In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
~George Orwell
We all seem to know them. Wingnuts. Or just plain ign'ant folks. If we are lucky, we may only see them when we are in line at the grocery store, or just briefly overhear them spewing their bile at the table next to us in a restaurant. If we are not so lucky, they are our neighbors or people we work with so we have to see them almost every damn day. My question to you is how do you deal with them? I usually take one of two courses. One is to just ignore them because life is too short to use up precious time and energy on a lost cause. The other is to confront the ignorance. I usually only do this when they are either egregiously out of bounds with their comments or I'm in a special mood where I need to educate someone who has been fed the talking points, and is badly in need of some context and background information that they missed from Hannity, Beck, Limbaugh, etc.
Of course, the chain emails are the easiest to refute, because you can quickly and devastatingly provide factual links and info against the ObamaKenyanSocialist nonsense. But I do richly enjoy the live contact and seeing a wingnut become quickly flustered when hit with a dose facts from this universe, instead of the parallel one they prefer to dwell in. One thing I don't like is seeing how many other people, who I thought were actually too smart to fall for the bullshit, weren't. Yes, the sad part is seeing how well the corporate media have hidden the real history from so many people who have not had the inclination to find it, probably because of their own deeply ingrained prejudices.
3 comments:
My brother-in-law is a wingnut. He loves to argue politics, and to assure me that all that is wrong with the world is a liberal plot, or a liberal act.
To draw me into discussions, he lays traps. When I'm visiting he keeps his TV tuned to Fox News, knowing how much it bugs me. But I never let on.
How do I handle it?
Well, I've stopped arguing, debating, or discussing politics with him. He's too fractious.
Facts don't move him. He knows the facts, or makes them up as he goes along.
Now, I just ignore him, or nod my head. After a time, he abandons the attempt, and retires to another room.
I don't visit often.
My brother at the Unapologetic Mexican El Machete blog has an interesting post on how to deal with these things. The post is titled "All these walls will fall" dated 6-9-10.
its very informative and I posted it at my Black Culture blog as well. Visit him and visit me too!
http://black-folks.blogspot.com/
BD...I remember you mentioning that on another blog. I feel your pain. I think that's a good strategy, it saves a lot of wasted effort.
Anna Renee, I will check that out. Thanks!
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