Just wanted to say Good Luck to all at DU in dealing with Right Wing relatives over the holiday!

[Windy]

Keep your cool. Try to get your point across if you can without too much stress and holiday "ruination". :o)

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

[DisgustipatedinCA]

1. Not to worry. I've bought plenty of alcohol to smooth things over.

What could possibly go wrong?

[Windy]

3. To drink or not to drink...that is my dilemma!

Sometimes that "demon rum" tends to loosen the lips!

[Ilsa]

17. Perhaps some "noise"-reducing headphones might help you enjoy your buzz more. nt

[Robb]

2. Hear, hear.

I'm the one who raises his hands and says "There's nothing political that can't wait until after pie."

[Chemisse]

4. I always win because my brother is always far more drunk than I am :) nt

[cloudbase]

5. The only problem we'll have is with our cats.

They're engaging in an "occupy the bed" movement right now.

[RKP5637]

12. LOL! I have one that does the same, always wants my spot on the bed. n/t

[awoke_in_2003]

27. I thought cats engaged...

in "Occupy where ever I am not supposed to be at the moment" :) Damn, I really like cats (they are not butt kissers like dogs)

[Tesha]

6. "I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you."

[louis-t]

9. Haaaa!!!

[awoke_in_2003]

28. Surely you can't be serious...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A5t5_O8hdA

I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.

[appleannie1]

7. We chose to stay home. Our normal kids live too far away to visit.

So rather than bite our tongues and have acid indigestion with the one that is close, we will have a pleasant dinner at home. Alone.

[louis-t]

8. I plan to laugh, walk away while muttering:"Wow, repugs

sure are gullible." I am determined not to engage.

[Lint Head]

10. I'm staying away.

[NRaleighLiberal]

11. I'm lucky - just wife and two daughters, all loud, proud lefties!

Our family righties are either far to the north or far to the south...and there is no risk of being invaded by them (mainly because they've not been invited!)

:rofl:

[Hepburn]

13. All friends and family at this dinner are liberal, except one...

...and he is a social liberal and an atheist. So we tolerate him and his RW financial remarks. :hi:

[rurallib]

14. I'll keep cool, but I am not above getting up and walking out

I decided long ago that life is way too short to put up with that crap.

[awoke_in_2003]

29. Start Festivus early...

and air some grievances.

[The Genealogist]

15. I'll not be visiting with my RW relatives

My uncle's family has consumed so much of the Kool-Aid over the years that even an hour or two with them is sheer torture. They only have two topics of conversation: 1) how their chosen religious beliefs are the only valid religious beliefs in the universe; and 2) how their right wing politics are the only valid politics in the universe. My uncle has two kinds of relatives: the ones who have joined his ultra-conservative borg collective of thought, and the ones he has alienated with his frightening rhetoric.

I'll not be seeing them again this year. If I spend the day with any relatives, it will be with relatives who are on my mother's side, people who are FAR more moderate. Political and religious beliefs on that side of the family are strongly held, but relatively rarely discussed. And there is room for all at their tables.

[Populist_Prole]

19. T-giving alone this year but I just got back from a visit with my RW father

I'm an ex-conservative ( though nowhere near to the degree he is ) and was mostly successful at avoiding political debate, though he is extraordinarily pushy and preachy by nature and tried his damnedest to politicize conversation at every opportunity. Had one inevitable blow-up shouting match ( I yelled at him "fuck you!" when he really pissed me off...I never ever cursed at him before! ) that I knew would occur sooner or later, but once that was out of the way even he seemed to try to focus on any common ground, and we got along fine other than that incident.

I wonder if your uncle's family will ever connect the dots if the list of those alienated by them grows ever larger than those that agree with them. In the case of my relatives, some wouldn't even care. They have to be "right", even if it means they're the only ones in the world.

[The Genealogist]

20. My way of coping with my uncle and his brood

has always been to be respectful, and get through the meal or whatever. My father was sick a while before dying, and bless them for the help they gave him. I am indebted to them for that. However, they also crapped all over my stepmother. They treated her like garbage. I think a great deal of the animosity they have for her is the grave sin of being Catholic, which in their minds is about praying to idols. Never mind that she more closely adheres to the model of Jesus, and they act like modern day pharisees. She took care of then lost her HUSBAND, and my uncle and aunt acted like she had no business being involved at all. It made me ill, and the beginning of my own being on the outs with that part of my family really goes back to how she was treated. With that part of the family, they don't just think they are right, they KNOW it as fact. They love to issue proclamations, and variance from their proclamations is grounds for the cold shoulder. This is MOST true in their religious and political concerns. So, there is no connecting the dots for them.

