Thanksgiving dinner table politics - need advice

[mhughes0021]

it was meant to be sort of humorous, but I actually wondered if anyone else had any of the same experiences and could share the ways they resolved them.

i guess just avoiding the topic, or steering it away from or around the prickly issues is probably the best and only real way to deal with it. anyone uncouth enough to start blathering about politics around people who's opinions they aren't aware of, or don't agree with is probably not worth reasoning with anyway (in person at least; not on the internet...)

I don't want to just not go without letting him know why, but that might be pointless; this might be the last year I go anyways.

well if you really want to be brutally honest, quick and say something that wouldnt spark a ton of back n forth.....just tell him you couldnt trust a guy that changes his stance on everything every couple months and lies thru his teath on most topics. That you couldnt respect someone who ran on Fox news' talking points instead of his own convictions. He let everyone run his campaign for him to the point where no one knew who the fuck he was. That youd rather have someone that had a better chance of taking charge of our country...instead of a robot that does whatever hes told.

 

[Michchamp]

well if you really want to be brutally honest, quick and say something that wouldnt spark a ton of back n forth.....just tell him you couldnt trust a guy that changes his stance on everything every couple months and lies thru his teath on most topics. That you couldnt respect someone who ran on Fox news' talking points instead of his own convictions. He let everyone run his campaign for him to the point where no one knew who the fuck he was. That youd rather have someone that had a better chance of taking charge of our country...instead of a robot that does whatever hes told.

it wouldn't matter. he lives in Rush Limbaugh/FoxNews/Glenn Beck world...

he would say "What? When did Romney ever change his stance on anything? I know not what you speak of."

I could clip news articles from Romney then and now, show him them, and he would revert to conservative robot mode, and mention the "liberal media bias," and "vast leftwing conspiracy" that produces such documents to fool us.

 

[redandguilty]

That's an idea, you can split the difference between options 1 and 2 and bring up things that don't quite push the partisan buttons the same way. "If the Republicans wanted to win, they really should have run a Main St. guy instead of a Wall St. guy." or complain about how the media's main focus is keeping people watching.

 

[mhughes0021]

it wouldn't matter. he lives in Rush Limbaugh/FoxNews/Glenn Beck world...

he would say "What? When did Romney ever change his stance on anything? I know not what you speak of."

I could clip news articles from Romney then and now, show him them, and he would revert to conservative robot mode, and mention the "liberal media bias," and "vast leftwing conspiracy" that produces such documents to fool us.

Just end it in a dark sarcastic way that shows how much you dont want to discuss it like:

"look at the bright side dad....if someone kills obama, theres an old white guy that takes his place"

 

[byco42]

Now it's abundantly clear where you got your abrasive, argumentative side. Just have at it and ruin the event for everyone. That's my advice.

 

[Michchamp]

Now it's abundantly clear where you got your abrasive, argumentative side. Just have at it and ruin the event for everyone. That's my advice.

LOL, yeah, I guess that's probably true.

If pushed, maybe I will go with the nuclear option. at least I'll have a warm hotel room nearby to sleep in.

 

[schles192]

When he starts to go off, quietly stand up, take your dick out, and stick it in the mash poatoes. That should change the subject, plus you probably won't be invited back, problem solved and solved.

 

[Michchamp]

the only other time it was really a problem was in '09, I think:

the defense industry "think" tanks, GOP, and right-wing blowhards on the radio were really opposing civil trials for terrorists on the grounds of all sorts of scary things that might happen to us if we held them. (can't have civilians know too much about how that old "war on terror" is going...)

the old man was going on about how insane it was that we would even consider trying these dangerous super villains on US soil. I tried to ignore the whole argument between he and my brother as long as possible, before he was like "you're a lawyer, what do you think?"

I calmly responded that we tried and convicted terrorists in federal courts before; some of the participants of the '93 WTC bombing were tried and convicted during Clinton's tenure; the perpetrators of the July '07 London bombings were tried and convicted in UK court, and the Spanish did the same thing. It's well established, and how things SHOULD be done in a countries governed by law. There are procedures for keeping any evidence that is a national security matter under seal and only viewable by the attorneys for both sides, while excluding related testimony from any publicly available transcripts and media.

everyone just shut up after that.

I wanted to rub it in... "guess they didn't cover that on Fox News? Glenn Beck's show isn't so great for debate prep, eh?" but I just went back to finishing my stuffing and cranberries.

 

[johnny2x2x]

What you do is show up to his house wearing a UN uniform and bring a camera. Tell him, that you want to take a bunch of family pictures in each room of the house, especially the room he has guns in.

 

[elrod817]

Well champ....my serious answer I already told you, but my humorous answer would be to figure out what you really want to accomplish. Is your dad open to reason? Can you actually have a conversation where you can understand each other's ideas while not necessarily agreeing with them? (okay Glenn Beck's ideas are hard to give credence to...anyone else think Romney could get 330?, but you know what I mean...) Does it really mean something to you to have him even understand a tiny slice of your viewpoint? Do you have a decent relationship otherwise? Sometimes a battle is won by not fighting it, if the war itself is pointless.