My mom voted for Bu$h......

[Flatline]

and over the past few years she has regretted it cause this war was at a cost of 4 family members of ours and she said for what, so I explained things a bit to her. Now she is really not politically minded or keeps in touch all that well the thought of the government process scares her, but she told me yesterday that she was going to pay more attention next time around and asked me how to go about it.

Now I could have refereed her to DOZENS of sources, but I didn't want to overwhelm her at all could anyone give me some basic tools to give her? I already mentioned to her about watching the debates and if she is working at the time I could record them for her, but I want her to know a little more then just that.

[unhappycamper]

1. If she has internets access, tell her to come over here & read a bit.

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[Flatline]

4. Thanks, No she doesn't have internet

after my dad passed this year she gave me his PC and she does not like computers at all LOL. Mom go figure hahaha.

[pacalo]

11. I remember being terrified of the computer, afraid of touching the wrong button!

My kids were begging me to try it for years. Then, when the 'thugs were leading up to impeachment of Clinton, that's when I sat down & learned to type letters on my own.

When she gets angry enough, she'll have the will to learn. :)

[Flatline]

13. I hope I mention it to her from time to time

but I NEVER push it on her cause that you deter her even more. I just let her know what I read and hand her a printout that might help someway as well so she can see what info I get and where it may peak her curiosity.

[TheFarseer]

2. My parents voted for bush also

because he's going to end abortion and keep gays from getting married. I told them that they also voted for the war, tax cuts for the rich and to keep our insane energy policy just the way it is (which they oppose) and they disagree, saying they only voted for the social issues. What a disconnect!

I didn't really read you post until after I typed my thing - Wow, 4 family members. That would really make you think.

[Labors of Hercules]

16. Did they get what they wanted by voting for the shittiest president in History?

Abortion ended? No. Gay Marriage off the table? No.

Did they get what they oppose? Shit Energy policy? Yes. War? Yes. Hell on Earth? Don't worry, He's getting there...

[mitchum]

19. Do they at least feel guilt for THEIR complicity in the deaths he has caused?

Or do they only care about the "lives" of the sacred fetuses?

[TheFarseer]

24. They were against the war from Day 1

I can understand that bush said in 2000 that he DIDN'T want unnecessary wars, but by 2004, I'm not sure what the excuse was.

[Lorien]

3. Have her read a non-US online paper

like The Guardian or The Observer. I suggested The Guardian to a friend of mine who only got her news from AM radio a few years ago, and now she always says to me "Ohmygosh! Did you read that story about Bush and ____? You would never hear a peep about it in this country because our media doesn't report on ANYTHING important"! It was truly a revelation to her.

[stuntcat]

5. yah yah

stepping away from our mass-consumed news for a few weeks will help. Maybe she doesn't pay that close attention anyway, but you have to avoid magazine covers and turn off the tv for a while to even start to get away from what we're being force-fed x(

[rucky]

6. On The Issues is a good one...

www.ontheissues.org

[Flatline]

8. I'll have to goto kinkos on that one lol

print them all out and highlight stuff for her oh well it's worth it......it's mom after all.

[pacalo]

7. She's not going to learn the truth watching tv news

because their commodity is shaping public opinion these days. That's why we're in the mess we're in now.

I didn't pay close attention, either, until the boy king set his eyes on Iraq. That's when I turned to the internets & started searching for information, mostly from the British news articles, because the British were flat out against the invasion from the start & they weren't acting as a mouthpiece for Tony Blair. I highly recommend that she get acquainted with the computer, because that's the only way she'll learn what she needs to know.

Secondly, tell her to watch Keith Olbermann.

[ForeignSpectator]

9. If she has satellite TV and can receive foreign channels...

...maybe watching some UK news could help or even Canadian news coming to think of it (I don't know if and how corrupted they are however)... pick an objective channel that reports on real newsworthy events (which would be considered far-left by US standards lol) or maybe some documentaries and her watch them.

By the way, check out "The world according to Bush" in the video section, it's worth it and would probably be too much for your mother to bear all at once... ;)

Have a nice weekend!

[Flatline]

10. You know you gave me an Idea

she has a DVD player I could burn the videos on it for her and let her view them on here dvd player at her convenience.

[ForeignSpectator]

12. Yeah, make a nice compilation of the DU video section! ;) n/t

[Lex]

14. Get her a subscription to "The Nation" and share it with her.

Seriously.

http://www.thenation.com/

[Flatline]

15. Great I'll bookmark that as well thanks.

[mitchum]

17. What was her reason for voting for him?

[Flatline]

18. Man of God she just didn't know it was a god with 2 horns.

[mitchum]

21. Was that spoonfed to her by some pulpit-dwelling grifter?

If so, it's going to be really hard to counter with facts and other forms of reality.

[Flatline]

22. Not Spoon-fed he just seemed the right man for the job

now her whole Church and herself call him the Anti-Christ, bringer of destruction, hand of death, devourer of souls, I got a kick out of that those.

[gratuitous]

20. It may be a little late for her . . .

Not sure how old your mom is, but it sounds like she's in a teachable moment. I don't have a recommendation for sources, but my encouragement to her would be to develop some critical thinking skills. When she sees something she doesn't understand, or that sounds like a good idea, but she's not sure why some people sound so opposed to it, she could talk with you or someone else about it. We all have holes in our knowledge and gaps in our experience, it's nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about.

Keep the conversation going. If she doesn't bring up something, you bring it up. "Have you seen the new nominee for Attorney General? Looks like he's going to be confirmed, and I don't think that's a good thing." Let the chat go from there. It doesn't have to go into all the gory details about the Bush administration's casual attitude toward the law of the land, but general concepts like equal justice under law and innocent until proven guilty can lead your mom to an understanding why torturing suspected terrorists isn't a good idea. When she works out her own conclusions, like why voting for George W. in the first place was so wrong, she's a lot more likely to retain the message or the lesson.

