I have a 13 Year Old Cousin, Who is a REPUBLICAN

[La Lioness Priyanka]

I just know hes growing up to vote on the other side...he called Kerry on his flip-flops (would hear no argument to the contrary) and thinks the whole middle-east should be nuked.

also my brother would not let me yell at him on account of his age...i think i should have called him a moronic teen..which is what he is


If i ever have kids i will never ever raise them in suburbs (atleast suburbs of nyc)...


i am ashamed!

[JohnKleeb]

1. I was raised in the suburbs

and my da bought me the communist manifesto :). BTW thats sad about your cousin, my brother is his age, and somewhat of a centrist liberal from my observations.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

4. i know i know

but a yuppie neigbourhood in long island is Asking a child to be republican

[JohnKleeb]

8. of course

I understand. Then again Bush won 55% here. Thanks to young dems at school, I dont feel like an outcast lol politically anymore.

[NewHampshireDem]

2. It's no surprise ...

the whole right is designed to appeal to the intellect of a 13 year-olds in the body of an adult.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. He sounds like a person with limited knowledge

Has he been exposed to other cultures? Or are his parents Ugly Americans who insist that the American way is the only way and everyone else should be nuked?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

6. his parents are INDIAN

:puke: this is too much....

[Fenris]

11. OH GOD! KEEP HIM AWAY FROM THE DINESH D'SOUZA!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0465017339/qid=1081815709/sr=8-2/ref=pd_ka_2/104-7041486-3607909?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

[La Lioness Priyanka]

15. disgusting!

seriously what is WRONG with people?

[Fenris]

16. Power, corruption, lies, money

General stupidity.

[DietVanillaCoke]

48. woops

posted in wrong place!

[Fenris]

5. Easy answer: "Dude. You're thirteen."

I didn't know shit at that age, and I was considered mature. What could he possibly know at thirteen that you don't?

Just hope it's a phase. Maybe he'll read more.

[Earth_First]

7. No need to be ashamed...

In fact I would be impressed that he takes an interest in politics at that age. I know from my personal experience that politics was the LAST issue on my mind at that age of my life. I would attribute it to a personal growth and experience period, that very well may turn around as he begins to see the broader picture through high school.

Congratulations that you have such an intellectual cousin!

[BostonTeaParty04]

17. I don't think the kid is taking an interest in 'politics'; more like HATE

just my opinion.

But I would definitely not indulge him in any way....love him and care for him, but when it comes to him repeating the GOP hate mantra.... simply dismiss him.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

18. not too fond of him

wish life had an IGNORE button

[TheFarseer]

9. He's just parroting what his parents say

I was there. I voted Dole in my first election. I didn't know any better. Then I went to college and got some perspective on the world.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

12. no his parents are normal

[Count Dracula]

10. My 13 year old cousin has no idea who the vice president is...

let alone anything about politics. :shrug:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

13. i understand that

at 13 my only concern was that my waist remained 24 inches ...but this whole repuke thing is repulsive

[citizen snips]

14. I would not worry about it.

After all he is not old enough to vote.

[mac1000a]

19. There's still hope

I was a Republican until I was seventeen. Chalk it up to a lot of teenage testosterone floating around in me, and the Republican message of kick everyone's ass and screw everyone who isn't rich appealed to me.

By the time I was 18 I had hair down to the middle of my back and I was having arguments with my Rush Limbaugh loving father about how pot should be legal (mainly because I was under its influence much of the time).

When you're thirteen you don't know jack shit, but you think you do. Don't expect him to listen to you when you give him lectures, it's just gonna build up his defenses. A good approach might be to try and expose him to some diversity.

I gather from you're flag that you're gay. Try getting him to hang out with some gay friends of yours. Let him see that they're just normal people like everyone else, and they're not out to destroy marriage by marrying.

If you want, take him to a food bank or a battered women's shelter some time. Let him see that not everyone who is poor or desperate is a bad human being who deserves what they get.

These are just suggestions. You know him better than I do. But all of these things helped me to see the light, they might help your cousin as well. Good luck!

[Indiana_Dem]

20. I know, I know where you're coming from!

My very own DAUGHTER who is 16 has all Republican friends. Our American culture has taught the middle class children the easy apathetic way. How else would many of them think differently because all they are exposed to includes rich rappers and spoiled rich blonde girls for the most part. Those are their superficial role models. The projection of the ideal Republican in our culture is what looks like to teens is a rich and powerful person just like the pop idols they associate with.

I believe as they get older and have to fend more for themselves (the economy is going to get WORSE not better in their future) they will wake up and realize what things are about. They're all in for a rude awakening. It helps with relatives and people like you around them to give little tidbits of perspective when the opportunity arises. That's what I try to do with my daughter. Don't underestimate the influences you may have on your cousin. Be patient and candid and influence, influence, influence---don't forget to be a role model. You might be the only Democrat your cousin really knows in a close way. Crack the right-wing propoganda about liberals. Show your intelligence by presenting the facts when the opportunity arises!

[WoodrowFan]

21. hopefully its a phase

at 13 I was a real warmonger on Vietnam (NUKE HANOI!) By college I had grown up a bit more than that.


on a side note, I always got the feeling that the Indian (South-Asian) community was more republican than most other immigrant groups in the US.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

40. always got the feeling that the Indian (South-Asian) community was more re

well not my family they are very dem...however we indians have a massive "holier than thou comples" which makes us sound republican even if we arent

[MAlibdem]

22. don't tell him you know more...

it pisses us off.

