Help me deal with a know-it-all New York in-law

[bif]

My wife's cousin is married to a real asshat. The two of them are Chrisatian right wingers from New York state. As usual he'll be spewing Hillary hate today at Thanksgiving. Can you supply me with facts about the good things Hillary has done for New York?

[kedrys]

1. Can you call for a moratorium on political topics?

It's that, or cover your ears and sing LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA throughout dinner.

Either way, don't get sucked in. Today's not supposed to be tense.

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. Just agree with everything he says

and right after agreeing each time say, "Snakes!" very softly, and change the subject. Pretty soon he'll be annoyed with you and will rant at you about you, and Hil will be forgotten, or he'll become so confused, he will have to talk about something else to keep his asshat persona alive :P

[matcom]

3. just tell him not to cast asparagus on Hillary

:rofl:

[BeFree]

4. Just laugh..

...and say, gee, that's hilarious! They hate being laughed at. They want you to argue... don't.

[CBHagman]

5. Just to answer your original questions...

...here are some links for reference purposes.

Hillary Clinton's Senate website, which includes legislation information and New York-specific projects:

http://clinton.senate.gov/

Scroll down in particular the list on the right side of the page (under Current News, Multimedia, and Features).



That said, there is wisdom in tactfully changing the subject, either on the pretext that the election is over, you don't want to make anyone in the family uncomfortable, you can just agree to disagree, etc. The New York Times Dining In section had a wonderful article on how to approach all the horribly awkward bits of the Thanksgiving holiday, from political fights to how to serve the food. The basic guideline is to treat everyone graciously, be a good guest/host.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/22/dining/22tabl.html?_r=1&ref=dining&oref=slogin

I suppose you could also try the Moorey Moaner Method, as described by Dr. David Burns, which involves affirming the complainer's comments and then subtly switching the topic to some aspect of the discussion that is not negative. For example, a discussion of NY politics could be switched to what's going on in their own community ("Did you get a foot of snow where you were?" "How about those (name of team here)?").

Good luck!

[REDKING]

6. Sometimes .....

keep repeating"whats your point" after everything he or she says,they always trip over themselves after a certain point apart from the fact that any repeating question is just annoying.If not winning a argument you a least gave them a very bad headache.........Good luck..Peace.Rk}(

[bif]

7. Great news!

He was a no-show. So it was a moot (or as I've heard it said, a mute) point. Nice time afterall. I'm so glad the major league asshole didn't show! It's kinda funny, his aged mom hit a deer and totaled the car so he had to stay behind while his wife had to drive from NY to MI with five kids. Oh well...

[auntAgonist]

8. glad all went well!

Beautiful day in Michigan today. :)


happy thanksgiving.

aA

(near Ann Arbor here)

[bif]

9. Thank you!

It was a wonderful day. My wife went down to the parade with my two daughters while I peeled spuds ands sweet potatoes. What a great day! Happy Thanksgiving!

[Zookeeper]

10. Oooh, you've made me all nostalgic!

I used to love the Detroit parade!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, bif! :hug: