Conversation w/a co-worker today re: Obama - he "scares" her

[texpatriot2004]

Today, I received the campaign buttons that I ordered from the Obama campaign. This co-worker happened to be there when they brought the box to me and I opened it. The co-worker said, "oh yeah, that's right, you're for Obama" to which I responded "yes, I am." The majority of people I work with consider themselves to be "Republican" and she is one of them. She is very capable and smart, except for politics IMO. We are State employees and don't make tons of cash; it always amazes me how people who work for a living vote against themselves to support Republicans who do nothing for them but use them...especially the NEOCON variety but alas, I digress. So, where was I, oh yeah, I said I supported Obama. My co-worker said, "I don't want a terrorist in the White House." I said to her that is not true, there is no basis in fact for that statement. She quickly moves on and says "how did he go to school, not student loans because there is no record of them and there would be a record." She doesn't stop there she continues with "I have a friend who did some research and she can't find any record of them and she can find mine." I tell her I understand that he went to college on scholarships and on loans. His personal student loans, really? Seriously? What the hell?

She changes the subject again and mentions the housing crisis and the bailout. We talk about this for a minute or two and she tells me there "has to be regulation" and I agree with that. At this point, I am thinking, so she's against deregulation, for more regulation and yet she is supporting a man who has been against regulation for over two decades? That makes no sense. It is very illogical.

I do make an effort at work to correct obviously false information when I have the opportunity although I usually don't discuss politics at work because I find it too frustrating to discuss issues with people who are delusional. I am not out to convert these O'Reilly watching, "W" loving people in this small town. They call themselves "conservatives" - when this Administration is so NOT fiscally conservative. They say they are for "small government" - but this is the biggest government I have seen in my life. They call themselves Christians - but their behavior has very little to do with Christianity as I understand it. Anyway, if I say something that gives them pause to think, then that is great and if they convert on their own by thinking about things that I say, then that is fantastic. Many of my co-workers cannot stand McSame but don't like Obama because "there is just something about him."

Later, after she left my office I really think it might be about race for her but she can't/won't say that. It's small town mentality mixed with prejudice and some weird religious stuff, the kind that makes them think, he's different, foreign, not a "real" Christian or a "real" American, in other words, scary.

How do reasonable and otherwise smart people become delusional regarding Obama?

Oh, and BTW, I don't think his student loan records are my business unlike McSame's medical records which he won't release. Besides, um, if you are going to possibly be the next President of the US isn't there someone whose job it is to, um, I don't know, be sure these kinds of records don't fall into the wrong hands or something?

Oh, one more thing I forgot, I told her McSame was scary and that it was, in my opinion, too risky for the US to continue on the same path that we are on. What I thought, but didn't say, was that I have been afraid under * for almost 8 years now.

[drmeow]

1. They say they are for "small government" -

yet they work for the government! I hate that type of hypocrisy. Its like, "Hello, if the government was smaller YOU WOULDN'T HAVE A JOB!!!!!!!"

[But....]

3. -?-

:rofl:

[texastoast]

2. Primal instincts they can't rise above

Lots of humans are so rooted in survival. "Different" threatens that instinct. "Change" threatens that instinct.

It really is about race for them: "We've always had a white president, so a black one scares me."

No matter what they argue, that's what it is about.

Pathetic. Pitiable.

[aaronbav]

25. Pathetic - yes; - Pitiable - HELL NO it isn't

[Union Thug]

4. How do you put up with pin-headed buffoons like this? Tell her she's a fucking idiot and leave it at

that. For chrissakes, how much more of this fermenting vomit will we politely tolerate?

[texpatriot2004]

7. Well, I can't much argue with you there. I fancy myself a

professional who is making a great effort to "live and let live" and to practice tolerance which is more than they usually extend to us.

[dhpgetsit]

5. I heard somewhere that

he was still paying off college loans when he went to Chicago to be a community organizer.

But what the hell difference does THAT make?

