Politics around the family

I've known since the first day I met my (then) future in-laws that I would never engage them in discussing politics. Let's face it they are very Republican and I'm socially a Democrat and financially a Moderate. I have a FOID and own guns, am not a big fan of Unions, believe in balanced budgets and no pork but also believe that we need many form of help at HOME first before shipping Billions of our tax dollars to every Tom, Dick and Sadam around the world. So it's not wise when both people are deeply entrenched in their beliefs because frankly, neither is going to change their minds and both might get angry with each other.

But I didn't think there'd come a day when I'd be in constant fights with my Dad about politics. For the most part, my Dad has been a life-long Democrat, although leaning to the right side of the party. Lately though, we fight about politics all of the time and I don't like it at all because they aren't intelligent or "friendly" fights.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm just too goddamn busy to read up on every single topic or to watch enough Sunday morning shows to follow what the latest line of crap politicians from both sides are selling the American people, but for the past 5-6 years now, my Dad almost always has on Fox News Channel and watches Bill O'Reilly avidly.

What used to be relatively decent conversations that didn't escalate into yelling have radically changed with my Dad yelling out "buzzwords" he's having drilled into his head by the GOP's TV Channel. He knows plenty about the topic but he won't admit that what he knows he only knows from Fox.

I think what started his more aggressive behavior towards me about politics is when he found out I had contributed $50 to the Kerry campaign back in 2004. He was really pissed off that I gave ANY money to ANY candidate so I think that's where this all came about.

So it's with much fervor that I'm now a huge fan of the Fact Check website. This will help compliment and call out the b.s. that I'm hearing and let me know what b.s. the Dems are spouting at the same time.

Last week my Dad was almost ballistic about Obama's ties to A.C.O.R.N. and even chided McClain for ignoring this saying that someone at one of his rallies was yelling out "ACORN ACORN" while he was speaking. There's a reason that ACORN hasn't been made a HUGE issue with respect to Obama by McCain and that's made clear on the Fact Check website. Although Obama HAS done work for ACORN, the lies and rumors that Fox News Channel has been spewing have been mostly a whisper campaign stretching the truth.

I actually give McCain credit for not falling into this trap, for it was HE who was a horrible victim of a whisper campaign from his OWN PARTY in the 2000 primaries courtesy of Karl Rove.

As for the link with the "domestic terrorist" Bill Ayers, no one on the Republican side will say out loud that the committee that Obama and Ayers were on, was one organized and RUN by former Illinois Governor, Jim Thompson (R-IL). If Ayers was so radical, why then did Big Jim bring him on the committee???

So you can find out a lot by finding a reliable, impartial website. It's why I encourage all of my friends to use Snopes when they get forwarded horrible chain mails that make scurrilous claims about anything. I've now mentioned the Fact Check site to my Dad several times although not directly and I doubt he'll go to it. I just get concerned that I see him believing and then repeating things coming out of that channel so much. I get more concerned when he truly believes that all network TV are Democrats and advance their agenda in everything they do and that someone is trying to "steal" an election. He claimed that the town hall debate was done to make McCain look bad on his supposed "favorite" style of debating because Tom Brokaw and NBC were behind it.

I also get concerned when he thinks a few Democratic Senators are primarily to blame for the current economic woes because they supported some deregulation of banking. The Economy is just too big and complex of a thing for any small group of people to influence.

Dad, please don't become that "old curmudgeon" type guy that lives in Florida and please start checking some of the "facts" that you are hearing. No matter WHAT they say, it's not always "Fair and Balanced" on that channel.