Good luck. Keep in relationship. Check back here at DU if you get stuck. There's a lot of really knowledgeable people who are happy to share what they know.

[CrispyQ]

23. Hugs.

My deepest sympathy to you & your family for the losses you have suffered. I can't even imagine. :hug:

It sounds like your Mom is open to new perspectives. Here are some suggestions.

"We the People: A Call to Take Back America" by Thom Hartmann: it is sort of a 5th grade civics refresher course with some other good stuff thrown in. It's written in a comic book fashion so it is a quick read. Here's a link to the book site with a few excerpts.

http://www.we-the-people-book.com/main/free_excerpt.htm

I would also recommend Naomi Wolf's book "The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot."

http://www.amazon.com/End-America-Letter-Warning-Patriot/dp/1933392797/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-0996296-3983659?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194102307&sr=8-1

And I would also include a print out of "The Fourteen Defining Characteristics of Fascism."

http://www.umdfacultyagainstwar.com/~bmcclure/archives/25_The_14_Defining_Characteristics_Of_Fascism.html

And that "Joe Conservative" essay is very good. If you don't have it, let me know.

:hug:

[lame54]

25. tell her to look into this guy...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=0Nnph3zkHNw

[CatWoman]

26. Get her a subscription to Vanity Fair magazine

[B Calm]

27. Print this out for her to read. You might also turn her on to

Mike Malloy, Randi Rhodes, etc etc..


WHAT HAS GOP DONE FOR

WORKERS?

CLINT C. GOLD
10/24/1999
Tulsa World


Not too long ago, my wife and I attended a TV football
party in south Tulsa. With a lopsided score, the
conversation turned to a livelier subject -- politics. The
crowd was, of course, top-heavy with Republicans. With each
point expressed their faces became more flushed, eyes
bulging a little more and veins popping in their foreheads
as they railed against the liberal programs.

Finally a lone, liberal voice asked: "Will you people
name me one bill your party ever passed to help the working
man of this country?" The question created much din and
clamor, and someone sputtered, "Well, what have the
Democrats done?"

The liberal responded with a few programs and was
interrupted by howling and disdain. He noted that he had
not promised they would like the programs and he asked to
complete his statement -- a difficult task to ask of
Republicans.

He spoke of Social Security; Medicare-Medicaid; Peace
Corps; unemployment insurance; welfare (for the poor and
corporate); civil rights; student grant and loan programs;
safety laws (OSHA); environmental laws; prevailing wage
laws; right to collective bargaining (which brought about
paid medical insurance, paid vacations, pensions, etc.);
workers' compensation; Marshall Plan; flood-disaster
insurance; School Lunch Program; women's rights.

He spoke of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which
established a minimum wage, instituted child labor laws,
and set up time-and-a-half pay for over a 40-hour week.

He mentioned FHA-HUD with its public housing, urban
renewal and 44 million residential homes (before WWII
almost 70 percent of our nation were renters; by the 1970s
this had been reversed). And farm-conservation
subsidies -- USDA programs, Farmers Home Administration (the
bankers didn't want to make rural loans), small
flood-control lakes (more than 3,000 in Oklahoma alone),
rural water districts, rural electricity (REA).

The GI Bill was passed, which the Republicans at the
time bitterly opposed. They were salivating over millions
of returning veterans to hire as cheap labor. More than 8 million have used college benefits, creating millions of
entrepreneurs; most of us had never dreamed of college. For
the unemployed GI, there was $20 a week for 52 weeks to
help get started (a lot of money in those days). The
Veterans Administration provided more than 2 million home
loans.

For the bankers at the football party, it was pointed
out that the liberals saved their industry with the
creation of FDIC and FSLIC, insuring their deposits, and
saved Wall Street with the establishment of the Securities
Exchange Commission.

The oil men came on bended knees to FDR at a time when
East Texas oil was 4 cents a barrel and begged him to save
their industry. He did; prorationing overturned the rule of
capture and the days of flush production were over.
Prorating has served this great industry (and nation)
well.


And the list went on and on, but of course this group
didn't let him get halfway through. He noted they were
weary, inattentive, so again he challenged them to offer up
any Republican legislation examples.

"I'm sure your party has authored one or two comparable
bills from time to time, but I can't think of any, and
apparently you can't either. What it boils down to is this:
the liberals dragged you into the 20th century scratching
and screaming with your heels in the mud, fighting anything
that's progressive, everything that's made this country
great. You Republicans have never understood that the
spending power of blue-collar workers, obtained through
Democrats and unions, is what really made this country
great. You really believe "The Good Life" was obtained from
your own endeavors. You cloak your greed in religion and
patriotism, railing against any form of tax, never
comprehending that these programs have benefitted all of us
and our country."

Well, I almost didn't make it out of the house. My wife
and I didn't even get to see the end of the football game.


If Reps. Steve Largent or J.C. Watts had been there,
perhaps politics would never have come up, only the game
plan ... pity.
Clint C. Gold is former mayor of Moore and a retired
savings and loan executive.

[bbgrunt]

28. while my 93 year old mom has always been a dem,

she used to feel compelled to tune into Limpballs every day to see "what the enemy was up to". Since I bought her an xm radio and she has air america, she no longer even has the desire to listen to him. Also, it's a lot cheaper than cable and doesn't strain the eyes trying to read stuff. She can just lay back and close her eyes and become informed.

Seriously, if she wants to become informed, Air America is a great tool--just don't let her listen to Lionel.

[The Backlash Cometh]

29. We need a gold-sticker bumper sticker harolding the fact that we didn't

vote for Bush in either election. We should at least win a presidential award...from the next president.