The fact is she IS afraid. Fear comes out of the subconscious mind. The rational mind has to build stories to support it. Some people are more fearful, and they are the ones who easily fall prey to the Cons. She is afraid of his skin or his name, or both. It's sad.

[morillon]

6. There's a whole section on Snopes on this very topic.

Do these people never check there first before forwarding that hundredth email about the Neiman Marcus cookies or the latest bizarre bullshit about Obama?

[texpatriot2004]

8. I don't know, does Bill-O talk badly about Snopes? Is Snopes

part of the "liberal media" in their opinion? Or some crazy webite on the "internets" connected by tubes?

I just learned about Snopes recently, so I honestly don't know but really doubt that they check much of anything for themselves except for talking points and hear say.

[morillon]

9. Snopes is a well-established clearinghouse for urban legends.

That's their specialty. Political rumors are an extremely small subset of the topics they cover.

[texpatriot2004]

20. I was being somewhat sarcastic above. You know, like Snopes

a legitimate source for debunking disinformation but wondering if the GOP talking heads have tried to discredit it in some way?

[morillon]

32. Wouldn't surprise me.

They really do confirm that study I read about a few months ago, that showed that when confronted when overwhelming evidence to the contrary, conservatives cling to their beliefs even harder. Crazy, I tell ya.

[texpatriot2004]

38. Yeah, what is that about? Clinging to "beliefs" regardless of

reason, or fact?

[blue sky at night]

10. code words....

from a small minded fool, who is pretty sure mcsame/pain is evil but can't really face facts enough to vote for anyone but a puke, in other words, everything scares her.

[tjwash]

11. Interesting look at what the cons have floating around the bottom of their barrel now.

At this point they're down to the libertarian-tax-dodger rich white assholes, paranoid megalomanic PNAC warmongers, and end-times Christian dominionists.

She sounds like #2.

[Laelth]

12. I like your tactics--gentle but insistent upon fact.

Colbert is right. The truth has a liberal bias. All we can really do is expose the delusional to the truth and then hope they come to the logical conclusion that naturally springs from the truth--GOP policy is bad for 95% of us.

The United States is a LIBERAL Country.

:dem:

-Laelth

[texpatriot2004]

13. Hey thanks for that. It has just been in the last year or so that I

have been able to even discuss politics with those on the other side. I guess this approach is a "do unto others" sort of thing. Anyway, several of them are listening and thinking and that is an accomplishment.

"GOP policy is bad for 95% of us" - that's the truth.

[Montauk6]

14. THESE people scare me, OK???

[SammyWinstonJack]

18. THESE people PISS ME OFF!

:mad: Idiots who can't/won't think for themselves PISS ME OFF! :grr:

[mmonk]

15. I would respond "Republicans scare you with lies and disinformation."

[texpatriot2004]

19. What a great response. Thanks. I will keep that for future

reference.

[mmonk]

24. You're welcome. I use that approach and do it calmly and matter

of fact like. I don't carry it further. I leave it up to the person to inquire or go further with it. It seems to work instead of giving them an angry response.

[texpatriot2004]

26. I agree that anger doesn't work and to let them inquire before

proceeding. Thanks again.

[gratuitous]

21. That's it right there

The Republican "leadership" of the nation has spent eight years ginning up the fear factor. Now, unless you think large corporations all over the world love throwing away billions of dollars on advertising because it doesn't work, you know for a fact that advertising works. Some ads work better than others, that's for sure, but generally it works.

And the relentless advertising done by the Republicans has been to sell fear. Was 9/11 horrific? Yes, indeed it was. But really, what direct effect did it have on the country as a whole? Three thousand or so people died, three planes went down, a couple of buildings in New York City were demolished and part of the Pentagon was damaged. Did it disrupt our food supply? Did it taint our water? Did it turn large portions of our population into internal refugees? Did it visit death and destruction on 99% of the country? No. And yet, the Republicans assiduously stoked the fires of fear and panic, raising the threat level and issuing alarmist warnings whenever it suited their purposes.

