox.
An icy silence. Then: “I don’t understand what you mean. He won both elections.”
“No he didn’t, but I don’t have the time and energy to explain it all. If you’re interested, you can look it up.”
Argghh. I want my friend back.
Isn’t ‘right wing asshole’ redundant?
And I want my sister back. She moved to Atlanta a few years ago, and soon after proudly proclaimed that she’s a Republican, thinks Hannerty is great, etc.
I have had a few glimmers of hope, though. Her husband now says he’s a libertarian, she said she is “tired of all of the yelling” (erm, why don’t you turn off Hannerty?), and she has come around on a few other issues, like social security.
I am trying to slip her a few articles now and then on really concrete things (like why single payer health insurance makes sense financially). But it will be a long, uphill battle to deprogram her after all of the damage.
my mother in law is 84 and has voted repuplican her whole lif and she just told me she will never do it again.you since the day the doctor told me I have prostate cancer most things have stopped woeeying me
sorry I forgot happy birthday young lady.I hope the next year is better for us both..my best to you and the cats and dogsour grand dog turns 7 this year and let me tell y0ou the firt week or so after the stroke I did not think I was going to make it to her or my wifes birthday this year ..so I take every day as a gift now I have one goal each day now to try and get my wife to laugh like she use to .she has been my care giver24\7 since the day of the stroke ,infact she is the one that saw something was wrong and got me to the hospital without her I would be laying dead in a dog prk right now ..yhis has been harder on her sometimes then it has on me …
I hope she comes back. I haven’t lost anyone to the dark side yet, and I’m hoping my brothers will see the light soon. In the meantime, I keep my mouth shut.
“He’s an engineer, works in a highly technical field and believes everything in the universe is a matter of logic”
Um, I’m all these things, and couldn’t be more liberal progressive. Because logic dictates that the conservative way (at least that of today’s right-wing conservatives) is not just morally and ethically wrong, but flat out doesn’t work, and hasn’t ever worked.