Co-Worker here in Qatar, Venting.

[PatGund]

One of my co-workers here in Qatar, a fellow US expat from NYC, has not only drank the Neocon and Faux news kool-aide, he's gargled in it and swam in it. I've been giving him rides back to his apartment lately, because he doesn't have a car here in Doha yet.

Having a debate with him was interesting, though futile, because his tactic was to basically shout you down or ignore what you were saying. Absolutely NO interest in hearing anything to disprove his worldview.

According to him, tonnes of enriched uranium were found in Iraq, Joe Wilson is a disproved and discredited liar who outed his own wife, and there were documents proving organizational and financial ties between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida. And all the links I sent him showing otherwise were dismissed by him as "flawed" and having a "Liberal Left-Wing bias". And praises Bush as "a fine example of Christianity in action", and babbles on and on about all the wonderful things Bush is doing in Iraq. (About the only think we agree in politically is a major dislike for Saudi Arabia.)

He loaned me a couple books, but refused my offer to loan him some in return. Absolutely no interest in other viewpoints.

The ironic thing is he's African-American. Which seems to me like a chicken rooting for Col. Sanders.

Wow.

[K8-EEE]

1. I Saw A Comic On TV Say

That the "Viva Bush" bumperstickers that we saw here in CA during the Prez election, might as well have said "cockroaches for Raid." LOL. I forget who it was, it's that comedy central show with all the latino comedians.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

8. I think John Leguizamo told that joke before.

Might have been him.

[Sapphocrat]

2. Two words.

Cognitive dissonance.

Sad, very sad.

[PatGund]

4. No kidding

He got all sorts of pissed off about the protest rallys here in Qatar regarding the leaked memo about Bush wanting to bomb al-Jazeera. Because "Bush would never do anything like that, no matter how much those lying sons of bitches at al-Jazeera deserve it."

*Face plant*

Even though the satellite system in our apartment complex gets BBC World Service and CNN International, he paid extra to get Faux news, because he won't trust the "liberal bias" of BBC or CNN.

I also got the whole "Air America is dying, nobody listens to them" meme from him. And is rooting for Schwarzenegger to run in 2012 as soon as they "fix those outdated rules". (And he said this to someone who's *from" California. He didn't like my views on what the Governator has done to my state.)

It's "my mind is made up, don't confuse me with facts". Either that, or 9-11 scared him, (he was in Manhattan that day), and has been hiding behind the "Bush will protect us" meme since.

[Sapphocrat]

10. My goodness...

There's got to be a BIG backstory behind his thinking (or lack thereof). Super-religiosity? Self-loathing? Closet queer/masculinity issues?

He doesn't sound like someone I'd want to make best friends with (pardon the grammar)... but I might be curious enough to draw him out and see why he's so dreadfully scared.

'Cause that's nothing but fear talking, big-time.

Sadder yet!

[PatGund]

11. He's not a bad person per se....

We're both certified Apple Technicians, both a fair bit "geeky", both parents with children back in the states, and both Sci-Fi fans.

He is a devout Baptist though, and, as I said, was in Manhattan on 9-11, and watched the towers fall. So I suspect it's a mixture of religion and fear.

[chalky]

3. I feel your pain, PatGund. My nephew, the COP--

the AFRICAN-AMERICAN cop, I might add--defends those monsters with a passion that hinges on lunacy.

A cop protecting criminals. How's THAT for your irony of the century?

[PatGund]

12. Whereas....

The cops and military personnel I know back in the states, of *any* ethnic group, hate Bush and the neocons.

Go figure.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

5. This quote:

"According to him, tonnes of enriched uranium were found in Iraq"

Ask him why hasn't Bush or the rest mentioned anything about it?

[PatGund]

6. I asked him....

He said they had, but the "liberal media" was withholding it. I asked him to cite proof from other sources, and I'm still waiting for it.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

7. Good! Just keep nailing him!

[Rainscents]

9. ALWAYS ask for PROOF!!! If he ask you for proof, always give it to him

original documents, pentagon, senate HR bills, any shorts of government documents, BBC, AP wire news, etc...

[PatGund]

13. Oh, I have......

And unless it comes from Faux, NewsMax, or some other "reliable" source, he won't even look at it.

Expats tend to stick together here in Qatar, but I'm fast losing my patience, and I'm trying very hard not to. Epecially since I'm nominally his superior, (Sr. Support Technican to his Support Associate), and I don't want his political views to influence my opinion of his work performance.