I've always enjoyed reading other DK postings about their interactions with Right Wing Nut Jobs but living in New York State and even though I'm in Peter King's Congressional District I do manage to not have much interaction with them. But follow below the swirly to hear my recent experience.
Sadly my 91 year old mother just passed. We were most fortunate to not experience the cruelty of depleting family funds to pay for extended medical care as her illness was unexpected and lasted less than two months. However, the topic of the high cost of healthcare and the need by many to resort to Medicaid to help where Medicare leaves off came up in a few discussions at the funeral wake.
Just to backtrack a bit, my mother, though 91, was very liberal in her political views and always voted Democrat. But a friend of hers for over 60 years did not share her views. Through the years I had heard from my Mom some of this friend's comments and always rolled my eyes at the remarks.
So while speaking to my Mom's friend, at the funeral wake, the issue of being elderly and needing long term care came up. She stated she was terrified of what was going to happen because of Obamacare. Though I'm very vocal in my own political view, I knew this was not the place nor the time to 'debate' or 'convert' someone to my way of thinking. So I gently told her not to worry that the President would not do anything to change Medicare for today's seniors. I said it to reassure her in the case she was thinking of her own future. Yet she vehemently stated that I was wrong, that Obama was slashing Medicare benefits and causing doctors to drop Medicare patients. I remember doing a mental double-take to make sure I heard her correctly. Then she proudly stated, she is very knowledgeable about what is happening in the world today because she watches Fox News every day. I glanced at my daughter (who goes to college in NYC and is very liberal) and saw she had a stunned look on her face. The friend continued to state that Fox News is the only place you can get true information on what is happening. She continued to go on and speak about how terrible it was that Obama was going to appear with children to force his views on gun control on the country. Luckily for me, two cousins of mine from out of state came into the room and I excused myself to go speak with them. As my daughter got up with me and we walked away, she said "Did I hear what I think I heard?"
What I took away from this interaction, was first, the disrespect shown to the President by her constantly referring to him as just Obama without stating President Obama. Second, she honestly appeared to me as a zealot in her fanatical manner of presenting her views as the right ones. But her absolute conviction in believing that only what Fox News presents was the truth was unsettling to me. I've read here on DK the comments by RWNJ and would chuckle to myself that those comments were the rantings of nuts. But here was a woman I knew my whole life, sitting right in front of me, sounding like a crazy person.
The damage Fox News has done to this country is a disgrace. I truly hope that we can undo all the harm they have done and make our country whole again.