Terrifying - don't let your family see "2016"

i can only hope that none of you go through this.  my Mom and her husband went to see "2016:  Obama's America" yesterday.  immediately upon their return home the emails started flooding in.  here was the first from my Mom:

Matt -

This e-mail was sent to me by Dad's cousins wife out in CA.  Make sure to also watch "video banned by Obama".  We just got back from seeing Obama America 2016 - scary!
I know you will dispute all of this, but personally, I want an America that has as much nuclear power as possible (just in case), and want to know that I have the freedom to think, and speak, as I choose.  I believe that if someone works hard, he is entitled to his money (many foreigners who have come to the US have become wealthy - look at your friend's parents who owned the dry cleaner and ice cream shop).  I don't believe I should give what I have worked for to someone who "chooses"  not to work!  Life is not always fair.  We all have crosses to bear....
Love,
Mom
(Are you going to "donate that hard-working money of yours sitting in the bank to someone who is just sitting around all day?)
ok, so i was quite taken back by her tone.  this is not the woman i knew a few short years ago.  then her biggest complaint was having to press 1 on the phone to specify she wanted to hear English.  now?  whoa!  i replied in a manner that tried to convey how she is being intentionally misinformed.  i explained that we have over 5000 nuclear warheads while the next closest has only 2000 (all others have only a few hundred).  i asked her which liberties and freedoms have been eliminated under Obama, and which ones she feared losing.  i asked her why, as a religious person, she would not want to minimize the lack of fairness in America.  i asked her what the alternative should be to a social safety net.  i explained to her the devastating effects that massive cuts to Medicaid would have. 
i'm trying to get her back from the ledge.  i'm concerned i may lose her to a very dark place.  while i'm trying to return some sanity to the conversation, i get an email from her husband which includes this link:
http://news.teapartyinfo.org/HM?a=ENX7Cqmdc1SA8SA9MKJBGarnGHxKLbmY5...
i know he's been leaning this way for a while.  after seeing the movie, it seems as though he's fully committed.  worse yet, i think my mother has joined in his thinking entirely.  i'm a bit terrified.  the type of people who believe that "America's Demon President Schedules Deadly Takeover" are not the kind of people that allow reason to seep into their minds.  it would be like trying to have a conversation with a member of the Westboro Baptist Church.  they are gone.  beyond reason.  nothing you can say will change their minds. 
she knows i support Obama.  now she thinks he's an evil man hell bent on destroying America.  will she willingly associate herself with "the enemy"?  will they retreat to the countryside to become Doomsday Preppers?  will they join some sort of militia or cult?  at this point anything seems possible.  her husband spends all day on Drudge Report, the Blaze, the Free Beacon, and other ultra-conservative sites.  it gets him very riled up.  now my Mom is joining in.  she's genuinely scared, thanks to Dinesh D'Zousa.  i'd like to think that i can temper her fear with some rational talk.  i'm just terribly afraid that i cannot. 
i'm sure there will be more to this, so i will keep this updated, if for no other reason than my own peace of mind. 

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Permalink Reply by booklover on August 29, 2012 at 8:41am

I'm sorry Matthew that you have to deal with this with your Mom.  I know it must be really hard and frustrating also!  Just keep coming here to tell people who agree with you.  Maybe it will help a little! Your Friend, Melinda

Permalink Reply by matthew greenberg on August 29, 2012 at 9:10am

thanks Mel, i just got off the phone with her.  i challenged her on some of her comments.  she said that Obama lies and she doesn't trust him, not one lick.  i asked her to give me an example of a lie - she couldn't come up with one.  i encouraged her to look into it and get back to me.  then she said that both Obama and his wife had been disbarred.  this is old ground that we covered months back and i debunked then.  so she moved on to the fact that he used to go by Barry instead of Barack.  good grief - she was moving on to birtherism!  i kind of lost it and told her i'd be buying her a tin foil hat for Xmas.

i also told her that i know she's scared about losing her liberty.  i asked which liberties she's afraid of losing and she had only one - freedom of religion.  she is worried that Obama will turn us into a Muslim nation.  i'm not sure that there is a decent comeback that isn't expletive filled, so i simply said that people who believe that also believe in the boogeyman in their closet.  what else could i say? 

