Deprogram your relatives this Thanksgiving

[Celerity]

https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/wait-what/619e50cedce0f300208d7288/deprogram-your-relatives-this-thanksgiving/





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[Turbineguy]

1. None of those relatives are coming to ours.

We'll be preaching to the choir.

[Haggard Celine]

2. No thanks.

I want to enjoy dinner and not discuss politics. Nobody's mind will be changed regardless.

[TlalocW]

3. I am Mister Political, and my family realizes it, but I put it away at family gatherings

And most of the family does as well, but there have been a couple times...

My brother-in-law's relatively new stepdad is very religious and even looks like a televangelist. Has this holier-than-thou look on his face all the time. I was in a turkey coma on the couch at my sister's house when he just wandered into the living room and addressed me on some FOX talking points. I don't remember what, but I said something like, "Oh, you got that from so-and-so, right? (Yes) Yeah, that's a complete misrepresentation of what actually happened." I then proceeded to give him a historical breakdown of what really happened, how right-wing media got a hold of it, and finally the the spin the FOX host put on it without letting him get a word in, and I finished off with something like, "I mean, you'd have to be crazy to believe that Obama would even do/say something like that because no matter what else you think about him, he's too smart of a politician to do so." His face fell, and he went into the kitchen where I heard him talking to my sister who told him not to test me.

The other time, another turkey coma, and everyone around me started talking about abortion. I feigned being asleep but my now ex-nephew-in-law said he knew I wasn't asleep and asked for my opinion with a shit-eating grin on his face. I responded with, "I can give you my opinion, and then we can argue about it, and I guarantee that I will piss you all off more than you do me, or we can break out the board games like we always do and have a nice time. Which would you like to do, nephew-in-law? How about the rest of you?"

We played board games.

TlalocW

[lame54]

4. What if they change mine?

[Celerity]

5. depends what the subject was, and what your viewpoints were (and theirs as well)

[samnsara]

6. my great sister in law and her 27 yr old wonderful son are coming from seattle

...we will be stoned and drunk.


I DARE my family to show up!

[ChoppinBroccoli]

7. It'll Never Work; The Brainwashing Is Too Deep

The other day, I saw a headline that read something like, "Anti-Vaxxer Who Caught COVID And Was Placed On Ventilator Loses Both Legs, Still Has No Regrets." If there was ever any doubt about how complete and unalterable the Trump brainwashing has been, there should be none anymore. I've never seen brainwashing like this. People are literally willing to put their love for Trump ahead of their own health, safety, and well-being. Usually this type of cult-like behavior is reserved to a small group of nuts who are particularly stupid and/or susceptible (i.e. Jonestown or Heaven's Gate). It seems like half the nation has drunk the Kool-Aid.

Oh, and the other reason why it won't work is because these RW blowhards LIVE to ruin Thanksgiving dinners. They show up to them SPECIFICALLY to spew their politics, shout down anyone who dares disagree, and then claim victory when people get tired of it and just want to have a nice dinner. It boggles the mind to think about how many "Just Totally Pwned My Lib Family" posts there are going to be on the RW blogosphere tomorrow night.

[DFW]

8. Impossibility

The only relatives coming are my younger daughter and her two daughters.

My daughter is right where we are politically, and her daughters (ages 1 and 3) are not quite old enough to be politically active.