No wonder some people are still scared. They've been well coached by a political party that doesn't have America's best interests at heart. It's certainly wise to be on one's guard, but for all the billions squandered on "security" at the cost of our society's openness, have we made a good trade? We have not. Why does one party want you to be scared right down to your socks? Why is one party selling perpetual fear as its main stock-in-trade? And why, 10 days before the election, is their biggest selling point fear? Aren't you tired of being a scared little rabbit? Don't you want to be a real person again?

[mmonk]

27. Yep.

And when you tell them, it shuts down the argument. I've actually converted people into Obama supporters with it as my beginning reply.

[mitchum]

16. Why isn't her ass working in the PRIVATE SECTOR?

She's a fucking hypocrite...and a goddamn racist

[mitchum]

17. Why isn't her ass working in the PRIVATE SECTOR?

She's a fucking hypocrite...and a goddamn racist

[shadowknows69]

22. Same response I've gotten from several people

And I don't even think they know why they feel that way. The mass media brainwashing machine really does work on some people.

[texpatriot2004]

52. Yeah, I agree, I don't think she knows why she feels that way. I

know she certainly cannot say it is because she is racist. You know, it seems for her it might actually be the rumors of his not being an American,and being Muslim and those things more than being an African American. Brainwashing with lies and disinformation is exactly what I thought about too.

[bermudat]

23. Student Loan Records?

She supports McCain who is the son of an admiral and the grandson of an admiral? Who finished 5th from

the bottom of his class? Who has had universal health care his entire life? These 'morans' will

always be with us. I'm praying that there is 80% turn out so the reality based populace

outvotes these cretins.

[leftchick]

28. "If you make less than a million and vote republican, you are an idiot!

If you make more than a million and vote republican, you are an asshole!"


My very favorite Frank Factor quote!

[Lex]

29. "If you vote Republican, you are in 1 of 2 categories: a millionaire or a sucker."

I think it might've been Bill Maher who said that.

[texpatriot2004]

39. That is basically what I have always thought. If you work for a

living, you have no business voting Republican.

BTW I like your Jesus.

[leftchick]

45. Jesus and I thank you!

;)

[trudyco]

30. I had a similar email conversation with my (smart) brother!

Where are they getting these things? He and I were having a reasonable conversation about the pros and cons of the candidates and the two parties. Then I posted a list of "scandals" of Sarah Palin, noting that some of them were just faux pas really. But, I said, no matter what I was against her because of her trip while 8 months pregnant. And she has at least a 16% chance of becoming president, I've heard 25% - and that wasn't including McCain's cancer or the toll of years of torture. I also questioned why she hadn't released her medical records.

Well my brother went off. Heres what he said:
"She released her medical records...Obama has not, most likely because they include drug addiction and psycho-imbalances....not to mention smoking withdrawal...Obama has also not released his University records---which might indicate his African citizenship....does anyone wonder how a high school cut-up who says he would rather get drunk than do school work ended up at Occidental and Columbia and Harvard?? Or afforded to pay the now $50k/year for Oxy?"

I never heard about the cut up, smoking, drugs and booze before. Is he extracting this from one of Obama's books? But the release of University records implies he's an African citizen? The lack of student loans means what? He's a paid undercover agent of the notorious Uganda????? And he's bringing up that citizenship thing again. Where are they getting this crap?

This guy was raised liberal. ALL of his family is liberal. He was the most liberal of us until AIDs came along and suddenly Gays scared him. Then he had a string of brown skinned people of various nationalities, mostly women, as bosses. Then his eldest got harassed by Mexicans in her school. Somehow that totally changed him. He is extremely intelligent yet the Repubs have gotten to his basest instincts. He admits deregulation is bad but things Dems are going to turn us into a pure socialist state and then he'll never get ahead.His brains and hard work and ingenuity will be for naught.

Very bizarre.

[morillon]

31. LOL! She hasn't released her records, has she? n/t

[helderheid]

33. share this cartoon

[trudyco]

36. That's good! -nt

[sendero]

34. To anyone who is "scared" of Obama..

... I ask, "were you scared or Bush in 2000?".

