This is my first diary ever, even though I've participated on this site for probably around three years. Not in any big way, but where I felt I could. The truth though, is that I could be doing more in this important election season.
My renewed enthusiasm was stoked this morning by one of those right-wing propaganda emails. The implications of the email were obvious and 100% typical, and I had encountered this one 6 weeks ago with a different person. I sent a response to the family members that sent it to me, but also to a few others that were not originally included. My response generated this "request for clarification" by a family member (quote edited slightly, but spirit kept):
I am waiting for you to tell me your position on abortion.
In this election year, especially this one with things being what they've become over the last eight years, people are going to be touchy. And as usual, the presidential vote question for some people has more to do with abortion than anything other issue. But people sense things are not quite right, if not for necessarily the right reasons. Propaganda is putting on airline miles like nobody's business, while the truth is having some engine trouble. I intend to reply to this family member with my true stance and thoughts on the issue. Daily I am losing my fear of standing out and up on these things. I can't wait to send the reply to be honest, because they are coming with no facts, only opinions and feelings.
But my biggest problem is always accessing the information I need to fight the intellectual trash out there. I've seen some of it, but always fail to bookmark it for the fight that inevitably comes later with family elders who take nearly every right-wing email at face value. I go searching, but do not always know where to turn. Lately when I reply with links to the truth, all of a sudden the questions start changing and becoming less pointed, less self-assured.
Abortion is an issue tackled often here on DKos, and it's one we of course all feel strongly about. How many of you have a family member - an aunt, a mother, a father, a cousin - who will vote only on a candidate's abortion stance? I seem to have several of each (some are implied, others are obvious). I could blow up over email, and shove it all back in their direction. But I know that would fail pretty miserably. I'm finding it hard to figure out how to deal with this, and respond to someone I love, but someone whose world view is shaped for all the wrong reasons that seem correct. So this diary is about sharing ideas and techniques. How are some of you handling this in the run up to November?