Comments from two co-workers today... What's going on?

[truth2power]

I was talking with a co-worker today who was displeased because the people in NO who received the debit cards (before that idea went down the rabbit hole)supposedly had bought shoes with the money. I assumed she was referring to something in excess of the basic one pair that everyone's entitled to.

I'm sorry to say I wasn't thinking too well on my feet, other than to ask where she heard that. She said she heard it on TV. I just inwardly "shook my head" and went on about my business.

Not an hour later I encountered another co-worker who took pains to tell me that she knows someone who took a family from NO into their home, and now they won't leave. So we all better watch out, yada yada.

A few minutes later, in no apparent context, she informed me that "the Mexicans" are bringing bedbugs into the country. That would be a different variety from what we normally have here, I assume.

I remarked that that sounded like something Rush Limbaugh would say, and did she listen to him? She said no.

Guys, this is only the latest iteration of the "dangerous immigrants" script that seems to be pervasive anymore.

And yes, I think I do know what's going on. Someone is driving this xenophobic hysteria in order to keep us all divided. But that doesn't make the coping any easier. Seems like I'm tired, depressed and terminally angry these days, and every encounter like the above makes me feel like someone just dropped another 20 lb load of bricks on my head. Don't know if that makes sense. It just saps all my energy.

In the meantime, we are in deep, deep shit, and should be worrying about how we're going to ever get our country back, instead of wasting time on this nonsense. Unfortunately, I don't feel hopeful about the outsome.

Coping strategies, please?

[ret5hd]

1. well, a friend of a friend of a friend heard that NO evacuees...

were using those $2000 debit cards to get RECREATIONAL ABORTIONS!! Some were getting TWO!! And if they had any money left after that, they were buying COUGH SYRUP AND LIQUOR!!!

[catmandu57]

CIGARETTES DON'T FORGET THE CIGARETTES

Somebody is giving these whackjobs this shit, it needs to be tracked down and exposed for the bullshit it is. It's okay for kindasleazy to take money provided by the taxpayer go to NYC buy thousand dollar shoes while people in NO were dying, somebody must have slipped her a card or two.

[mitchum]

24. LOL!!!

nicely done :)

[asjr]

2. I think most of us feel the same way. All my

energy has been sapped. I'm dealing with racist e-mails which I immediately delete. There are some damned mean people on this earth.

[MindPilot]

3. I've heard there have been "nightmarish stories" about

people who brought Katrina victims into their homes and got cleaned out.

I dunno, but my girlfriend has offered her home--I hope she gets nice people.

[annabanana]

21. tell people who quote this crap to

PROVE IT..

otherwise, you may consider it to be more of the same lies as we've been fed for the last 5 years.

[Atman]

4. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

And plenty of 'em.

[SiouxJ]

5. "Someone is driving this xenophobic hysteria . . .

in order to keep us all divided"

I've been seeing a lot more of this lately. I'm getting those anti-immigrant, racist emails a lot more often; from people I wouldn't expect to get them from. I usually reply, telling them not to send them to me because they are nothing more than propaganda from the Right, designed to spread hatred and intolerance. Normally I don't get a response. I can't believe what is happening to this country. This is not the same place I grew up in - it is now so filled with hate for anyone not American.

[txaslftist]

14. Someone IS driving xenophobic hysteria. And you are exactly right

about why.

As to who the someone is, it is the Right Wing Noise Machine, a direct subsidiary of Richard Murdoch and Halliburton. Why do they want to keep us divided?

Well lets see. Republicans are the party of the huge corporate looters of America. Democrats are the party of everyone else.

But everyone else includes:
pro-lifers
pro-gunners
anti-immigranters
anti-drinkers
anti-gays
gays
liberals
anti-gunners
pro-choicers
Etc. etc. etc.

The one thing that unites all of us is that we aren't rich corporate looters bent on taking all they can from the US before it goes belly up and then moving overseas. As long as the rest of us folks down on the plantation is worrying about who is pro-life, pro-choice, pro-gun, anti-gun blah blah blah ad nauseum...

We remain divided, they remain in power.

Divide and conquer. It's the Republican elite's marching song.

[Angry Girl]

6. Tell the bitch she's an ignorant rascist and she should piss off

Not very mature but that's what I'd do....

As far as coping, well, go get a drink or a puff or come rant here! And stop associating with those kinds of people! Just don't! It's not even worth trying to convince them to think otherwise - it'll just waste your time.

Surround yourself with smart, progressive people like us at DU!
:-)

[Verve]

7. Faux news perhaps? n/t

[cornermouse]

8. I don't know. It's like everything bad has risen to the top

and taken over the country. Or maybe it just crawled out from under the rocks where it was hiding. I don't know how to cope with it other than I have begun to make a strong effort to avoid being around some people. I just don't want to deal with them any more.

[MissB]

9. Mexican bedbugs?

:rofl:

Wow. Nice "lighter side of hate" there. I'd be tempted to say such a comment in reply to the garbage you're hearing.