When they answer "no" I point out that their "scaredy-sense" is apparently not too finely tuned.

[texpatriot2004]

50. LOL, hey, that is a good idea. nm

[VoodooGuru]

35. Student loans

I remember hearing somewhere (poor source, I know, but hey! it's more reputable than Matt Drudge now) that Obama paid off his student loans fairly recently, and I felt good about that. It underscores that like most everyone else who went to college, he needed to borrow. (No rich family, no "legacy".) Honestly, wouldn't you rather have a president who knew what that was like? I thought it was a significant selling point for Obama, even back in the primary season.

[texpatriot2004]

40. I checked Snopes and the Obama's did recently pay off their

student loans with part of the profits from the books Obama wrote.

Yeah for them. Maybe I should write a book.

[Realityhack]

37. "How do..."

"How do reasonable and otherwise smart people become delusional regarding Obama?"

I think you already nailed it with this:
"...really think it might be about race for her but she can't/won't say that. It's small town mentality mixed with prejudice and some weird religious stuff, the kind that makes them think, he's different, foreign, not a "real" Christian or a "real" American, in other words, scary."

It sounds like someone who is scared of the world. Almost certainly some racism in there.

[WritersBlock]

41. She'd be a lot less scared if she'd just admit her bigotry. "He scares me" is code for "he's black."

Every single, solitary time.

I guarandamn-tee it

She's not scared; she's a racist and too cowardly to admit it to herself, much less to you or anyone else.

[gollygee]

42. Yup.

I agree 100%. That just screamed, "He scares me because he's black."

[Fire1]

55. NAIL ON THE HEAD!!!

[plaintiff]

43. The subliminal messages you're getting from this person demonstrate the reality of the "Bradley

Effect" that even the mention of will get a poster into boiling oil around here...as if ignoring even the -possibility- of it having serious consequences will prevent them. I am not proposing a -solution- to this dilemma but I think we would be extremely stupid to deny its
liklihood. You and I know that Jesus wasn't a blond blue-eyed Caucasian but there are people who will go postal on you if you say it to them. :shrug:

[gollygee]

44. It can occasionally go the other way though

My brother, who has always voted Republican, decided to vote for Obama after his barber gave him every dog-whistle reason on earth why he wouldn't vote for Obama. My brother said as he left, "It really just sounds like a lot of excuses to not vote for a black guy." And he said that started to make him wonder about the company he was keeping, and the more he thought about it the more it didn't seem like there was a rational reason to vote for McCain. McCain is scarier - his emotional state is really frightening. The Republican Party these days spends more than the Democratic Party so that isn't a reason to vote for McCain. He went through a large number of reasons and couldn't think of one rational reason why McCain would be better, and he said the more he thought about it, the more the reasons not to vote for Obama sounded either like, "because he's black" or, "because his name sounds Islamic." So he is voting for the Democratic candidate for president for the first time in his life (he's 43).

Hopefully he isn't the only example of the anti-Bradley effect.

[texpatriot2004]

47. Thanks for sharing this story, it is a great example of giving

people space to think things through and it is wonderful when they reach reasonable conclusions.

[Odin2005]

46. Saying "Obama is scary" is code for "I ain't voting for a N*****"

It's racism.

[wvbygod]

48. State employees and Obama buttons delivered?

If this was at work and they were delivered by state workers, how does that work?

[texpatriot2004]

49. No, they were delivered by UPS. We cannot wear campaign

buttons at work. No campaign signs, etc. either. This is as it should be IMO.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

53. Aw, now you disappointed wvbygod. He was SO hoping he'd catch DemocRAT mischief! -nt

[texpatriot2004]

54. Too bad eh. I guess he/she will have to continue the quest ;-) nm

[jus_the_facts]

51. EIGHT YEARS of hearing....... Hussien_Osama...

....TERRORISTS...what's so difficult to understand?