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How to argue with right-wing relatives (You're about to lose yesterday's supper)
Salon ^ | December 25, 2011 | Alex Pareene

Posted on 12/26/2011 9:49:19 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

There comes a time at most large family gatherings when a heated political argument breaks out. And by “heated political argument” what I mean is “someone just repeats something they heard on Hannity’s radio show that you know to be completely untrue.” You may be the lone liberal in a conservative family, or you may have one right-wing uncle in your left-wing family, but this will happen. What to do?

If you have a “smart phone,” just bookmark Snopes now. That’ll take care of the really weird stuff. (Well, not this level of weird, but “I read that airlines don’t pair Christian pilots and co-pilots in case The Rapture happens” weird.)

But a right-wing myth generally lives on forever, no many how many times it is debunked. You are powerless to prevent its spread. All you can do is perhaps convince one person that one talk radio meme is completely bogus. But you will probably have better luck simply changing the subject. (Suggestions: Whether or not Peyton Manning will be a Colt next season, “American Horror Story,” Jay-Z and Beyonce’s baby.)

If you insist on answering back, here are some suggestions.

Barack Obama’s illegal immigrant aunt is an illegal immigrant and so is his illegal immigrant uncle, and they must be deported.

First, the immigration status of Barack Obama’s aunt Zeituni Onyango (the half-sister of Obama’s father, from whom the president was estranged for much of his life) was leaked to the press just before the 2008 election. She eventually won asylum, because she is old and sick and Kenya has recently seen a rise in political violence. “Uncle Omar” is in the news because he was recently arrested for drunk driving, and it turns out he’s lived here since 1963 and been in violation of a deportation order since the early 1990s. Mitt Romney accidentally said he’d deport him, but then Romney sort of walked that back, because he’s Romney.

Just ask what exactly is moral or beneficial to American interests in sending an old woman who is related to the United States president to a nation where she could be a target of politically motivated violence. And whether or not an appropriate punishment for drunk driving is to be sent “back” to a foreign country that you haven’t lived in in half a century. Then add that these cases have nothing to do with the president beyond involving people he is distantly related to, because the White House has never sought special treatment for either of these people. Then ask your relative if they really want these two people to go have to live under SHARIAH LAW, because why not.

That probably won’t convince anyone so maybe now would be a good time to bring up your own family’s ethnic heritage, unless you all happen to be American Indians.

Food nazi Michelle Obama is forcing children to eat vegetables even though she herself is fat and enjoys hamburgers.

“Have you ever noticed that pretty much everyone with a creepy fixation on the first lady’s fitness is a fat old white guy?”

Excessive regulation/regulatory uncertainly is killing the recovery, that is why there are no jobs!

Look, you can print out some lame chart from Ezra Klein or memorize some “statistics” about Obama not issuing any more regulations than other presidents, but those won’t help, because numbers and charts lie about everything. This is basically just a stand-in for the entire incomprehensible right-wing narrative of the ongoing miserable economy. Your best bet is just to say that it’s criminal that no Wall Street executives went to jail for fraud (unless your familiarly includes lots of Wall Street executives, in which case my only advice is to steal the silver on your way out).

Barack Obama disrespected the U.K. by sending it the White House bust of Winston Churchill.

Sure, the “correct” answer is that presidents change the decor when they move into the White House, but I’d just say, “Winston Churchill was a raging racist drunk @$$hole,” because he was.

Barack Obama’s Christmas card is anti-Christmas.

Sarah Palin insinuated that the Obamas’ Christmas card — which features wrapped presents, poinsettias, garland and bows — is part of his secret Muslim plot to destroy Christmas, because the card featured Bo the dog rather than “family, faith and freedom.” I’m not sure what you say to this, actually, because at this point you’re dealing with a lunatic, but if there are Christmas cards from loved ones nearby, maybe go check and see how many of them explicitly feature “family, faith and freedom.”

Solyndra!

Solyndra was a solar company that got a loan guarantee from the government and then it went bankrupt. Conservatives say this means the government shouldn’t try to support things that it thinks are good ideas because the government is a lot worse at “picking winners and losers” than the private sector, which never loans money to companies that then go bankrupt. I dunno, the “scandal” here is pretty opaque. I’d recommend trying to get someone to explain, to you, what exactly happened that was so illegal or whatever. Basically, the review of this loan guarantee to this poorly managed solar company with political connections was rushed, and someone might have asked them not to lay everyone off until after the midterms, which is pretty stupid, but honestly much less stupid than spending $4 billion on subsidies for oil and gas.

Eric Holder must resign because of “Fast and Furious.”

“Fast and Furious” was such an epically stupid and awful idea that you shouldn’t bother trying to “defend” it (though if you care you could point out that there’s still no evidence that Eric Holder knew about it) — you should instead congratulate your relative on finally coming to his senses regarding the ridiculous counterproductive drug war. We can finally all agree that the government should find better things to do with our tax dollars!

The New Black Panther Party.

Tell your relatives that you have recently joined the New Black Panther Party. They will be too terrified to bring it up again!


TOPICS: Heated Discussion
KEYWORDS: christmas; demtalkingpoints; ericholder; fastandfurious; illegalimmigration; immigration; liberals; obama; romney; solyndra; typos
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

No offense, but this one is written by a simpleton.
It’s a waste of time.

