for those of you who will be spending the holiday with relatives and inlaws and such who don't share the kosine political viewpoint, i'm posting this as a place to have a forum on how to deal with our fox-watching relations.
let me make it clear though, yesterday i posted a similar entry to start this discussion, but i think many of the people misunderstood. i am not advocating trying to "win" a political argument over the dinner table tomorrow...
instead i think it's inevitable that the subject will come up in some households. i know it will for me, but not at the level of confrontation that
wes f posted yesterday:
in my family, merely saying "I don't agree with you 100%" is enough to launch my dad, (especially) my sister and brother-in-law, and my brother on a foot-stomping, yelling, turkey-drumstick throwing tirade about how "fags" and "colored people" and (yes, even) "people who don't go to church" are destroying what Ronald Reagan and Jesus wanted for America.
wow. on the other end of the spectrum are people like
phil s, who advised:
When I was a young firebrand, the holiday dinners were my political tent revival... Boy, did we have some dust-ups over turkey. As I've grown older and the empty chairs around the family table increase, I've not the stomach for those battles with family anymore... I'll not spoil the few occasions we still get together with my version of Crossfire. It's your family. Make it a day of togetherness, not bitterness...
peace and family and togetherness are what i hope for for you and yours, fellow kosters. so when your hardheaded brother-in-law brings it up, because you know he will, what does one say to stop the acrimony before it begins, but still make your position clear, maybe even plant a seed? for my part, i'm thinking i'm going to limit my response to to all of it to something like "bush is in over his head, is all". not bush-hating, or incendiary, but might give them a way out of the bush cult at some point in the future when they come to their senses but can't take the cognitive dissonance of being wrong, duped, etc. any thoughts? what would work for your family?
one little side thought that inspired the title of this would be to turn it into a game of sorts. this would work if your family has a good sense of humor and sharp wits, and are well disposed to each other. agree not to talk about it directly, but only refer to things as part of your mundane dinner table discussion. as examples you might say:
pass the bush-is-toast please
could you send the fat cat gravy train down this way, please?
more guns-and-butter please
kids, quit it! after dinner you can go outside and play bin-laden-go-seek.
then the other side could come back with:
would you care for some broccoli and rice civil-union?
boy i wish i had some freedom fries right now.
are there are any more terrorist-smashing-into-buildings potatoes left?
you get the idea. hmm. that might be tough to carry off. think i'll stick with my first idea for now.
happy thanksgiving everyone. however you spend it. if you have to spend it working for whatever reason, double thanks to you.