Just punch him...or get an older, cooler teen to make your points, all that will let him listen to ideas.

i kno, im a high school senior.

[Insider]

23. Alex P. Keaton?

:shrug:

[talkingrain]

24. Relax

It *is* a phase. At 13 he is just looking for reaction.
Be the "cool" cousin and keep up/be interested in his Teen years.
Take him out and do things! (Influence him! HA!)
He is still a child. Do not discuss politics with him.
Just my opinion.

[Rabrrrrrr]

25. Hehheh - I read the subject line and thought "Hey, LionessPriyanka has

one, too".

Lo and behold, there you are!

Don't call HIM moronic, call his THINKING moronic, and say, "Look, I know you're smarter than that." Then explain it. And if he doesn't get it, then set up for some crime so he gets charged with a felony and never gets to vote. :-)

[talkingrain]

26. To: Rabrrrrrr

Funny! I like that!!
The kid is only 13, though. Give it a break! Really!

[ornotna]

27. I feel for you

I'm going through the same thing with my niece, but she won't talk about it. Good luck.

[PassingFair]

28. I must be one lucky ducky!

The kids at my daughter's school thought her last name was "Nowar" due to the NO WAR doodles all over her notebooks. She and her friend attended a couple of Dean rallies in their home-made "Teens for Dean" shirts.
They see repuke ideals for what they are. And not JUST because I'm an unrepentant liberal. HYPOCRISY is hard too hide, and my kids can smell it from a mile away.

[LividLiberal]

29. He's too young to know what he is yet. There still may be hope

for him.

[tigereye]

30. don't worry all the rad/ liberal kids at my son's school

will cancel his vote out if he still thinks that way at 21. Sounds like a phase. Like the Ayn Rand obsession I had in college. ( gag)

[Ladyhawk]

32. What cured you?

My brother has that obsession and he's forty. (gag)

[tigereye]

36. actually I didn't believe what she said

I just liked to read her books - people love forms of utopia in their college years.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

41. ayn rand

i knew a prostitute who was a HUGE ayn rand fan

[arcane1]

42. lol

can't get into Rand myself :shrug:

I have quite a few ultra-repubs in my family too, I can relate. I am a little nervous about going home this year to visit, not sure if I'll have to give a nazi salute or what!


:hi:

[Pinko Commie]

31. Don't be ashamed

Realize that kids are what they are.

I was a republican too, when I was about 13. A lot of people are. When they get to around 18, the age when they start to think, things will change.

[THUNDER HANDS]

33. as soon as he gets to college he'll grow up

I was the same way when I was his age.

[Shopaholic]

34. Unless the kid has a trust fund, tell him he's not rich enough

to be a repug

[Dark]

35. Don't worry,

There's still time. I'm 18 and at his age, I would have been saying the same thing. Just give him time, he'll naturally join the lightside. Once he grows enough that his cerebration can begin to understand the Liberal arguements, he'll join.

I was the same way.

[chaska]

37. Why are you worried? That's the right age to be a Republican.

I was a Republican at that age. Then at fifteen I started playing guitar and suddenly found myself with heros who happened to be black, and the racism I was taught gradually faded, and I had no reason to remain a pug. My mind opened and it all just snowballed.

Thirteen is all about black and white - not racism, but absolutes. A simple philosophy (I use the term loosely) for a simple mind.

[Throckmorton]

38. Just reply to everything he says with "Seig Heil"

and ask him if he wants to run the ovens at the "Shrubyouth" death camps.

[Logansquare]

39. Ah, my brother was a Goldwater Republican when he was 13

and now he's a Green. And remember, David Horowitz started out as a Marxist.

[cheezus]

43. Who cares. He can't vote.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

44. umm i have to hear him ramble

do you know how scary it is to hear young kids say "NUKE THE ENTIRE MIDDLE EAST AND TAKE AWAY THEIR OIL"?

[drumwolf]

45. A few thoughts...

He's of Indian descent, eh? I'm guessing his family is Hindu, not Muslim, and I'm aware that the two sectarian groups have had their history of clashes. Out of curiosity, does that have anything to do with it at all?

If it's not, and he's just being a typical Moron-American brat, then... maybe someone should clue him in on something: a lot of people who share his views about "nuking the Middle East" don't distinguish between Arab Muslims and (Hindu? Sikh? Christian?) Indians like himself, and would see him as just another "towelhead".

Whatever. Don't assume that anyone who holds a certain point of view at age 13 will necessarily think that way when s/he gets older. Hopefully, he'll grow out of it.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

47. hes being american

he wasnt raised in india therefore the hindu-muslim issues mean nothing to him

[Bertha Venation]

46. He'll grow out of it -- I did.

[DietVanillaCoke]

49. When I was 13...

I held the same political beliefs as my republican father. Interacting with different kinds of people in a totally different political system after moving halfway across the world on my own led me to form my own political beliefs.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

50. this would comfort me

except that his parents are dems...its only him

[DietVanillaCoke]

52. lol

Strange form of rebellion then?

[ronnykmarshall]

51. Here's a tip

Sleepy-time Tea.

Will make him sooooooooooo peaceful.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

53. i think his parents should stop indulging his every whim and fancy

[JAbuchan08]

54. Frankly anybody who has a set party affiliation at 13 is an idiot

My apologies for saying so. I really disagreed with my parents' politics when I was that young ,but I knew that I was too young to know everything. Sorry little cousin, but you're a dumb little kid.