"THANK YOU FOR NOT BLAMING ME FOR THE REST OF MY PARTY'S INSANITY"

[babylonsister]

"THANK YOU FOR NOT BLAMING ME FOR THE REST OF MY PARTY'S INSANITY"
May 28, 2009, 4:08PM


My friend Robby, God bless him, has endured my writing about him before, so I don't think he would mind if I do it again--this time, in response to a phone call he made to me today in which he really did say, as soon as I answered the phone:

"Thank you for not blaming me for the rest of my party's insanity."

snip//

But during the recent presidential campaign, Robby called me one day to say that he had given up listening to talk radio, something he had done faithfully for more than 15 years. The blatant racism he heard there was so offensive to him that he complained to me that, "My party ran away from me," and that, as far as people like Rush Limbaugh were concerned: "I don't know who they think I am when they claim to speak for conservative Republicans, because I am not that person."

Of course he voted for McCain, but he told me that, even though he disagreed with Obama on most things and would have preferred seeing a Republican back in the White House, he considered Obama to be calm, rational, reasoned, intelligent, and careful about making decisions.

(Something, by the way, my conservative Republican brother has also said.)

It was Robby who came to me when the viral e-mail campaign started going around in earnest to conservatives, claiming that Obama was dead-set to take away all our guns. Robby had checked those claims out himself, both in legitimate websites such as the NRA, and in right-wing political blogs, and said that, as far as he could tell, it was all sheer baloney.

"Obama has never said a single word, not during the campaign, and not since he's taken office, that would appear to validate these fear-mongering e-mails," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, they have been started and kept going by gun-sellers and others who stand to profit from panic-buying."

He was disgusted at that because it meant he couldn't find ammunition just to go to target practice, and felt that the constant hysteria whipped up by those e-mails--juxtaposed to Obama's calm, sensible demeanor--was making his party look crazier and crazier, which, as a lifelong Republican, he resented.

It's been one thing after another.

Today, he called because he was just so embarrassed, this time, by the whole Judge Sotomayor frenzy.

more...

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/deanie_mills/2009/05/thank-you-for-not-blaming-me-f.php?ref=fpd

[MineralMan]

1. Progress is progress...no matter how small...

[babylonsister]

2. You bet. And with this bungling bunch of yahoos running around

bellyaching, all identified as rethugs, we don't have to lift a finger to get thinking people to realize how low their party has sunk.

[MineralMan]

3. Yup, and we can work that to our advantage.

By talking to our middle-right acquaintances about the nutcases on the far right, we can begin to introduce them to new ideas. It's hard work, but it's essential if we are to lay the groundwork for a new sort of politics here.

I've been working on the 65+ age group with regard to single payer healthcare. It's amazing how much progress you can make by simply asking them how their Medicare, along with a supplement is working for them. Just ask. They'll mostly tell you it's working just fine.

Then, tell that that one of the very best ways to keep Medicare strong and healthy is to start having everyone pay into it, rather that to their private insurance. That way, the young and healthy get their health insurance and help keep the system solvent.

This argument has been working for me, even with some grumpy old folks who have been "Republicans" all their lives and are afraid of "socialized medicine." Once they understand that the system they're using and that's working pretty damn well is precisely "socialized medicine," they begin thinking differently. It's a wedge. We can use all the wedges we can find.

I can explain single payer healthcare easily to people who are already getting it.

[lonestarlib]

5. Grumpy Old Folks

Been trying to get my mother-in-law to see it, but she's only concerned with herself. As long as she gets medicare, screw everyone else. She believes she "paid for it."

[Doctor_J]

4. Many DU NRA members also believe the viral e-mails about guns

so you can be sure that many also believe any other batch of lies spread by the Limbeciles or other tiny right-wing cabal.