Lies, Lies, Lies
March 2nd, 2008 - 5:38 pm
I just got off the phone with my mother during which this question sparked a hell-storm of shrieking.
“So you’re voting for Obama, and you feel OK putting a Muslim in the White House?”
Yeah. It’s fine if you don’t agree with what the man is saying, but her objections to him all stemmed from nothing but lies. Every single point was bullshit I have seen in the stupidest of chain emails.
“Well, he’s never said what he is. How do you know he’s a Christian?”
I pointed out that not only have I heard him say it and read his statements on it on the TV and internet, I have also heard him talk about it with my very own ears in person. It’s not like he hasn’t talked about it, he just isn’t going on and on about it the way some candidates do. She still wasn’t believing me.
I tried to debunk some of the other crap she had heard, but she poo-pooed at all as possibly being lies I had read on the internet (uh huh). I ended the conversation by saying that since she is willing to believe anything that anyone says about anything at all before she is willing to believe anything I have to say about anything at all, there’s really no point even having discussions anymore. I am apparently stupid, gullible, misguided, and lack the ability to tell truth from fiction.
It continues to piss me off that my mother will take the word of anyone over mine on any subject. I’m not five years old anymore. I am an adult, and I am not an especially stupid or ignorant one either. I am at least not dumb enough to believe everything I read in an email or hear on the TV without checking its veracity thoroughly. I wish she would do the same, and maybe, just maybe once, trust that I actually know something about something.
Gah.
I have to go start dinner. I wasn’t going to sit at the computer today, but I just had to rant for a second, or I would have driven Lin insane with my sputtering. I can now go be a civil human being again … until the next time my mom asks me a question and doesn’t listen to the answer or proof given. Like tomorrow, unless I forget to turn my phone on, which I may very well do.
3 Responses to “Lies, Lies, Lies”
I work with somebody who brought the photo of Obama, dressed in a turban and traditional Somali attire, to the office. I overheard the coworkers gasping and some were saying, “And people are actually voting for him!” “he’s a terrorist I’m telling you!”
I went to see the picture and they told me, “Make sure you vote, We don’t need a muslim running this country!”
When I asked if they knew the story behind the picture they all said no and that they didn’t care. What makes me angry is that these fools are allowed to vote. That when I tried to explain the photo, they all joked about it and laughed. I wasn’t trying to convince them to vote for Obama, I just wanted to inform them.
A group of people campaigning in a town by Corpus said that they were spit and cursed at for backing Obama. They were asking if people wanted signs for their yards and they ended up having to leave the neighborhood because residents were threatening to shoot them for backing a “nigger”. So so so wrong.
I read that Hillary supporters are going to caucus locations at 630pm, instead of 7pm because they’re going to try to take all the parking spots to deter Obama supporters. It won’t be affecting me because I’m walking to caucus HAHA, Suckers.
Telling people they’re stupid is not nearly as effective as having them realize it themselves. That’s where straight-faced sarcasm works well. When presented with nonsense, one-upping to the point of absurdity is a great tactic. By the time you get to asserting that “and yeah, he’s a cannibal, too,” even the most ignorant tribalist begins to sense he’s been had. If not, you are dealing with someone who is clinically delusional and wasting your time.
Oh, the cannibal line is a good one. The one I have been using, and forgot to use with my mom, because she just pushes my buttons too much, is “Have you heard? [lower voice to whisper] I hear Obama has TWO black children!”
Provided the weather isn’t awful, we are planning to walk over to our polling place too. It’s a small school with almost no parking. If it’s nasty out, we’ll park at the grocery store and walk from there since it’d be closer.
In fact, I think we are going to make a date of it, walking up at about 6 pm to vote, going to KFC for dinner, and then going back for the caucus. I have no idea what to expect at the caucus. It’s a small precinct, but it’s heavily Democratic. I just don’t know how politically involved my neighbors are. I have never seen any other voters at the polls whenever I have gone to vote, no matter the time of day, so there might not be many there. Or it could be insane. Can’t wait to find out!