I know you can't reason with the unreasonable...

[JuniperLea]

This from a cousin in response to my telling him my feelings about how intelligent and highly educated our president is... and yes, it's in Freeper Caps... oy...


SO WHAT! HE HAS A PIECE OF PAPER FROM COLUMBIA AND HARVARD THAT DOESN'T MAKE HIM A GOOD PERSON. I DO PAY ATTENTION, I JUST PAY ATTENTION TO THE RIGHT PEOPLE NOT THE ONES FROM THE LEFT. I WASN'T TRYING TO HURT YOU JUNE BY CALLING HIM BAMA. I'M MAKING THE BEST OF IT. I'M GLAD WE WILL ONLY HAVE TO PUT UP WITH HIM 3 MORE YEARS BECAUSE THE MAJORITY IS CHANGING THERE MINDS AND THAT IS A FACT. JUST BECAUSE HE IS EDUCATED DOESN'T MAKE HIM A GOOD PRESIDENT. I DON'T WANT TO LEARN FROM A MAN LIKE HIM. AND THE FIRST 6 YEARS OF BUSH WERE GREAT IT WASN'T UNTILL THE DEM'S TOOK OVER CONGRESS THAT WE STARTED HAVING PROBLEMS. THAT WILL ALL CHANGE NEXT YEAR WHEN THEY START TO LOOSE CONTROL.


A man like him? I wonder what he means by that... I've asked... we shall see if I get an answer.

[Skittles]

1. painful

[Juche]

2. The first 6 years of Bush were great?

Interesting. Katrina, being lied into Iraq, job loss and 9/11 never happened I guess.

I honestly do worry the GOP might come back into power. I don't think it is because the public wants to vote for the GOP, but because they don't want the dems to have too much power. I think that is the angle the GOP will take in 2010 and 2012, a balance of power. Basically I worry the dems aren't giving the public enough reason to vote for them.

[virgogal]

3. "Ignore it" is my mantra. Makes life much less stressful.

[MineralMan]

4. You can't change him, so "LOOSE" his emails.

As he would put it, you can't change THERE minds.

[JuniperLea]

11. I know...

I'm being ornery... I'm trying to get him to admit... you know... that the president... he's... you know... (Juniper whispers) "black."

You see, he keeps comparing me to my grandfater... a cantankerous know-it-all Irishman:) I loved Gramps dearly, but he really could spin a yarn... and he was quite the racist for most of his life. Thankfully, in his final years he actually got to know another cousin's children, Irish and African American, and he really enjoyed their company. He even took them under his wing and taught them useful "fix-it" skills... and they taught him a lot more. I will always love them extra hard for that!

So, I'm half thinking that cousin dearest, in seeing something of my grandfather in me (real or imagined) also thinks I'm a racist... I'm betting, like him.

We shall see how far I can bait him... heh.

Does Gramps look like Archie Bunker, or what?

[MineralMan]

12. Yah, there is a distinct resemblance.

We all have relatives who are off-the-wall, I guess. I know I do. Fortunately, we've come to a sort of Pax Romana or something like that. We all think what we think, but we keep politics out of the discussion most of the time. We have family in common, so we focus on that and enjoy each other's company on that basis.

I think it's worthwhile to put aside stuff like politics and religion within families. There's plenty of conflict out there to go around.

[aquart]

5. No. Nobody reasons with the REASONABLE.

Because they can be talked out of anything.

The position to take in negotiation is the UNreasonable position. Force others to deal with YOU, not the other way around. Look at how you are desperately trying to find a way to reach your cousin.

The first six years of Bush were great? A massive terror strike and two massively expensive, unwinnable wars? Yep. Hard to top that. And don't forget that city we lost. New Orleans? No terrorist ever took out a whole city. Katrina and Bush did.

[Arkana]

6. Does your cousin have to wear a helmet?

Like, all the time?

[JuniperLea]

9. LOL!

He's actually a really sweet, very handsome guy... except for this glaring stupidity... ugh.

I'm the one who needs a helmet right now!

:banghead:

[Toucano]

7. I think one should have to enter a 128 digit code to enable CapLock. n-t

[JuniperLea]

10. I tried to tell him that CAPS = SCREAMING!

And that I'd much rather he adopted the type style of ee cummings... I even explained the proper use of an elipsis...

[Toucano]

13. LOL!

I don't even understand why keyboards have a CapLock.

There are so few circumstances when one has to type more than a few capitalized characters.

Strangeness!

[Warpy]

8. I have a cousin like that

His brothers and sisters have cut him off.

I haven't seen him since he was a little kid, so I don't have any contact with him, either.

It's sad but he did it to himself.

[JuniperLea]

14. That is sad!

This cousin has two brothers and three sisters... I suspect they all agree on many of his points.

When I see these guys at the next family reunion, I'll give them all hugs and have a great time... we always do! And I'll smile a lot when he brings this stuff up... and in true Irish fashion, I'll tell him to go to hell in such a way as to make him look forward to the trip;)

Big family...

[Warpy]

18. Silence = agreement

You need to remind him that you know he's wrong about everything because you've listened to both sides and checked them both out.

Then change the subject.

I have friends and family I disagree with politically. We all are much too polite to bring the subject up in what should be pleasant gatherings.

[JuniperLea]

20. That's pretty much the plan...

I keep asking him how he knows so much when he's already admitted he isn't listening to all sides, and I keep reminding him that if he were to actually pay attention, he'd see how he's been led down the garden path by the Becks and Limbaughs of the world.

[Warpy]

21. Thanks!

Every bit helps and these guys can't go unchallenged.

My dad and I had an armed truce for years, broken only in 2004 when he announced he was voting for Kerry. I was speechless and I'm not speechless very often. He did mention being angered by the swift boat liars. He was a WWII vet who didn't think fellow vets should ever do that to each other.

[JuniperLea]

22. He's spot on with the vets deal!

Yeah, my dad and I had the same sort of deal going... Dad was a staunch, life-long Pubbie... Mom, a tree-hugging liberal:)

Until Bush got out of control... so after voting for Bush TWICE, Dad jumped ship, registered as a Democrat, and voted for Obama in the primary and the general!

I love it when people I love see the light! It's so great talking politics with him, and being in complete agreement! He has done almost a complete turn-around... the Pubbies being ridiculous, greedy, and a pack of liars, really got to him.

[Quasimodem]

15. My response.

By my reading, your cousin proudly admits that he only listens to one side of an argument. He doesn’t respect education. And he refuses to learn from anyone possessing information with whom he disagrees.

Because he only listens to people who agree with him, he believes everyone is against President Obama. He believes Obama will be a one-term president. And he is so self-involved that he can’t tell when his tone, or his terms, are distressing his listener.

The fellow’s one-sided vision has caused him to overlook countless political lies, an undefended attack against his country, an unnecessary war, a squandered city, a shredded Constitution and a ruined economy.

You must make your own decisions, but were I you, I would quickly start concealing all proof that we shared any blood relationship.

[JuniperLea]

17. LOL!

Yeah, you pretty much nailed him!

[Cant trust em]

16. You don't have to reason with him, but you should fire back

I hate letting these people have the last word...as I'm sure that many people on this board have already experienced. :)

[JuniperLea]

19. Me too...

I don't know if that is a blessing or a curse:)

I'm sure I'll have the last word in this...