My dad voted Republican this election because, as he put it, "That Palin is one hot broad."
But now he's changed his mind.
Betcha can't guess why...
Last year, as election day grew near, my father asked me, "So what do think of that Sarah Palin?" I told him bluntly, "That bitch is crazy." He told me then that he was going to vote Republican. This was hardly a surprise; he's voted Republican every cycle except 1996. Go figure.
A little background here: my dad's 66 years old. He was a Marine during the 60s, tried several times to go to Vietnam. They wouldn't let him, he says, because his father had died during WW2. My dad's step-father had been a Klansman in Valdosta, Georgia way back when. He didn't vocalize it often, but even as a kid I could see the contempt for black folks in the old man's eyes whenever he saw them. I always hoped that my father hadn't absorbed too much of that poisonous mindset; I never really knew for sure, though I had my suspicions.
I wouldn't exactly call my dad an "issues" kind of voter. He goes "with his gut," as he says. The problem in recent years is that he spends too much time with Fox "news." He swallows their crap like it's gospel, never questioning their accuracy, never doubting any of their stories. I told him once that Fox is hardly news. He said, "Of course it is, Son. It says Fox NEWS right there on the TV!" The thought that the media could be lying to him simply never crossed his mind. I tried for years to get him to change. He never did.
Until two weeks ago.
I talked to my dad on the phone yesterday. We agreed long ago to avoid politics in our brief discussions. But yesterday, out of the blue, he said to me, "Well, Son, I have to tell ya somethin'. I think Obama might just pull our fat from the fire."
I said, "What?"
He proceeded to explain to me that, as usual, he'd been watching Fox "news." He told me that he watched Beck do his "crazy cryin' jig," watched Hannity to his hatchet jobs on the president. He watched as some commmentators called for secession of one state or another. And he watched the lead-up to the big Tea Party nonsense on Tax Day.
"Watchin' all those nutjobs on TV that day, that's when I realized," my shocked ears heard him explain, "that the Republican party today is nothing but a bunch of crazies and wackos. And I don't think I wanna be associated with anyone like that anymore."
So thanks, I guess, Fox "news." You managed to accomplish in mere weeks what this concerned son couldn't do in 10 years: you drove my father away from your damaging, hateful rhetoric. You got him to change his mind about your network.
You made my father an Obamanite!
Now my father watches MSNBC. He's not so sure about Olbermann yet, but he really likes Maddow. Yeah; go figure!