Sigh. My parents *still* don't get it.

[huskerlaw]

Last Wednesday, I posted about going to spend the weekend with my very Republican parents. I had hoped that we could avoid a politically-driven meltdown. Alas, it was not to be avoided.

Things were actually going well until Saturday night. My mom saw me checking John Edwards' website and we actually had a calm, decent conversation about he and Elizabeth. She even seemed interested (gasp!) in his message. Not that she'd ever vote for him, but I have hope that at least she doesn't consider him the spawn of Satan.

Well. Then came Saturday. We were sitting in the living room watching the TV news (alas, I was not in control of the remote) and there was a piece bestowing the virtues of John McCain (yeah, I was in Arizona). I rolled my eyes, I sighed deeply...and that set off a rather spectacular argument. My mom was actually a passive bystander (which makes me have at least a little bit of faith in her still), but my stepfather is entirely hopeless.

Honestly, I didn't even debate him. I just posed a few simple questions and challenged him to answer them: Did Iraq have WMD? Did they have nuclear weapons? Oddly (or, you know, not) he didn't have a response. But that didn't stop him from becoming almost enraged and incredibly defensive. Not pretty.

I hate that politics is making it incredibly difficult to spend time with my family. I still have hope for my mom, but ugh. She's going to be visiting me in April...without the stepdad. That should go more smoothly. I hope.

Sigh. x(

[youthere]

1. I'm sorry huskerlaw..that really sucks.

:hug:

[huskerlaw]

2. Thanks.

I hate that we can't have a family get-together without a politically-based fight. Alas, it's been this way since late 2002. Prior to that, we could at least keep the disagreements civil.

:hug:

[youthere]

3. My very democratic mother recently married a limbaugh worshipper...

and she just sits there quietly when he starts to rant about "those goddamn democrats!" and regurgitates the talking points from limpballs, oreally or whatever clueless tool he listened to that day.
So far I've been biting my tongue, but I don't know how much longer I can hold back. Last time they visited I actually got hives from the stress. I never get hives. I did get a little revenge though..I blocked Faux on my TV and made sure to turn on Olberman.

I'm sorry that things have escalated to that point with your family. It just shows how polarized that asshat in the whitehouse has made this country.

[huskerlaw]

4. Oh geez!

Not passing any sort of judgment on your mother, but I personally can't imagine marrying a Rush-bot. What in the world do they have in common?!

I had vowed not to get into politics this time, but I just can't sit there and listen to blatant bullshit. I'm a lawyer, I'm trained to argue!

Good on you for blocking Faux. Thankfully, the parentals don't have cable in Arizona, but their network news was nearly as bad. Fucking McCain-worshiping idiots. x(

Ah well!

[youthere]

6. he's got money and she's lonely.

I love my mom, but she tends to be something of a parasite when it comes to men. She'll keep her mouth shut and pretend to be fascinated by his hobbies so long as he keeps buying her things. Don't get me wrong..he treats her very well and they enjoy each other's company, and other than politics, he's actually a pretty decent guy...but if any guy with more money showed the slightest interest in her, she'd throw him to the curb so fast! (Yes, she's that shallow).
Anyway..sometimes you can only take so much. It's just sad that your family can't just leave that one topic alone if for nothing else, out of respect for you. It's not like you went there spoiling for a fight.
Damn.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

5. I think some

of what drives responses like that is they know they are wrong and can't face it. So shouting you down is a way to save face and not have to admit the mistake.
This too shall pass. I hope.
Too bad you couldn't figure out a way to tell him you were enlisting, to see what he'd say... :)

[huskerlaw]

8. I think you're right

His defensiveness spoke volumes. And while he's typically a defensive kind of guy, his silences and then rather emotional outburst, frankly, proved my point for me.

As for enlisting...I wish I could figure out a way to do that. Although I think he would be supportive, actually. Plus, he knows I'd rather stab myself repeatedly than even shake hands with Bush, let alone go to Iraq for him. ;)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. Oh, my dear huskerlaw......

That really sucks........

I'm sorry.......

I think you and your mom will have a much better time, without him around...

Hang in there, sweetie......:hug:

[huskerlaw]

9. It does suck

They're such intelligent people otherwise.

And I really do enjoy spending time with them. Well...with my mom, at least.

But unfortunately, my stepdad has never thought I was particularly intelligent and we've always had "issues". So this really shouldn't have been surprising. And, I guess, it wasn't surprising. It's just getting REALLY old.

I'm hoping that April is better. I'm trying to figure out a way to educate my mom without shoving a political discussion down her throat.

I did manage to carefully make sure she saw the Walter Reed article...she made weak-ass excuses.

Ugh. I dunno... :shrug: