I quit

[Ohioboy]

My mother, who swears up and down Trump never said anything inciteful before the insurrection, refuses to listen to the actual rally he gave.

I told her I'd send her a link to the video and we could discuss it. She said she won't watch it.

She's 90 years old, and used to be a critical thinking Liberal.

At one point in her life she actually worked on organizing local events during the Civil Rights Movement of the sixties. Now, she thinks "they" are indoctrinating our children with CRT.

I GIVE UP!

[Bettie]

1. It is sad to see otherwise sane people

going down that rabbit hole. I'm sorry.

[samnsara]

6. my 90 yr old father..even in the throes of dementia, a former Marine and a life long Republican...

..announced out loud right after the 2016 election 'That man is going to start a Civil War!'

[Bettie]

13. That is great

there are some who manage to avoid the brainwashing.

[walkingman]

2. Has she ever said what she likes about him? With the mention of CRT I

suspect she is seeing something in the media that is causing this.

It really is sad - but glad you still have her.

[Patterson]

23. Yep. She's watching Fox or the really crazy ones.

[samnsara]

3. they need be deprogrammed a la clockwork orange style

[lagomorph777]

4. Beethoven and toothpicks

[samnsara]

7. yep :)

[bigtree]

5. with all due respect to your mother

...their support is dishonest and basically a big lie.

This isn't about debatable points anymore. It's a clear choice between right and wrong. People should be judged accordingly.

[Hortensis]

8. My MIL's personality changed with advanced age, so that she

thought and said things she never would have before. She seemed basically to still have her marbles, though, and in those days it took her bewildered family a long while to learn she was having ministrokes that were causing brain damage.

[Drunken Irishman]

9. When did your mom flip?

Do you recall the last Democrat she supported? Was it pre or post-Trump - or before?

I am fascinated with these stories of progressives turning into right-wingers. I can pin a lot down to four inflection points:

The rise of right-wing radio in the 90s, that led to an extreme hate of Clinton and liberals.

The 9/11 terrorist attacks that brought out some of the worst in people (guys like Dennis Miller and Ron Silver point to this moment as the moment they became Republicans because Republicans are tough, you know?).

The election of Barack Obama, a Black man.

Donald Trump and the conspiratory left falling down that rabbit hole and never coming back.

[Ohioboy]

14. I suspect it was right after 9/11

She started listening to the radio more during that time, and the Limbaughs of the world were able to spin their divisive message right into what was going on in the news. Right- wing radio had a hay day during that time, blaming "Liberals" for everything and promoting xenophobia in general to a scared audience. I'm pretty sure that's when it started for her. I remember her saying a lot of things that were not characteristic of her, xenophobic things about Muslims and other groups.

She got all "end of days" with her thinking, and was ready to latch on to anything.

That's my take, anyway.

[forthemiddle]

10. I mean no disrespect

But at this point in her life, just leave it alone, and enjoy each and every minute you have left with her.
My Mom died in her 60's, and I would give anything for 30 more years with her.

I know it's frustrating, but she probably won't change her mind, and neither will you, so just leave it alone.

[Ohioboy]

15. Oh I do intend to let it go, hence the "I quit" title of my post

You're right, but it doesn't mean I can't grieve the loss of who she was and how she's changed.

[jimfields33]

16. That's so good.

I think when she brings anything political up. Ask about her childhood. Not only will she give you a story, but you saved yourself some eye rolls. One thing for real is maybe keep her from voting. Lol.

[Baitball Blogger]

11. Another way to view "CRT" is that it recognizes the history of America's subjugation of minorities

in a way that is inconvenient to conservative whites, but is the plain truth.

[mackdaddy]

12. Unless you can block FxX Nuze you will not be able to get her to listen.

If she is using video links and can get the WorseThanFx nuze sites even that will not help.

How can you possibly get around HOURS per day of lies and propaganda programming being beamed into her brain?

The entire Republican party has had their brain rotted out by this swill now. I do not have an answer. Just pointing out the "information" cancer these right wing megaphones are blasting.

[stillcool]

17. it's like they're in a cloud

a miasma that has altered their ability to find reason. Maybe it's just American exceptionalism. God forbid they think of themselves as human, like the rest of the planet.

[UTUSN]

18. Radio psychiatrist David VISCOTT said, "Leave the old ones alone."

This was when a caller would ask about confronting Olds about years past misdeeds.

[In It to Win It]

19. I don't engage - why waste time

I had a former coworker that I was really cool with outside of work. People would send me screenshots of his Facebook posts saying that Trump wasn’t inciting a riot and a bunch of other right wing nonsense.

If we can’t agree that telling a crowd of visibly angry and armed people who think the election was stolen from them that they’re gonna march down to the capitol and take for their country back isn’t inciting a riot… there’s nothing more to talk about on this subject.

[MineralMan]

20. About the time my father turned 90, I stopped

talking about anything political with him. He watched Fox News, and had slipped enough in his cognitive abilities that he no longer was able to see through their nonsense. My decision was that he had enough crap to deal with at his age, so I simply stopped bringing up politics or anything of the sort with him.

It worked. Instead, we talked about old times and things like getting bills paid and other mundane stuff. Those things didn't cause any conflicts. If he brought up politics, I just shrugged and changed the subject. Eventually, he quit bringing that stuff up.

My Mom had several Alzheimer's and they had 24/7 health care aides living in the house. They both died on the same day in January at age 96.

I'm glad I stopped arguing with him about politics. Instead of aggravating each other, we used those last years to learn more about each other and to reflect on the past.

I think it worked out very well.

[cbabe]

21. 'Brainwashing of my Dad':

2015 documentary film by Jen Senko.

How right wing media turned her Democratic dad into raving rightwinger. And how she deprogrammed him.

My dad went the opposite way from Republican to Buttigieg supporter.

I agree forgoing politics and simply cherish every moment. I played old show tunes and popular music from mom's youth for smiles in her deep Alzheimer's days.

[GoodRaisin]

22. Fox News devotes lots and lots of hours to CRT lying. It's even getting more air time than

"the Border", so they are pushing this as a major wedge lie for 2022/24. Maybe even the biggest wedge issue they push now. Lot's of Fox News watchers are going to be repeating this talking point.

[Hekate]

24. She's 90, for heaven's sake. Talk about old times with her. nt

[Maeve]

25. My mom is mostly ok, but the other day she was going on about "all these foreigners"

I literally bit my tongue to keep from arguing