[truth2power]

18. Good one! n/t

[Tace]

10. "Do Not Cast Pearls Among Swine"

I've come to believe that it is nearly impossible to change the minds of ignorant people. I sure don't have the energy these days.

[txaslftist]

11. Laughter is the Best Medicine.

"Are you kidding? The Republicans in Congress run up a 7 trillion dollar debt and they're bitching about someone buying shoes? At least the NO evacuees have a spending limit."

"Your friend took evacuees into her home and they won't leave? Call FEMA. They'll have 'em out by the end of next year."

"Mexicans are bringing bedbugs into the country? How can you tell the Mexican bedbugs from the American ones? Do they speak Spanish?"

"Mexicans are bringing bedbugs into the country? Shouldn't they be charged with alien smuggling?"

As to the last one, you can't always counter stupidity with logic. Sometimes only more stupidity will do. The message must remain that you don't take what they say seriously.

[truth2power]

20. Gawd!! I wish I could think of responses like that...

"How can you tell the Mexican bedbugs from the American ones? Do they speak Spanish?"


:rofl: :rofl:



edit> spelling

[txaslftist]

27. trying to think of a snappy comeback...

...keeps me too busy to get mad.

[cynatnite]

12. I didn't know there were mexican bedbugs...

That'll piss off the American ones.

:banghead: Ignorant people piss me off. :grr:

[warrens]

13. Remove their feeding tubes. They're brain dead.

[AValdoux]

15. So it is acceptable to be...

... a hate filled bigot now. You can say things like that out loud now.

Ask them what percentage of the people who fled New Orleans are criminals and thugs? Reverse the % and apply to # of evacuees (50% of 500,000). Answer "So 250,000 americans deserve to be left stranded without any help because of the actions of others. Does that include innocent children also?" Then ask "Can I judge you by the actions of the worst in your demographic; ie hate filled bigots?"


Avaldoux

[shaniqua6392]

16. Take a deep breath....

and keep going. It is exhausting to see what we see and to feel so helpless. The comments made by your co workers were racist in nature. When someone make such comments, I take the opportunity to point that out to them. They are repeating things they hear as if they were parrots. So, give them something to think about. Say something like, "That comment sounded kind of racist to me. I know our country does need to do something about ILLEGAL immigrants, but I try not to judge people without knowing the facts". Illegal immigrants did not get debit cards after the hurricane by the way. They are also very afraid to come forward for any help because they fear deportation. The Republican Party is not going to do anything about illegals. Republican=Big Business which has profited of the backs of those willing to come here illegally and do a job for $2.00 an hour. The suggestions above coupled with a big glass of wine at the end of every day is my prescription. Then get up the next day and keep fighting for our country.

[Minnesota_Lib]

17. And they are all driving around in brand new Caddies!!!!!

..oh, wait, that was a 70s flashback. :shrug:

[Tactical Progressive]

19. You're frustrated and angry because you want to reason

with ideological assholes.

Not a winning strategy for a discussion or for you.

I'd just call them fascists or Nazis, in a roundabout way, like they do with all of their 'socialist' and 'commie' crap that they've been pouring down American gullets for the past forty years. Something like 'That sounds like the Nazi crap that Rush Limbaugh has been spewing.' Or maybe 'Racists have been using Bush's New Orleans tragedy to dump their fascist bile into America's kids - don't believe a single word of their twisted racial hatred.'

Then just shake your head and scoff. Be contemptuous and dismissive of the information if not of them. You'll do better and so will your argument.


Tax cuts for the greedy, and suffering for the needy, every time Republicans get control.

[bj2110]

22. Rename Dept of Homeland Security to start with

The whole notion of a "homeland" simply promotes the us vs. them line of think. How about calling it the Department of Domestic Affairs, sheesh...

[kerry-is-my-prez]

23. Touche' onThe Rush Limbaugh comment. Said the same thing to my mom.

She's one of these "secret" racists.

[VTMechEngr]

25. Bed bugs are coming back naturally.

DDT was the main pesticide that stopped them in the 50's. I had them craw into my 1st floor dorm room 1 year and make my fall semester miserable. I kept getting itchy bites that resembled spider bites on my hands and arms. It wasn't till after 3 months that I caught a 1/4 bug on my wall and started researching it.

I discovered how they nest, found the nest in a trim board near the ceiling and spent 2 cans of insect killer to exterminate the little fuckers. Then I dragged the corpses to the university and the entomology dept. The bug profs. were shocked they were real and alive, and the university had to take the samples and send them to an exterminator to confirm they really were bed bugs.

It worked out well though. I never got bit after my spray can fest, since I had found the nest, and they sprayed the walls over winter break with a pesticide that works well against them. They also gave me a new mattress, which wasn't needed at all, but hey, it was new and comfy, so I didn't complain.

Think of them as 1/4 mosquitoes without wings. Its an experience I never forgot.

[Mr_Spock]

26. It's pervasive due to the F@#@!# Obnoxious Xenophobe "news" channel

What do you expect?