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My...Brain...Hurts
Nov. 29th, 2008 12:04 pmMy mom is visiting for Thanksgiving weekend, and there are two topics that are absolute no-no's: religion and politics. This doesn't mean that we don't go there -- it just means that I get to sit there and smile and nod, while my nerves are grating and I wish we could just move onto something else.
You see, my mom has a tendency to say things that just make my brain hurt -- about on par with things like "Obama is a Muslim" and "Atheists have no morality". And it's not that I haven't tried to say things to her...it's just that I gave up when I realized that nothing I say seems to change her mind, or at least go "Hmm, maybe I should look into that perspective a little more, if only to have more information to use when having discussions with my daughter."
Today I walked into a trap. It wasn't my fault...I swear.
My mom walked in on me reading an interesting article on the "natural born citizen" clause and various historical interpretations of it. And of course, the article touched on the question of whether or not Barak Obama -- and by extension, John McCain, as well as a whole host of other political figures -- met these interpretations. I didn't finish it, but when my mom saw it, it sparked a brief talk about Senator McCain and the past election.
Now, normally this shouldn't have been dangerous territory. Ironically, McCain (at least as he presented himself in 2000) is something my mom and I can actually agree upon. And we both agree that McCain was too divided on his loyalties and a little too far from his principles this time around -- although we hold our opinions for different reasons. So I fell into the trap of thinking we could have an interesting conversation -- I took the bait and did something other than smile and nod.
Here's how the conversation went at that point:
You see, my mom has a tendency to say things that just make my brain hurt -- about on par with things like "Obama is a Muslim" and "Atheists have no morality". And it's not that I haven't tried to say things to her...it's just that I gave up when I realized that nothing I say seems to change her mind, or at least go "Hmm, maybe I should look into that perspective a little more, if only to have more information to use when having discussions with my daughter."
Today I walked into a trap. It wasn't my fault...I swear.
My mom walked in on me reading an interesting article on the "natural born citizen" clause and various historical interpretations of it. And of course, the article touched on the question of whether or not Barak Obama -- and by extension, John McCain, as well as a whole host of other political figures -- met these interpretations. I didn't finish it, but when my mom saw it, it sparked a brief talk about Senator McCain and the past election.
Now, normally this shouldn't have been dangerous territory. Ironically, McCain (at least as he presented himself in 2000) is something my mom and I can actually agree upon. And we both agree that McCain was too divided on his loyalties and a little too far from his principles this time around -- although we hold our opinions for different reasons. So I fell into the trap of thinking we could have an interesting conversation -- I took the bait and did something other than smile and nod.
Here's how the conversation went at that point:
Mom: And I just don't know what he was thinking with some of his campaign choices this time.If McCain failed because he wasn't emulating Palin, I truly worry about the future of this country. Does anyone have any aspirin?
Me: Yeah, like Palin.
Mom: Oh, no. I really liked Palin. I liked her. She was a great choice. No, McCain was just too wishy-washy. Now, Palin, she really knew how to hit the issues right on the head when she gave her speeches. She really knew what she was talking about. But McCain wasn't like Palin, and that's why his campaign failed...
