Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Unfortunately. . .

there are still individuals who will not be voting for Obama because they are convinced he is a Muslim. Paperweight's mom is visiting us this week, and last night we had a lengthy conversation about how she doesn't like John McCain but can't vote for Barack Obama because she's not convinced he's a Christian. I asked her to clarify. She said "his middle name is Hussein, M, and his father was Muslim." Well, my father is a Republican, but I don't hold that against him. Seriously though, when PW and I pressed her for concrete evidence to support her argument, she admitted she had none. The conversation quickly devolved from there. She also told us that she is angered that so many African Americans in her hometown are going to vote for Obama simply because he is black. She argued that they should inform themselves about the candidates before choosing whom to vote for. When I pointed out that there are many, many whites in her hometown who will be voting against Obama simply because he is black, she said "That's different." And when I pressed her to explain, she refused, saying "we'll just have to agree to disagree." At that point, I decided it was time to give Wild Man a bath.

3 comments:

solon said...

Well, the woman who is in the office next to me stated, "I have never followed an election this closely before... Obama scares me. He took was sworn in on the Quran; he is a terrorist; he does not say the oath of allegiance... He's a terrorist."

How closely is that.

M said...

Where do people get this crap? And all considerations of rhetoric aside because that is what it is: CRAP!

solon said...

Some of it is due to race; some of it develops from class anxiety; some of it relates to that idea that she believes she is a political minority (because everyone around here is a LIBERAL-- though she never defines the term); some of it rests with certain political convictions, such as a commitment to paying lower taxes.

The lady next to me is beyond politically ignorant. She also lacks any sense of decorum and ability to think critically on a topic. But, the ability to think critically means some level of detachment, which she cannot do as she just hates Obama. One you reach that level of hate, then does the rationalization matter?