The New Road

Morning idea

On the way to bagels this morning I thought about my Dad and how I would talk with him about Iraq. We haven't talked about it at all. Though I have talked with my Mom about it. She is anti-war and pro-Kerry. She said that during the Vietnam war she was also anti-war and that caused a rift between her and my father who accused her of aiding and abetting the enemy.

I haven't talked with him about it because I doubt I could sway him. First, I don't have that 100% break you out of fantasy-land argument. The right wing media is so influential, through Fox, through the radio, and through their influence of the mainstream media, that it's difficult to break through the fog.

Second, I think being in a fantasy world is really attractive. I was in a distorted world myself with the Clinton impeachment. I wanted to believe that he didn't lie to us. He did lie about Lewinsky. Was it important, no. Was it as greivous as what's going on now? Hell no. But he lied. Was it an impeachable offense? No way on Earth. But I didn't want to believe it at first.

So I can understand how Bush supporters can't believe that Bush is lying to them continuously. Especially when they have a whole media network that is trying to convince them that he is telling the truth. But the fact of the matter is that they are being lied to, and when you step outside of the bubble and look in, they just look pathetic. Head nodding. Four more years! Flip-flip, flip-flop! They just look stupid. They are living in a fantasy world any they revel in it.

One thing I did learn from the Clinton impeachment was to go get the news for myself. To read the information and not just get the interpretation. Whenever I hear something earth shattering from any source, before I go with it, I check it. If listeners to Hannity or Limbaugh did that just once, they would see right through these people. Hannity, Limbaugh, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, they are all hoping you don't do the research.

What I fear is that people know they are being lied to, and they just don't care anymore. That's a scary one for me. Especially if it's a large portion of the country. However, my guess is at this point that it's just the party faithful, which means middle income, thirty-something, church going , ultra-conservative white folk. Which, when you do the numbers, is not a majority of this country by a long shot.

Anyway, back on point. I was trying to come up with ways to break my father out of the fantasy bubble (my brother already tried). I came up with the RBCC on the way to just giving up on my Dad's vote. If my mother can't break Dad out of his belief that Vietnam was a good war, I don't know what will.

P.S. It's strange that my Dad took me to Apocolypse Now when it first openened, and he enjoyed it. Though I think he enjoyed it for the helicopter scenes and not for it's anti-war message.