Happy New Year!

LH


61 posted on 12/26/2011 11:07:39 AM PST by Lancey Howard
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To: Popman

Misplaced moral superiority is self-righteousness and self-righteousness is just a phony form of respectability. Liberals are all about both and ergo, they are phony as hell. At least when conservatives rant, as Ann Coulter once said ‘’we have a point’’.


62 posted on 12/26/2011 11:13:04 AM PST by jmacusa
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
the entire incomprehensible right-wing narrative of the ongoing miserable economy.

Yes, it's a golden age.

63 posted on 12/26/2011 11:13:59 AM PST by denydenydeny (The more a system is all about equality in theory the more it's an aristocracy in practice.)
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To: denydenydeny
♪ Happy days are here again, the skies above are clear again... ♫
64 posted on 12/26/2011 11:19:19 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet (You can't invade the US. There'd be a rifle behind every blade of grass.~Admiral Yamamoto)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

here's a "better" picture (snicker)

65 posted on 12/26/2011 11:23:25 AM PST by BookmanTheJanitor
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To: BookmanTheJanitor

If that’s not a red diaper trustafarian, I don’t know what one looks like.


66 posted on 12/26/2011 11:25:31 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet (You can't invade the US. There'd be a rifle behind every blade of grass.~Admiral Yamamoto)
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To: BookmanTheJanitor

Whut’s dat?


67 posted on 12/26/2011 11:30:11 AM PST by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously, you won't live through it anyway)
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To: BookmanTheJanitor

He (she) looks as queer as a three dollar bill.


68 posted on 12/26/2011 11:31:37 AM PST by july4thfreedomfoundation (The "Occupy Wall Street" losers should try occupying their local employment office. GET A JOB!)
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To: Lancey Howard

So now you are insulting Simpletons. Great..../s


69 posted on 12/26/2011 11:32:33 AM PST by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously, you won't live through it anyway)
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To: A_perfect_lady

If the recently deceased was deceased past July 2011, then your friend will get “bad news” in 4/13 as your friend could still claim the mom as a dependent until then.


70 posted on 12/26/2011 11:33:39 AM PST by mdmathis6 (Christ came not to make mankind into God but to put God into men!)
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To: BookmanTheJanitor

He looks happy and gay.


71 posted on 12/26/2011 11:36:52 AM PST by Fresh Wind ('People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook.' Richard M. Nixon)
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To: mdmathis6

No, she died early last February.


72 posted on 12/26/2011 11:37:15 AM PST by A_perfect_lady
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To: A_perfect_lady

“No, she died early last February”

A lot of Rich libs with elderly parents may end up rethinking Obama’s “death panels”!


73 posted on 12/26/2011 11:45:13 AM PST by mdmathis6 (Christ came not to make mankind into God but to put God into men!)
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To: DBrow

Yep. Argument from intimidation is their only tool. If you press them you will see them crumble.


74 posted on 12/26/2011 11:57:30 AM PST by albionin
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
“Fast and Furious” was such an epically stupid and awful idea that you shouldn’t bother trying to “defend” it .....
....just focus on 'defending' all the other failures our overlords place upon society.....we at Salon are counting on you Comrades!"
75 posted on 12/26/2011 12:06:18 PM PST by libertarian27 (Check my profile page for the FReeper Online Cookbook 2011)
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To: RipSawyer
Ha!!....Yeah, the ponytail didn't phase me. ( I could do one, back in my surfer days..: )

The fact that he quoted MSNBC talking heads...and was sitting there, ragging on Big Pharma...while taking med's that were keeping him alive...made me just laugh at the guy.

76 posted on 12/26/2011 12:10:39 PM PST by Osage Orange (HE HATE ME)
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To: The Man

It is also typical of argumentation from Leftists, from what I see.


77 posted on 12/26/2011 12:17:39 PM PST by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: reefdiver

I don’t even acknowledge the liberal side of my family anymore. A hello at functions where I have to be there (funeral) and nothing more.
It drives them nuts, but I have nothing to say to them. It’s all out there. All the facts you need to know on any issue is out there. I choose my side they took theirs - good-by,


Harsh, but I did the exact same thing. My sister is a 99%’r.. only she was to lazy to drag her butt down to city hall and camp out. She has a 09 car, Ipad, ipod and a apple laptop, 2 dogs... I could go on and on.. my 30+ year old sister is still MOOCHING of my more than willing liberal parents. Shes screwed when they die.

I let um in to my house yesterday. It’s a start I guess.


78 posted on 12/26/2011 12:19:02 PM PST by cableguymn
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Wow, liberals would lose a lot of arguments if they used these tactics. Especially the one about deporting Obama’s relatives back to their countries because they’d suffer under SHARIA LAW! Really, I thought this president and liberals were all about embracing Muslims and their ways. If they’re so great, what’s wrong with sending them back? Fail.


79 posted on 12/26/2011 12:23:23 PM PST by Thorliveshere
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Contact snopes and mediamatters for facts bwhahahahaha

BTW I am proud of you this isn’t a you know who thread.


80 posted on 12/26/2011 12:23:37 PM PST by Dubya-M-DeesWent2SyriaStupid!
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