[Populist_Prole]

21. Very much the same dynamic here

I had to chuckle when I read their dislike of Catholics, since other than the label itself, they'd have the same views as some RW-ers I know.. 3 of the most hard-ass right wingers I know are Catholic. To hear them tell it, you'd swear Jesus Christ was a hard-ass businessman that didn't take shit from anybody. Just a model of hate and selfishness, ironic since one of them was a sort of center-left working class warrior type till they came into some money and retired reasonably secure: now they're plutocrat worshiping assholes.

Grammatical edit

[marlakay]

16. We are alone at thanksgiving

And with liberal relatives at Christmas. I have gone to kids last few years so staying in state this year. Only republican of my children is my son in law in the military.

He is trying to talk my daughter into it also. When they first got together they were both strong dems. But the military has changed him especially after he started working at pentagon last few years. He changed from D to R.

My daughter says she tried to watch debates to see if she could vote for any of them, but she thinks they all have problems...

I am not visiting them in DC until feb. it will be hard for me not to want to say something to him, but I don't want problems started...

[monmouth]

18. Alone too and grateful. Plus having steak, medium rare..LOL..n/t

[awoke_in_2003]

30. I was thinking of start a new T-day tradition...

prime rib.

[Aerows]

22. I love my sister

I hope we don't get into it over her religious right nonsense. She and my mother have already gotten into it over the anti-abortion law in Mississippi. My sister conveniently forgets that she can't have children because of a heart problem, and she has to take birth control, yet she was all for that law.

*sigh*. We're usually okay if we don't discuss politics whatsoever.

[ohheckyeah]

23. We're having a big family get

together of 25 people. Of that 25 only 6 are liberals. 2 of those are 84 years old. All four of my siblings and their spouses are right wing as are their children and spouses except for 1 nephew and his wife.

Fortunately, we have a no political discussion rule at family gatherings.

[mrmpa]

24. I gave myself less stress by not inviting a person for dinner....

It's a woman who lives in my building. We've become acquaintances by sharing rides to various job fairs. I had a knee replacement last month and am not yet driving, so 2 weeks ago I asked her to drive me for a quick errand. I know I didn't bring up the subject of Penn State, however she stated "that those boys must have liked Sandusky doing what he did to them, because they didn't tell anybody. I laid out the correct perspective about this, and that you don't blame the victims.

I think the radio was on, when she heard something that she felt needed a response of that "fucking Obama", I said what are you talking about, her response was "oh do you like him?" I said yes & he is my President. Her answer to this was that Obama is a Muslim all of his advisers are Muslims and that Muslims aren't Americans and that Obama is a socialist, and we shouldn't tax the wealthy, why can't they keep their money.

My responses were that Americans can be Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, it doesn't matter and the President is not a Muslim and he is a US citizen. As to taxing, I told her it comes down to the percentage, why should someone who makes $40 million pay a smaller percentage of tax than those who make $40 thousand, and why should a corporation who makes billions of $'s in profit not pay taxes.

I was going to ask her for dinner on Thanksgiving (she doesn't get along with her family), but I told my 81 year old mother about what this woman said, my mom (who has asked this woman for a couple of errands) (the woman won't accept money, so mom has taken her to lunch) just laughed, said what the hell's wrong with her and put the kibosh on asking her for dinner. She wouldn't fit in with 4 Union members, one retired union member and of the younger generation 2 who worked on Obama's campaign and 5 who voted for him.

The woman in question holds a masters degree, 2 of her siblings have advanced degrees and one a bachelors degree. What the fuck is wrong with this picture.

[OnyxCollie]

25. Going to work.

Then spending time with the dogs.

[awoke_in_2003]

26. I am lucky...

my family is diverse- my father is a hippie, my sisters are lesbian, and I am an atheist. Oh, and my wife is mexican-american. Diversity makes the world go around.

[themadstork]

31. oh god

It's been a rough year with my fiance undergoing a battery of heart procedures and the whole me trying to kill myself thing and neither of us graduating of course and. . . more pettily I've gained weight. So I'm the fat jobless degreeless clinically depressed screwup who gets to watch everyone fawn over my cousins and their law school and their Wells Farg and etc. In a family of old rich white lawyer stodgies who never get along because the moment a money or inheritance issue pops up it's a big familywide gangrush to screw each other over. FUN