Permalink Reply by booklover on August 29, 2012 at 9:39am

I like the tinfoil-hat idea. :)  It sounds like nothing will make her see reason.  She has been or is being brainwashed.  If it were MY mom I guess I would just never let her get away with it.  I'd calmly call her on it each time she said something like that.  I would let her know I love her because she's my Mom, but that I think what she is saying is totally off-the-wall.  I wish I could do more to help you Matthew, but all I can do is give advice (for what it's worth!), and sympathy!  {{{hugs}}} Melinda

Permalink Reply by Pat on August 29, 2012 at 12:39pm

I've stated this before, but I have a brother who is a "birther" and believes the same nonsense you Mom is being spoon fed. I finally called him out on it the other day, and pointed out that he has turned into a full blown racist and homophobe much like (to my chagrin) our dearly departed father, whom neither one of us had any use for. I tried the "tin foil" hat argument with him (actually, metal spaghetti strainer hat with tin foil antenna), but to no avail.

The irony here is that my brother, the "birther," actually can't stand religion and labels himself an agnostic. The one thing that really pissed him off was when I compared his irrational belief in this crap to that of a devout theist. And, it's really like dealing with a "believer in the one true god." Every time you point out a fabrication, a false hood, and an outright lie, it doesn't matter. They may come to the realization that the one argument they just used is wrong, but it doesn't even begin to crack the wall of the entire belief system. 

They don't believe because it's true. That's easy enough to dispel. They believe because they desperatly want to believe it. And, rationality just won't change that.

Permalink Reply by MolotovDerp on August 29, 2012 at 12:45pm

The birther thing is a bit ironic, considering McCain wasn't born in a state, while Obama was, ha.

Permalink Reply by matthew greenberg on August 29, 2012 at 12:45pm

"They don't believe because it's true. That's easy enough to dispel. They believe because they desperatly want to believe it."

i think this cuts to the heart of it.  i know as soon as i hung up the phone that she would simply dismiss my claims and think to herself "well, some of what he said may be true, BUT all these people wouldn't just be making it all up, so i still believe."  my biggest problem is that she hates hates hates Obama without even knowing why.  if she hated him because he disagreed with his policies i could forgive her.  but she doesn't know his policies!

thanks for sharing Pat.  i really am upset about this, but it's good to know i'm not alone. 

Permalink Reply by MolotovDerp on August 29, 2012 at 12:40pm

I initially thought 2016 was an ironic sequel to the film "2012." Imagine my disappointment when I found out the truth about the film.

:/

All those people went to go see a 'Ra Ra Obama bad, mkay?' film. They wasted their money, if they wanted to see that they should just watch 2 hours of fox.

Traditonally, conservatives are people who advocate the status quo, or gradual change based on existing commitments to certain values. Ergo, most of the Democratic Party and the moderate wing of the Republican Party are the actual conservatives, especially on the international stage.


The people who are in the saddle of the current Republican Party want to return to a mythical glorious past, and are stridently opposed to existing commitments of tolerance, pluralism and liberty. They are more reactionary and reclusive than conservative. Just listening to them talk gives me a headache.

Permalink Reply by matthew greenberg on August 29, 2012 at 1:28pm

many in the Atheist community are already well aware of Dinesh D'Zousa and what he stands for.  he's a truly deplorable man who is either delusional or shamelessly lying to make money - in other words, your typical Religious leader. 

Permalink Reply by MolotovDerp on August 29, 2012 at 1:33pm

Yeah no doubt. He just makes me irritated whenever he speaks.

Permalink Reply by Pat on August 29, 2012 at 1:55pm

I'm leaning toward the "shamelessly lying" part, myself. If he was delusional, his bank account wouldn't be that great.

Genuine Pisquawhatoomie Indian Curative Snake Oil. Guaranteed to cure typhoid, diphtheria, smallpox, leprosy, arthritis, lumbago, gout, obesity, athlete's foot, and acne. Trust me folks. This here book I'm a holdin', passed down from the ancients, says so. And today, we're  practically giving it away. The only cost to you is that of your conscience. 

Permalink Reply by matthew greenberg on August 29, 2012 at 1:59pm

i just got an email from him saying that Bin Laden was already dead before Seal Team 6 went in.  and he believes it.  i can't wait to hear where he heard that. 

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