How I made friends with a 65 year old winger, and changed her mind.

[mahina]

I had to take a business trip to Philadelphia last week. On the first leg I was seated next to an older woman who is a staunch Republican. She was raised in North Dakota. Her father, to quote her, didn't think she should go to high school because she was "just going to pop babies out anyway." (She turned out to be living proof of the U.N. Development data: to raise the standard of living, educate the women.)

She moved to Denver at graduation, and ended up maintaining computers, big ones, in the 70's until just a few years ago. She invested in real estate and raised two kids, lost one husband and married another who is 10 years her senior, and an engineer who worked on nuclear weapons programs.

About two hours in, she started probing about politics. I bemoaned the state of the tv 'news' industry, demise of the newspaper, and tragedy porn with a side of personal attacks on Fox. Told her I don't really care for O'Reilly and Hannity, that I have to read the BBC, NYT, and watch MacNeil Lehrer to get an idea of what is really going on.

She gave me all the Pravda points: "nobody's even read the stimulus bill!!!"
"Obama's had no experience" etc.

She was surprised to hear that, to quote John Conyers in Fahrenheit 9-11, they never read the bills. That to feign horror at a long established fact was a cynical manipulation of popular opinion. Congresscritters work on their sections and their staff read all the sections. That the whole thing is going online for everyone to see. That Obama had all the experience he needed, was a two term state senator, that the current system is broken for all of us, that we are, to quote the man, "not as divided as our politics suggest. That we are one people, one nation."


She's still a republican, probably will be till her last breath. But I am pretty sure she will read a few more newspapers, and I know she will now take the talking points with a pillar of salt. :)


(The fare round trip on United from Honolulu was $600, cheap as beans! Oh, and that economy plus legroom deal? It's a winner.)

[HillbillyBob]

1. Cheers, all we can ask is to try to get them thinkin

nt

[mahina]

4. We explored climate change, too. Since her assertion was that climate change was happening, but was

not global warming, it was an easy conversion. Using Nicholas Stern's "Economics of Climate Change" and Al Gore's lectures, I got just a few points through.

Opportunities rarely present themselves, particularly when we are all so hardened in our positions. The weakness of Fox's line of reasoning makes easy work when the opportunity arises for discussion.

[T Wolf]

2. I think it is a waste of time and energy to try and reach these mindless cretins. They never change

because they do not have the intelligence to consider any view except their own, narrow, bigoted one.

Those who think that it is possible are deluding themselves. That view comes from a naive perspective that all persons want to do what is best for the whole of humanity. Pukes are not like that and will never care for others.

Better to use your energy, brains, and effort in trying to accomplish something positive. "Saving" a rethug from themselves is as futile as trying to convert a person with brains to a reich-wing religion.

[mahina]

3. She is a very intelligent person, and she does think of others.

Perhaps you're right, but I was sitting there next to her for 5.5 hours, so it cost me nothing to talk with her. You did read my post before responding, right?

[elocs]

7. Yours is the prevalent opinion about Republicans that I read on DU. Sad really.

I bet that millions of people who usually vote Republican or who had previously voted for Bush voted for Obama. But they get no credit here because they are just rethugs, and pukes, narrow an bigoted. They may be narrow minded too, but they don't have exclusive rights on that because I see a lot of it here as well. Undoubtedly, thousands of us here at DU have mothers and fathers, sisters and brother, children or friends who are Republicans. To blanketly call them all of the derisive epithets that I read here is as narrow minded and as bigoted as we accuse Republicans of being. Thankfully we have a far, far better president who has a more inclusive and welcoming attitude than many that I read here.

[hfojvt]

5. Hey Aloha!

My parents are in Hawaii now, although I tried to discourage them from going. Just got an email from my sister and she says they love it. My parents and I are all ex-Republicans, although some on DU doubt the ex part for me. People do change their minds and their politics.

[pansypoo53219]

6. we need to teach

CRITICAL THINKING.
must have been all that trizie beldon/nancy drew i read as a kid. plus 70's cop shows. COLUMBO!